Carlos Sainz, second, will start twelfth due to his suspension
MADRID, 18 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) has signed the pole this Saturday for the Las Vegas Grand Prix race, the twenty-second round of the Formula 1 World Championship, after surpassing by 44 thousandths the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), who will start twelfth for his penalty of ten places on the grid, while Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) will start the test from ninth position.
Through the streets of ‘Sin City’, between casinos, Leclerc and Sainz once again demonstrated that the safe bet this weekend is ‘everything red’. With a time of 1:32.726, the Monegasque dominated ahead of his teammate (1:32.770), the only two drivers capable of going below 1:33 this Saturday.
However, the joy will not be complete in the ‘Scuderia’ due to the sanction that the Madrid native is carrying, penalized with ten positions on the starting grid after being forced to change a series of components of the power unit, after a manhole cover hit the underside of his car in the first free practice session on Friday.
Thus, his second place will be inherited by the world champion, the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), while the second row of the grid will be taken over by the British George Russell (Mercedes) and the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine). The Williams of the Thai Alexander Albon and the American Logan Sargeant will start fifth and sixth, and the Finnish Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and the Dane Kevin Magnussen (Haas) will start seventh and eighth.
Fernando Alonso will start the event from ninth position, who despite placing third in his first Q3 attempt could not stay up and finished tenth – improving one place due to his compatriot’s penalty.
One of the big surprises of the classification was offered by the McLarens, who were left out of the fight at the first opportunity; Neither the British Lando Norris nor the Australian Oscar Piastri managed to get through Q1 and will start sixteenth and nineteenth, respectively. In Q2, for his part, the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) stayed, who despite being twelfth will start the event from eleventh place – helped by Sainz’s sanction -.