In Las Vegas Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who set the best time in qualifying, will start the Las Vegas Grand Prix from pole position on November 18.
The driver from Monaco finished ahead of his colleague Carlos Sainz, but Max Verstappen of Red Bull will start second since the Spaniard received a 10-place grid penalty following practise on November 16.
George Russell of Mercedes and Pierre Gasly of France will be paired in third position on the starting grid for Alpine.
Between the two Ferrari drivers, there wasn’t much to separate them as Leclerc won all three segments and recorded the quickest lap of 1 minute, 32.726 seconds, while Sainz was only 0.044 seconds slower.
On race day, Verstappen, the three-time world champion, will trust himself to defeat Leclerc once more despite having dropped out of his final lap.
“It was fun being outside. I believe we made the most of today. The Dutchman stated, “I think we have been lacking a bit of one lap performance for the entire weekend so far.
“Hopefully, we can get back on the tyres and move forward in the race tomorrow.”
Following his run in the last qualifying round, Leclerc experienced conflicting emotions.
“I’m content. It’s an amazing occasion to win the first pole in Las Vegas, he remarked.
It’s fantastic to be at the pole. But I’m a little let down with my Q3 lap times. Even though my work wasn’t excellent enough, it was sufficient for P1, and that’s all we need.
“Trying to get everything together for the race is now the main focus. We typically perform poorly there, so hopefully we can pull it all together and win this time.
Fans saw some activity on the new street track following the event’s embarrassing beginning on November 16, when the track’s unsecured drain covers forced the track to be abandoned after nine minutes.
The second practise session took place in front of empty stands and ended at 4 a.m. local time, but the spectators were delighted to watch the stars of Formula One struggle for grid position at midnight.
After turning off the renowned “Strip,” passing notable hotels, and circling the eye-catching, newly illuminated “Sphere,” there were no indications that the surface was seriously damaged.
Following the elimination of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’s seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were next.
Following the hectic first practise, Sainz’s crew was obliged to make adjustments to his car, which resulted in his grid drop to tenth place.
The crew had to replace several power unit parts after the Spaniard’s automobile collided with an unsecured drain cover, causing damage.
However, Sainz was penalised for using his third energy reserve of the season—one more than permitted by rules. AAFP