Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will begin from pole place in Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix after posting the quickest time in Friday qualifying. Leclerc completed forward of team-mate Carlos Sainz however with the Spaniard having a ten-place grid penalty imposed after Thursday’s observe, world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull will begin second. Mercedes’ George Russell will probably be in third place on the grid alongside Alpine’s French driver Pierre Gasly.

It was a constructive session for Williams who could have Alex Albon beginning fifth on the grid alongside team-mate Logan Sargeant, the American who’s hoping a powerful consequence on a house circuit will increase his likelihood of conserving his place for subsequent season.

Sargeant’s end was his finest end in qualifying in his rookie season.

There was little to decide on between the 2 Ferrari drivers with Leclerc, who topped all three segments, posting a quickest lap of 1:32.726 and Sainz simply 0.044 off the tempo.

Three-time world champion Verstappen pulled out of his ultimate lap however will again himself to as soon as once more overcome Leclerc on race-day.

The Dutchman has received 17 races in a record-breaking season as he clinched his third straight championship.

“It was enjoyable out there. I think we maximised today. I think the whole weekend so far we have been lacking a bit of one lap performance and that was quite clear,” stated the Dutchman.

“I hope tomorrow in the race we are good on the tyres again and can work our way forward,” he added.

Leclerc had combined emotions after his run within the ultimate qualifying section.

‘Enough for P1’

“To be starting from pole is great. However, I’m a bit disappointed about my laps in Q3. I didn’t do a good enough job but it was enough for P1 and that’s all we need,” he stated.

“Now it’s full focus to try and put everything together for the race. Normally, that’s where we lack most performance so I hope we can put it all together and win here.”

Leclerc has not received from first on the grid since Australia in 2022, having certified on pole 12 instances in that interval however he stated he was upbeat about his probabilities.

“The confidence is high because we are starting first, the best place to start from. On the other hand we know that Red Bull is going to be very strong and Max obviously is going to be very strong in race pace.

“But I really feel that we have now had constructive indicators this weekend…greater than different races so I hope we will convert that pole place right into a win,” he said.

After the embarrassing start to the new Vegas event, when Thursday’s opening practice was abandoned after nine minutes due to loose drain covers on the track, fans finally got to see some action on the new street track.

The second practice session had been held in front of empty stands and did not finish until 4am in the morning local time but the crowd were more than happy to see F1’s stars battle for grid position at midnight.

Powering down the famous ‘strip’ past landmark hotels and cornering around the striking new illuminated ‘sphere’, there were no signs of major problems with the surface.

‘Very bad mood’

Both McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, were eliminated after Q1 and they were followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes after Q2.

Hamilton will start in tenth place on the grid.

Sainz, who will start in 12th, received his 10-place grid drop after his team were forced to make repairs to his car after the chaotic first practice.

Sainz’s car hit a loose drain cover and suffered damage and the team had to change a host of power unit components in order for the Spaniard to continue.

But with Sainz using his third energy store of the season, one more than is allowed by regulations, he was handed the penalty.

“I’m nonetheless disillusioned with yesterday,” Sainz said of the sanction.

“I’m not going to lie, nonetheless on a really dangerous temper and attempting to not present it an excessive amount of. But it’s what it’s,” he added.

There was disappointment for Aston Martin’s Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso who fell from fourth down to tenth in the latter stages – he will start ninth on the grid.

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