Austin, TX
Leclerc takes F1 pole for U.S. Grand Prix
AUSTIN, TX — Charles Leclerc will start Sunday’s Formula One United States Grand Prix from pole position after Max Verstappen’s fastest time was deleted for breaching track limits. Here’s what you need to know:
- Leclerc topped qualifying for Ferrari at the Circuit of The Americas by 0.130 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who will start second on the grid.
- World champion Verstappen set a lap that was 0.005 seconds faster than Leclerc’s pole time, but went outside of track limits at the final corner.
- It meant Verstappen’s lap time was deleted, dropping him to sixth place on the grid for Red Bull.
What Leclerc said
“As a team, we did a great job,” Leclerc said after taking pole. “We had a strong base thanks to the work the guys had done to prepare this weekend with the car straightaway feeling good. I was feeling good. I was happy throughout qualifying.
“The last lap in Q3, there were a (few) mistakes here and there, but I think it wasn’t easy for everybody. I’m really happy we’re starting on pole for Sunday.”
How track limits cost Verstappen
A mistake of millimeters proved costly for Max Verstappen in Austin.
At the penultimate corner, where the drivers carry a lot of speed through and tend to naturally run quite wide, Verstappen narrowly went too far over the white line. It meant 20 seconds after his time went to the top of the leaderboard, it was wiped and caused the order to shuffle, dropping him back to sixth by the time all the final laps had come through.
“I knew in Turn 19 that it was going to be a close call,” Verstappen explained. “I had a little mistake in Turn 1 so I had to really push for it in the rest of the lap. It’s fine margins.”
Verstappen’s mistake should not take anything away from Leclerc’s performance. The Ferrari driver has established himself as a qualifying specialist — this is the 21st pole of his career; he has just five wins — capable of producing magic laps when it matters.
Leclerc built his pace up right through qualifying and gained almost half a second on his final lap, despite feeling he’d made a few mistakes on his final effort. Leclerc admitted in the press conference after qualifying: “It was a surprise for us. We definitely did not expect to be fighting for pole position here.”
Ferrari accidentally scared Leclerc when his engineer informed him Verstappen’s lap had been deleted. “I just had a heart attack, because my engineer told me ‘track limits…’, and then ‘…for Verstappen,’” Leclerc said, admitting he punched his steering wheel and helmet. “I heard ‘…for Verstappen’ and then I thought, OK, that’s better news for us!
“That’s why in the moment, I said please tell me the name before the track limits, just so I don’t get too excited.”
With Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton for company on the uphill run to the tight first corner, Leclerc is braced for a close battle. Norris said he was surprised to have been so close to pole, believing a couple of errors may have cost him P1. In four of the last five years, the driver starting second in Austin has been leading at the end of the first lap.
After qualifying third for Mercedes, seven-time world champion Hamilton hailed Mercedes’ improvements in Austin thanks to the new floor that debuted on Friday. He said the car felt like it had “leveled up pretty much everywhere” and that it was “one of the first updates I have actually felt” in the past two years.
It also gave Hamilton hope of fighting for a record-extending seventh victory on American soil. “Maybe with the Red Bull out of the top three, maybe that makes it a better, closer battle,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully the three of us can have a tight battle.”
But given their dominance through 2023, Leclerc felt it was impossible to rule out Verstappen or Red Bull. “Red Bull is always very strong, and Max this year is always on it,” Leclerc said. “For sure, he will be a threat and up there tomorrow.”
Verstappen has won from as far back as ninth on the grid this year, and took this small setback in his stride.
“Of course it’s a bit unfortunate,” he said. “But it makes the Sunday also a bit more fun.” — Luke Smith, senior Formula 1 writer
Provisional United States GP qualifying results
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
- Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)
- Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Logan Sargeant (Williams)
Required reading
(Photo: Clive Mason – Formula 1 / Formula 1 via Getty Images)