US Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying: Verstappen is back, Norris flops
F1 NewsSaturday, 19 October 2024 at 00:19
Max Verstappen took pole for the fourth Sprint race in the 2024 Formula 1 season while title rival Lando Norris was only fourth fastest.
Verstappen started the session and started building up his speed as he did not lead in SQ1 and SQ2 but kept his best for last and ended up taking Sprint Qualifying pole by just 0.012s from George Russell who was second in the Mercedes.
It was an impressive effort from Russell as Mercedes, with their heavily upgraded W15, struggled in the first practice session.
Ferrari did not bring any upgrades to their SF-24 for the US Grand Prix this weekend and showed decent speed but then fell short in Sprint qualifying as Charles Leclerc was third fastest while teammate Carlos Sainz was fifth fastest.
Lando Norris, despite having a totally new MCL38 with a raft of upgrades was fourth fastest, splitting the two Ferraris, but what was worse for McLaren is that Oscar Piastri was eliminated from SQ1, 16th fastest.
Nico Hulkenberg was an impressive sixth in the Haas, again showing his qualifying prowess and surviving a water pressure issue on his car that hit him after SQ2.
Lewis Hamilton was seventh fastest in the Mercedes despite having the upper hand on his teammate in the first two stages of Sprint qualifying but had a messy lap in SQ3 and was vocally unhappy with his team for sending him out on track early.
Kevin Magnussen did well to qualify eighth fastest ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in ninth while Franco Colapinto was superb; tenth fastest despite spinning in SQ3.
Liam Lawson, on his first test in his F1 return, was only 15th.
Verstappen said after Sprint qualifying: "We had a good day. Of course, Sprint Qualy is always very difficult, you never really know how much you can push.
"The whole day the car was working well. I'm happy to be first, it's been a while, so happy with today," he added. "This track is amazing to drive. With new tarmac, a little bit of old, then the bumps, it's not easy but it's fun."
As for his predictions for the Sprint, Verstappen said: "We will do the best we can in the Sprint but we also know the most points are available on Sunday, so that's where we really want to do well."
Verstappen's title rival, Norris was downbeat and reflected on his Sprint qualifying: "Not very good. I’m P4, so not a great day. I’ve been struggling the whole day, honestly, with the balance and the setup.
"In a way, I’m happy with P4 because I felt like it could have been a lot worse. But my lap was shocking. Not a terrible day – could have been worse, could have been better, but I’ll take it," the Briton added.
SQ1: Piastri eliminated!
Sprint qualifying started in dry conditions with track temperature at 35 degrees Celsius, cooler than in FP1, while air temperature was 28 degrees.
As mandated by the regulations of the Sprint qualifying, the Medium tyre is the only allowed compound in SQ1, as drivers will keep driving around the track making sure they set a time when the track is at its most evolved state.
Verstappen posted the first lap time and went fastest with Sergio Perez second fastest but his time gets deleted while Magnussen went fastest and then Tsunoda second fastest.
The Norris went fastest on his first attempt with Sainz going second fastest while Leclerc went to the top on his first timed lap. Verstappen was not seventh.
Russell then posted the fourth fastest time while Hamilton went to the top from the first time of asking.
The order: Hamilton - Leclerc - Norris - Sainz - Russell - Magnussen - Fernando Alonso - Lance Stroll - Tsunoda - Verstappen - Lawson - Pierre Gasly - Piastri - Alex Albon - Colapinto.
Verstappen's second timed lap put him up in third as the second rounds of laps commenced with around two minutes remaining from SQ1.
In the end, Leclerc improved and was the fastest with a 1:33.647, 0.193s faster than Hamilton in second with Verstappen third fastest, 0.261s off the pace.
The first to drop out of SQ1 was Piastri who was 16th fastest after having his best lap time deleted for exceeding the track limits at Turn 19. He missed out by 0.016s.
Esteban Ocon was 17th fastest in the Alpine ahead of Albon who was 18th in the Williams after spinning on his final lap and just avoided crashing.
Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were 19th and 20th respectively.
SQ2: Perez drops out
The second stage of the Sprint qualifying started with no delay as the remaining 15 drivers set out on the mandatory Medium tyres to book a place in SQ3.
Russell was the first driver to set a time and went fastest, but then Hamilton went ahead of him, but Sainz then went fastest while Leclerc was third fastest with Norris slotting in fifth.
Verstappen then started his first flying lap in SQ2 and went second fastest, 0.016s behind Sainz. He reported over the team radio: "I'm struggling a lot with the ride."
The initial order was: Sainz - Verstappen - Hamilton - Leclerc - Russell - Norris - Magnussen - Colapinto - Hulkenberg - Perez
Soon the second runs were underway and in the end Sainz led the way into SQ3 ahead of Verstappen and 0.096s ahead of Hamilton in third.
Perez was the first of the losers this time, 11th fastest and missing out by 0.192s to Tsunoda who made it to SQ3 in tenth.
Gasly was 12th fastest in the Alpine ahead of Lance Stroll who was 13th fastest as Fernando Alonso 14th after losing his lap time for exceeding track limits.
Lawson was 15th fastest after also losing his lap time for exceeding track limits.
Colapinto who impressively made it to SQ3 had quite a close moment with Gasly who was in his way, the incident referred to the stewards for investigation but no further action was taken.
SQ3: Verstappen fastest by the tiniest of margins
Finally the Soft tyres were in action as the remaining drivers set out for the final time in Sprint qualifying to set the order of the top ten for the Sprint race on Saturday.
Russell and Hamilton went out first while Verstappen and Norris waited in the pits. Russell was the first to start a flying lap and went fastest while Hamilton was second behind him.
Hamilton was not happy being sent out soon and told his team: "That is not good."
Colapinto spun at Turn 12 bringing out a brief Yellow flag, but did not crash.
Then Sainz started his flying lap as Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris and the remaining drivers joined the track with less than two minutes on the clock.
Sainz went second fastest while Norris took that place from him while Leclerc then dropped Norris to third while Verstappen was still on his flying lap.
Verstappen set the fastest lap time in the dying moments taking pole for Saturday's Sprint race and by 0.016s from Russell who was second fastest.
Leclerc was 0.226s of the pace in third and 0.024s ahead of Norris who was in fourth.
Sainz was fifth fastest, 0.006s behind Norris and 0.094s ahead of Hulkenberg, the German sixth fastest in the Haas.
Hamilton was down in seventh, 0.545s off the pace and 0.020s ahead of Magnussen in eighth, as Tsunoda was ninth with Colapinto rounding up the top ten.
Latest News
Loading
