Charles Leclerc breaks Max Verstappen’s winning streak and took pole position for Sunday’s race United States Grand PrixThe eighteenth round of the 2023 calendar. The Monegasque, who is highly competitive with Ferrari, surprised the Red Bull champion, who will start sixth on the grid on Sunday after seeing his best lap canceled. Carlos Sainz finished fourth, Fernando Alonso suffered a heavy blow and after attending all the 3rd quarter sessions of the year, this time he could not pass the 1st quarter.
The session was held in very extreme conditions, on a 42-degree track and on the usual bumpy asphalt. Inter-American Circuit. Haas is one of the most improved cars on the Texas circuit, and free practice saw Magnussen in the top five and Hülkenberg temporarily ahead of Verstappen at the start of the first quarter.
[Clasificación del Mundial de Fórmula 1]
Carlos SainzHaving won pole position in Austin a year ago, he set a best time on his first lap of 1.35.824, leaving him two tenths behind teammate Leclerc. Verstappen ‘flew’ to beat Sainz’s time on second lap by almost half a second (1.35.346), but Hamilton (1.35.091) and also Norris overtook the Dutchman less strongly than usual.
For the first time this season, Alonso was eliminated in the 18th class at the first opportunity. While Hülkenberg, Albon and Sargeant, as well as Stroll, were among those who could not pass the first quarter screening, Aston Martin was a complete disappointment.
The Ferraris struggled in the second quarter, with Leclerc ending up ahead (1.35.004), but three-time champion Verstappen was just four thousandths behind and Hamilton third ahead of Sainz. Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen and Ricciardo are out of the decisive lapWith the worst time of what Checo Pérez considered ‘extreme’ and classified.
The outcome of the pole fight was less predictable than other events; Leclerc surprised with his speed in all sectors, forcing Verstappen to accelerate to the millimeter to beat the Monegasque, who was struggling with RB19 in the second set.
The Ferrari driver became the first driver to break the 1.35 barrier (1.34.829) and took provisional pole position, two tenths faster than Max. Hamilton joined the fray and finished second ahead of the three-time Red Bull champion, with Sainz finishing fourth.
[Calenario de la temporada de la Fórmula 1]
Leclerc improved again (1.34.723) and although Max had a better lap (1.34.718). Canceled due to track limits The Dutch dropped to sixth place. He secured Ferrari’s pole position for the second year in a row and finished 21st in the Monegasque’s personal standings. He will open the grid on Sunday ahead of Norris, Hamilton and Sainz.
Blow to Aston Martin
Aston Martin introduced itself in Austin major improvement package It includes four major updates. team Fernando Alonso wants to stop the ‘bleeding’ of points He remained in the final races against McLaren and Avoid the ‘surprise’ of those from Wokingfinished fifth in the teams’ championship. It remains to be seen whether this news will be enough to stop the winning streak of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who have dropped 93 points in the last four matches and are now only 11 points behind (230 points 219).
This weekend’s AMR23 features a new floor and an updated headlight spoiler. For the Circuit of the Americas, the edge of the floor was adjusted and a longitudinal groove and an outer fin were added. The diffuser has been replaced with a revised flare on the side. The engine cover and diffuser are also new. Aston Martin has made a last-ditch effort to cover the remaining five races in 2023 with guarantees. “We want to say goodbye to the season with a good taste in our mouth,” Alonso said on Thursday.
But this Friday the Asturian driver and his team had a thrilling start that ended in ‘drama’. When you take to the track in the first free practice, since it is a sprint format grand prix, the only thing that happens is, The brake cooling system of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso’s cars overheated and the team had to call both drivers to the pits. All alarms went off when a fire was seen on the left front axle of Alonso’s vehicle. The problem was worse for Stroll, who missed the remainder of the session, while Fernando finally took to the field fifteen minutes later and managed to complete training without further incident. He was unable to use the soft one to set the fastest lap and finished 18th. And from there, with almost no references, he went straight into the fight for pole position, where, like his teammate, he had his worst result of the year and was eliminated in the first quarter.