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LIVE-[GP]**F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 Live Stream Free
Charles Leclerc converted his strong practice pace into pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix during a thrilling qualifying session around the all-new Strip Circuit, with the Ferrari man getting the better of team mate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
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Leclerc was consistently quick throughout Saturday morning’s running and delivered a 1m 32.726s in the decisive pole shootout to finish half a tenth clear of Sainz, who will drop 10 places on the grid due to an engine penalty.
While both Leclerc and Sainz improved on their second Q3 runs, Verstappen could not find any more pace and returned to the pits, leaving him third from George Russell, who was the sole remaining Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton dropped out in Q2.
Several drivers starred in the tricky, cool conditions, with Pierre Gasly putting his Alpine an incredible fifth, Williams team mates Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant taking P6 and P7 and Valtteri Bottas ending eighth fastest for Alfa Romeo.
Hamilton’s Q2 exit left him down in 11th, as he radioed the Mercedes pit wall to explain that there was nothing left in his car, though he will at least gain a place for the race due to Sainz’s aforementioned grid penalty.
Perez, having sat out the second segment’s final runs, had to settle for 12th from Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll – who will take a five-place grid drop for a yellow flag breach in practice – and AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo.
McLaren had a nightmare session as their recent run of form took a nosedive along Vegas’ high-speed streets, with Lando Norris missing the Q2 cut by 0.020s in 16th and F1 rookie Oscar Piastri only managing the penultimate spot on the grid in 19th.
Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu could not match the pace of their team mates as they fell at the first hurdle in 17th and 18th respectively, as replays showed the Alpine racer getting caught up in a peculiar moment with Verstappen during the final Q1 runs.
Yuki Tsunoda was another to have a scruffy session in the other AlphaTauri, having seen one of his lap times deleted for exceeding track limits and then made a mistake on his last run of the session, leaving him 20th and last on the grid.
After getting to grips with the Las Vegas Strip Circuit in practice, the time had come for drivers to push to the limit around the city’s famous streets and fight for all-important grid positions ahead of Saturday night’s race.
When Q1 got under way amid one of the most spectacular backdrops in F1 history, it was Leclerc who set the early pace with an initial 1m 34.898s, before improving to an eye-catching 1m 34.072s – sending a clear message to his rivals.
Meanwhile, there was trouble for McLaren, with Norris complaining that Perez “completely got in my way” during his first run on softs, and team mate Piastri clipping one of the concrete walls, albeit seeming to escape without any damage.
Halfway into the session, Leclerc still led the way with his 1m 34s flat effort, putting him half a second clear of Perez, followed by Hamilton, Norris, Sainz and Verstappen in a closely-matched group of cars behind the flying lead Ferrari.
At the other end of the timesheets, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Tsunoda and Russell found themselves in the drop zone, with the latter two losing lap times over track limits, meaning they had to dust themselves off and go again.
