The Ferrari duo were the fastest in Austin’s F1 time trials, but Charles Leclerc will receive a grid penalty for the race. After a break of five race weekends, Valtteri Bottas stretched to three sections.
The 19th F1 race of the season will be held in Austin, Texas, USA. Time trials were run on the night between Saturday and Sunday, Finnish time.
The home race did not offer the Yankee team Haas mercy in qualifying, but both Kevin Magnussen that Mick Schumacher remained in the first section.
Schumacher spun on his last fast lap. The German driver does not have a contract for next season, and the outspoken team manager Gunther Steiner has demanded additional proof of this.
Alfa Romeo Valtteri Bottas ran a great time considering the recent trend. Bottas made it to the triple section after a break of five race weekends. Team mate Guanyu Zhou fell from the last section due to breaking the track limits.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took his third pole position of the season. World Champion Max Verstappen made a small mistake at the end of his last fast lap.
– It was really fun. Difficult with gusty wind. I managed to drive a lap without any mistakes. I believe that tomorrow the Red Bulls will be favorites, they have a strong race pace, Sainz stated.
1. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 1.34.356
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +0.065
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +0.092
4. Sergio Perez, Red Bull, +0.289
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +0.591
6. George Russell, Mercedes, +0.632
7. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +1.242
8. Lando Norris, McLaren, +1.333
9. Fernando Alonso, Alpine, +1,520
10. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, +1,963
11. Alexander Albon, Williams
12. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
13. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
14. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo
15. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
16. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
17. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
18. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
19. Michael Schumacher, Haas
20. Nicholas Latifi, Williams
The above results are not the starting order for Sunday’s race because Charles Leclerc incurs a penalty of ten squares and Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez mixed Guanyu Zhou receive five-square penalties due to the changes made to the cars.
Especially for Red Bull, qualifying was emotional. Just before the start, sad news was received: the founder and co-owner of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz has died at the age of 78. The Red Bull team entered Formula One in 2005, when Mateschitz had bought the Jaguar team.
– We are incredibly grateful for everything he has done and all the way he has supported us over the years. So many drivers, so many team members, so many people in this pit owe so much to him, stated the Red Bull team manager Christian Horner of F1 on the website (you will switch to another service).
The competition in Austin starts on Sunday at 22:00 Finnish time. Finns have won on Austin’s Circuit of the Americas track Kimi Raikkonen 2018 and Bottas 2019. Räikkönen’s victory was the last of his career.
After the US GP, the season continues in Mexico, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
Verstappen has secured the championship. Red Bull is also firmly in the team championship. It will be confirmed in Austin if Ferrari does not get at least 19 points more than the Austrian team.
Urheilu follows Sunday’s competition moment by moment.
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