LAS VEGAS (USA) (ITALPRESS) – Lando Norris sends a clear signal to the other contenders of the title, taking the pole position firmly in the Grand Prix of Las Vegas, twenty-second and terzultimate round of the World Championship of F1. The British McLaren driver avoids all the pitfalls of the track that winds along the Strip and made even more slippery by rain, stopping the chronometer in 1’47′′′934 and putting over three tenths of detachment to Max Verstappen. “It was hard to know what to expect, I didn’t expect to go so strong in the rain,” Norris told after qualifying, while the Dutch Red Bull admitted that driving under these conditions in Las Vegas “is not fun. I like driving on the wet, but here is how to drive on the ice”. In third place an extraordinary Carlos Sainz, with a Williams who in these conditions occupied the first positions since Q1. Sainz has also spent an investigation for a possible return to the dangerous track against Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) during Q1. And if Spanish smiles, his former team, Ferrari, lives another nightmare session. The disappointment and anger of Charles Leclerc, who, after his ninth place, did not use words to say that “we haven’t been in the rain for seven years. It has always been one of my greatest strengths in the minor categories, I arrived in Ferrari and I never found the feeling in the rain.”.
It goes even worse to Lewis Hamilton who, for the first time in career (except when he had mechanical failures), will leave last. “I was preparing curve 10 and I had yellow flag, I couldn’t finish the round. I had to raise my foot and in the end it was red”, he said analyzing the last attempt; In fact, since the time detection line and the beginning and end of the race do not coincide, the images show that the British could make a further round. However, it remains the fact of not completing a good tour in the previous eighteen minutes of session. In the second row, alongside Sainz, there will be George Russell, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli will leave only seventeenth. The two Mercedes drivers finished under investigation as Fia had not received the documentation on the respective setup cards; the team, however, proved to have sent everything electronically for a long time, and that the lack of reception in the expected time was due to a computer problem: also in this case, then, confirmed positions. Finally, fifth position for Norris’s partner and other contender for the title, Oscar Piastri, who did not finish the last round due to a yellow flag.
LA GRIGLIA DI PARTENZA
1st row
1. Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1’47′′934
at an average speed of 206,826 km/h
2. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1’48′′257
2nd row
3. Carlos Sainz (Esp) Williams 1’48′′296
4. George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes 1’48′′803
3rd row
5. Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1’48′′′961
6. Liam Lawson (Nzl) Racing Bulls 1’49′′062
4th row
7. Fernando Alonso (Esp) Aston Martin 1’49′′466
8. Isack Hadjar (Fra) Racing Bulls 1’49′′554
5th row
9. Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1’49′′872
10. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1’51′′540
6th row
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Kick Sauber 1’52′781
12. Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1’52′′850
7th row
13. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1’52′987
14. Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Haas 1’53′′094
8th row
15. Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 1’53′683
16. Alexader Albon (Tha) Williams 1’56′′220
9th row
17. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes 1’56′′314
18. Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Kick Sauber 1’56′′674
10th row
19. Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull 1’56′′798
20. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Ferrari 1’57′115
– photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
