United States GP 2023
OCTOBER 20, 2023
Qualifying Report - Leclerc takes pole for Sunday's USGP
© Ferrari
By Peter Habicht
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set a pole lap time of 1:34:723s in qualifying today for Sunday's Grand Prix, besting McLaren's Lando Norris, Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and teammate Carlos Sainz. Mercedes' George Russell placed sixth ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who held provisional pole until his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 19.
Both Alpines performed well on the bumpy Circuit of The Americas, with Pierre Gasly and and Esteban Ocon taking eighth and ninth ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez and McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda will start from 11th on the grid in front of the Alfa Romeos of Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas, while Haas' Kevin Magnussen and a returning Daniel Ricciardo for AlphaTauri will start from 14th and 15th on the grid.
Haas' Nico Hulkenberg will start from 16th after a disappointing Q1, exceeding track limits at turn 19 late in the round. The Aston Martin's continued to struggle with braking issues as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were 17th and 19th, with Williams' Alex Albon in 18th ahead of teammate Logan Sargeant, who will start from 20th on the grid on Sunday.
Tomorrow's Sprint round will begin with a 12:30p Shootout and 5p Sprint.