Charles Leclerc on pole as Las Vegas looks to move on from F1 practice chaos
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took a historic pole position at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix as Formula One tried to move on from a bruising 24 hours in Sin City.
A day after fans were left furious after being forced to evacuate the circuit at 2am local time, half an hour before a heavily delayed second practice finally got underway, qualifying at the £500 million race passed off without a hitch.
Ferrari were consistently quickest, with Leclerc the only driver to dip into the 1:32s in Q2. And so it was again in Q3, Leclerc taking pole under the lights with a 1:32.726, which was just 0.044sec faster than his team-mate Carlos Sainz managed.
Max Verstappen was third quickest, three tenths slower again, but the triple world champion, who will be chasing his 18th win of the season on Saturday, will start alongside Leclerc on the front row as Sainz has a 10-place grid penalty due to changing elements of his car after hitting the infamous ‘manhole cover’ in FP1 on Thursday.
“It was enjoyable out there,” said Verstappen. “I think we maximised today. I hope of course tomorrow in the race that we are good on the tyres again and we can work out a way forward.”
Next on the grid will be Mercedes’ George Russell who for some reason was able to extract much more out of the car than team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton did not even make the final top 10 shootout, exiting in Q2.
The surprise package of qualifying was undoubtedly Williams, with Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant taking sixth and seventh on the grid, which will become fifth and sixth once Sainz takes his medicine.
At the other end of the scale, McLaren had a disastrous session with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri failing to make the cut in Q1. They were only able to qualify in 16th and 19th.
Norris said it was “painful” but admitted it was “not a surprise” to the team, who were not hopeful coming into the week given the low-downforce nature of the circuit, not a particular strength of the McLaren.
Race organisers, who were heavily criticised for their handling of Thursday’s debacle, and again on Friday when they failed to apologise to fans, only offering a small percentage of ticket holders $200 worth of vouchers in recompense, will be praying the race lives up to the hype.
Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying, as it happened
09:38 AM GMT
That's nine times Sergio Perez has failed to reach Q3 in 2023
That is poor.
It’s probably not enough to worry Red Bull at the moment (given how good Verstappen has been) but it clearly isn’t good enough.
In fact, had the season started in Great Britain, the points table would be as follows:
Verstappen, 329pts
Norris, 183pts
Perez, 132pts
Sainz, 124pts
Hamilton, 124pts
Leclerc, 116pts
Russell, 91pts
Alonso, 81pts
Nearly 200 points behind his team-mate in that time, 50 behind Norris and basically challenging with drivers in the third and fourth fastest cars. If Verstappen drops off or the RB20 is caught up then that does become a problem for the team.
09:24 AM GMT
As you can hear...
Logan Sargeant was pretty pleased with that...
"COME ON!!!" 😃
The passion in that radio message from Logan Sargeant 📻 pic.twitter.com/zeLV2GR27G— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 18, 2023
09:20 AM GMT
Stunning performance from Williams, sixth and seventh for Albon and Sargeant
They will start fifth and sixth tomorrow. James Vowles speaks to Sky Sports F1:
“I think that was a dream... we knew we’d be quick here. To have both cars nicely in the top 10 within six-tenths of pole, that is a great achievement.”
Only two teams have two cars in the top 10: Ferrari and Williams.
09:16 AM GMT
That is Leclerc's 23rd pole position in F1
Only 13 drivers have more pole positions than him, and of those, only Hamilton, Schumacher, Senna, Vettel, Clark and Fangio have a better pole percentage.
Just five wins, though. His fifth this year, but no wins, either. He will obviously be hoping to put that right tomorrow.
09:09 AM GMT
Charles Leclerc reacts to another pole
“However, bit disappointed with my laps in Q3. I didn’t do a good enough job but it was enough for p1. Normally [the race] is where we lack most performance, so I hope we can put together [a good race tomorrow]. “
09:08 AM GMT
Carlos Sainz on the front row
For now... he takes a 10-place grid penalty...
“First of all, an outstanding job by the whole team. To put together the whole car and to get a front row lockout is incredible. We did the maximum that we could today. Obviously, still disappointed from yesterday, I am still in a bad mood, I am not going to lie but it is what it is.”
09:06 AM GMT
Max Verstappen on this third place
“Of course it’s quite cold out there, it’s quite slippery. You try to get as close as you can to the walls... it was enjoyable out there. I think we maximised today. I hope of course tomorrow in the race that we are good on the tyres again and we can work out way forward. We know that the points are tomorrow and it’s going to be a tough one.”
09:05 AM GMT
Q3 - Classification
LEC 1:32.726
SAI +0.044
VER +0.378
RUS +0.386
GAS +0.513
ALB +0.597
SAR +0.787
BOT +0.799
MAG +0.811
ALO +0.829
09:03 AM GMT
CHARLES LECLERC TAKES POLE FOR THE 2023 LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX
Did he ever look like being challenged? Yes, a little. But that was a superb performance from the Monegasque driver. Really hooked it up. Not sure what happened to Verstappen but he came back into the pit lane. He is third, but will start on the front row tomorrow.
09:02 AM GMT
Q3 - Albon sixth, Gasly fifth!
Decent effort - and Sainz will drop down, moving them up further.
09:02 AM GMT
Q3 - Sainz isn't too far away from his team-mate
Verstappen isn’t getting pole, he’s probably aborted his lap now.
Sainz crosses the line... just 0.044sec off his team-mate! That is surely pole for Leclerc!
Sargeant into fourth... Bottas fifth! Russell into fourth, knocking those two down... what can Albon do?
09:01 AM GMT
Q3 - Final runs under way
Let’s see what they’ve got, with Verstappen now out there.
His first sector time isn’t as good as previously, but is that a bad thing? He sets the fastest middle sector of all...
Verstappen is slower than Leclerc was after one sector... and he’s MILES off after two sectors.
Magnussen moves up to fourth!
Leclerc improves to a 1:32.726 to go faster still...
08:58 AM GMT
Q3 - Verstappen looks like he's going to be the last man out there
Everyone else currently on track.
Here’s the current order, although just the top seven have set times.
LEC
SAI
VER
ALO
RUS
GAS
MAG
SAR
ALB
BOT
08:56 AM GMT
Q3 - Russell the sole Mercedes left
He doesn’t look to be challenging the front row on this pace. No Williams or Bottas yet, either. Russell crosses the line in fifth, 0.546sec off Leclerc. It wasn’t the best lap from him, slower than his Q2 time.
Verstappen gets as close to the wall as you want to...
“F---, that was close!” he says on the radio.
08:54 AM GMT
Q3 - Leclerc crosses the line with a 1:33.021
Sainz isn’t far away though! But 0.022sec the gap. Verstappen is challenging but can’t beat Leclerc! 0.083sec the gap from the Red Bull to the lead Ferrari.
Alonso makes a bit of a mistake on used tyres but still goes fourth, which suggests there is pace in that Aston Martin.
08:53 AM GMT
Q3 - Leclerc on a mission this weekend
Five F1 wins for him, but none since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. Sainz is the man with a win most recently for Ferrari, in Singapore this year. Leclerc looks unbeatable and Sainz has a (ridiculous) grid penalty to take anyway.
08:52 AM GMT
Q3 - Sainz with the fastest first sector so far
But Leclerc beats that by nearly two tenths...
08:50 AM GMT
Q3 begins!
A few unfamiliar faces in there: both Williams cars, Bottas and Magnussen. Well, they are not that unfamiliar, but perhaps unfancied.
🟢 GREEN LIGHT 🟢
Q3 is a go... let's do this! 👊#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/sAHPfKFBF5— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2023
08:48 AM GMT
Lando Norris says both McLarens being out in Q2 is "not a surprise"
Because it was so close throughout the field.
08:46 AM GMT
Q2 Classification - Leclerc leads Sainz, Hamilton and Perez out
LEC 1:32.755
SAI +0.563
RUS +0.576
GAS +0.719
VER +0.797
ALB +0.813
ALO +0.842
MAG +0.889
SAR +0.958
BOT +1.034
HAM +1.062
PER +1.080
HUL +1.204
STR +1.424
RIC +1.533
Hamilton didn’t have the pace but Perez was apparently saving a set of tyres for Q3. Well, he won’t be able to use them now, will he? Guess he has them for the race... but if it’s marginal (as it obviously was), why not just go out there? Do it late and you can abort the lap if others don’t look like challenging you.
08:43 AM GMT
Q2 - Albon sixth!
That means Perez is out! And Hamilton is at risk now... he’s on track but isn’t on a flying lap and is down in 11th. He’s out too!
Perez and Hamilton are not out by much, in fact less than half a tenth each, but they are out nonetheless.
“I couldn’t go any faster, mate,” Hamilton says on the radio. The presence of the Haas cars, the Williams cars and Bottas has made it more difficult for the bigger teams.
08:41 AM GMT
Q2 - Stroll goes 10th
OK. That helps Perez. Sargeant moves up into sixth, knocking Stroll out. Bottas into eighth, pushing Perez out. Hmmm. He could be going out here, but let’s see...
08:40 AM GMT
Q2 - Two minutes remain
Williams might struggle to make Q3 at this rate. Haas doing a fantastic job. Perez is not out there and might be waiting nervously to see if he gets through. He’s the only one who isn’t on track. It wouldn’t take an enormous improvement by an enormous number of drivers to drop him out but I reckon he should be fine, just about. It’s marginal.
08:37 AM GMT
Q2 - Here come the Ferraris...
Leclerc goes fastest by nearly 0.8sec! Sainz cannot even get within half a second of him, but does go second to make it a Ferrari 1-2. The other two Ferrari-powered cars, the Haases, are currently fourth and fifth. Track evolution strong here.
Some effort from Charles Leclerc 🙌
Leclerc goes top, by a huge seven and a half tenths of a second! #LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/q7OYsVk5Wg— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2023
Gasly, Sargeant, Stroll, Ricciardo and Bottas the men in the drop zone.
08:36 AM GMT
Q2 - Errr. I take that back
It was a rapid final sector for Hamilton, who goes fastest with a 1:33.837, a smidgen faster than team-mate Russell.
Never mind, though, Verstappen beats Hamilton by 0.230sec. Perez then splits the Mercedes. But Leclerc is on a very fine lap.
08:34 AM GMT
Q2 - It's a decent first sector for Hamilton
He’s three tenths down, nearly, after two sectors though so might struggle to trouble the top four here.
08:33 AM GMT
Q2 - Current order
ALO
PER
LEC
SAI
ALB
GAS
MAG
SAR
STR
RIC
DROP ZONERUS
HUL
HAM
VER
BOT
Not one of the drivers in the drop zone has set a lap, though.
08:31 AM GMT
Q2 - Ferrari looking strong...
But Perez nips them both, beating Leclerc by just 0.001sec after their first flying laps of this session. Alonso then beats them all, 0.085sec faster than Perez. Impressive. Stroll can’t match that – 1.124sec down.
08:30 AM GMT
Q2 - Magnussen leads the way early on
Though nobody else has set a representative time...
08:29 AM GMT
Q2 - No crashes yet...
It did get a bit busy towards the end of the last session, though.
Las Vegas Boulevard traffic troubles 🫣
It was a busy end to the first part of qualifying! 🚦#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/yjhpaklQiu— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2023
Ocon had a bit of a run-in with Verstappen at turn one and Stroll is under investigation for failing to slow under yellow flags at T5 when Tsunoda left the track.
08:27 AM GMT
Q2 begins
No McLarens. Zak Brown essentially says it’s not great but low downforce set-ups have been their weakness throughout the year but they hope for something a bit more in what could be a chaotic race.
08:26 AM GMT
Some familiar faces
08:22 AM GMT
Q1 - Classification
LEC 1:33.617
SAI +0.234
RUS +0.520
VER +0.573
HUL +0.648
GAS +0.655
BOT +0.688
HAM +0.690
MAG +0.720
ALO +0.805
STR +0.9887
SAR +0.908
PER +0.957
ALB +1.017
RIC +1.066
ELIMINATED:NOR +1.086
OCO +0.217
ZHO +1.232
PIA +1.233
TSU +2.830
08:21 AM GMT
Q1 - Leclerc fastest
Sainz second, Russell third.
08:20 AM GMT
Q1 - Chequered flag
Norris is in danger now... he’s in 15th. Russell into third. Norris has finished his session... Stroll moves up to 11th and knocks Norris out! Two McLarens out in the first part of qualifying. Ouch. It’s like we’re back to the start of the season. They have been rapid recently but that will not help them in their fight for fourth with Aston Martin...
08:19 AM GMT
Q1 - It's not a good lap for Piastri
Yellow flags in sectors one and two but Piastri crosses the line only good enough for 17th, unable to improve. He is out of this session. Magnussen moves up to sixth as the chequered flag falls. Stroll in danger of elimination here too.
08:18 AM GMT
Q1 - Top 10
LEC
SAIO
VER
GAS
BOT
HUL
MAG
SAR
PER
ALO
Piastri begins a crucial flying lap...
08:16 AM GMT
Q1 - Here is who is in the drop zone
16. ZHO
17. PIA
18. STR
19. RIC
20. TSU
Piastri in there...
08:15 AM GMT
Q1 - Russell has moved up into sixth
Sargeant moves into third putting him down to seventh. The lap times are getting quicker and quicker which makes it a bit dicey for anyone hoping to duck back into the garage around now. And also those still going round, actually, if they do not pull out a good lap.
Norris has a lap time deleted and moves back down to ninth after Hulkenberg moves up to fourth. Interesting...
08:13 AM GMT
Q1 - Leclerc leads Perez
Then it’s Hamilton, Norris, Sainz, Verstappen, Albon, Alonso, Sargeant and Magnussen rounding out the top 10.
Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Tsunoda and Russell are the bottom five.
08:12 AM GMT
Q1 - Albon into fourth
The two Mercedes cars are the last to set representative lap times but Hamilton goes third, 0.586sec off Leclerc’s 1:34.072. Russell, a little later, crosses the line... but having aborted his lap, so he remains down in 20th without a proper lap time.
08:11 AM GMT
Q1 - Norris is blocked by Perez
And that could be a penalty for the race, though I would need to see it again. Alonso goes fourth, albeit nearly a second slower than Leclerc.
08:09 AM GMT
Q1 - Sainz beats Leclerc by 0.111sec
But Leclerc than smashes that by 0.715sec... he’s on it.
08:09 AM GMT
Q1 - 10 mins to go
Here’s the current order:
LEC
VER
SAR
MAG
BOT
PER
OCO
NOR
ZHO
HUL
Carlos Sainz on a better lap and Leclerc about to go even faster...
08:08 AM GMT
Q1 - What can Verstappen do?
He beats Sargeant but not Leclerc. Not much in it, though.. less than a tenth of a second.
08:07 AM GMT
Q1 - Sargeant up into second
Not bad in the Williams, who have high hopes of getting both cars into Q3.
08:06 AM GMT
Q1 - The big boys come out now
Leclerc leads Perez and then the two McLarens. Big gap of 0.425sec between Leclerc in first and the next-best man in Perez.
08:05 AM GMT
Q1 - Anyway, Magnussen with a 1:35.968
That is nearly half a second quicker than his Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg. Bottas can’t beat that either, nor can Zhou.
08:04 AM GMT
Q1 - Magnussen out there already
Have to say, visually from the television there isn’t actually a great deal different to watching say, Jeddah, Baku (were it at night) or Singapore. That’s mostly because the walls are plastered with the same advertising hoardings. Of course it’s a bit different when you zoom out but... all a bit samey.
08:00 AM GMT
Q1 begins!
18 minutes to go. 20 drivers, 15 go through to Q2 and five do not.
Let's go qualifying in Las Vegas! 🙌#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/DTPyKf8XQC
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2023
08:00 AM GMT
A lot of talk about cold temps before this week
Track temperature is 17c currently, with air temperature 15c. Pretty cold.
07:55 AM GMT
Q1 begins in just under five minutes' time
Will we see anyone in the wall? Surely...
07:55 AM GMT
Among all this nonsense, let us not forget that we have a race to run this weekend
Again, it’s a shame that there is not much riding on it, with Verstappen winning all but three (!) of the races so far this year. But recent rounds - at least since the summer break - have been more interesting with Ferrari winning in Singapore and McLaren challenging. Mercedes have had a resurgence at various points but their weekend in Brazil last time out (where they won in 2022) was appalling, slower than even Aston Martin.
Still, it’s a new track and hopefully it’ll be a good fight for pole. Ferrari - and often Charles Leclerc - seem to go well at street tracks...
07:46 AM GMT
Also, if you haven't yet seen a lap of the track, onboard...
...then you can do so here, now, as Karun Chandhok guides you through George Russell’s fastest FP3 lap earlier today.
Karun Chandhok takes a closer look at George Russell's lap, as he went quickest in FP3 ⚡📺 pic.twitter.com/QFyjn8TtAI
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 18, 2023
07:38 AM GMT
Current constructor standings
Just two rounds left and it’s pretty close between second and third, fourth and fifth and seventh and eighth. Bigger gaps elsewhere, though. Alpine stuck in no man’s land in sixth. Williams should be good for seventh (realistically the best they could have hoped for), though AlphaTauri have hit a rich patch of form recently.
07:35 AM GMT
This is how Alex Albon's FP3 ended...
BIG contact with the wall for Alex Albon and he loses a tyre! 😲 pic.twitter.com/tUwP2DsdMP
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 18, 2023
07:26 AM GMT
Current driver standings: Top 10
07:21 AM GMT
F1 will not crack America with this Las Vegas grand prix clown show
Oliver Brown wrote about yesterday’s debacle:
Max Verstappen is right: the Las Vegas Grand Prix, F1’s ultimate exhibition of style over substance, is a clown show. The hapless charade under the lights wrapped up a little after 4am local time, in front of bleakly empty grandstands, after second practice became – due to “logistical considerations for our fans and staff” – a fan-free affair. A few diehard insomniacs watched the action from a multi-storey car park opposite the Sphere. Long-suffering mechanics faced the prospect of still working at daybreak.
07:17 AM GMT
Also, it seems there will be no refund for fans who saw just nine minutes of F1 running yesterday
They have, however, been given 200 USD worth of vouchers for the official F1 store, reports state. Hmmmm.
This Tweet from ESPN’s Nate Saunders rather sums it up:
So for anyone keeping score.
Statement count: Three
Apology count: Zero— Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) November 18, 2023
07:11 AM GMT
This is the statement released this morning, about yesterday
Renee Wilm, CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1, today issued the following statement:
“Our top priority at Formula 1 is the safety and security of our drivers, employees, and fans. Responsibility for the oversight of a Formula 1 event falls with Formula 1 as the commercial rights holder of the sport, the FIA as the regulatory body, and the local promoter, in this case the Las Vegas Grand Prix. This is important for those who are new to racing to understand.
“Last night, approximately nine minutes into the first Free Practice session, a water valve cover broke on the straight on Las Vegas Boulevard. At that time the FIA, which is responsible for the safe running of the activities on the circuit, stopped the session so that we could look at the broken water valve cover and inspect the track. This has happened on occasion at other tracks at other races around the world.
“The precautionary step of removing all of the water valve covers on the entire track and filling them with sand and asphalt was undertaken. The entire process, from determination of the issue to remediation, took approximately five hours. The decision to remediate in this way was taken out of an abundance of caution and because the safety of drivers, trackside marshals and officials and our fans is always our highest priority. We thank the contractors who worked expeditiously to resolve the situation so quickly.
“As a result, the first Free Practice ended early. We moved ahead with the second Free Practice session at approximately 2:30 AM PT for 90 minutes.
“The decision to run the second Free Practice session at 2:30 AM PT was supported by all parties to ensure the sporting integrity of the remainder of the event.
“We would like to thank the drivers, mechanics and all the teams for their patience and commitment last night to ensure that we could run the session successfully.
“Now, let us turn to the fan experience.
“The delay in the start of the second Free Practice session from midnight to 2:30 AM PT created risks for our employees and our fans.
“We made the decision to close the fan areas that are under LVGP’s purview at 1:30 AM PT and send fans home.
“Let us explain why.
“First, we were concerned about our public safety and security officials who had been in service for a long time and who are being asked to work for the next three nights. We thank Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Department of Public Works and other public safety officials for their incredible support during the event and also as we re-opened the track early this morning.
“Second, we were concerned about our transportation employees who are responsible for driving our fans back to hotels. By Federal law, they were bumping up against the amount of time they can legally and safely drive buses.
“Finally, our hospitality staff needed the ability to clean and resupply our guest areas to ensure that the fan experience is optimal for everyone over the coming days.
“We know this was disappointing. We hope our fans will understand based on this explanation that we had to balance many interests, including the safety and security of all participants and the fan experience over the whole race weekend.
“We have all been to events, like concerts, games and even other Formula 1 races, that have been cancelled because of factors like weather or technical issues. It happens, and we hope people will understand.
“So how will we address this tonight?
“We have worked overnight to adjust our staffing plans across security, transportation and hospitality to ensure that we can function and serve fans with the best possible experience in the event of an extended race schedule.
“We are excited about the racing today and thank our entire team and our fans for their support. We know this is going to be a great event. With that let’s get back to racing.”
I am not sure this is good enough and, I am not the first person to point it out, but “sorry” or “apologise” is not found in the above statement...
07:08 AM GMT
Times from final practice this morning (or last night? Vegas time)
RUS 1:31.093
PIA +0.398
SAR +0.552
VER +0.560
PER +0.613
ALB +0.633
ALO +0.695
HAM +0.760
BOT +0.815
MAG +0.974
NOR +0.996
HUL +1.019
STR +1.160
OCO +1.204
ZHO +1.788
LEC +1.815
SAI +1.846
TSU +1.994
GAS +2.392
RIC +3.685
06:58 AM GMT
Good morning
Welcome to our live coverage for qualifying for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, from the Strip itself. Formula One has spent a lot of money on this event, and have put a lot of effort into convincing people that it will be “the greatest show on earth”... or something like that. It is fair to say that the event, so far, has fallen a long way short of expectations.
Yesterday’s practice running was, simply, a farce. There was not even 10 minutes of first practice completed before the entire show was derailed. Carlos Sainz ran over a loose drain cover, which destroyed his Ferrari. The session was red-flagged, with Esteban Ocon and his Alpine also hitting the cover. Both cars were heavily damaged.
This then necessitated a look at the remaining 40 or so manhole covers around the rest of the track, as well as ensuring that they will be fixed in place, avoiding a repeat. First practice was then restarted and then there was an enormous delay – and plenty of uncertainty – around if and when second practice (due to start at 8am GMT) would actually begin.
Eventually it began two hours later than planned and was extended to 90 minutes, from the usual hour. Yet by this time all of the fans had been ejected from the grandstands and site, so FP2 took place to an entirely empty track (other than team staff, media and F1 personnel). It had echoes of coronavirus. The tickets, even to attend practice, were not cheap. It was an awful look for a sport which has invested so much, literally and otherwise, in this event. There was a lot of disgruntlement, clearly, some strange responses and a statement from the organisers (F1 themselves) which was an explanation but was no apology.
Anyway, back to the on-track action. Thankfully this morning’s third and final practice took place without a hitch and we must hope the same will happen for qualifying, which begins in an hour. In any case, George Russell finished FP3 fastest ahead of Oscar Piastri but it is difficult to look too much into the headline times and order as the session was stopped late on after Alex Albon crashed his Williams, bringing out a red flag.
