Formula 1 is racing in Austin, Texas, this weekend, so it’s no surprise that a state known for its ranches would see a pole position from the Prancing Horse.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc landed on pole position during Friday’s qualifying, beating out Mclaren’s Lando Norris by just over a hundredth of a second. Leclerc’s official pole position came after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a faster lap time deleted after he went off the track at turn 19.
The pole position is Leclerc’s 21st in his career, and he’ll be set on the front row in an attempt to win his sixth race. Perhaps the biggest surprise outside of the front three not featuring a Red Bull car is the struggles of Aston Martin in qualifying — drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both only qualified 19th and 17th, respectively.
Here is how qualifying for Sunday’s race shaped out:
- Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] (1:34.723)
- Lando Norris [McLaren] (1:34.853)
- Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] (1:34.862)
- Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] (1:34.945)
- George Russell [Mercedes] (1:35.079)
- Max Verstappen [Red Bull] (1:35.081)
- Pierre Gasly [Alpine] (1:35.089)
- Esteban Ocon [Alpine] (1:35.154)
- Sergio Perez [Red Bull] (1:35.173)
- Oscar Piastri [McLaren] (1:35.467)
- Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri] (1:35.697)
- Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo] (1:35.698)
- Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo] (1:35.858)
- Kevin Magnussen [Haas] (1:35.880)
- Daniel Ricciardo [AlphaTauri] (1:35.974)
- Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] (1:36.235)
- Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] (1:36.268)
- Alexander Albon [Williams] (1:36.315)
- Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] (1:36.589)
- Logan Sargeant [Williams] (1:36.827)