© Vladimir Rys2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Qualifying ReportMax Verstappen edges closer to his fourth F1 Drivers’ title
MaxVerstappenqualifiedaheadofsoletitlerivalLandoNorrisinatightbattleforgridsupremacyattheLasVegasGrandPrix.
To seal the crown, Max needs to prevent Norris from outscoring him by three points, and while the Bulls weren’t in the fight for pole position at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, the Dutchman battled through to fifth place on the grid, two tenths ahead of Norris, who will line up directly behind the title leader at the rear of row three.
Max Verstappen edges closer to his fourth F1 Drivers’ title© Getty Images
After suffering through a Thursday that Max said was like “driving on ice,” the Bulls bounced back in final practice at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit as Max finished fifth and Checo took P13.
It wasn’t an easy recovery, however, and in the early part of the session, run on medium tyres, Max reported that his car was “undriveable.” At the halfway stage, Max, with 10 laps on the board, was rooted to the bottom of the timesheet, with Checo one pace ahead after 14 laps on the C4 compound tyres.
But, after making changes to the car and with soft tyres on board for the final third of the hour-long session, the RB20 was transformed. Reporting that the grip suddenly felt “miles better,” Max pumped in a lap of 1:34.137 to vault from 20th to first place.
Others were also improving, however, and eventually the Dutchman was pushed back to fifth place, with Checo in 13th. A late red flag, caused by a stoppage for Lance Stroll, ended meaningful running, but with two hours to go before qualifying, the much-improved Bulls at last looked in good shape.
In the opening runs of Q1, it was the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris that led the way, with the former establishing the early benchmark at 1:34.058. Max’s opening flyer, 0.295s off the Australian, left him in seventh place, while Checo’s opener put him in 13th, almost a second off the top spot.
The McLarens improved again on their second runs, with Piastri dropping the P1 time to 1:33.450. Max also improved on his second run, and this time he jumped up to fourth with a time of 1:33.800.
Max was beginning to get into his stride, and with his next run, the Dutchman posted a fastest middle sector and a lap of 1:33.299 to rise to P1. He couldn’t hang on to top spot, and in the final moments he was shuffled back to third place behind Russell and his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Checo, however, wasn’t finding a sweet spot with his RB20, and as the final runs began, he slid down to 18th place. His final attempt put him 12th, but with improvements flowing in elsewhere, the Mexican was far from secure, and as the clock counted down, he slipped down and out in P16.
It just doesn’t get any better. Couldn’t find any grip.
Eliminated behind Checo were Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ Alex Albon, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, and the second Aston of Lance Stroll.
Checo couldn't find a sweet spot with his RB20 as the final runs began© Getty Images
Max was first out on track at the start of the middle segment, and after two prep laps, the Dutchman posted a lap of 1:33.201. That put him in third place, just 0.065s off Piastri, who was a tiny 0.001s behind Hamilton. Max erased those gaps with his second flyer, and this time a purple first sector helped him to P1, 0.051s ahead of Hamilton.
Both Mercedes drivers were into flying laps, though, as this time Russell went quickest in the first two sectors to take top spot with a lap of 1:32.881. Hamilton then slotted into second while Leclerc jumped up the order to push Max back to fourth ahead of the final runs.
The team determined the champion’s time of 1:33.085 was good enough to see him through to the top 10 shootout, and it proved to be a wise choice.
Hamilton took top spot in the session with a time of 1:32.567, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Russell. As Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rose to fourth ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, Max eased through in P7.
The session ended in a shower of carbon fiber, however. Almost as soon as the chequered flag was waved, Franco Colapinto clipped the wall on the inside of Turn 15. The impact, which broke his front left suspension, sent the Williams driver flying into the wall on the opposite side of the track, where a second impact added heavy damage to the right side of his Williams car.
After an almost 30-minute delay, Q3 got underway, and Max led the field out on track. The Dutchman once again put in an out lap and a prep lap before dropping the throttle on his flying lap, and after the opening runs, he found himself in third place, four tenths off Russell, who claimed provisional pole with a time of 1:32.811, and two hundredths of a second ahead of title rival Norris.
And the champion managed to maintain that advantage in the final runs. While Max ultimately wasn’t in the frame for pole position, his final lap of 1:32.797 (again four tenths down on pole position man Russell) was enough to hand the champion fifth place on the grid and the front of row three, two tenths of a second and a handful of metres ahead of Norris.
With Russell on pole, the other front row place went to Sainz, while Pierre Gasly took a surprise third place for Alpine ahead of Leclerc. Behind Norris, Yuki Tsunoda qualified in P8 for VCARB, while Piastri was ninth for McLaren. Hamilton, who had both his Q3 flyers deleted for track limits infringements, qualified tenth.
