The fourth Sprint Qualifying of the season, this one at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, saw Scuderia Ferrari HP running competitively, capable of fighting for the front rows, to the extent that it was reasonable to expect both cars to qualify in the top four. In fact, come the end of a very close fought session, Charles was third fastest, with Carlos fifth. Both now aim to move up the order in the 100 kilometre race that gets underway tomorrow at 13 local (20 CEST).
The session. As per the regulations, Medium tyres must be used for the first two parts, and both SF-24s comfortably made the cut to SQ3. With the limited time available, the Ferrari duo along with the other drivers, went out on the Softs for just one run. Charles crossed the line second behind George Russell with a time of 1’33”059, but then came Max Verstappen who outpaced everyone, which dropped the Monegasque down to third. Carlos ended up fifth on row 3, just three hundredths slower than his team-mate with a time of 1’33”089.
A test for the Grand Prix. The top eight finishers in tomorrow’s 19 lap Sprint race score points – 8 for the win down to one point for eighth place. Above all, the race will be an opportunity to evaluate race pace for Sunday’s Grand Prix. After the Sprint, teams have a few hours to work on the cars before qualifying (start time 17 local, 24 CEST) for Sunday’s 56 lap main event which will start at 14 local (21 CEST).
Charles Leclerc #16
Not the ideal result, but P3 is not too bad as a starting position for the Sprint Race and we will push to make up some places tomorrow.Our pace looked good on the Medium, but on the Soft we didn’t quite have the pace to challenge for P1 today. The lap was a bit scrappy, but overall, the feeling wasn’t great which happens, especially when you’ve had limited running time in practice.We still don’t have a clear picture of everyone’s race pace so I hope we have a strong Sprint Race as that would be a positive sign for Sunday.
Carlos Sainz #55
It was a very tight Sprint Qualifying and overall the session wasn’t too bad. We did good laps in SQ1 and SQ2 with the Medium tyre, but we missed a bit with the Soft. On the last flying lap in SQ3 it was all about the slightest of details but we still have tomorrow to go at it again.On the race pace I think we could be competitive so I expect an interesting Sprint Race tomorrow where we will fight to gain some positions.
Fred Vasseur - Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari HP
So far so good I would say, even if it was not the result we expected after we were heading the field this morning on the Hard and the car was also okay on the Soft. SQ1 and SQ2 went very well and then in SQ3 we lost a bit with the Soft, but overall the pace is there and it shows continuity from Monza, Baku and Singapore.As usual, it’s very tight and we saw Mercedes and Verstappen much better on the Soft than the Medium, while it was the opposite for us, which bodes well for our race pace on Saturday and Sunday as we won’t have to use the Soft in the race. Tomorrow, starting from P3 and looking at our pace on the Medium we have the pace to fight for the win.