World champion on pole... before being penalized on the grid

The bubbles of Las Vegas champagne seem to continue to sparkle in the head of Max Verstappen. Not in great shape at the start of the weekend, the Dutchman found the right setting to go for his first pole position on the track since Austria, on June 30th. A time gap that he put an end to by 55/1000ths at the expense of George Russell. The Briton however obtained the gain of the pole position well after the fact, after having been hindered by the Dutchman, the latter having received a penalty of one position.

The two strong men of this end of season will have behind them a 100% second line McLaren made of Lando Norris (3e) and Oscar piastri (4th). The Woking team has in any case ensured the essential by qualifying its two cars ahead of the Ferrari. Charles Leclerc is in fact ranked 5th, when Carlos Sainz is ranked 7th. The two men are separated by Lewis Hamilton, once again outclassed by Russell.

Gasly in the fight for points?

Note the excellent qualification of Fernando Alonso, 8th ahead of the Red Bull by Checo Perez (9th). If the Mexican was at least polite enough to go for Q3, his 9th place rings hollow when his teammate Max Verstappen is on pole. Kevin Magnussen was very happy to grab 10th place on the grid, placing Haas in a good position to go and get more points again on Sunday.

This time, however, there was no Q3 for Pierre Gasly (11th), eliminated in Q2 for 12/1000th. The driver Alpine still beat the two Sauber drivers, who will start very close to the points zone (Zhou 12th, Bottas 13th) and who will have the opportunity to unlock the Swiss team's counter on Sunday. Yuki tsunoda (14e) and Lance stroll (15th) will start just behind.

No nice surprise for Esteban Ocon, eliminated in Q1 with 20th place on the grid. The Norman does not seem to have the same specification as his compatriot Pierre Gasly. The Evreux native will start behind Franco Colapinto, who is no longer as magical since his recent crashes, even if the Argentinian is not equipped with the latest updates. Alex Albon is 16th, while Liam Lawson (17th) and Nico Hulkenberg (18th) were also eliminated in the first segment of qualifying. The Grand Prix will take place this Sunday at 17 p.m.

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