When the clock struck Midnight (Local Time), it was time for Qualifying for the Inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix!
Q1
In Qualifying 1; Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu, Oscar Piastri, and Yuki Tsunoda were the five slowest drivers. Lando Norris will be very disappointed to be out in Q1 after a terrific run of results whilst Esteban Ocon had a poor outing after being dived bombed by Max Verstappen on his final flying run. Zhou Guanyu struggled again as he could only manage P18 whilst Oscar Piastri basically summed up McLaren’s terrible day. Yuki Tsunoda ended up slowest in Qualifying after making a silly mistake at Turn 5. Charles Leclerc topped Q1 by over two tenths of a second over his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
Q2
In Qualifying 2; Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, and Daniel Ricciardo all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout. Lewis Hamilton claimed that he couldn’t go any faster in a disappointing outing whilst Sergio Perez had to suffer yet another Q2 exit after a poor run plan by Red Bull. Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll will both be slightly disappointed with their showings (Stroll has a 5-place Grid penalty as well) whilst Daniel Ricciardo just couldn’t quite find enough pace out of his Alpha Tauri. Charles Leclerc once again topped Carlos Sainz in Q2, but this time by well over half a second.
Q3
In Qualifying 3; a 1:32.726 was enough for Charles Leclerc to take Pole Position for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. Charles showed super pace throughout Qualifying and he managed to just about beat his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz by 44 thousandths to take yet another Pole. Unfortunately for Ferrari, a stupid penalty will see Sainz start outside the Top 10. Max Verstappen could only manage third for Red Bull whilst George Russell should be really pleased with P4. As should Pierre Gasly who pulled out a terrific result for Alpine whilst Williams will be over the moon with 6th for Alex Albon and 7th for Logan Sargeant. Valtteri Bottas managed P8 in a cracking effort in his Alfa Romeo, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (who can be delighted with his efforts) whilst Fernando Alonso will be disappointed to have only managed 10th for Aston Martin.
Starting Grid for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix and My Qualifying Grades
Charles Leclerc: 10
Max Verstappen: 8
George Russell: 8
Pierre Gasly: 10
Alex Albon: 10
Logan Sargeant: 9
Valtteri Bottas: 10
Kevin Magnussen: 9
Fernando Alonso: 5
Lewis Hamilton: 3
Sergio Perez: 2
Carlos Sainz: 9
Nico Hulkenberg: 5
Daniel Ricciardo: 4
Lando Norris: 2
Esteban Ocon: 2
Zhou Guanyu: 1
Oscar Piastri: 1
Lance Stroll: 3
Yuki Tsunoda: 1
My Predictions for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz
George Russell
Alex Albon
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