The first Friday back for Formula 1 saw a special Sprint Qualifying take place ahead of today’s US Sprint!
SQ1
In Sprint Qualifying 1; Oscar Piastri, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, and Zhou Guanyu were the five slowest drivers! Oscar Piastri was just unable to get a clean lap together, and a disappointing track-limits infringement at Turn 19 ultimately saw the Aussie bow out of Qualifying way earlier than expected! Esteban Ocon could only managed 17th in his Alpine whilst Alex Albon’s terrible Sprint Qualifying run continued with a spin on his final push lap! Kick Sauber once again found themselves locking out the back row of the Grid, with Valtteri Bottas well over a second ahead of his teammate Zhou Guanyu! It was Charles Leclerc who topped SQ1 for Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton not far behind!
SQ2
In Sprint Qualifying 2; Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, and Liam Lawson all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Sergio Perez had an absolute shocker for Red Bull as he found himself nearly a second slower than his teammate whilst Pierre Gasly actually did alright to get P12. Aston Martin could only lock out the 7th row of the Grid with Lance Stroll ahead of Fernando Alonso whilst Liam Lawson ended up “slowest” in Q2 after all 3 of those drivers got their lap times deleted! Ferrari once again topped a session, but this time it was Carlos Sainz who found himself just narrowly ahead of Max Verstappen!
SQ3
In Sprint Qualifying 3; a 1:32.833 was enough for Max Verstappen to return to P1 with a crucial Sprint Qualifying Pole! It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Max being first, but he nailed his lap in what could be a sign for what’s to come the rest of the weekend! George Russell did a terrific job in his Mercedes as he missed out on Pole by just 12 thousandths of a second (I so nearly got my Prediction right) whilst Charles Leclerc will start P3 for Ferrari. Lando Norris could only manage 4th in what was a disappointing day for McLaren whilst Carlos Sainz was once again 5th, just 6 thousandths behind his former teammate (and only 3 hundredths behind his current teammate)! Nico Hulkenberg did another smashing job to take P6 for Haas whilst Lewis Hamilton made a costly mistake that sees him start all the way down in 7th! Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda continued their strong Sprint Seasons with a P8 and P9 result respectively whilst Franco Colapinto, despite spinning, can still be happy with an SQ3 appearance (at the first time of asking)!
Starting Grid for the 2024 United States Grand Prix Sprint and My Sprint Qualifying Grades
Max Verstappen: 10
George Russell: 10
Charles Leclerc: 8
Lando Norris: 7
Carlos Sainz: 7
Nico Hulkenberg: 10
Lewis Hamilton: 5
Kevin Magnussen: 9
Yuki Tsunoda: 8
Franco Colapinto: 7
Sergio Perez: 3
Pierre Gasly: 6
Lance Stroll: 3
Fernando Alonso: 3
Liam Lawson: 4
Oscar Piastri: 1
Esteban Ocon: 3
Alex Albon: 1
Valtteri Bottas: 2
Zhou Guanyu: 1
Credit: The Checkered Flag
My Predictions for the 2024 United States Grand Prix Sprint
Max Verstappen
Lando Norris
George Russell
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz
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