Verstappen, Austin Sprint Pole
Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), the absolute king of the three sprint races held in 2024, will start from pole position in the race Austin Circuit this Saturday, taking a step forward in the race for the World Drivers’ Championship and beating the British time by twelve thousandths. George Russell (Mercedes) in US Grand Prix.
Eyes were on the Dutchman due to his bitter battle with Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) and he was far from hiding or making excuses for his problems. Red Bull team Arriving in Austin, having had to completely change the front of his floor, he set a superb time of 1 minute, 32 seconds and 833 thousandths to finish first in the classification.
His main rival, the British Lando Norris He finished more than two tenths back in fourth place, one place ahead of the Spaniard. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), which, despite being the fastest in the day’s free practice, could not get closer to the first positions.
Verstappen is the common denominator of sprint racing
Dutch was the common denominator in China, Miami and Austria, three sprint races which have been held so far in Austin, the three-time world champion did not want to be less.
With a 52-point lead over Norris, Verstappen knows that every point he can add counts, and although he has had a much inferior car in recent races McLaren Norris, took advantage of the improvements brought by Spielberg (Austria) to make a splash in the championship and score a fourth consecutive World Cup, a goal that is still a long way off.
Although he has yet to score a single point on pole, Verstappen showed the quality he brings behind the wheel of the car this Friday. his RB24, one that seemed to disappear during the last races and which, after the break, seems to have been reborn in the hands of Mad Max.
Having shown himself a little in free practice, finishing third, ahead of the McLarens, Verstappen waited and waited for the end of the third and final stage of the “quali” and, when the traffic light was already glowing red for everyone passing, At the finish, Verstappen painted the sectors purple and only twelve thousandths ahead of Russell, who starts ahead of the Monegasque. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
Norris, fourth, will have to overtake an opponent on the track, who, of course, will throw elbows, but, moreover, he will not have an assistant. Oscar Piastri who finished sixteenth after running out of the field on his best lap – a failure that could condemn McLaren.
The Argentine left too Franco Colapintowho once again showed that he has the quality to remain on the grid by once again finishing ahead of his Thai teammate. Alex Albon (Williams), and the Mexican “Checo” Perez (Red Bull) lost in the second round of qualifying.
This was not the best classification for Sainz and Alonso.
In the Spanish key, Carlos Sainzwho dominated the only free training session this Friday at Highway of the Americasdid not complete his final attempt to find pole. Overall, Ferrari confirmed that their progress is real, although improvements from other teams may be noticeable in Austin.
Meanwhile, for Fernando Alonso It wasn’t a great start, with no time for testing or immediate results on his Aston Martin. Two green cars and one more Lance Strollthey were excluded from SQ2, and the Asturian, whose lap was even canceled due to going off-track, will start the sprint fourteenth.
More dubious were the aforementioned exclusions of Sergio Perez (Red Bull) or Oscar Piastri (McLaren), who was dropped at the first opportunity and would leave Norris alone. Papaya failed to achieve its goal of dethroning Red Bull and Verstappenwhich supports 52 points ahead of Norris in the classification Despite going eight races without a win, he has no plans to give up the World Cup.