Scuderia Ferrari put it all on red in Las Vegas on Friday after Charles Leclerc took pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix while Carlos Sainz locked out the front row for Saturday night’s race under the lights in Sin City. Sainz, however, will start the race from 12th thanks to a ten-place grid penalty but the Prancing Horse danced in the Vegas lights showing that Ferrari is the one to beat this weekend.
Speaking about qualifying, Frederic Vasseur commented on the team’s dominance saying:
This is a very good result for the team, to deliver a one-two in qualifying for the first time at this new Las Vegas track thanks to Charles, who showed once more his skills over a flying lap, and with Carlos also putting in a great performance very close behind. It’s significant that we have finished on top of the timesheet in every session which is good preparation for the race. Unfortunately, we have to deal with the penalty for Carlos, who deserved to start from the front row. We know the penalty is unfair but he has had strong and consistent pace all weekend, as has Charles. So we have to look ahead and no longer think about it, because the points are given out in the race and now we have to focus on ourselves. We will now work on preparing our strategy, especially because on this type of circuit there could always be various scenarios involving Safety Cars and so on. I’m sure we can do a good job in the race and it’s also nice to see that there are four Ferrari power units in the top ten in qualifying. With the race starting at 10 at night, the track will again be rather cold, so in terms of tyre strategy the main concern will be addressing graining, rather than overheating.
Charles Leclerc is excited to start the race up front saying:
I’m excited to be starting on pole tomorrow, I really like the track and I’ve felt comfortable in the car all weekend. It’s a bit more tricky than expected to overtake and I hope we see some good battles tomorrow. Our race pace looks quite good so hopefully we can convert the pole into a win.
Carlos Sainz was clearly frustrated with the situation from Friday when he was given a ten-place grid penalty and will start the race from 12th place and speaking following the action Sainz said:
It’s been a great qualifying for the team. Unfortunately, it won’t be a front row lockout tomorrow as I will take a penalty. The frustration and anger I feel right now won’t go away easily, even more so looking at how competitive we are on this new track. However, you can be sure I will do absolutely everything to recover from P12 and I know we can produce a solid race. It’s unknown territory, but hopefully it will be an enjoyable Sunday with many overtakes.