In a surprising turn of events during the Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying, Charles Leclerc secured the pole position for Sunday’s race, seizing the top spot after an unexpected exit from Q2 for Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez.
Leclerc demonstrated his prowess by consistently leading the sessions, while his teammate Carlos Sainz closely followed, securing the second position throughout all three qualifying runs. However, Sainz faces a challenging ten-place grid penalty for the upcoming race on Sunday.
Despite expressing his dislike for the track, Max Verstappen managed a third-place position, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from McLaren faced disappointment as they were eliminated in Q1.
Williams had a remarkable showing on Saturday, with Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant impressively securing the sixth and seventh positions in qualifying.
The unexpected eliminations continued as Hamilton, Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, and Daniel Ricciardo failed to progress beyond Q2. Joining them were Norris and Piastri, along with Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu, and Yuki Tsunoda, who found themselves in the elimination zone from the initial qualifying session, Q1.