Complicated Sprint qualifying for McLaren
Having arrived at the start of the weekend as Constructors' Championship leaders and favourites, McLaren's Sprint qualifying was more complicated than expected.
As the curtain rose on this weekend in Austin, McLaren was well aware that they needed to have six perfect weekends if they wanted a chance to secure both world titles. Especially for Lando Norris, who still has to make up a 52-point gap to Max Verstappen.
With the Sprint format, we got a first look at everyone’s performance level. To the general surprise, Max Verstappen ended up with the best lap during SQ3 while his rival was only fourth. He explained that small errors at the end of the lap prevented him from being higher in the hierarchy: “My lap could have been cleaner, so I am disappointed. We are in the pace and not very far from the leaders with only a few cars to overtake. So, this is my plan for the Sprint with the goal of scoring big points in our quest for the championship.”
As for his teammate, the situation was even more unfavorable since Oscar Piastri was eliminated as soon as SQ1, for track limits violation: « It’s really disappointing to be eliminated from Sprint qualifying so early. Most of my lap was good but I made some mistakes in the final sector. In the second-to-last corner, I tried to carry a bit too much speed and simply exceeded the track limits. It’s going to be tough to climb back into the points but we will still try to score valuable points for the team.
In their relative misfortune, McLaren can console themselves with the new disappointment of Sergio Perez’s performance. The Mexican thus did not manage to get out of SQ2 and will start eleventh. With points only awarded to the top eight, he will have to strive to try to snatch a point or two.
From our special correspondent in Austin
