F1
Sunday, October 24, 2021, 12:05 AM
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Unexpected Red Bull dominance was given by the US Grand Prix time trial, in which Max Verstappen took the pole position ahead of his world champion rival. Third place is Sergio Perezé.
After two years, the field returned to America, and after free practice, the battle between the Mercedes and the Red Bulls was expected to be extremely close. Even before the start of the timer, it was certain that four drivers could expect a start penalty, as George Russell, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso also exchanged power in their cars, while Valtteri Bottas was again fitted with a new internal combustion engine, giving the Finn a five-place start penalty.
It also started strongly for the Red Bull, who are 2-3. they advanced in position, but it was all the more surprising that in Q1 the two Mercedes were only 7-8. closed in place, but McLaren and Ferrari also showed surprisingly good pace, the latter so much that he pulled in the first “third” through Leclerc. After Q1, we said goodbye to Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latif, Kimi Raikkonen and the two Haas.
Then, for the second stage, world order was restored: the two Red Bulls and the two Mercedes fell into each other’s throats on medium mixes, but the Ferraris and McLarenes were still in range if anyone made a mistake. Only Sainz completed his best lap of these eight on soft tires, but Perez and Ricciardo also had to industrialize at the end of Q2 as they took both of their first laps due to leaving the track.
In the end they made it to the top ten smoothly, the best lap time was driven by Max Verstappen, who was more than three tenths faster than second-placed Lewis Hamilton, no big surprise, we got rid of Ocon, Vettel, Russell, Giovinazzi and Alonso starting from the end of the field.
Perez, Verstappen, Bottas, Hamilton were in the lead for the first run in the decisive stage, the Mercedes were still at a disadvantage of almost three tenths over the energy drinkers. Although Hamilton jumped to the lead over time, Max Verstappen overtook him, while Perez only came in third, while Bottas finished fourth on the time trial, but due to his engine change he will only be able to start from 9th on Sunday. Behind them, the two Ferraris, the two McLaren, and then the two AlphaTauri closed.
U.S. Grand Prix Timekeeper Result:
| # | Pilot | Team | Time | Disadvantage |
| 1 | Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:32.910 | – |
| 2 | Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:33.119 | 0.209 |
| 3 | Perez | Red Bull | 1:33.134 | 0.224 |
| 4 | bottas | Mercedes | 1:33.475 | 0.565 |
| 5 | Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:33.606 | 0.696 |
| 6 | Sainz | Ferrari | 1:33.792 | 0.882 |
| 7 | Ricciardo | McLaren | 1:33.808 | 0.898 |
| 8 | Norris | McLaren | 1:33.887 | 0.977 |
| 9 | Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:34.118 | 1.208 |
| 10 | Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:34.918 | 2.008 |
| 11 | Ocon | Alpine | 1:35.377 | |
| 12 | Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:35.500 | |
| 13 | Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1:35.794 | |
| 14 | Alonso | Alpine | 1:44.549 | |
| 15 | Russell | Williams | No Time | |
| 16 | Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:35.983 | |
| 17 | Latifi | Williams | 1:35.995 | |
| 18 | Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1:36.311 | |
| 19 | Schumacher | Haas | 1:36.499 | |
| 20 | Mazepin | Haas | 1:36.796 |
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