Sprint Race
• Scuderia Ferrari HP drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished the Sprint Race in fourth and fifth places respectively.
• After the start, there was a multiple collision at the first corner that took out both McLarens and Fernando Alonso allowing Charles and Lewis to make up several places, so that they were fourth and fifth at the end of the first lap.
• The Safety Car was deployed as the track was covered with debris.
• In the first corner mayhem, Charles’ car was slightly damaged at the rear, after Isack Hadjar hit him.
• On lap 9 Lewis passed Charles who had gone wide at turn 5 picking up some dirt, and tried to catch Carlos Sainz in third place.
• On lap 17 of 19, a collision between Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon triggered another Safety Car, so the Sprint ended with no further changes of position.
Q1
• The session was red flagged after only 10 seconds, when Hadjar crashed into the barriers.
• Both drivers made the cut to the next phase only using one set of new Softs, Charles fourth fastest and Lewis eighth.
Q2
• Both drivers made it into Q3 seamlessly, Lewis going out for a further lap at the end even though he had made the cut already, to better understand how the car was performing.
• Charles was second fastest, Lewis fourth.
Q3
• Charles’ and Lewis’ first runs weren’t clean, with the Monegasque spinning and the Brit going straight at turn 1. However, they were then the first cars out on track for their final attempts, which were good enough for third and fifth place respectively.
Charles Leclerc #16
The feeling in the car was much better in the Sprint compared to yesterday and our pace was pretty good overall, so that’s a positive. I made a mistake in turn 5 and Lewis overtook me. After that, it was tricky to get back the pace I had before the mistake. We did gain some insights which should help us to be in a better place for the race tomorrow.Qualifying was quite a big surprise considering how difficult this weekend had been for us until now. We put everything together in the end and will start from P3 tomorrow. We’ve learned quite a bit already and have applied that knowledge this afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a good start and fight our way forward.
Lewis Hamilton #44
It’s been a positive Saturday overall. In the Sprint we showed good pace and without the final Safety Car, we could have pushed for a stronger result. Qualifying was also a step forward from yesterday: everything ran more smoothly and that made us more competitive throughout the session.Tomorrow will be demanding, but starting from further up the field gives us the chance to fight for important points. Strategy will play a big part, so we’ll go through the details tonight to make sure we’re ready for the Grand Prix.Austin is one of my favourite tracks and the fans have been incredible all weekend. I’d love to repay that support with a strong result.
