F1 United Grand GP: Max Verstappen sets impressive pace ahead of Charles Leclerc in final practice
The qualifying simulations had been incredibly tight until the newly-crowned F1 world champion blitzed his rivals with a late effo♓r𓄧t to finish 0.320s clear of Leclerc and head into qualifying as the man to beat and the only driver to dip into the 1m35s.
With gusty conditions proving tricky and catching the driver🏅s out at COTA, Leclerc admitted his b🥃est lap - which at the time was within 0.010s of Verstappen - was “very, very messy”.
- F1 2022 United States♉ Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (3)
- How final practice unfolded at the F1 2022 United States Grand Prix
But the Moneqasque will drop 10 positions from wherever he qualifies for Sunday’s grand prix after Ferrari c♓hanged his engine and turbocharger in Austin.
Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz wound up 0.446s adrift in third, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton, who were split by♉ just 0.004s as they finished half a second off the pace.
But all three of the seven-time world champion’s soft-tyre runs were scrappy, suggesting he has more time to find in his upgraded W13.ಌ
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso - who will serve a f🌳ive-place grid penalty for an engine change - was over a second do🔜wn in sixth.
George Russell struggled to keep his Mercedes pointing in a straight line as he suffered from some extreme 📖drifting which forced him to abandon two runs. When he finally put in a clean lap, the Briton endeꦛd up 1.2s behind Verstappen.
The Aston Martin duo of S𒅌ebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were eighth and ninth respectively, while Pierre Gasly r✱ounded out the top-10 for AlphaTauri.
A problem hampered Mick Sc💛humacher’s session as the Haas driv🌱er ended up 19th, ahead of Zhou Guanyu, who was slowest of all after spending most of final practice stuck in the Alfa Romeo garage with an issue.
Off track, the weekend has been dominated by talk of Red Bull's 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 cost cap breach. Speaking earlier on Saturday, Red Bull boss Christian Horner blasted his rivals for waging a 168澳洲幸运5官ℱ方开奖结果历史:"concerted campaign fo♎r a draconian penalty" against his team.
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