Carlos Sainz will look for the podium in the United States Grand Prix and Fernando Alonso will have to come back from last position in search of the points. The Madrid driver was sixth in the qualifying session held in Austin while the Asturian, who was fourteenth, will start from the back of the grid after having changed his engine. The pole went to Max Verstappen , who will start ahead of Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Sergio Pérez . Valtteri Bottas , Hamilton’s teammate, was fourth but had a five-place penalty, which is why Carlos Sainz will start fifth.
When it comes to the fight for the World Cup, the first round with six races remaining was for Verstappen. The Dutchman took pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton , who is 6 points ahead of him in the standings.
Beyond the title, third place in the Constructors’ World Cup is also at stake. McLaren arrives in Austin 7.5 points ahead of Ferrari , although the Italian team’s drivers have qualified better ahead of the United States Grand Prix. Leclerc was fifth and Carlos Sainz sixth, so they will start fourth and fifth respectively. Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris qualified seventh and eighth, so they will face the race sixth and seventh.
Alonso’s companionship
Although Fernando Alonso had a lot to lose and nothing to gain by participating in the qualifying session, he has. And if he slipped into Q2, it was to give his teammate Esteban Ocon the slipstream. The help from Oviedo was insufficient for the Frenchman to enter Q3. Even so, he finished the qualifying session in eleventh position, something for which he wanted to thank Fernando Alonso on the radio. And it is that Alpine cannot relax in Austin since it only leads AlphaTauri by 12 points in the Constructors’ World Cup.
Nice gesture between teammates! 💙
Alonso, who was not playing anything because he will go to the back of the grid, came out to give Ocon a slipstream to try to help him 👏 # USADAZNF1 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/FFUC3x8QV6
– DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) October 23, 2021
Along with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, George Russell and Antonio Giovinazzi were eliminated in Q2. For their part, in Q1 it was Lance Stroll , Nicholas Latifi , Kimi Raikkonen , Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin who were eliminated.
Besides Valtteri Bottas ; Sebastian Vettel , Fernando Alonso and George Russell dragged a penalty for what will come out eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth respectively. Regarding Alonso’s engine change, Alpine reported: “We can confirm that Fernando will receive a new engine for the remainder of the United States Grand Prix after the installation of a fourth power unit. All the components of the power unit will be new for qualifying and the race ”.
