Leclerc Wins Pole, Immediately Targets Victory At GP Las Vegas

JAKARTA - Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari racer, successfully fought for the pole position of the Las Vegas Grand Prix after appearing short in the qualifying session, Saturday, November 18, 2023.

This achievement means that Leclerc will start the main race in pole position on Sunday, November 19, 2023.

Right behind him, defending champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was standing followed by George Russell (Mercedes), and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).

Leclerc recorded a fastest lap of 1:32,726. This slick achievement is enough to make the Ferrari driver feel sad.

"Starting from pole is a good thing. However, I was a little disappointed with my lap in Q3 ( 3 qualification). I didn't do the job well enough, but it was enough for P1 (pole 1) and that's all we needed," Leclerc said at AFP.

After winning pole position, Leclerc immediately echoed the target of the champion in the main race held at the Las Vegas Street Circuit.

"Now the full focus is on trying and giving everything for the race. Usually, that's where our performance is at least. So, I hope we can unite everything and win here."

In fact, Leclerc had a bad record when starting the race from pole. He has never won since Australia 2022 aka in 12 pole wins before.

Therefore, the pole position this time can be a place to prove the diminua.

"The confidence is high because we started from the first position, the best place to start. On the other hand we know that Red Bull will be a strong sansat and Max will obviously be very strong at race speeds."

"However, I feel we are getting positive signs this weekend, more than other races. So, I hope we can change that leading position to victory," he said.

Meanwhile, three-time world champion Max Verstappen assessed that the second grid achievement in qualifying this time was not too bad.

He admitted that he would immediately improve his performance and would be maximal during the race.

"It's fun out there. I think we're maximizing today. I think so far we've been a little less in one lap performance and that's pretty clear," said the Dutchman.

"I hope tomorrow's race will be good again in terms of tires and can work hard going forward," he added.

Apart from that, Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz, had to settle for starting the race from grid 12.

In fact, Sainz's record in the qualifying round was only 0.044 getik from Leclerc and won the second grid. However, Sainz was hit by a grid 10 penalty, causing him to be thrown away.

Starting Grid GP Las Vegas

1. Charles Leclerc

2. Max Verstappen

3. George Russell

4. Pierre Gasly

5. Alex Albon

6. LoganUNCiant

7. Valtteri Bottas

8. Kevin Magnussen

9. Fernando Alonso

10. Lewis Hamilton

11. Sergio Perez

12. Carlos Sainz

13. Nico Hulkenberg

14. Daniel Ricciardo

15. Lando Norris

16. Esteban Ocon

17. Zhou Guanyu

18. Oscar Piastri

19. Lance Stroll

20. Yuki Tsunoda