Scuderia Ferrari had a promising start to the United States Grand Prix weekend, with Carlos Sainz topping the only practice session on Friday, closely followed by teammate Charles Leclerc. Expectations soared for the Maranello team after such a strong showing. However, Sprint Qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas revealed a different story, as both Ferrari drivers fell short of the front row.
Leclerc secured P3 but was over two-tenths off the pace of pole-sitter Max Verstappen, who narrowly beat Mercedes’ George Russell to the top spot by just 0.012 seconds. Leclerc’s time of 1:33.109 wasn’t enough to challenge Verstappen’s 1:32.833, leaving the Monegasque driver to reflect on missed opportunities.
In a post-qualifying report, Leclerc admitted that his lap wasn’t perfect: “Not the ideal result, but P3 is not too bad as a starting position for the Sprint Race, and we will push to make up some places tomorrow.” He acknowledged that his pace on the Soft tires was lacking, despite feeling competitive on the Mediums: “The lap was a bit scrappy, but overall, the feeling wasn’t great, which happens, especially with limited practice time.”
Leclerc is cautiously optimistic about Ferrari’s potential race pace, hoping to uncover more during the Sprint race on Saturday: “We still don’t have a clear picture of everyone’s race pace, so I hope we have a strong Sprint Race, as that would be a positive sign for Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz found himself just three-hundredths of a second behind Leclerc, but the tight margins left him in P5, starting from a different row. Despite the disappointment, Sainz saw the bright side: “It was a very tight Sprint Qualifying, and overall, the session wasn’t too bad. We did good laps on the Mediums, but we missed a bit with the Soft.”
The Spaniard, like his teammate, is more hopeful about his race pace than his one-lap speed: “On race pace, I think we could be competitive, so I expect an interesting Sprint Race tomorrow where we will fight to gain some positions.”
Ferrari’s lack of notable upgrades this weekend contrasts with their main rivals, Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren, who all brought fresh developments to the Circuit of the Americas. Despite this, both drivers are determined to extract the maximum from their SF-24 cars in the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
With eight points up for grabs in the Sprint Race, the pressure is on for Ferrari to capitalize on their starting positions and make gains ahead of Sunday’s main event. The 2024 United States Grand Prix Sprint kicks off on Saturday, 19 October, at 19:00 BST (13:00 local time).
It remains to be seen whether Ferrari’s race pace can deliver the results they need to challenge for victory at COTA, or whether their rivals’ upgrades will leave them playing catch-up.
