Leclerc secures his second pole of the year, neither Red Bull qualifies in the top five at COTA for the first time and Alonso fails to reach Q3 for the first time this season. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2023 United States Grand Prix!
LECLERC ON POLE FOR THE 2023 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
Charles Leclerc recorded his second pole position of the season with pole at the 2023 United States Grand Prix. This was the 21st pole position of his Formula 1 career, seeing him overtake Valtteri Bottas as the non-champion to have taken the most poles.
Leclerc became the fifth different polesitter in the last five races held at Circuit of The Americas, extending the record for most consecutive different polesitters at the track.
This was the ninth pole position for a Ferrari-powered car in the United States Grand Prix, which saw Ferrari overtake Mercedes as the manufacturer to have supplied the most poles in the event’s history.
IN THE TOP 10
Lando Norris recorded his third front row qualification of the season at the 2023 United States Grand Prix. It was the first time Norris has qualified in a position other than eighth at Circuit of The Americas.
Norris’ second place marked the first time McLaren qualified on the front row for the United States Grand Prix since Lewis Hamilton did so with the team at the inaugural race at Circuit of The Americas in 2012.
Lewis Hamilton qualified in third place for the 2023 United States Grand Prix. Having also qualified third for the last race, this marked the first time Hamilton has qualified in the top three in conventional qualifying at successive races since the end of the 2021 season.
Hamilton maintains his record of qualifying in the top five on every appearance at Circuit of The Americas to date.
Max Verstappen set the provisional pole lap time – 0.005 seconds faster than Leclerc’s pole time – but it was deleted due to the Red Bull driver exceeding track limits. It dropped Verstappen to sixth on the grid, marking the fourth time this year that he has qualified away from the front row.
With Verstappen sixth and Sergio Perez ninth, the 2023 United States Grand Prix marks the first time neither Red Bull driver has qualified in the top five at Circuit of The Americas. The team had recorded only four previous qualifications outside of the top five prior to the 2023 race at the track.
Esteban Ocon qualified eighth for the third time in the last four races, while team-mate Pierre Gasly qualified seventh for a second consecutive race.
This was the first time Ocon qualified in the top ten for the United States Grand Prix since 2018.
Gasly maintains his record of out-qualifying his team-mate on every United States Grand Prix appearance.
For the first time since the 2023 Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix, both Alpine drivers reached Q3 at successive races. This was the first double Q3 appearance for the Enstone-based team at the United States Grand Prix since 2013.
Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris all maintained their 100% Q3 appearance records at Circuit of The Americas, while Oscar Piastri joined them in the club as he reached Q3 on his first appearance at the track.
OUT IN Q2
For the fourth time in the last six races, Yuki Tsunoda qualified in 11th place.
Zhou Guanyu qualified 12th for the 2023 United States Grand Prix, recording his best qualifying result since reaching Q3 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
For the first time since 2015, Valtteri Bottas failed to qualify in the top ten at the United States Grand Prix. 13th is the Finn’s worst qualifying result at the track to date.
Zhou out-qualified Bottas at Alfa Romeo for the first time since the Dutch Grand Prix.
Qualifying 15th, Daniel Ricciardo was out-qualified by a team-mate at the United States Grand Prix for only the third time since his first appearance at the event in 2012.
OUT IN Q1
Fernando Alonso was the surprise exit in Q1 at the 2023 United States Grand Prix. The Spaniard could qualify no higher than 17th, making this the first race of the 2023 season in which he did not qualify in the top ten.
This was Alonso’s first Q1 exit since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, where he also qualified 17th. It’s the second time he’s been eliminated in Q1 at Circuit of The Americas, after 2018.
Lance Stroll was out in Q1, recording his seventh consecutive Q1 exit. This was Stroll’s fourth Q1 exit at Circuit of The Americas, setting a new record for most Q1 eliminations at the track.
With both Alonso and Stroll out in the first part of qualifying, this was Aston Martin’s first double Q1 exit since the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix.
After having a lap time deleted, Nico Hulkenberg was out in Q1 at the 2023 United States Grand Prix. This was the first time in nine appearances at Circuit of The Americas that Hulkenberg was eliminated in Q1.
With 18th place, Alex Albon equalled his worst qualifying result of the 2023 season to date. He also qualified 18th at the Spanish Grand Prix. This was Albon’s first Q1 exit at the United States Grand Prix.
Logan Sargeant qualified last for the sixth time in his rookie season.
With both Albon and Sargeant out in Q1, this was Williams’ first double Q1 exit since the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix.