Third place on the grid for Pierre Gasly was only one place higher than his team mate managed at the previous round.
But Esteban Ocon’s qualifying result was thanks to his mastery of tricky wet conditions in Brazil. Gasly’s performance arguably gives the team even greater encouragement as he put them ahead of the likes of McLaren and Red Bull in dry conditions – albeit at an unusual track in very low temperatures.Nonetheless, Alpine aren’t going to sniff at having the third-fastest car. This is the team which started the season slowest of all for four consecutive rounds.
While their result may owe something to the unusual circumstances of this weekend’s race, it is part of a general upswing in form the team has enjoyed since introducing a major upgrade for the A524 at the United States Grand Prix.
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In the last five races, the team has produced three of its strongest performances in terms of one-lap pace. They’ve been 0.92% off the pace on average over that time, a huge improvement over the same five-race spell at the beginning of the year, where their deficit stood at 1.97% – more than twice as much.
Alpine has achieved its gains in another season of disruption for the team. Oliver Oakes arrived as its new team principal just eight rounds ago, and they have lost many key names from their technical division since the start of last year.
“I’m really happy and pleased with the work the team has been doing in a season where everything looked impossible, just to still stick together and put some more performance in that car,” Gasly continued. “Going into qualifying today, I must admit we never thought we’ll be in a position to actually get in that top three, but I managed to have a very special lap at the right time on that last set in Q3 and it’s a very nice surprise.”
He credited the result to the team’s set-up for the high-speed circuit. “We went with a pretty aggressive package in terms of downforce, so we are running very little downforce around this track,” said Gasly. “We try to maximise the straight lines, we obviously make our lives slightly harder in the corners.”
The crucial question for them tomorrow is whether their lower downforce level will hurt their ability to look after the tyres. This was where Gasly struggled in last year’s race, falling from third place in the mid phase of the race to finish out of the points.
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The team were reasonably strong over a single lap in Las Vegas in 2023. Three other teams gained more than they did year-on-year. That includes McLaren, despite them not being among the four quickest teams for the first time since Bahrain. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were both eliminated in Q1 last year.
The poor grip at the circuit remained a major factor once again. George Russell took pole position with a lap just four-tenths of a second quicker than last year’s best.
Sector times
| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | 25.736 (1) | 30.845 (1) | 35.66 (7) | 1’32.241 (+0.071) |
| 2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 26.051 (3) | 30.911 (3) | 35.448 (1) | 1’32.410 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 26 (2) | 30.927 (4) | 35.574 (4) | 1’32.501 (+0.066) |
| 4 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 26.212 (8) | 30.928 (5) | 35.514 (2) | 1’32.654 (+0.010) |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 26.23 (9) | 30.898 (2) | 35.548 (3) | 1’32.676 (+0.107) |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 26.067 (4) | 30.929 (6) | 35.703 (9) | 1’32.699 (+0.098) |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | 26.199 (7) | 31.012 (8) | 35.613 (6) | 1’32.824 (+0.184) |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 26.161 (6) | 31.119 (9) | 35.693 (8) | 1’32.973 (+0.051) |
| 9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 26.108 (5) | 31.133 (11) | 35.754 (12) | 1’32.995 (+0.034) |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 26.353 (11) | 30.942 (7) | 35.723 (10) | 1’33.018 (+0.044) |
| 11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 26.434 (14) | 31.193 (12) | 35.594 (5) | 1’33.221 |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | 26.341 (10) | 31.129 (10) | 35.789 (14) | 1’33.259 (+0.038) |
| 13 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | 26.398 (13) | 31.298 (15) | 35.749 (11) | 1’33.445 (+0.301) |
| 14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | 26.355 (12) | 31.266 (13) | 35.945 (15) | 1’33.566 |
| 15 | 30 | Liam Lawson | 26.469 (15) | 31.296 (14) | 36.03 (18) | 1’33.795 (+0.292) |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 26.756 (19) | 31.579 (18) | 35.782 (13) | 1’34.117 (+0.308) |
| 17 | 11 | Sergio Perez | 26.635 (17) | 31.535 (17) | 35.964 (16) | 1’34.134 (+0.021) |
| 18 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 26.656 (18) | 31.599 (19) | 35.97 (17) | 1’34.225 (+0.033) |
| 19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | 26.587 (16) | 31.768 (20) | 36.075 (19) | 1’34.430 |
| 20 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 26.834 (20) | 31.446 (16) | 36.204 (20) | 1’34.484 |
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2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- “Disappointing” Las Vegas GP performance prompts ticketing changes for 2025 race
- Vowles clarifies Colapinto’s claim he was concussed in Las Vegas crash
- Norris lost title because McLaren weren’t competitive enough early on – Stella
- Ferrari are now in their longest-ever championship drought
- F1 “was trying too hard” in first year at Las Vegas – Sainz
falken (@falken)
23rd November 2024, 11:43
Have Renault been taking lessons from Honda? Quitting just as they get the hang of it…
Riccard
23rd November 2024, 11:44
As well as being an aggressive setup, the Alpine also seemed to switch its tyres on quickly – a strong first sector.
I suspect they might go well in the first laps tomorrow, then slip down the field as the other teams get going.
That’s not to take away from Gasly, though: there was a slim opportunity, and he jumped in with both feet and made it work.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th November 2024, 1:47
The tires are not switching on like at a normal circuit. Just like in Brazil, traction is in limited supply and the motor is not realizing a particularly good hold at apex through corner exit. Its not surprising Alpine did so well, because the motors are not gating factors for this particular qualifying.
However, during the race, the motor is more limiting, especially if fuel efficiency is an issue, which could be a serious concern for the Renault. They will have to pray there is quite a lot of dust off the line and the track takes a while to rubber in so they can hold on and keep their rpm’s 10% off the limit.
The same reason why Lewis didn’t make it through to Q3, probably, is due to the fact that he’s not limiting his rpm’s at shift changes, he’s putting too much promise in the traction of his rear tires, when they are just as limiting as the front’s on brakes.
Normally the Pirelli’s are limited on load, but at this venue they are performance limited, and the driver/setup is more integral in to finding the peak power @ lateral load.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th November 2024, 1:50
*through Q3.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd November 2024, 13:10
I’m also surprised that this year’s pole lap is only a little over 4 tenths faster than last year’s equivalent.
Yes, track conditions were probably slightly worse in this year’s qualifying versus last year, but they weren’t great last year either.
Todfod (@todfod)
23rd November 2024, 13:59
I would love to see the look on Ocon’s face after Gasly put it in P3.
Cdfemke
23rd November 2024, 18:21
I’d say the masterclass in brazil was better. From 17th or so to 2nd after leading the race
Tristan
24th November 2024, 1:58
A slippery cold track isn’t too much different from the wet right? Seems to track.