The Ferrari F1 team is in excellent position to take the fight to main rivals Mercedes as the battle for second in the constructors’ standings hots up.
With only 26 separating the teams and six races on the calendar remaining, a strong qualifying in Austin, Texas sees Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton line up in third and fifth places respectively.
The potential thorn in the side is the in-form George Russell, who sits in between the scarlet machines.
“Qualifying was quite a big surprise considering how difficult this weekend had been for us until now,” commented Leclerc, who finished fifth in Saturday’s Sprint behind Hamilton.
“We put everything together in the end and will start from P3 tomorrow. We’ve learned quite a bit already and have applied that knowledge this afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a good start and fight our way forward.”
For Hamilton, race day represents another opportunity to fight for points and close the gap on his old team.
“Tomorrow will be demanding, but starting from further up the field gives us the chance to fight for important points,” added the seven-time world champion.
“Strategy will play a big part, so we’ll go through the details tonight to make sure we’re ready for the Grand Prix. Austin is one of my favourite tracks and the fans have been incredible all weekend. I’d love to repay that support with a strong result.”
TEAM UP WITH ACRONIS
Motorsport Technology is an Acronis initiative, one of the leading players on worldwide Cyber Security and a key player in motorsport data protection.
The current partners of Prema F2, Hendrick Motorsports, Brad Jones Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Grove Racing. They have previously partnered with Scuderia Toro Rosso, Racing Point, WilliamsF1 and Toyota GAZOO RACING amongst others.
Acronis has opened up an exciting #TeamUp Program, giving new and existing service providers the opportunity to support sports partnerships, join the sports ecosystem, attend races and enjoy amazing sports marketing benefits. To find out more, please visit Cyber Protection for global sports – Acronis