On Track

Top five start for Lance at the United States GP

Lance will start from fifth on the grid for the United States Grand Prix after recording his best qualifying result of the season.

With Free Practice Two put aside for a Pirelli tyre test, this left plenty of data to gather in FP3 ahead of qualifying.

In the session, both Lance and Sebastian progressed into the second part of qualifying, before Lance worked his way to the team's best grid position of 2022.

Lance

Lance started his Saturday running by scrubbing in a couple of sets of tyres at the start of FP3, before focusing on runs on the Soft tyre.

His best lap of 1.37.215 late in the session was good enough to finish in ninth overall, with 20 laps on the board, setting him up for qualifying.

In Q1, Lance opted to do two runs on new Soft compound tyres, with one flying lap on each.

His first effort was a 1.36.860. While he didn't improve on his second set, his first time was good enough to squeeze through into Q2 in 14th position.

Practice report by Aramco

Top four and tyre testing on Friday at COTA

Lance finished in the top four in the first Free Practice session of the United States Grand Prix weekend, before FP2 was used for a Pirelli tyre test.

Read more

For Q2, Lance opted to do a run on a used set of Soft tyres at the start, and put in a time of 1.37.224.

With a new set of Softs at the end of the session, he put in a 1.36.032, which was good enough for eighth and a Q3 appearance.

In the final part of qualifying, Lance did one run in clean air on new Soft tyres and put in a time of 1.35.598. This was good enough for seventh at the time.

While sat in the garage, Lance waited as others were on track at the end on a second set of tyres. None of them could usurp Lance's time, meaning Lance finished in seventh.

With grid penalties for Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, this will leave Lance fifth on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.

"The car felt really good today; we found plenty of grip and the car gave me confidence. It gives us a great starting position for tomorrow.

"I am really pleased for the team because we have made good progress with the car recently and we are looking stronger on Saturdays.

"I really enjoyed it out there, even though conditions were tricky with the wind.

"It looks like we will start from fifth place, with a couple of penalties for the cars ahead, which means we are in the mix to pick up a good result on Sunday."

Sebastian

Saturday for Sebastian began with scrubbing in a couple of sets of tyres for the rest of the weekend.

After that, he focused on runs on the Soft tyre, and put in a best time of 1.37.151 at the end of the session. With 19 laps on the board, he was eighth-fastest.

Sebastian completed two runs on new sets of Soft tyres during Q1. His first effort was a 1.37.167 on his one flying lap on the set.

With his second set, again completing one flying lap, he improved to a 1.36.695, which was good enough for 11th and enough to make it into Q2.

Sebastian used an older set of tyres for the start of Q2. His first time was a 1.37.131, but he extended the track limits and his time was cancelled.

With a new set of tyres for the end of the segment, he put in a 1.36.398. The gap to make it into Q3 was close, but Sebastian missed out in 12th.

However, with penalties for Leclerc and Fernando Alonso, he will start the race from 10th on the grid.

"There was more speed in the car today, so I am disappointed with my final qualifying result.

"I was not happy with my lap in Q2 and I was struggling to find confidence with the rear.

"Sector one was quite tricky today with the tailwind, but I lost time straight away when the rear end snapped turning into Turn Three, so I lost quite a lot of time in that whole sequence.

"The rest of the lap was alright, but I was playing catch-up. Small margins made the difference today and that is why I missed out on Q3."

Mike Krack, Team Principal

"The team performed strongly today. Lance achieved a very good seventh-fastest time in Q3, which we believe will translate to a P5 grid slot for tomorrow's race owing to penalties incurred by [Charles] Leclerc and [Sergio] Perez.

"Unfortunately, Sebastian failed by a small margin to progress through to Q3. Nonetheless, owing to penalties for drivers who qualified ahead of him, he will start tomorrow's race from P10. So we are in a strong position to challenge for points.

"Last but far from least, I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of everyone at Aston Martin, to offer our sincerest condolences to all at Red Bull, and to the family and friends of Dietrich Mateschitz, on the occasion of the passing of a great man who has done an enormous amount for motorsport over the past quarter-century."