FACTS AND STATS: Gasly secures best grid slot of 2023 as Sargeant matches Eddie Cheever on home soil

A first ever qualifying session on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit saw Charles Leclerc claim pole position from team mate Carlos Sainz – the Spaniard set to start P12, however, with a 10-place grid drop for a power unit component change. Up and down the grid, though, there were some fascinating stats churned up. Here’s our pick of the bunch…

• Leclerc has claimed three pole positions and one P2 in the last four Grands Prix. However, he has failed to convert his last 11 starts from pole position into victory.

• George Russell’s promotion to P3 (after Sainz’s penalty) gives him his sixth top-three start of the season – on a weekend where team mate Lewis Hamilton dropped out in Q2 for the third time in 2023.

READ MORE: Leclerc charges to pole for Las Vegas GP ahead of Sainz and Verstappen

• Hamilton and Russell are now 11 to 10 in qualifying – meaning their battle is the only one still unresolved between team mates in 2023 for qualifying supremacy.

• Pierre Gasly is set to start P4, for his best grid slot of 2023 – and Alpine’s best since Esteban Ocon started P3 in Monaco.

• In contrast, Las Vegas represented Ocon’s fourth Q1 elimination in the last nine races.

• P5 on the grid for Alex Albon marks his second top-five start of the season, after he took P4 in Zandvoort.

• Attention Eddie Cheever fans: Logan Sargeant’s career-best P6 on the grid is the highest start for an American driver on home soil since Cheever took P6 on the grid in Detroit in 1987 with Arrows.

READ MORE: Norris labels Las Vegas qualifying a ‘reality check’ after double Q1 exit for McLaren

• Williams also had both drivers in the top six for the first time since the 2016 Russian Grand Prix.

• Valtteri Bottas matched his best start of 2023 with P7 on the grid.

• Kevin Magnussen secured his third Q3 appearance of 2023. Interestingly, all of those appearances have come on street circuits, with previous appearances in Miami and Singapore this year.

• Sergio Perez failed to reach Q3 for the ninth time in 2023.

• The last time McLaren lost both cars in Q1 was also on American soil, at the Miami Grand Prix.

• Having started P3 in Brazil, Lance Stroll is slated to start P19 for Saturday’s race following a five-place grid drop for an FP3 yellow flag infringement.

READ MORE: Stroll handed five-place grid penalty for Las Vegas Grand Prix after overtaking under yellow flags