2024 US GP Sprint Shootout Preview & Tips – JP
2024 US GP Sprint Shootout Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt 2024 US GP Sprint Shootout preview. He has already posted an outright, team by team preview, you can read that here
2024 US GP Sprint Shootout
The one free practice session has finished and the cars can be taken back to the pits to be worked on before the upcoming 2024 US GP Sprint qualifying. After that, parc ferme rules apply, until after the Sprint race, when the teams can change the set ups for qualifying proper.
What the teams do not have, is a team back at the factory, running the simulators through the night to perfect the setups for the Sprint qualifying. They have three hours to make any improvements they see fit.
The resurfaced track does look smoother than in past years, but it still has some big bumps which are catching the drivers out. The surface will rubber in as the laps go in and this is not a great session to be betting on.
Not all the teams have brought upgrades, and the most surprising one is Ferrari. Nothing new on the car at all. And they looked quick. Perhaps while the others are gathering data from their new parts, Ferrari can concentrate on fine tuning what they know they have got. I was impressed. They ended the session first and second.
Nervy Mercedes
Mercedes have floor edge changes, suspension changes and suspension tweaks. The car looked particularly nervous and both drivers had spins, and near spins. Hamilton ended up sixth fastest, but still 0.361 off the pace of Sainz in first. They would seem to have some work to do to get the car sorted.
Red Bull ran out of sync with the rest of the field, choosing to do their soft tyre qualifying simulations in the middle of the session, rather than the last ten minutes, like everyone else. The track may have been a little slower then, with less rubber having been put down. They looked pretty good, well, Max did. Perez ended up back in 16th, over a second off the Ferrari’s.
Max Third
Verstappen was third and just 0.253 slower than Sainz. The team did a big post session display of letting the TV cameras into the garage. They had two FIA delegates in being shown how the adjustable bib worked. The FIA delegates then placed seals on the said adjustable piece. That was done way before it had to be, at least two hours, so they must be happy with the settings, because it is set now.
McLaren ended up fourth and fifth, Norris 0.266 off the time of the Ferrari, Piastri 0.306 slower. Both cars looked a bit tricky, but like all the teams running new parts, it was effectively a test session, albeit also a preparatory session. They are thereabouts.
Of the outsider teams, Haas looked decent, finishing 8th and 11th. Can Hulkenberg get a top 10 place?
2024 US GP Sprint Shootout Summary
This not a great betting session. A lot of upgrades in various cars, only a one hour session to evaluate them, on a resurfaced track. The data gathering machines will be going into overload, and they only have a few hours to fine tune things.
It would be ironic, but logical, if the team that have not brought a single upgrade, would have an advantage. They know what they have got and don’t have to evaluate the new parts, just fine tune what they know.
Charles Leclerc was fastest in qualifying proper here last year, and just 0.055 off Verstappen in the Sprint qualifying. I rate Leclerc as one of the very best one lap merchants in the business. He looks a reasonable proposition at 5.50 to be fastest qualifier in the Sprint Shootout.
