Max Verstappen takes pole position for the sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas n his Red Bull, edging ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes. Charles Leclerc will start P3 while Verstappen’s title challenger Lando Norris is P4.
On a tricky day for Red Bull given the controversy over its front bib ride height adjuster, the defending champion scored his first pole (sprint or Grand Prix) since the Austria round back in June.
But it was mixed fortunes for Red Bull, as Sergio Perez was knocked out in SQ2, while it was a similar story for McLaren, as Oscar Piastri failed to make it through the other session where the drivers were obliged to run medium tyres.
On softs in SQ3, Russell had looked the favourite to come out on top as Mercedes ran early in the final segment and he found 0.7 seconds over his personal best in SQ2, while Lewis Hamilton struggled.
Russell’s lap time of one minute, 32.845 seconds was good enough to see of Leclerc, Norris and Carlos Sainz when they ran with the majority of the other SQ3 runners near the session’s end, before Verstappen surged to the top.
Verstappen did not set a purple sector in any of the Austin track’s segments, but his lap time of one minute, 32.833 seconds moves him to top the field as the Red Bull driver looks to extend his run of winning every sprint race so far in 2024.
Nico Hulkenberg beat Hamilton to sixth, with Kevin Magnussen eighth on what was a very good day for Haas.
Yuki Tsunoda took ninth, while Franco Colapinto did superbly to make SQ3, but then spun at Turn 12 at the end of the track’s main straight when he was running with the Mercedes cars early in the final segment, so ended up P10 for Williams.
Perez was the biggest faller in SQ2, with his final lap coming well ahead of the chequered flag but only good enough for P10 at that stage, after which he was knocked out by Tsunoda’s late improvement.
Fernando Alonso looked to have been eliminated in P12, but he and his teammate Lance Stroll lost their only times – set late in SQ2 – for going too wide out of the penultimate corner.
Liam Lawson was also hit with a track limits violation on his only lap, with the RB driver running too wide out of Turn 1.
He therefore dropped behind Stroll and Alonso as they ended up finishing P13, P14 and P15, which boosted Pierre Gasly to P12.
SQ1 had a dramatic and controversial end, as Alex Albon put his Williams into a dramatic 360-degree spin exiting the penultimate corner on his final flier and was eliminated in P18, while Piastri lost his best time to a track limits infringement at the same corner.
His previous personal best was only good enough to be P16 and so he was eliminated ahead of Esteban Ocon, Albon and the Sauber duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
So welcome back to the sharp end of the grid for Max Verstappen. This grid is only for the sprint but its a significant as the defending champion is several positions ahead of his title rival Lando Norris. Roll on the sprint race.
United States Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.833
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.845
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.059
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:33.083
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:33.089
6 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:33.183
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.378
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:33.398
9 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:33.802
10 Franco Colapinto Williams 1:34.406
11 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:34.244
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:34.363
13 Lanco Stroll Aston Martin 1:34.324
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:34.436
15 Liam Lawson RB 1:34.617
16 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:34.881
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:34.917
18 Alexander Albon Williams 1:35.054
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:35.148
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:36.472
Max Verstappen has clinched pole position for the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix, the Dutchman having beaten Mercedes’ George Russell in Sprint Qualifying by just 0.012s.
After Russell set the benchmark by going out early on track in SQ3, the likes of Lando Norris and the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – who had been looking strong earlier on Friday – tried to better this. All were unable to do so, but Verstappen left it late to put his Red Bull into P1.
Russell will join Verstappen on the front row, with Leclerc and Norris behind in third and fourth ahead of Sainz and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in fifth and sixth places.
Lewis Hamilton lines up in seventh for Mercedes, alongside Haas’s Kevin Magnussen in a solid eighth, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and the Williams of Franco Colapinto round out the top 10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/verstappen-pips-russell-to-sprint-qualifying-pole-in-austin-by-0-012s.1thBcBOQKIWmqAbRaXF7M8
Lando Norris labelled his sprint qualifying lap as “shocking” after claiming fourth on the grid for Saturday’s United States Grand Prix sprint race, 0.25 seconds shy of Max Verstappen’s pole time.
Norris split the two Ferraris with his sole flying lap of the session, as neither Charles Leclerc nor Carlos Sainz could capitalise on the early pace that they had shown.
The Briton had gone fourth and sixth fastest through SQ1 and SQ2, on both occasions over two tenths slower than the fastest time in each phase. Norris was again over two tenths away from making the front row in SQ3, and just 0.006s ahead of Sainz in the overall pecking order.
On the radio after the lap, a downbeat Norris told his team that he didn’t want updates on where his rivals landed in the timing order, exclaiming that his lap was “shit”.
Speaking after the session, Norris conceded: “[It was] not very good. P4, so not a great day. I’ve been struggling the whole day, honestly, with the balance and the set-up,” Norris said.
“In a way I’m happy with P4 because I felt like it could have been a lot worse, but my lap was shocking. Not a terrible day and it could have been worse, but could have been better. But I’ll take it.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-rues-shocking-lap-after-qualifying-fourth-for-us-gp-sprint/10664160/
Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton believes he would have managed pole for Saturday’s United States Grand Prix sprint race had he not been disrupted by yellow flags.
Hamilton was heard to question Mercedes’ decision to put him and George Russell on track so soon into SQ3, although Russell demonstrated the team’s rationale by putting together a time good enough for second on the grid.
Behind him, Hamilton had found a significant margin over Russell’s opening sector and was looking set to outqualify his team-mate, but he encountered a yellow flag in the second sector when Franco Colapinto spun at Turn 12.
GPS data shows that Hamilton lifted much earlier on compared to Russell into that corner, which the seven-time champion encountered moments before the yellow flag was removed, creating a swing of almost eight tenths as Hamilton was tracking at three tenths ahead of Russell – though the former had also ran wide when trying to make up for the lift.
Asked if he felt that it was a lost sprint pole, Hamilton replied: “I just got unlucky with the yellow flag. And that’s what it is. I was four tenths up, but anyhow, it is what it is.
“The good thing is the team has made a step with the car, the upgrade has clearly worked and I’m really grateful to everyone back at the factory for all the hard work over this period of time.
“It’s been a tough slog for everyone to get the upgrade and to make sure that they’re working. It’s not the end of the day. Tomorrow we get another chance.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-colapinto-yellow-flag-cost-chance-at-us-gp-sprint-pole/10664183/
It was a Sprint Qualifying of two halves for the Red Bull garage at the United States Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen taking his first pole position in any format since Austria, as Sergio Perez found himself out in SQ2.
In an upgraded Red Bull RB20, Verstappen lapped the Circuit of The Americas in the top three for both the 12-minute SQ1 and the 10-minute SQ2 segments, before a scintillating final lap in SQ3 gave him pole for Saturday’s Sprint by just 0.012s from Mercedes’ George Russell.
That meant Verstappen took P1 in any kind of qualifying session for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix back in June – much to the championship leader’s delight.
“We had a good day,” said Verstappen. “Of course, Sprint Qualifying is always very difficult. [With the tyres] you do medium, medium and then a soft. You never really know how much you can push but I’m happy with today. I think all day the car was working quite well, and of course I’m very happy to be first. It’s been a while so very pleased with today.”
Asked what his gameplan was for the rest of the weekend – with Verstappen currently 52 points clear of title rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris, who took P4 in Sprint Qualifying – Verstappen replied: “Making the car driveable and good on the tyres in the race. That for us is the key.
“We’ll do the best we can tomorrow in the Sprint, but we also know of course the most points are available on Sunday, so that’s where we really want to do well.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/its-been-a-while-verstappen-delighted-with-sprint-pole-in-austin-as-perez.17XMWFOT9vel1UNWK3VWuQ