UNITED STATES GP – Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris to pole by three-tenths
Max Verstappen has beaten Lando Norris to take pole at the United States Grand Prix; the Red Bull driver didn’t start a final attempt but he remained nearly three tenths ahead of the McLaren. Verstappen has looked to be a headache for McLaren in the meaningful session this weekend.
The Dutchman has this weekend proved he remains an outsider for the championship, but Norris looked to keep him honest, as he took his seventh Grand Prix pole of the season. The four-time champion topped all three sessions after he took a third sprint win in a row at the Circuit of the Americas.
That was despite Verstappen not getting in a final run in Q3 after he was sent out too late to start his final run, as it will validate McLaren’s concerns about Verstappen making a late comeback to seal the title. But his fastest time set on his first run, which has sometimes been important this season was enough to secure pole.
McLaren may have been on the back foot as they rebuilt both cars after they collided in a racing incident on the opening lap of the sprint, but both Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri made out for the start of Q1. However, neither and especially Piastri appeared comfortable following their incident in the sprint
Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari third as he went six thousandths behind Norris; however, both were just under three tenths off pole. The Englishman managed to edge out Norris despite having his first run deleted following a spin at the final corner.
Verstappen, who topped every session of qualifying, said: “It was good, every segment the car was very strong, just trying to put the lap together around here is very tricky. The first run in Q3 was good. Just managed to improve a little bit on Q2. I didn’t manage to do my final run, it was a bit messy with the out laps but fortunately we didn’t need it.”
Norris said, “It was a bit more of a struggle today for whatever reason, yesterday was quite comfortable. I don’t know whether others have improved or whether the wind has changed. And it was a bit more of a struggle to keep up with this guy. There was no chance we could have got pole today.”
George Russell split the Ferrari’s; he was two hundredths behind Leclerc as he went nearly nine hundredths faster than his former teammate Lewis Hamilton. Russell gained one position from where he started in the sprint. Piastri could only manage seventh as the second McLaren went around a tenth and three-quarters behind Hamilton and ahead of Kimi Antonelli by a quarter of a tenth.
Piastri said after the session he “didn’t really feel terribly comfortable out there and the lap times show (it). But a long race tomorrow, and a lot can happen, so try and make up some ground. (The car was) just a little bit unpredictable. It was very tight for the positions ahead of me. Some things to try and look at.”
Ollie Bearman had a decent session putting his Haas seventh for their home Grand Prix, the Englishman going a hundredth behind the Mercedes and ahead of the Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who were separated by a hundredth as they completed the top ten.
Nico Hulkenberg was unable to match his impressive sprint qualifying, which had put him fourth for the sprint, as he missed out on Q3 by almost a tenth. The Sauber driver is going a quarter of a tenth ahead of Liam Lawson, with Yuki Tsunoda a tenth further behind. The two Alpines were slowest in Q2, with Pierre Gasly nearly four tenths ahead of teammate Franco Colapinto.
Lawson’s teammate, Isack Hadjar, failed to set a time in Q1 after he crashed out. The Frenchman emerged from his Racing Bull with rage and frustration after he lost the rear at Turn Six. There appears to be nothing he could have done to stop his one-way ticket to the barrier which brought out the red flag.
Gabriel Bortoletto was fastest of those knocked out in Q1, the Brazilian missing out by just under nine hundredths, as he put his Sauber a hundredth ahead of Esteban Ocon. While Lance Stroll was eighteenth going a tenth and a half ahead of Alex Albon, as they completed the field.
Related
- United States GP – Sprint Result
- UNITED STATES GP – Max Verstappen takes a third Austin sprint win, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri punted into collision
- United States GP – Sprint Qualifying Result
- UNITED STATES GP – Max Verstappen beats both McLarens to sprint pole by seven hundredths
- UNITED STATES GP – Lando Norris fastest by a quarter of a second in practice ahead of sprint qualifying
- PRIXVIEW – United States Grand Prix