Max Verstappen secured pole position for the United States Grand Prix with a dominant display for Red Bull, finishing 0.291 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, despite failing to complete a final qualifying run.
The world champion topped every session of qualifying in Austin and delivered a strong first run in Q3 that proved good enough for pole. He was unable to begin a final flying lap before the chequered flag, having been sent out too late, but had already done enough to edge ahead of the field.
“It was good, every segment the car was very strong,” Verstappen said. “Just trying to put the lap together around here is very tricky. 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 saved his best for last to secure second on the grid, just 0.006 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The Briton admitted it had been a more difficult session compared to earlier in the weekend.
“It was a bit more of a struggle today for whatever reason,” Norris said. “Yesterday was quite comfortable. I don’t know whether others have improved or whether the wind has changed. There was no chance we could have got pole today. I look forward to hopefully have a good race with Max.”
Leclerc, who spun on his first Q3 attempt, was surprised to finish as high as third. “It was quite a big surprise, especially considering the weekend has been very difficult,” he said. “There are still things we need to understand from this car.”
George Russell took fourth for Mercedes, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fifth. Hamilton, driving for Ferrari this weekend, ended up just 0.105 seconds behind Leclerc.
“We had a bit of improvement compared to yesterday,” Hamilton said. “The car still was not quite right throughout qualifying. I had massive understeer from the beginning so bit by bit I was adding and adding wing. Towards the end it got a little bit better but it’s almost too late that you get that confidence.”
Championship leader Oscar Piastri qualified only sixth, continuing a difficult weekend for the McLaren driver. He now leads Verstappen by 55 points, with Norris 22 points behind him.
“Just a tricky session, did not really feel terribly comfortable out there and the lap times show it,” Piastri said. “It was just a little bit unpredictable. It was very tight for the positions ahead of me. Some things to try and look at.”
Behind Piastri, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took seventh, with Oliver Bearman impressing in eighth for Haas. Carlos Sainz placed ninth for Williams, while Fernando Alonso completed the top ten in his Aston Martin.
Isack Hadjar will start from the back row after crashing heavily in qualifying, losing control of his Racing Bulls car at Turn Six.
Top 10 Qualifiers:
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
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Oliver Bearman (Haas)
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Carlos Sainz (Williams)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
