Charles Leclerc will start the United States Grand Prix from pole after a track limits violation for Max Verstappen cost the Red Bull driver the top spot.
Following a closely fought battle between Ferrari and the Dutchman throughout qualifying, Verstappen was caught exceeding track limits on his final flying lap which would otherwise see him fastest by 0.005s.
Lando Norris will join Leclerc on the front-row ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. George Russell completed the top five.
With just one hour of practice under their belts, drivers took to the Circuit of the Americas to settle the starting order for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.
After missing the majority of practice due to brake issues, Lance Stroll was on the backfoot heading into qualifying. Thankfully, Aston Martin were able to address the issues in time for the Canadian to join qualifying
The sprint format meant there was a clear lack of rubber on the circuit, contributing to a surface that would only grow faster with more running.
All drivers, with the exception of Carlos Sainz, were on circuit in the closing minute of Q1. The Spaniard, then placed second, felt safe on a 1:35.8. The gamble paid off for last year’s polesitter as he ended the session fourth, saving himself a set of tyres for the sprint.
The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton topped the opening session, clocking a 1:35.091 ahead of Norris and Verstappen.
It was disaster for Aston Martin as both cars were eliminated in Q1 despite bringing a decently sized upgrade package to Austin. 17th place for Fernando Alonso marks a first Q3 absence all season, whereas 19th means a fifth consecutive Q3 absence for Stroll.
Nico Hulkenberg was forced out as a result of a track limits violation. The Haas driver will start 16th. Both Williams drivers were also eliminated, with home favourite Logan Sargeant unable to make a statement, qualifying P20.
Verstappen picked up the advantage in the first run in Q2, although the Dutchman was closely followed. Piastri, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez all found themselves within two-tenths of the freshly crowned three-time champion.
The combination of the closely matched field and the rapidly evolving track surface threatened to throw more surprises, particularly with track limits violations easy to come by at COTA
In particular, there would be nerves at Ferrari ahead of the second run as Charles Leclerc found himself the best placed scarlet car in ninth, albeit four-tenths off Verstappen’s benchmark. Sainz sat in P14 ahead of the final run.
Ferrari responded instantly, as Leclerc found half-a-second on Verstappen’s time, setting a 1:35.004. Sainz slotted into second momentarily, before Verstappen would reclaim P2 just 0.004s off the leading Ferrari.
Both Mercedes suddenly found themselves in the drop-zone, but there would be no concerns for the Silver Arrows as Hamilton advanced P3 and Russell squeezed through to the top-ten shootout P9.
Sergio Perez also squeezed his way into Q3 by 0.018s, the Mexican placing P10. Yuki Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo were all eliminated in Q2 – the Australian competing in his first race weekend since injuring his hand in Zandvoort.
Q3 was a five team affair with Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Alpine all seeing two cars advance to the final ten.
Heading into the session, the battle for pole looked to be between the Ferraris and Verstappen, however Hamilton threw his name into the ring with his opening run.
Leclerc held provisional pole over Hamilton by 0.056s with Verstappen a further tenth adrift ahead of Sainz.
The Dutchman was heard fuming over the team radio, complaining that he lost downforce in the final corner after finding himself within the wake of team-mate Perez on his attempt.
Verstappen went on to lock up at Turn 1, chasing the deficit to Leclerc. Regardless, his first sector time matched that of the Monegasque.
Leclerc was able to find a tenth improvement, but Verstappen was able to eek an extra 0.005s to snatch provisional pole.
That was until the Dutchman was found to have exceeded track limits at Turn 19, resulting in his lap-time being deleted and the Monegasque returned to the top spot and Ferrari consecutive poles at COTA.
The costly mistake drops Verstappen to sixth, handing a front-row start to Norris on a weekend the Briton had expected to see McLaren struggle.
Hamilton was able to make use of Mercedes’ brand new floor to claim third ahead of Sainz. Russell starts fifth alongside Verstappen.
The Alpine duo make up row four, Gasly outqualifying his compatriot, as Perez was only able to manage P9. Oscar Piastri completed the top ten.
Saturday sees attention turn to Formula 1’s Sprint action. First up is the sprint shootout at 12:30 local time, followed by the 19-lap sprint starting at 17:00 local time.
