MAX Verstappen maintained his dominant form by securing pole position for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix following his earlier sprint race victory.
The Red Bull driver delivered an authoritative performance with a best lap time of one minute and 32.510 seconds around the Circuit of the Americas.
Verstappen finished 0.291 seconds clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the top three positions.
His sprint win earlier on Saturday reduced championship leader Oscar Piastri’s advantage to 55 points after both McLaren cars collided and retired at the first corner.
Norris remains 22 points behind his McLaren teammate in the championship standings.
Mercedes driver George Russell qualified fourth ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari.
Piastri managed only sixth position on the grid after struggling throughout the qualifying session.
Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli secured seventh for Mercedes while Haas driver Oliver Bearman earned his second consecutive top ten start in eighth.
Verstappen celebrated his seventh pole position of the season and his second career pole at the Austin circuit.
The Dutch driver acknowledged the challenging conditions during his qualifying effort.
Verstappen explained that strong winds particularly affected the first sector where cars lost downforce through the esses sequence.
Norris revealed his simple race strategy would focus on avoiding first-lap incidents.
The McLaren driver expressed optimism about battling Verstappen during the grand prix.
Leclerc described his third-place qualifying result as surprising given Ferrari’s difficult weekend.
The Monegasque driver noted his car typically performs better in race conditions than during qualifying.
Extreme track temperatures reaching 48 degrees Celsius created hazardous conditions throughout the session.
Qualifying began under red flag conditions when Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar crashed heavily at turn six.
The French driver angrily struck his helmet after the incident that required ten minutes of barrier repairs.
Both McLaren cars joined qualifying late as mechanics completed repairs following their sprint race collision.
Piastri and Norris barely progressed from the first qualifying session in 11th and 12th positions respectively.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas driver Esteban Ocon were among five drivers eliminated in Q1.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll will start from the back of the grid after receiving a five-second penalty for causing a collision in the sprint.
McLaren’s struggles continued into the second qualifying segment with Piastri half a second slower than Verstappen.
Four drivers including Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda failed to advance from Q2 into the final top ten shootout.
Verstappen’s first lap in Q3 proved sufficient for pole position despite aborting his final attempt.
The reigning world champion described his performance as simply lovely after securing the prime starting position. – AFP
