Max Verstappen clinched a dominant pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the United States Grand Prix during a fast-paced qualifying session on Friday. This marks his first pole since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, ending a 12-race drought for the three-time world champion.
Verstappen set the best lap time of one minute and 32.833 seconds, edging out Mercedes’ George Russell by just 0.012 seconds, with Charles Leclerc securing third place for Ferrari. McLaren’s Lando Norris, who trails Verstappen by 52 points in the championship standings, qualified fourth, followed by Carlos Sainz from Ferrari and Nico Hulkenberg of Haas.
“That was good,” Verstappen remarked. “We had a good day. Sprint qualifying is always difficult. You never know how much you can push, but the car was working well. Of course, I’m very happy to be first; it’s been a while.” He added, “It’s always very hectic, and you know this track is amazing to drive.”
Norris expressed frustration over his car’s setup balance, stating, “That was not very good. We are struggling. And my lap was shocking. I hope I can go forward in the sprint, or at least that’s the plan, but honestly, for pace, we are where we deserve to be.”
Russell commented on his performance, saying, “I’m happy, and it’s been a while since we were on the front row. My last run was strong. It’s good to be back in the mix. The car is feeling great, and it’s close.”
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton qualified seventh for Mercedes, followed by Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas, Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri, and Williams’ Franco Colapinto. Notably, both Sergio Perez of Red Bull and Oscar Piastri of McLaren did not advance to the top ten shootout.
On a warm, dry day at the Circuit of the Americas, with track temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius, Verstappen was the first to lead the pit lane queue, quickly clocking a time that was initially surpassed by Magnussen, Leclerc, and Hamilton, who set a time of 1:33.840.
In a frantic and brisk opening session, lasting only 15 minutes, Leclerc took the initiative in 1:33.647 before the flag to confirm an early surprise exit for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Willliams’ Alex Albon, who survived a big spin at the final corner in his 100th Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu of Sauber.
A late improved lap by Piastri was deleted because he exceeded track limits at Turn 19.
As in the opening period, the second session began with everyone on medium tyres and Hamilton setting the pace in 1:33.370 before Sainz outpaced him by 0.096.
Red Bull delayed their runs, but Verstappen swept to second in 1:33.290 on his opening lap with Perez struggling into 10th.
“I’m struggling a lot with the ride,” reported Verstappen on team radio, on a day when Red Bull’s ride-height device had caused controversy.
At the flag, Tsunoda had improved to bump Perez down to 11th and out again along with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the Aston Martin duo of Lance Stroll and two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson of RB, the New Zealand driver having taken over from Daniel Ricciardo for the rest of the season.
All this meant Colapinto was in the top-ten shootout with Tsunoda and Hulkenberg.
The two Mercedes men led the way out for third session with Colapinto in tow, Russell topping the early laps in 1:32.845 to beat Hamilton by 0.533.
Verstappen, who had delayed his lap, swept to pole with a strong lap in 1:32.833 to beat Russell by 0.012, leaving Leclerc third and Norris fourth.
