Lando Norris took F1 US GP pole by 0.031s over Max Verstappen after crash for George Russell, as Carlos Sainz was third.
Q1 –
The first part in F1 US GP qualifying at Circuit of the Americas saw early lap deletion for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as he had to go around again. There was a lap deletion for Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda which made it tough for him in the closing stages.
There were multiple strategies ongoing with several opting for used soft tyre for their first run. It was hectic in the end which cost Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m34.154s) who was knocked out in Q1 itself where his lap was also deleted to be 19th in the end.
Another big knockout was the Williams pair of Alexander Albon (1m34.051s) and Franco Colapinto (1m34.062s) in 15th and 16th as replays showed the Argentine having a big moment. The Thai racer missed Q2 by just the 0.018s margin in the end.
His teammate was only 0.011s behind, as Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas (1m34.152s) was 18th and teammate Zhou Guanyu (1m34.228s) in 20th. It was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m33.046s) in the front ahead of Leclerc and Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson in Top 3.
Q2 –
The second part in F1 US GP qualifying saw no lap from Lawson considering the power unit penalty that he had. The Kiwi was used by the team to punch a whole and give a slipstream to teammate Tsunoda to aide him to make it in the Top 10.
The strategy was again on display with some using a used set of soft tyre and some opting for a new set for their first run in the session. The slipstream didn’t work eventually as Tsunoda (1m33.506s) was bumped out in 11th by 0.032s margin.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg (1m33.544s) wasn’t too happy after a mistake at Turn 1 on his fast lap to be 12th as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m33.597s) was 13th from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m33.759s), with Lawson setting no time.
At the front, Verstappen continued to lead the way with a 1m32.584s lap as he headed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris in the Top 3.
Q3 –
The final part in F1 US GP qualifying saw Norris (1m32.330s) lead the way with provisional pole by 0.031s margin over Verstappen (1m32.361s). Sainz slotted in third from Leclerc, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in fifth.
It wasn’t the best of starts for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez after his first fast lap was deleted. Ahead of the second run, there was an unsafe release by Alpine with Pierre Gasly when he almost collided with Verstappen, who had to take avoiding action.
It was an anti-climax end after Mercedes’ George Russell crashed out to ruin the laps of other drivers. Even though Verstappen was improving along with few others, the Dutchman had to settle for second with Norris taking F1 US GP pole.
Sainz was third with a 1m32.652s lap from Leclerc (1m32.740s) and Piastri (1m32.950s), with Russell (1m32.974s) keeping sixth despite the crash. Gasly (1m33.018s) did well in seventh from Aston Martin’s Fernado Alonso (1m33.309s) and Magnussen (1m33.481s) as Perez didn’t set a time.
UPDATE: Alpine was handed a fine of 5,000 euros after found guilty of unsafe release with Gasly against Verstappen. Here: https://x.com/fia/status/1847794429031010697
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