Max Verstappen continued his dominance with F1 pole in US GP, as Lando Norris pushed in the end to second from an improved Charles Leclerc.
Q1:
The first part in main qualifying in F1 US GP at Circuit of the Americas was suspended early on after Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hajdar lost control at Turn 6 and rammed into the tyre barrier. He hit the bump and carried too much speed in the sequence to skid onto the run-off – much to his disappointment.
Nobody had a lap time on board, where Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton opted to use the medium tyre for his first run which was disrupted. But he switched to soft immediately when they got going after the stoppage. It wasn’t as good for McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was forced to abort his first lap.
He had a moment on the kerb which sent him off the track. At the front, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace with a 1m33.207s lap ahead of Mercedes pair of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the Top 3, as the McLaren duo finished outside the Top 10 in Q1.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was almost knocked out but for track limits that saved him. Williams’ Alexander Albon went for a last-gasp and made it in initially, but Turn 15 caught him out. Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was out in 16th after his 1m34.125s lap.
He was followed by Haas’ Esteban Ocon in 17th after his 1m34.136s lap, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m34.540s) in 18th and Albon (1m34.690s) 19th, as Hadjar had no timed lap set. The Canadian had his fast lap deleted as well for track limits and has 5-place penalty for sprint collision.
Q2:
The second part in F1 US GP qualifying saw lap deletion for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly after the first run, where McLaren’s Oscar Piastri did not look to be in the great shape. Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda complained about Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson disturbing him on his quick lap.
It was Verstappen still on top with a 1m32.701s lap ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Norris in the Top 3. There was not much of improvements made outside the Top 10, which included Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m33.334s), who had to be content with 11th in the end.
Lawson was 12th after his 1m33.360s lap from Tsunoda (1m33.466s), as the Alpine pair of Gasly (1m33.651s) and Franco Colapinto (1m34.044s) were the ones to improve to be 14th and 15th, just. Replays showed moments for multiple drivers to lose out.
Q3:
The final part in F1 qualifying in US GP saw a bad run for Piastri and the two Ferrari drivers to be outside the Top 5 positions. Replays showed a mistake for Hamilton at the start of the lap, while Leclerc had a 360 in the final corner which ruined both their laps.
But Verstappen had a storming lap of 1m32.510s out of the box to take provisional pole by 0.394s margin on Norris (1m32.904s), with Russell (1m32.959s) in third, ahead of Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Haas’ Oliver Bearman rounding the Top 5.
Verstappen left it late for his second lap and couldn’t make it, but his first lap was enough to hand him F1 pole in US GP by 0.291s margin from Norris , as Leclerc improved well to be third – finishing 0.006s behind the Brit. Russell (1m32826s) was fourth from Hamilton (1m32.912s) in the Top 5.
Piastri was only sixth after his 1m33.084s lap, as Antonelli (1m33.114s) was seventh, Bearman (1m33.139s) eighth, Williams’ Carlos Sainz (1m33.150s) ninth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m33.160s) rounding the Top 10 – where it was covered by 0.650s from P1 to P10.
Here’s penalty to Lance Stroll: https://www.fia.com/system/files/decision-document/2025_united_states_grand_prix_-_infringement_-_car_18_-_causing_a_collision_with_car_31.pdf
Here’s how F1 sprint in US GP panned out
