AUSTIN, Texas – Max Verstappen took pole position for the United States Grand Prix sprint race, beating McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Verstappen, with an impressive final lap, won by 0.071 seconds over Norris, who is 22 points behind his teammate Piastri in the championship.
Although there are only eight points at stake in Saturday’s sprint race, the pressure on the McLaren drivers increases considerably against the current champion.
Norris and Piastri arrive at this weekend after their collision at the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks ago. A possible incident in the sprint could favor Verstappen.
Nico Hülkenberg from Sauber, who achieved his first podium at the British Grand Prix, will start fourth, followed by George Russell and Fernando Alonso. Ferrari, after its victory on this circuit last year, had a less outstanding performance, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in eighth and tenth position, respectively. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon from Williams will share positions with Hamilton after an outstanding performance in SQ3. Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes failed to advance to SQ2, being narrowly outperformed by Hamilton. Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly from Alpine also positioned themselves on the grid. Liam Lawson did not set a time in SQ2 and will start fifteenth. Yuki Tsunoda, with a disappointing qualifying session, finished in 18th place. Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto, and Gabriel Bortoleto failed to advance in the session.“It went well,” Verstappen said after the session. “But I expect a tough battle tomorrow in the sprint, which is exactly what we want to see.”
Max Verstappen
