Lando Norris was the fastest man in qualifying for the US Grand Prix. An excellent lap on the first attempt in Q3 gave the McLaren man pole. Max Verstappen finished second, as he was unable to respond to a Norris spin due to George Russell going off the track, bringing qualifying to a premature end. Carlos Sainz finished third.
Verstappen looked like the main candidate for pole today, with the #33 Red Bull car showing its early season form. He topped Q1 and Q2 and looked set to start from pole position, but Norris' stunning lap complicated the Dutchman's life. Verstappen was on an excellent lap, having achieved the best first sector, when Russell left the track, in the final laps of the day. Verstappen had room to improve and looked like he would, but a Mercedes derailment ruined his plans.
McLaren was not performing great in qualifying, but Norris used his pace to put himself in pole position for tomorrow. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz achieved a good third place, which opens up good prospects for the race. Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri completed the top five. In the remaining positions were Russell, Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso, Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez.
Q1
Qualifying for the US Grand Prix will face no threat of rain, with the air temperature at 28.5°C, track temperature at 38.6°C, and humidity at 40%.
The green light had not yet come on at the pit lane exit and we already had “traffic” to enter the American track. Despite the extra work, with the Sauber's rear axle unable to handle the temperature, the green cars were at the start of Q1.
Alex Albon was first to start a fast lap, but did not complete the lap. Fernando Alonso led, entering the 34th second, but that was only for a short while, as Lando Norris took almost half a second off the Spaniard's record. Sainz was 0.075 seconds behind. His former teammate, with Oscar Piastri, took the third time, all on used tyres.
Max Verstappen was first to enter thirty-second with a time of just over 0.3 seconds. In the time of Lando Norris. Sergio Perez, on his new soft tires, was third, with Alex Albon just behind him, in fourth, when he finally completed his lap. Nico Hulkenberg showed his excellent form and entered second place on already new tyres. The Mercedes cars were not very fast, with George Russell in 10th and Hamilton in 14th.
In the second attempts, with new soft tires, the time began to decrease, to the point that Pierre Gasly came to top the timetable. At this point, six minutes before the end of this session, Mercedes, Zhu Guanyu, Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda were in the elimination zone.
Leclerc tried to change the scenario, so he moved to first place to secure his place in the second division. Verstappen, who knocked on the door of 32nd place, is back at the top of the table. The drama began one minute before the end of the session, as Lewis Hamilton failed to achieve better than the sixteenth time, leaving the first section. At the end of this session, Williams, Sauber and Lewis Hamilton remained behind.
Max Verstappen with a time of 1:33.046, followed by Leclerc, Liam Lawson (excellent lap), George Russell and Pierre Gasly (good lap).
Q2
It didn't take the drivers long to get back to work once they were allowed onto the track, with many drivers installing used tires on their first attempts. Max Verstappen (used tyres) started this session well, running in the low 33s, followed by Gasly (new tyres), Sainz (used tyres) and Perez (new tyres). Lando Norris, with his new tires, rose to first place in the table, while Piastri, with his new tires, took third place. The difference between Norris and Verstappen was only 0.2 seconds, taking into account the difference between new and used tires.
Six minutes before the end of the session, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson were in the elimination zone (without completing any laps, he was only interested in giving the aspiration cone to his teammate).
Max Verstappen returned to first place by approximately 0.3 seconds. Norris time with new tires. Carlos Sainz moved up to second place. At the end of the second quarter, Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson were eliminated. Verstappen achieved the best time (1:32.584), followed by Sainz, Norris, Leclerc and Perez. Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen completed the top ten that will compete in Q3.
Q3
It's time to make decisions, as the pole will be decided in the final session of the day. Lando Norris entered 32nd on his first attempt, 0.6 seconds behind Oscar Piastri. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc intervened between the McLaren men, but the important lap belonged to Verstappen, who finished second, with a time of 0.031 seconds. By Norris. The order after the first attempts was Norris, Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Piastri, Russell, Gasly, Magnussen, Perez (lap removed due to exceeding track limits) and Alonso (lap not yet completed).
Max Verstappen was ready to try to steal pole position from Lando Norris, but George Russell went out violently, spoiling the #33 Red Bull's final attempt, securing Lando Norris' pole position for the United States Grand Prix.
Most prominent qualifications
With many people saying that Lando Norris does not have the qualities of a champion, the Briton responded with an excellent position. The result was excellent, but what was more important was that McLaren was only aiming for a top five finish. Norris exceeded expectations with a brilliant lap. Verstappen appeared to have everything he needed to take pole position from Norris. I will not deprive the Briton of this advantage, but this way the race gains more excitement. Verstappen was always quickest and showed that time off was beneficial for Red Bull. A qualification reminiscent of other times, when he won without difficulty, in a “modern-day” remake where the margins were much shorter, so that Norris was able to intervene.
Carlos Sainz and Chalice Leclerc are the two big threats of tomorrow. Realizing that they would not be strong in the qualifiers, they achieved the best possible result. Third and fourth, given the race pace they showed, put Ferrari in the fight for the win. Piastri was disappointed in qualifying, a class he has to work on, finishing 0.6 points behind his teammate.
For Mercedes, a nightmare. Hamilton would start 19th and Russell finished qualifying in track protection. After an excellent 'quali' of racing, a completely different day, for the worse.
Pierre Gasly was one of the standouts, placing his Alpine car in the top ten, an excellent performance for the Frenchman. Kevin Magnussen also succeeded in proving Haas' competitiveness. It's unfortunate that Hulkenberg made a mistake in Q2, otherwise we would have had two Haas cars in Q3 with relative ease.
Sergio Pérez continued to be frustrated and did not go further than 10th, with his first attempt in Q3 cancelled. It was a negative afternoon for the Mexican, who showed some interesting details.
Another highlight of Liam Lawson. The weather in the first quarter was merely a warning to navigation. The New Zealander wants to stay and overtake his teammate. In the second section, he was limited to giving suction cones to the erratic Tsunoda, due to the penalty for changing the drive unit elements of the car owned by Daniel Ricciardo. But Lawson showed he's in good shape.
The race is scheduled to take place at eight o'clock tomorrow evening.
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