US GP: Verstappen pole redemption as top three separated by 0.069s

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has redeemed himself from the disappointment of yesterday as the three-time Formula 1 world champion took the sprint pole position as 0.069 separating the top three.

SQ1

Unlike qualifying for the grand prix yesterday, no one waited at the pit exit for the traffic light to turn green. When qualifying started, all of the drivers sat patiently in their garages but it was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who ventured out first onto the Texas-based track, the Circuit of the Americas.

As the Mercedes seven-time world champion started his flying lap, the last of the field filtered out onto the pit exit but their presence did not affect the world champion’s lap. Naturally, Hamilton was the first driver to set a lap time, with a 1:36.402.

As per the regulations for a sprint qualifying session, all of the drivers peeled out onto the circuit equipped with the yellow-ringed medium tyres.

After the first set of banker laps, many drivers were not able to beat Hamilton’s best lap time but the seven-time world champion was soon beaten and demoted to seventh.

Verstappen returned to his usual position at the top of the field, ahead of both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc (the pole sitter for Sunday’s race) and Carlos Sainz who occupied second and third respectively. Mercedes’ George Russell, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the top six.

The Dutchman considered himself to be safe with his fast lap of 1:35.997 and pitted from the remainder of the first qualifying third and this left 19 drivers out on track to fight over grid positions.

Russell came under scrutiny by Race control as the Mercedes driver impeded Leclerc while the Monegasque was on a hot lap. Replays showed the #63 Mercedes on the racing line at the exit of turn 19 which forced the Ferrari to take evasive action to avoid a collision. The incident was set to be investigated after the session.

Eliminated: 

20. Logan Sargeant, Williams

19. Yuki Tsuonda, Alpha Tauri

18. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

17. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

16. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

SQ2

In contrast to SQ1, there was a healthy queue of F1 machinery at the end of the pit lane as the drivers waited for the pit exit light to turn green. Nine drivers pulled out onto the circuit and Verstappen quickly jumped to the top of the timing sheets with the fastest lap as the rest filtered in below him.

However, Alexander Albon (Williams), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri) and the two Alpine remained in their respective garages. With a handful of minutes left on the clock, the drivers who remained in their garages in the early minutes of SQ2 finally peeled out onto the track for a one-lap shot at qualifying for SQ3.

Verstappen found himself in a spin at turn 10 as the Dutchman ate too much kerb, mid-corner, which unsettled and spun the car around. The three-time world champion regained control as the car corrected itself on the grass verge and he quickly pulled his RB19 back onto the circuit. Fortunately, the Dutch world champion sat at the top of the timing boards

In his first return to F1, since he broke his wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix, Ricciardo narrowly missed out on SQ3 by two-hundredths of a second. The Australian was heard on his team radio with an apology for a P11 start for the sprint race despite his recent injury.

Eliminated: 

15. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo

14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

13. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

12. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

11. Daniel Ricciardo, Alpha Tauri

SQ3

Similarly to SQ1, when the final third of qualifying commenced no one was eager to get out onto the track. Of an eight-minute session, Verstappen was the first to pull out of his garage and into the pit lane with just under five minutes left on the clock. As the first one to blink, the rest of the field followed the newly-recrowned champion out.

As per the regulations, all of the drivers were able to use the faster and gripper, red-walled, soft compound tyres.

Of the one-lap shootout for sprint pole, it was an extremely close top three as Verstappen retained first place and Leclerc and Hamilton rounded out the top three. Only 0.069s separated Verstappen from Hamilton.

Top 10:

10. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

9. Alexander Albon, Williams

8. George Russell, Mercedes* 

7. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

4. Lando Norris, McLaren

3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

* – Pending investigation from the stewards

That’s all for the article: US GP: Verstappen pole redemption as top three separated by 0.069s!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• US GP: Leclerc gains F1 pole after Verstappen exceeds track limits
• Haas F1 sports new one-off livery for US Grand Prix
• Pirelli to continue as F1 sole tyre provider until 2027
• Hamilton takes responsibility for Turn 1 incident with Russell in Qatar GP
• Verstappen secures Qatar GP win to round of championship-winning weekend
• Carlos Sainz out of Qatar GP with fuel problem

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