Austin (AFP) – Four-time champion Max Verstappen maintained the pressure on McLaren’s nerve-wracked title duellists on Friday when he beat them both to claim pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the United States Grand Prix. The 28-year-old Dutchman left his best lap to the last seconds of a closely contested session when he outpaced Lando Norris by 0.071 seconds, consigning the Briton to second on the grid alongside him. Series leader Oscar Piastri was third in the second McLaren, three-tenths adrift of the pole lap, as he continued to struggle to recreate the form that has carried him 22 points clear of Norris and 63 beyond Verstappen in the championship.
“Yes, that was a nice qualifying,” a satisfied Verstappen said with a grin. “It was tight through all the segments and I just tried to put it all together, which is not easy but it came together in the end. I expect it will be a tough battle in the sprint race, but that’s what we all want to see, isn’t it?” It was Verstappen’s third consecutive sprint qualifying success in Austin and brought him his 10th sprint pole in 22 attempts since 2022. Having reduced Piastri’s championship lead by 41 points already, he has rekindled his bid for a fifth title and has the belief and experience to produce a record feat in overturning such a big deficit in the final six races.
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Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies acclaimed Verstappen’s virtuoso ability to outperform his car but added that he believed Red Bull were now equipped to fight to win all of the remaining events. After a day of sizzling Texan ‘barbecue’ heat with temperatures of 91.4F (33C) in air and 113F (45C) on the track, the session began with French rookie Isack Hadjar leading the way in his Racing Bulls to clock 1:34.758. Everyone was on medium compound tyres.
Both Leclerc and Sainz, having suffered gearbox problems in opening practice, were back in action in the ‘heat hazard’ conditions, which permitted the use of cooling vests, but it was Hamilton and then Verstappen who soon set the pace. The Dutchman went top in 1:34.140 to beat Hamilton by 0.086, with Piastri third in the final seconds of SQ1 as Leclerc struggled to survive the cut. A late lap lifted Norris to the top in 1:33.224. Leclerc squeezed through, but Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull did not, and he joined Oliver Bearman of Haas, Franco Colapinto of Alpine, Esteban Ocon in the second Haas, and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in making an early exit.
Verstappen, seeking to close a 63-point gap behind Piastri in the title race, set the pace again early in SQ3 in 1:33.163, with Piastri taking second until Norris clocked 1:33.033 to take over on top. Ferrari struggled again and reached SQ3 with last-gasp laps as Leclerc went eighth and Hamilton 10th, leaving Mercedes teenage rookie Italian Kimi Antonelli eliminated in 11th ahead of Hadjar, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, and Liam Lawson in the second Racing Bulls car.
The surprise package was Nico Hulkenberg in his Ferrari-powered Sauber as he went through in fifth with an excellent lap to claim his first top ten appearance of the year. SQ3 began with Russell out early after all switched to softs, and he banged in a lap in 1:32.888 ahead of the two Williams before the rest of the gang joined in. The delayed drama delivered a late climax as Verstappen took pole for a third consecutive year for the Austin sprint, his final lap in 1:32.143 lifting him beyond both McLarens and the speedy German Hulkenberg.
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