Winners and losers from the 2024 US Grand Prix qualifying

It was a case of what could have been after a late George Russell crash prevented Max Verstappen from setting a final flying lap and handed Lando Norris pole.

A great lap from the McLaren driver would have took some beating but Verstappen looked on course to do just that before the late incident.

Winners and losers from the 2024 US Grand Prix qualifying

Winners

Max Verstappen

Now before you get your pitchforks out, yes we know that Lando Norris was on pole but that result comes with the big caveat that Verstappen did not complete his last flying lap.

Of course, this is F1 and things like this happen but the Dutchman was on a tear before then and having set a purple sector one, you would have backed him to keep up that pace in the rest of the lap.

As Verstappen will say, starting P2 here actually puts you on a better line and having dominated the sprint, the Dutchman is the favourite to win on Sunday.

Carlos Sainz

While the focus was on Verstappen and Norris, Carlos Sainz once again put in a very good performance.

The Spaniard qualified third, ahead of his team-mate, and that made for a very good day after a good sprint in the earlier session.

Pierre Gasly

Paint your car like a McLaren may be a tactic others deploy if it produces similar results to Gasly’s in Austin.

The Frenchman made it into Q3 for the first time since Zandvoort and went on to finish seventh, his joint best quali of the year.

There are quick cars behind him but Gasly is on course for a good points score in Austin.

More from qualifying in Austin

US GP: Lando Norris on pole as Mercedes suffer Austin nightmare

All the drama as it happened from United States Grand Prix qualifying

Losers

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties in this qualifying session date back to the formation lap of the sprint as he revealed that a suspension problem meant an entire rebuild of the car ahead of quali.

The result? A very unbalanced drive. Hamilton made a small mistake at Turn 12, ruining his flying lap in Q1.

Hamilton suggested a pit lane start was preferable in what is already looking like a damage limitation kind of race.

Nico Hulkenberg

As Hamilton proved, even the most experienced drivers have off days and that was also the case for Nico Hulkenberg.

A man who has been so good in quali since his return to F1 had a rare bad day at the office and more than one mistake in his flying lap meant he exited in Q2 while his team-mate progressed into the final 10.

Sergio Perez

Have the standards slipped so low that Sergio Perez qualifying in 10th is not seen as a big deal anymore? Yes it was due to his lap being deleted but Perez should do better, especially in Q3.

Once again, it will be down to Verstappen to score the majority of Red Bull’s points.

George Russell

Not content to see his team-mate take all the focus, George Russell made a costly mistake of his own with a late spin in Turn 19.

Russell at least made it to Q3 but having recorded the sixth best time in the first runs, Russell complained that the car was vastly different from yesterday, suggesting not much more was on the cards.

Instead, he gave his mechanics a lot of work to do as the sun set in Austin.

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