US Grand Prix: Max Verstappen pole for Sprint Shootout as top four separated by a tenth

Max Verstappen edged clear of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris in the Sprint Shootout for the US Grand Prix on Saturday.

Only 0.101s separated the top four drivers in the final runs in SQ3 as they set the grid for the Sprint later on, with four different constructors in the hunt for pole.

Qatar Sprint winner Oscar Piastri rounded out the top five on the grid at the Circuit of The Americas, in a tightly-fought shortened qualifying session between multiple teams.

Max Verstappen nabs Sprint Shootout pole for US Grand Prix

After ‘standard’ qualifying on Friday saw Charles Leclerc take pole position, the shortened version was set to be altogether different, with the track conditions somewhat cooler than Friday’s running and mandatory medium tyres to be used in SQ1 and SQ2, leaving extra variables for the drivers during the Sprint Shootout.

With only 12 minutes in SQ1 to eliminate the bottom five drivers, the Circuit of The Americas was a hive of activity as all 20 drivers pounded around for the majority of the session, only Verstappen opting to complete one run – his 1:35.997 putting him three tenths clear of the rest and looking comfortable enough to stay in the garage.

The remaining 19 drivers either stayed out on the same set of tyres to cool them down or scurried back to the pits to fit a second set of mediums, with one final chance to make their case to get through to SQ2.

When those laps played out, the Williams of Alex Albon went third fastest in a superb lap while bot McLarens struggled to fire up their medium tyres, Oscar Piastri scraping through in 14th and Daniel Ricciardo putting himself though in 15th, narrowly above the Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.

Yuki Tsunoda was furious over team radio as he could not improve from 19th, with a tight squeeze between him and Lewis Hamilton on the exit of Turn 19 as they jostled for position building up for their final laps, and the AlphaTauri driver missing ouut on crossing the line before the chequered flag – with Logan Sargeant bringing up the rear and Valtteri Bottas also dropping out.

Meanwhile, the FIA confirmed an investigation will take place after Leclerc took evasive action from George Russell on the exit of Turn 19, with the Ferrari driver rapidly approaching the back of the Mercedes after the fast left-hander.

Leclerc seemingly thinks a slam-dunk punishment is on the way for the Briton, chiming in over his radio by saying: “And a penalty for Mr Russell, thank you.”

But all eyes were back on track for the remaining 15 drivers for SQ2, with only 10 minutes to clock the best possible laps on medium tyres once more.

This led to a split in some drivers choosing between one run or two with such limited time available, but it all came down to the final runs once again for the field to book their places in the top 10.

Verstappen will have been grateful for banking a lap early on, as he completed a full 360° spin on the uphill exit of Turn 9, with mud on his tyres and his final lap ruined – though he had a good enough time to see him through.

After both Aston Martins went out in Q1 on Friday, it was SQ2 this time around, as Albon knocked Fernando Alonso into the drop zone with his final run, with Ricciardo taking 11th place, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 13th, Lance Stroll in 14th and Zhou Guanyu in 15th in another hotly-contested session.

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SQ3 saw the drivers move onto soft tyres for the final eight minutes to set the grid for the Sprint later on Saturday, with the first moments of the final session offering something of a respite as one run was the preferred option for the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for Sprint pole.

A 1:34.538 was the benchmark set by Verstappen first, followed by Norris a tenth behind, and Piastri a further two tenths behind his McLaren team-mate.

After pole on Friday, Leclerc looked in the hunt again, but was only 0.055s outside Verstappen’s best time in SQ3.

Hamilton too went within a tenth of Verstappen, 0.069s back as he took third on the grid, with the top four only separated by a tenth in a very close Sprint Shootout at COTA.

US Grand Prix: Sprint Shootout classification

1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull 1:34.538
2 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.055
3 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.069
4 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.101
5 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.356
6 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.401
7 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull +0.503
8 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.661
9 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.828
10 Pierre GASLY Alpine +1.359
11 Daniel RICCIARDO AlphaTauri 1:35.978
12 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.109
13 Esteban OCON Alpine +0.159
14 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.203
15 ZHOU Guanyu Alfa Romeo +0.204
16 Nico HULKENBERG Haas 1:36.749
17 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +0.173
18 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +0.173
19 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +0.193
20 Logan SARGEANT Williams +0.437

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