Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix from pole after his 1m 34.035s stood through Q3. Max Verstappen qualified second after his final lap was deleted for track limits, and Isack Hadjar made it two Red Bulls in the top three.
“We got pole, so we will try and win for tomorrow,” Antonelli said. “But Max has been very quick and Isack did an incredible job in qualifying so it will not be easy. But we will try and get a good start, lead into Turn 1 and set the pace.”
Charles Leclerc set the early Q1 benchmark with a 1m 35.200s before Verstappen came within 0.015s of it. Despite days of complaints from both drivers, Red Bull sat second and third with eight minutes of Q1 left. Fernando Alonso made it through to Q2 despite flames coming from near his exhaust, and Lando Norris went fastest at the final moment.
Q2 brought the first 1m 34s laps. Verstappen set a 1m 34.371s on used softs, with Norris just 0.068s behind, and Red Bull got both cars through to Q3 on a single set of softs.
A missed opportunity for some?
Verstappen was shown the black-and-white flag early in Q3 for driving unnecessarily slowly. Antonelli’s opening run put him on top, with Verstappen 0.179s back and complaining about grip. Liam Lawson didn’t run in Q3, saving tyres for the race.
On the final runs, George Russell crossed the line fifth but was pushed back to seventh by Lewis Hamilton and Norris. Verstappen’s last lap was deleted, leaving Antonelli on pole.
“Just Q3 was not good. Q1, Q2 was nice but on the last two sets I had no balance, started to slide a lot,” Verstappen said. “Just not very happy with Q3 to be honest, not what I wanted, not what I expected but P2 – I’ll take it.”
Hadjar felt pole had been within reach. “I’m happy with Q3 P3 because it has been incredibly hard for me since the start of the weekend. Struggled with car balance, this morning I couldn’t even set a lap time on the soft due to the car balance,” he said. “Happy to be third even though I feel we had a shot at pole. Had a massive tailwind on my lap, so I am a little bit gutted.”
Williams’ Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas were eliminated in Q1. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, Alonso and Haas’ Oliver Bearman went out in Q2, with Bearman’s lap deleted for track limits.
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