Verstappen pips Russell to Sprint Qualifying pole in Austin by 0.012s

Max Verstappen has clinched pole position for the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix, the Dutchman having beaten Mercedes’ George Russell in Sprint Qualifying by just 0.012s.
After Russell set the benchmark by going out early on track in SQ3, the likes of Lando Norris and the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – who had been looking strong earlier on Friday – tried to better this. All were unable to do so, but Verstappen left it late to put his Red Bull into P1.
Russell will join Verstappen on the front row, with Leclerc and Norris behind in third and fourth ahead of Sainz and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in fifth and sixth places.
Lewis Hamilton lines up in seventh for Mercedes, alongside Haas’s Kevin Magnussen in a solid eighth, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and the Williams of Franco Colapinto round out the top 10.
Sergio Perez found himself eliminated in SQ2 after his sole effort proved not to be enough to see him through, putting the Red Bull in P11. Joining him on the sixth row will be the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.
Aston Martin had a disappointing day, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso ending the session in 13th and 14th respectively. Behind them is Liam Lawson in 15th for RB as the New Zealander makes his return to the grid in place of Daniel Ricciardo.
There was drama in SQ1 when Oscar Piastri had his final lap time deleted due to exceeding track limits at Turn 19, dropping the McLaren driver down to P16 and putting him out of the session. Alex Albon, meanwhile, had a spin in the Williams as he approached the line, leaving him unable to improve in P18.
Also exiting in the first segment of Sprint Qualifying were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 17th, Valtteri Bottas in 19th and the Finn’s Kick Sauber team mate Zhou Guanyu in 20th place.
After just one hour of practice to prepare earlier in the day, the drivers returned to action later on Friday for Sprint Qualifying, ready to set the grid for Saturday’s Sprint at the Circuit of The Americas.
As the 12-minute SQ1 segment got under way at 1630 local time, championship leader Verstappen led a queue of cars out of the pit lane, with all sporting the mandatory fresh medium tyres.
While Verstappen and team mate Perez initially put themselves at the top of the timesheets, Magnussen was a surprise name to displace the Dutchman in P1, and Perez soon dropped down the order after seeing his lap time deleted due to exceeding track limits.
Once the field had all put a timed lap on the board, it was Hamilton who had gone fastest with an effort of 1m 33.840s, five-hundredths clear of Leclerc in second and only seven-hundredths ahead of Norris in P3. Further back, Williams team mates Albon and Colapinto managed to set the exact same time in 14th and 15th.
As the clock ticked down, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Zhou and Perez were the drivers at risk – the latter thanks to that earlier track limits issue – just as Verstappen improved his time to go third fastest.
Perez, meanwhile, hauled himself up into P7, pushing the Williams duo towards the elimination zone. While Colapinto improved, Albon suffered a dramatic spin on his final effort and, despite remaining on track, the incident resulted in the Thai driver remaining in the drop zone.
There was late drama when Piastri ran wide at Turn 19, leading to the Australian having his lap time deleted over track limits, which dropped him down to P16 and out of the session.
Leclerc ended the segment on top, but exiting SQ1 with Piastri and Albon were Ocon in 17th and the Kick Sauber pair of Bottas and Zhou in 19th and 20th respectively.
Knocked out: Piastri, Ocon, Albon, Bottas, Zhou
It was another busy start as the 10-minute SQ2 began, with the Mercedes duo amongst the first to hit the track. The Silver Arrows set the early pace – ahead of Norris in the McLaren – before the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc sandwiched Hamilton by slotting into first and third places.
Verstappen, meanwhile, joined the fray a few minutes into the session and put his Red Bull into P2, just 0.016s behind Sainz’s lap of 1m 33.274s, with the top three covered by one tenth.
As SQ2 entered into its final minutes, Perez found himself at risk in P10 – and the Mexican did not have enough time remaining to try to improve, having left it late to put his effort on the board.
It soon became clear that Perez would not progress through to SQ3, with Tsunoda moving up into 10th to push the Red Bull down into the elimination zone in 11th place.
Gasly ended the segment in P12, while there was double disappointment for Aston Martin with Stroll and Alonso exiting in P13 and P14. Lawson, meanwhile, will line up in P15, with both the New Zealander and Alonso having their lap times deleted.
Knocked out: Perez, Gasly, Stroll, Alonso, Lawson
Hamilton was again quick to head out on circuit as SQ3 kicked off, a segment in which soft tyres are the mandatory compound. The Briton questioned the team on why they had made such an early appearance, with many drivers initially choosing to remain in the pits.
While the yellow flags were thrown briefly following a spin for Colapinto at Turn 12 – the Argentinian driver the sole Williams in the session – the moment was enough to cause problems for Hamilton behind, whose time was half a second back on team mate Russell’s.
Just as the Mercedes cars returned to the pits, the rest of the pack were out to put their final efforts in as they looked to better Russell’s benchmark of 1m 32.845s.
While Norris and the Ferrari pair both came close, none could beat Russell.
However, Verstappen was the one to displace the Briton, going quicker by just 0.012s to put his Red Bull on pole for the Sprint.
Leclerc will line up in third, with Norris alongside him on the second row, while Sainz took fifth ahead of Hulkenberg in sixth. Hamilton hung on to claim seventh, and Magnussen added to a strong day for Haas by going eighth fastest.
The top 10 is rounded out by Tsunoda in ninth for RB and Colapinto in 10th place.
“We had a good day,” said Verstappen. “Of course, Sprint Qualifying is always very difficult. You do medium [tyres], medium and then a soft. You never really know how much you can push but I’m happy with today. I think all day the car was working quite well, and of course I’m very happy to be first. It’s been a while so very pleased with today.” 
With the grid decided, the drivers will take up their positions for the Sprint at 1300 local time on Saturday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action.