Leclerc outduels Norris and Hamilton to take pole in Austin
Charles Leclerc came out on top after an enthralling qualifying hour in Austin, as the Ferrari driver put in a sublime late effort to take pole position ahead of rivals Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton for the United States Grand Prix.
Leclerc was on provisional pole after the first runs in Q3 and improved on his final attempt by two-tenths, with his lap of 1m 34.723s giving him his third pole position of the season.
Norris wound up second, over a tenth off Leclerc, while Hamilton looked on course to take pole, but ended up third in his upgraded Mercedes. Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari, with George Russell rounding out the top five.
Max Verstappen looked to have placed his Red Bull on pole but had his time deleted for exceeding track limits at the penultimate corner and will start the race from sixth, ahead of the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in seventh.
Esteban Ocon was eighth for Alpine, ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri down in 10th
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda narrowly missed out on a place in Q3 but qualified in 11th for the second race in a row, and he will start ahead of the Alfa Romeos of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
Kevin Magnussen was the lead Haas down in 14th, while the other AlphaTauri of Daniel Ricciardo had his fastest time deleted in Q2, meaning he is set to start Sunday’s event from 15th on the grid.
There were plenty of shocks in the first part of qualifying with the upgraded Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, having briefly led the timesheets in Q1, down in 16th. He will line up ahead of Fernando Alonso, who failed to make it into Q3 for the first time all year, and is 17th for Aston Martin.
Alex Albon was down in 18th for Williams, ahead of the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, who after missing most of FP1 with a brake issue was 19th, while home favourite Logan Sargeant brought up the rear of the field.
