Max Verstappen clinches Sprint Pole in Austin

IMAGE: Getty Images/Sam Bloxham

Max Verstappen beats both McLaren's to the top spot to take Sprint Pole in Austin. 

Despite Lando Norris leading the way in both SQ1 and 2, it was the Dutchman that managed to put the right lap together to take the top spot for tomorrow's Sprint Race. 

Norris had to settle for second with not much in it between the front row starters as the man in papaya was just 0.071s off Verstappen's pace. 

Oscar Piastri came home in P3 and will start on the second row tomorrow after finishing 0.309s behind the leader - a bigger gap than the Aussie would have wanted. 

SQ1
Green light at the end of the pits and it was Isack Hadjar for Racing Bulls that was at the front of the queue to get out on track to get this Sprint Qualifying session underway. 

With track and air temperatures soaring, it was vital that the drivers made minimal mistakes as tyres were in short supply with the Sprint Race, Qualifying and the Grand Prix still to come and track temperatures would speed up degradation. 

Hulkenberg's excellent form from earlier in practice seemed to be continuing with the raw pace of the Sauber seeming very promising. With just under 10 minutes remaining the German was top of the times with a 1:34.758.

Verstappen was next to take P1 for himself as he went just under a tenth up on seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton with five minutes left to go. However, Leclerc in the other Ferrari looked to be in trouble as he dropped into the elimination zone. 

The final minutes of SQ1 could only be described as chaotic. Multiple drivers were all left stuck in the danger zone with no chance to improve as a queue of cars waiting to do a lap hindered them. Both Haas' of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Gabriel Bortoleto in the Kick Sauber all got knocked out in the first stage after not making it to the chequered flag in time to register another lap time.  

Bortoleto unfortunately had no time on the board at all at the end of SQ1 as his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits 

Drivers out: P16 - Bearman, P17 - Colapinto, P18 - Tsunoda, P19 - Ocon, P20 - Bortoleto.

SQ2
Verstappen led the way out of the pits for SQ2 and medium compound tyres still seemed to be the preferred choice at this point. Some drivers waited in the pits to preserve their tyres for the race itself and go for just the one push lap.

The Dutchman was the first to set a time in this second stage - he put in an 1:33.163 to set the benchmark for the next eight minutes that remained. George Russell managed to slot in behind in P2 a couple of minutes later but was three tenths off the Red Bull driver's pace. 

Norris pipped Verstappen to the top spot inside the four minute mark as his teammate and championship rival Piastri only managed P3. Eyes were on the Ferrari's who were clearly struggling and needed to find more time if they wanted to progress. 

Chequered flag waved for SQ2 and it was Norris again that was leading the way for McLaren, everything looking on track for the Brit to take Pole at the end of SQ3. 

Kimi Antonelli was so close to making SQ3 but missed out by an agonising six thousandths of a second which left him in P11.

Leclerc managed to get himself into SQ3 by putting his Ferrari in P8, a lucky save for the Monegasque driver. 

Drivers out: P11 - Antonelli, P12 - Hadjar, P13 - Gasly, P14 - Stroll, P15 - Lawson.

SQ3
Only 10 remained and it was time for the final stage where the drivers would push it to the max to try and claim Sprint Pole.

Russell set the benchmark time for the final stage with a 1:32.888 after seeming to struggle a bit for grip on the soft compound tyres. It was Sainz and Albon that sat in P2 and P3 at this stage. 

With one minute to go, it was Hulkenberg who was lighting up the track with a purple sector one. He finishes his lap to go over two tenths faster than Russell - a brilliant effort from the Kick Sauber driver who was displaying impressive pace to keep up with the front runners. 

Norris manages to go four tenths faster to take the top spot, and all eyes were on Piastri and Verstappen who were yet to do a flying lap. 

Piastri crossed the line in P2 after struggling to match his championship rival's pace which saw him settle three tenths behind his teammate. 

However, Verstappen is the one who capitalised today, setting a 1:32.143 to take Sprint Pole for the second year on the bounce. He went onto take the Sprint Race win last year, can he do it again?

Top 10 standings: P1 - Verstappen, P2 - Norris, P3 - Piastri, P4 - Hulkenberg, P5 - Russell, P6 - Alonso, P7 - Sainz, P8 - Hamilton, P9 - Albon, P10 - Leclerc. 

The Sprint Race will take place at 6pm BST tomorrow so be sure to catch all of the action and see who can grab the all important extra points!

Katie Shepherd
Writer: F1 Journal