Verstappen beats Hamilton to pole in Texas shootout: US GP qualifying round-up

Max Verstappen turned out to be the fastest gun in the West as he set a scintillating time to take pole by two tenths from Lewis Hamilton in an intense qualifying session at the United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton said it took everything the team had to set his final Q3 time, which sets up another head-to-head battle between the title rivals but with Red Bull able to play the team game.

Sergio Perez looked initially strong and had taken provisional pole in Q3 but ended up third. Fourth-placed qualifier Valtteri Bottas starts ninth due to an engine change penalty, meaning Perez and Charles Leclerc start on the second row. All will leave the grid on medium tyres after using them in Q2.

Lando Norris will start eighth on Sunday, whilst George Russell will begin last also due to an engine switch — just behind Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel who are also taking new power units.

Q1

A carnival atmosphere engulfed the circuit, the crowd roaring as cars headed out into Q1, with Mick Schumacher the first to set a fast lap of 1min 35.281sec and team-mate Nikita Mazepin the first to have his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.

1min 34s were the aim of the fast cars, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both easily getting into them – the Dutchman clocked a 1min 34.521sec with the Mexican five thousandths of a second further back.

Seven and half tenths behind was the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, with Bottas then beating him, threading his way his way through traffic to go third fastest, 0.15sec off lead Red Bull.

Daniel Ricciardo took one of Dale Earnhardt’s Chevrolet Monte Carlos for a spin at COTA this weekend as a reward from Zak Brown for scoring his first podium (also his first win) for McLaren at Monza, and the Australian was channeling the power of ‘The Intimidator’ as he topped the timesheet with a 1min 34.407sec.

His McLaren team-mate then went third, 0.144sec off the Perth native. Verstappen next snatched back top spot with a lap 0.055sec faster, with Perez soon making it a Red Bull 1-2.

Nikita Mazepin inadvertently blocked Sebastian Vettel, prompting a particularly sweary response from the Aston Martin driver.

With four minutes left, competitors rolled back out to try and better their times, Charles Leclerc languishing down in 13th. Both Alpines were in the bottom five danger zone but lifted themselves out – just, finishing 13th and 14th in the session.

As the seconds ticked down and the fast laps flew in, Nicholas Latifi looked like he might have made it through to Q2, but was then pushed down to 17th, 1min 35.995sec not enough to prevent elimination.

Mazepin will prop up the grid tomorrow, his 1min 36.796sec slowest of all, with his Haas team-mate Schumacher next to him tomorrow after being three tenths quicker.

Outgoing Alfa Romeo man Kimi Räikkönen was only two tenths better off than the young German, with Lance Stroll coming home 16th after clocking a 1min 35.983, six hundredths off 15th-placed Antonio Giovinazzi, who made it through despite spinning on his final run.

Q2

Valtteri Bottas was first to file a Q2 time with a 1min 33.959 sec, before being bested by both Hamilton and then Verstappen, who rocketed to a 1min 33.464sec, all on medium tyres.

A 1min 33.928sec inserted Leclerc into a Silver Arrow sandwich, before he was leapfrogged by Norris who was just under five hundredths faster.

Sainz was the only one of the frontrunners to set an initial time on the soft tyre, which was also chosen by Tsunoda and Alonso.

Ricciardo and Perez had their first flying laps deleted for exceeding track limits at Turns 19 and 9 respectively.

The pressure was on both, who realistically only had a single flying lap to reserve their Q3 slot. Perez produced a safe effort, 0.714sec behind his team-mate; Ricciardo’s effort was only enough to put him ninth.

Yuki Tsunoda extended his stay in qualifying by setting a 1min 35.137sec, but George Russell saw his time deleted, putting him behind Fernando Alonso, who will be ahead of him at the back of the grid where both will start due to engine changes.

A 1min 35.794sec lap meant Giovinazzi will start 13th. A lap three tenths better than that put Vettel 12th – “pretty much perfect” was the message for the German on the radio, as his time means he will start tomorrow ahead of Alonso and Russell tomorrow.

Esteban Ocon was first of the Q2 losers with a 1min 35.377sec.

At the front, Verstappen stayed ahead, with Hamilton 0.333sec behind. Perez failed to improve his Q2 time with medium tyres, as expected, forcing him to start on soft tyres for the grand prix.

Q3

Hamilton went out first in a bid to get his time in, but it was Bottas who was quickest as he set a 1min 33.475sec.

The Brit was second – a tenth behind – but the Mercs were soon bested by the Red Bulls. However, it was Perez who ripped up the script – he went fastest with a 1min 33.180sec, Verstappen two hundredths behind.

Sainz and Leclerc were fifth and sixth respectively, with Ricciardo and Norris seventh and eighth, Gasly and Tsunoda ninth and 10th.

Norris was warned of possible rain at Turn 9 as the cars headed out for the final qualifying runs of the day, as Hamilton set a time faster than Perez by 0.009sec in Sector 1, almost three tenths faster in Sector 2 before filing a provisional pole of 1min 33.119sec.

However, as the drizzle did indeed come down Verstappen smashed the Mercedes’s time with a 1min 32.910sec. Perez’s efforts to put his car in first were to no avail, 0.25sec off his team-mate’s lap.

Bottas was in fourth, over half a second off the Dutchman, whilst Charles Leclerc was fifth with a 1min 33.606sec.

His team-mate Sainz was two tenths further back, and the two McLarens line up in seventh and eighth tomorrow. The trend of the season was bucked with Ricciardo ahead of Norris.

The AlphaTauris made up the rest of the grid: Pierre Gasly set a 1min 34.118sec with Tusnoda eight tenths off.

2021 US Grand Prix qualifying results

Session results do not include grid penalties that will affect the starting order