Formula 1: Verstappen takes US Grand Prix sprint pole

Austin, Oct 18 (IANS) Max Verstappen has taken pole position for the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix, the Dutchman putting in a stunning lap during the final moments of Sprint Qualifying to beat both McLaren cars.

Lando Norris had set the pace through the session, the Briton having topped SQ1 and SQ2 before initially looking to have repeated this feat in SQ3. But it was Verstappen who went fastest of all, the Red Bull driver’s effort of 1m 32.143s putting him just 0.071s clear of Norris.

The other McLaren of Oscar Piastri was just over three-tenths off Verstappen’s time in third, while Nico Hulkenberg caught the eye by slotting his Kick Sauber into P4. Mercedes’ George Russell followed in P5, ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, Formula 1 reports.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz bounced back from limited running in FP1 to take seventh on the grid, while team mate Alex Albon claimed ninth.

Lewis Hamilton was sandwiched between them in what looked to be a tricky session for Ferrari, with his team mate Charles Leclerc rounding out the order in 10th.

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli just missed out on reaching SQ3 by only 0.006s. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson, meanwhile, both had their lap times deleted due to track limits, meaning that neither recorded a time to put them in 14th and 15th places.

A number of drivers failed to reach the line in time to complete their final runs in a frantic finish to SQ1, with Haas’ Ollie Bearman (P16), Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda (P18), the other Haas machine of Esteban Ocon (P19) and Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto (P20) suffering this fate.

Also exiting in the first segment of Sprint Qualifying was Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, the Argentinian driver ending the session in P17.

--IANS

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