Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was just able to snatch pole position from his team mate Charles Leclerc at the climax of a tight qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas for Sunday's United States Grand Prix. It will be his third time starting from P1.
However a ten-place grid penalty for Leclerc for taking a new engine means that Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be promoted to the front row of the grid. Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will line up on row two thanks to a similar five-place grid drop for Sergio Perez.
Lance Stroll confirmed an ongoing resurgence for Aston Martin by finishing ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas. Fernando Alonso also made it to the final pole shoot-out but is similarly beset with a grid penalty for tomorrow's race leaving Alex Albon and Sebastian Vettel in the top ten.
The paddock was still absorbing the shock news of the death of Red Bull team co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz as drivers made their way to the cars to begin qualifying for the United States Grand Prix. Having topped final practice, Max Verstappen was looking favourite to take pole and thereby put himself in a position to help the team clinch its first constructors championship since 2013, it seemed a particularly cruel twist of fate that Mateschitz had been just a few hours short of potentially seeing his team back at the top.
Despite the sad news, the Formula 1 show had to go on. It was still bright and sunny at the Circuit of the Americas with the sun low in the sky but remaining very strong, the wind also continuing to gust and eager to catch out the unwary. Lots to focus on, then, as the lights went green at the end of pit lane to get the first round of qualifying underway.
Q1: Sainz and Leclerc quickest as Ricciardo and Ocon miss the first cut
Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher together with Williams duo Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi were first out on soft tyres, together with Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu who was keen to make up for a lack of any significant running in final practice due to a hydraulics issue. He also had a grid penalty for engine changes to overcome, as did Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso.
Albon was first to set a time, but it was Schumacher's 1:37.816s that claimed the top spot in this initial skirmish. Then the big hitters started to roll out, and Verstappen swiftly took charge with a time of 1:35.864s that was three tenths quicker than his team mate Perez. Leclerc responded and went 0.069s quicker than the reigning world champion, with Lewis Hamilton then split the two Red Bulls to slip into third and George Russell in the second Mercedes going fifth ahead of Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll.
Carlos Sainz had aborted his first push lap, but when he did punch in a proper time it was half a second quicker than his Ferrari team mate and the rest of the field to put him top with a time of 1:35.297s. After that there was a pause as the cars returned to pit lane for adjustments and fresh tyres before coming back out to undertake their final runs of Q1; a late call by Ferrari and a summons to the weighbridge left Leclerc frustrated and scrabbling to catch up.
Those at risk of elimination were Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guanyu, whose quickest lap had been deleted for track limits. Tsunoda improved to get into the top ten, and Ricciardo also improved but only to 15th putting him right on the bubble. That wasn't enough to keep him safe in the face of a better lap from Albon, and the Aussie duly joined Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon and Nicholas Latifi on the sidelines, while Schumacher was also out after spinning on his final lap and failing to improve his earlier time
Q2: Leclerc pips Verstappen, Norris has a lucky escape as Albon, Vettel and Gasly miss out
When the lights went green for the start of the second round, there were some mind games being played as teams bided their time with the aim of hitting the optimum track conditions. Most were on used soft tyres - Red Bull and Ferrari sticking with the same tyres they had used in Q1 - but both Mercedes were straight on to fresh sets. The final driver to emerge from the garage was Sainz.
Albon was the first to set a time of 1:37.124s, fractionally quicker than Tsunoda. Russell then took a turn at the top, but he was quickly shuffled back to fourth as Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz all went quicker. Just 0.048s split the top two, with Leclerc having clocked in with a time of 1:35.246s. Perez was in sixth ahead of Hamilton, Alonso, Bottas, Zhou and Norris leaving Albon, Tsunoda and Stroll all in the drop zone together with Gasly and Vettel, whose time had been sacrificed to the god of track limits. Gasly had locked up at the start of his lap, telling the AlphaTauri pit wall "I'm trying my best" but sounding far from happy with his current situation - or his current team.
Leclerc, Sainz and Perez all felt secure enough to sit out the second runs which saw Albon immediately improve to eighth. Stroll then moved up to P7 and Norris also managed to scrambled into the top ten. By contrast Gasly's final run wasn't good enough to reach safety, and Tsunoda's latest lap had been deleted. Zhou looked to have put in an impressive flier to get into the top ten and push Norris out, but it was soon evident that the Alfa had strayed wide at turn 12, which cost him the lap time and reinstated Norris into tenth place after all.
There was no such reprieve for Albon who just missed out in 11th, ahead of Vettel and Gasly. Zhou had dropped to 14th after losing his lap, with Tsunoda ending up slowest of all the drivers.
Q3: Sainz pips Leclerc ion final run, but Verstappen picks up P2 on the grid
Bottas was first to head out for the final top ten pole shoot-out, with his Mercedes successor Russell hot on his heels along with lucky survivor Norris. Bottas was first to set a time - 1:36.747s - but first Norris and then Alonso soon went quicker before Verstappen found an extra full second despite making a mistake in the first sector. That mishap did leave the door open for Leclerc to go top by four tenths, with Sainz second ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen provisionally down in fourth followed by Perez, Alonso, Norris and Bottas.
Russell had bailed out of his first run, and now went into seventh almost seven tenths behind Leclerc's benchmark. The final driver to set a time was Stroll, who waited until the track was almost clear before bolting on Aston Martin's final available set of fresh soft tyres to tuck in right behind Russell in seventh, just ahead of Alonso.
A quick return to the pits was the prelude to the final runs of the day. Verstappen was wasting no time and was straight back out, aiming for two warm-up laps this time instead of one, while Leclerc and Sainz were content to loiter in the garage for a minute longer before joining the fray. Once everyone was up to speed, it was the Ferrari pair who were soon dominating the sector times while Hamilton was only able to put in a relatively poor effort by his standards.
Sainz duly managed to pip Leclerc to pole with a time of 1:34.356s putting him a wafer-thin 0.065s ahead, with Verstappen not able to match them and having to settle for third on the timesheets ahead of Perez, Hamilton and Russell as the top six ended up in two-by-two team formation - Ferrari followed by Red Bull and then Mercedes. Stroll's existing time meant he held on to P7 ahead of Norris, Alonso and Bottas.
However the assorted engine grid penalties mean that pole winner Sainz will be joined on the front row by Verstappen, as Leclerc is demoted to 11th. Perez' penalty helps Mercedes lock out the second row ahead of Stroll and Norris, with Bottas in seventh. Perez slots back in at eighth ahead of Albon and Vettel, with Gasly lining up in 11th alongside Leclerc.
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