Lance Stroll achieved his best qualifying result of the season in Austin on Saturday, the Aston Martin charger clocking in P7 at the end of Q3 which puts him "in the mix" for a good result on Sunday.
Stroll's path to the final top-ten shootout was straightforward, after which he made the most of his car's ever-improving efficiency.
And as an added bonus, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez's grid demotions due to engine changes have elevated Stroll to P5 on the grid.
"The car felt really good today, we found plenty of grip and the car gave me confidence," commented the Canadian after his run.
"It gives us a great starting position for tomorrow. I am really pleased for the team because we have made good progress with the car recently and we are looking stronger on Saturdays.
"I really enjoyed it out there, even though conditions were tricky with the wind. It looks like we will start from fifth place, with a couple of penalties for the cars ahead, which means we are in the mix to pick up a good result on Sunday."
Unfortunately, Sebastian Vettel failed to make the final Q3 cut by a small margin, but the four-time F1 world champion was still handed a top-ten start as he also benefitted from grid penalties handed to three drivers in front of him in qualifying.
Vettel reckoned that he owed his disappointing performance in part to the wing that had picked up on Saturday at COTA.
"There was more speed in the car today, so I am disappointed with my final qualifying result," said the German.
"I was not happy with my lap in Q2 and I was struggling to find confidence with the rear.
"Sector one was quite tricky today with the tailwind, but I lost time straight away when the rear end snapped turning into Turn Three, so I lost quite a lot of time in that whole sequence.
"The rest of the lap was alright, but I was playing catch-up. Small margins made the difference today and that is why I missed out on Q3."
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