Max Verstappen has earned the pole spot for the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix, clocking an impressive 1 minute 32.143 seconds in the final moment of Sprint Qualifying. His lap beat the two McLaren cars by 0.071 seconds, putting the Dutchman ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Norris had led both the first and second stages of the session, and he was the fastest driver going into the third round. But Verstappen outpaced everyone in the final run, sending the Red Bull team to the top of the grid. Piastri’s McLaren finished third, just 0.3 seconds behind Verstappen.
Nico Hulkenberg surprised many by moving the Sauber KICK into fourth. George Russell from Mercedes took fifth, followed by Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. Williams’ Carlos Sainz bounced back after a slow first practice to claim seventh, with teammate Alex Albon in ninth.
Lewis Hamilton was sandwiched in between, with teammate Charles Leclerc rounding out the top ten. Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes missed the cut to SQ3 by a mere 0.006 seconds.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson both saw their lap times wiped because of track limits, so neither made it into the top 15. In the final runs for the first segment, a handful of drivers didn’t finish in time. Haas’ Ollie Bearman ended up 16th; Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull was 18th; Esteban Ocon from Haas finished 19th; and Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber KICK took 20th place. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto also exited the session after finishing 17th.
The Sprint Qualifying set the stage for a thrilling race at the Circuit of the Americas, with Verstappen taking the best starting position and setting a high bar for the other teams.
Source: ianslive
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in world News on Latest NewsX. Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter(X), Gettr and subscribe our Youtube Channel.
