F1 American GP qualifying summary: Verstappen takes twelfth pole position, trumps Hamilton and Perez

Max Verstappen manages to record the fastest time and thus conquer the twelfth pole position of his career. Verstappen takes pole in front of Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez drives a strong qualifying, even seems to take pole until the end, but the Mexican has to settle for third position in the end.

Start Qualification

Live coverage of developments during qualifying for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas. Refresh this page regularly to keep up to date with the latest developments on the track.

Q1

The fear of getting in each other’s way has made the drivers and teams decide to spread out onto the track. It seems to work, because in the first ten minutes no one can be heard complaining about ‘traffic’. After exactly ten minutes, however, there is a dangerous moment. Sebastian Vettel is ugly in the way by a slow-moving colleague who crosses right in front of Vettel in an attempt to pull over in time. Vettel is startled and then sounds furious through the on-board radio.

Verstappen fastest for now

With six minutes left in Q1, Max Verstappen takes the fastest time for the time being, ahead of Ricciardo, Norris, Sainz, Perez, Bottas, Hamilton, Gasly, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Vettel, Giovinazzi, Stroll, Russell, Ocon.

Dropouts would be: Alonso, Latifi, Schumacher, Räikkönen and Mazepin. They are trying to improve their time to be able to advance to the second qualifying part.

When the black and white checkered flag has been waved, Fernando Alonso barely manages to secure himself: he can proceed to the second qualifying part. Lance Stroll falls by the wayside and cannot send his Aston Martin into Q2.

Giovinazzi spins off the track. Stroll is unlucky: due to double-waved flags, he cannot tighten up his lap time. His previously recorded lap time is too slow for a place in the top fifteen.

Dropouts in Q1 are: Stroll, Latifi, Räikkönen, Schumacher and Mazepin.

Q2

Only Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz take to the track on the soft tire for a first run in Q2. The other drivers prefer the mediums for a first run.

Perez goes too wide, his time is taken away for not respecting the track limits. The pressure on Perez is mounting; towards the end of Q2, he will have to make sure that he still scores within a lap time that entitles him to a top ten place. . Perez is at that time the first dropout from P11 and he is riding his second stint on the medium tire.

Verstappen fastest for now

When the flag fell, Verstappen set the fastest time for the time being with a 1:33.464. This makes him 0.333 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton. Behind them: Norris, Leclerc, Bottas, Sainz, Perez, Gasly, Ricciardo, Tsunoda.

Ocon, Vettel, Giovinazzi, Alonso and Russell drop out and are out of the top ten.

Q3

The ten remaining gentlemen will all have to prove themselves again in the final part of this qualification. All clocks are reset to zero.

Max Verstappen records the fastest time for the time being if the training will only last six minutes. Perez follows in Verstappen’s wake and immediately takes the fastest time from his teammate. About 125,000 spectators love it and cheer for Verstappen and Perez. Perez is 0.019 faster than his teammate. It’s not over, though: there’s still a few minutes to go.

Tension rises during the final minutes of qualifying as the gentlemen prepare for an ultimate denouement. It is important for all contenders for pole position to further improve their fast times.

Until just before the end of qualifying, Perez is still on the fastest time for the time being. The pecking order is then: Perez, Verstappen, Bottas, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Norris, Gasly and Tsunoda.

After the flag dropped, Hamilton still records purple sector times, but in the end he falls short of Max Verstappen. The Dutchman takes his twelfth pole of his career. This put Verstappen in an exceptionally promising starting position. While Perez can start third and can therefore be important for the strategy, Valtteri Bottas is the big absent this time. The Finnish driver finished fourth and will start on Sunday from ninth place due to an engine change. The question is whether Bottas can fight back from that spot.

Full results with times below.