Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the United States Grand Prix with a lap time of 1:34.035 at Circuit of The Americas, edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds, according to timing data reported by Sportnet and Aktuality.
Antonelli Claims Pole Ahead of Verstappen and Hadjar
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli set the pace in the final qualifying session in Austin, Texas, outpacing the Red Bull pair to capture the top spot for Sunday’s race. Max Verstappen finished second, trailing the Italian by 0.179 seconds, while Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar claimed third, 0.215 seconds off the benchmark, as reported by Aktuality.
Ferrari placed Charles Leclerc fourth with a lap 0.232 seconds behind Antonelli, and Lewis Hamilton fifth at 0.276 seconds back. George Russell put the second Mercedes into sixth position with a 0.441-second deficit, followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in seventh and Lando Norris in eighth, according to race classification figures cited by Aktuality.
Ferrari Pace Undone by Track Limits in Practice
As detailed by F1online.sk, Charles Leclerc posted the fastest time in the third practice session, but stewards disallowed the lap after the Monégasque driver exceeded track limits at turn nine.
The infraction handed the top practice spot to Lewis Hamilton, whose cleaner run remained legal. F1online.sk noted that officials logged 39 separate track limit violations during the final practice session alone, catching out front-runners including Lando Norris, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and Leclerc as drivers skirted the white lines.
Bortoleto Faces 60-Place Penalty for Power Unit Replacement
Further down the grid, Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto faced a severe setback before competitive running began. Sportnet reported that Bortoleto replaced his power unit ahead of the weekend, triggering a 60-place grid penalty that drops the Brazilian driver to the back of the field for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The elimination phase in Q2 saw Pierre Gasly miss the top-ten cutoff by just 0.022 seconds, finishing eleventh ahead of Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg and Bortoleto, as reported by Aktuality. Franco Colapinto took fourteenth for Alpine, while Fernando Alonso placed fifteenth for Aston Martin after Oliver Bearman lost a lap time to track limits, which lifted the veteran Spaniard up a position.
United States Grand Prix Starting Grid and Schedule
The race at Circuit of The Americas begins at 23:00 local time, as noted in the live reporting from Sportnet and Aktuality. Antonelli will share the front row with Verstappen, with Hadjar and Leclerc lining up immediately behind them on the grid.
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