Max Verstappen maintained his impressive run of form by snatching pole position away from McLaren for the United States Grand Prix Sprint race. The Red Bull ace will lead Saturday's shortened contest from the front after delivering a superb final lap to pip Lando Norris.
McLaren driver Norris had secured provisional pole at the session's conclusion, but Verstappen was the final driver to cross the line on his ultimate flying lap. His tempo was impressive through the opening two sectors, though he appeared to be preserving his rubber for the closing corners, utilising this strategy to edge out the British driver by just seven-hundredths of a second.
"It's been a nice qualifying," Verstappen said. "Throughout all the segments we were quite close and it was just about trying to put it all together when it mattered, which is not easy because you go [from the medium tyre] to the soft compound with no reference. But it worked out well.
"I still expect it to be a tough battle in the Sprint, but that's exactly what we want to see, right? I'm excited, and happy with today. I just want to have a good start. It's a wide turn one. I hope we'll have good pace in the race, but we'll find out tomorrow."
Verstappen has acknowledged the challenge of defending pole position at the Circuit of the Americas, with none of the last three Austin Grands Prix being won by the front-starter. However, he did manage to turn pole into victory in last year's US GP Sprint.
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This time, he'll have two McLarens hot on his heels from the get-go, with Norris sharing the front row and championship frontrunner Oscar Piastri starting third. Sharing the second row with Piastri was an unexpected standout, Nico Hulkenberg, who continued his impressive practice pace into qualifying, securing a brilliant result for Sauber.
George Russell was surprised to see Hulkenberg ahead of him in the timings, but pleased to outpace both Ferraris as Mercedes aims to tighten its hold on second place in the constructors' championship. Lewis Hamilton will start eighth in the Sprint, with Charles Leclerc languishing in 10th, slower than both Williams cars and Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.
Kimi Antonelli and the Racing Bulls team, who have been strong in qualifying throughout the year, were among those left disappointed after failing to make it into Q3. Yuki Tsunoda also suffered an early exit, finding himself stuck in SQ1 traffic and unable to reach the start line in time to record a competitive lap.
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