Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Qatar, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

United States Grand Prix

Verstappen edges out THREE rivals to snatch US sprint pole

The Dutchman is back on top in the States

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 21 October 2023 20:30 Updated: 21:44

Max Verstappen made amends for his poor qualifying performance by taking pole position in the sprint shootout at the United States Grand Prix, despite an uncharacteristic spin in SQ2.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc backed up his supreme Friday qualifying performance by finishing second in the sprint shootout, just five hundredths of a second behind Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton took third to provide yet more evidence of Mercedes' strong pace this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas, as the top three drivers were separated by less than a tenth of a second.

Red Bull redemption

Max Verstappen will start the US Grand Prix sixth on the grid

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Having suffered a pretty mediocre performance on Friday by their standards, Red Bull's Verstappen and Sergio Perez will only line-up in sixth and ninth for Sunday's race, but the dominant Dutchman will be confident he can take victory in the sprint race after putting his car on pole.

A 'small mistake' meant that his final Q3 lap time was deleted for a track limits infringement, and he once again made an uncharacteristic mistake during SQ2, spinning around having got onto the grass.

Despite this, he managed to recover to claim the sprint shootout pole, and once again leave his rivals in his wake.

More misery for Aston Martin

After his worst qualifying performance of the season on Friday, Fernando Alonso also failed to make an impact during the sprint shootout

After a difficult weekend so far for the Aston Martin team, where both of their cars caught fire during practice before Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to make it out of Q1, their time at Austin went from bad to worse.

Both drivers fell in SQ2, meaning they will line-up for the sprint race later on Saturday in 12th and 14th, while their fearsome Friday means they'll also start Sunday's race down in 17th and 19th respectively.

Russell slammed with penalty

George Russell's sprint shootout result suffered a demotion after a penalty from the stewards

As well as his average sprint qualifying performance in which he was only able to claim eighth, Mercedes' George Russell was penalised after impeding Leclerc's flying lap during SQ1.

The Ferrari driver clearly believed it was a slamdunk penalty for the British driver, saying straight away over the radio: "Penalty for Mr Russell, thank you."

Now, the FIA have revealed that Russell has been given the penalty, meaning he will start the sprint later on Saturday from 11th.