F1 2025 United States Grand Prix Sprint Race starting grid with penalties applied

The first race of this weekend's United States Grand Prix gets underway TODAY (Saturday, October 18), before attention switches to the main event on Sunday in Austin.

The grid is set following Friday's sprint qualifying session which saw Max Verstappen claim pole position ahead of his two McLaren championship rivals.

Lando Norris had to settle for second, while championship leader Oscar Piastri will start the race from third, with a tantalising first corner showdown between the three championship protagonists on the cards.

Nico Hulkenberg put in a fantastic performance in the Sauber to qualify up in fourth, while George Russell rounds out the top five.

Ferrari were once again left ruing what might have been, following a dismal performance in which Lewis Hamilton could only manage eighth, and Charles Leclerc qualified down in 10th.

Verstappen holds the all-time record for sprint race wins in F1, with 12 since the shorter races were added to the schedule back in 2021, and he will be the favourite to claim a lucky 13th at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday and close that gap to the McLarens in the championship even further.

Here is the starting grid for the US GP sprint race on Saturday.

F1 2025 United States Grand Prix Sprint Race starting grid

What time is the F1 race on today?

Lights out for the first race of the weekend is today (Saturday, October 18, 2025) at 12:00pm local time (CDT), before attention switches to qualifying for the main race later on Saturday at 4pm.

Find the race start times converted to your local time zone below:

United States Grand Prix 2025 Session Times

Sprint Race - Saturday, October 18 2025

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Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

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