You could see it coming from free practice: the Mercedes were going to suffer a lot to maintain their reign in Austin, and for now the pole position has fallen. Max verstappen demonstrated a lethal superiority in qualifying for the United States GP, with a pole with more than two tenths over Lewis Hamilton. Sergio perez, which was close to giving the bell, will start 3rd.
The day of Verstappen’s ninth pole ended with Carlos Sainz 6th, just behind Charles Leclerc, although he will start 5th due to the Bottas penalty. Fernando Alonso, who will start last, took to the track to help Esteban Ocon, but could not do much.
Q1: Step ahead of Ferrari
Charles Leclerc showed that getting the wheels in the sweet spot and playing a balance of more downforce could pay off. The Monegasque was the fastest in Q1 ahead of the Red Bulls, with Verstappen ahead of Pérez.
The Mercedes, however, were the negative surprise. Not so much Bottas, from whom not much is expected, but a Lewis Hamilton who suffered more than expected in the second sector, the fastest. That made it stay far from the head, surpassed even by the McLarens. Sandbagging or reality?
Behind there was a little more tension. Sebastian vettel had a serious scare when he met Nikita mazepin and almost rammed him, while Antonio Giovinazzi ended up spinning.
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There were no major incidents. The Alpines passed somewhat tight to Q2, with a Fernando Alonso who did teamwork to help Ocon take a step forward to Q3.
Those eliminated were Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi, Kimi Raikkonen, Mick Schumacher and Nikita mazepin.
Times table Q1 United States Grand Prix
Q2: Verstappen marks territory
Tire management made many play on medium tires, but not all. It was the case of Carlos Sainz, which on the softs felt slightly better and actually did his best lap on the reds.
Max verstappen gave a command coup putting 3 tenths to a Lewis hamilton That he did not push to the limit either, although he made it clear that Mercedes’ reign was in danger here.
Alonso’s teamwork with Ocon was not enough. Although the Spanish gave the French a slipstream on the back straight, the French ended up being overtaken by Yuki tsunoda in the final moments. The Alpine will have a difficult time scoring, but not impossible by any means.
Those who were left out of Q3 were Ocon, Vettel, Giovinazzi, Alonso and a Russell whose two laps were taken away and he ran out of time.
Times table Q2 United States Grand Prix
Q3: Verstappen breaks the schemes to Mercedes
From the first attempt it was seen that it was not going to be a pass from anyone, not even from the great favorites. And is that Sergio perez surprised on the first attempt, taking the best time by 19 thousandths ahead of Max verstappen and Valtteri Bottas in front of Lewis hamilton.
Although it seemed that they were not going to be the ‘roosters’, in the end the seven-time champion and the leader did play the pole. Faced with a fiery crowd, and despite Hamilton’s final improvement, Verstappen endorsed two tenths to Mercedes to achieve a new pole.