Max Verstappen has narrowly secured pole position for the Formula 1 sprint race in Austin. The Dutch World Championship leader raced to first place in qualifying with a lead of 12 thousandths of a second. «We had a good day. I am very happy. The car worked very well and I’m very happy to be in first place again,” said Verstappen before he was presented with the trophy for pole by Germany’s decathlon star Leo Neugebauer.
George Russell came second in a Mercedes. Charles Leclerc finished third in the Ferrari, ahead of World Championship pursuer Lando Norris in the McLaren. Nico Hülkenberg from the American Haas team finished a strong sixth. “To be honest, I didn’t really feel comfortable in the car,” the Rhineland native told Sky. The car was “a bit bitchy”.
Red Bull is finding its way back to its old strength
It was already clear in the only free practice session that the innovations on the Red Bull were having the effect that the bosses and Verstappen had hoped for. Verstappen took third place behind Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Leclerc in the 60-minute session on the partly newly asphalted course. Norris came fourth there too.
The trend continued in the knockout elimination for the fourth sprint race of the season. Verstappen won the first three sprints this year, and with another win he would bag the additional eight points again. He has a 52-point lead over Norris in the rankings before the race over around 100 kilometers this Saturday (8 p.m./Sky).
The losers are mainly Pérez and Piastri
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, a two-time Grand Prix winner this year, failed in the first period. His fastest lap was canceled because the Australian was off the track in his McLaren. Piastri will have to tackle the 19 laps at the Circuit of the Americas from position 16.
While Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull was caught in the second knockout round and the Mexican once again fell short of expectations in eleventh place, Verstappen was able to keep up with the fastest again. He was only 16 thousandths of a second behind Sainz in the second section.
But both Mercedes drivers were also strong in the significantly changed Silver Arrow. The course particularly suits Hamilton – the record world champion has already won the Grand Prix in Austin five times, but in the last three years the winner was Verstappen.
In the crucial minutes for the best starting position for the sprint decision, Russell made an early lead. Hamilton was initially faster than his teammate, but when Argentinian Franco Colapinto spun in the Williams, he had to slow down and lost valuable time. The competitors left a little later and in the end Verstappen, who had celebrated his last Grand Prix victory to date on June 23rd in Spain, was in first place.
