Max Verstappen took the pole position, even though the team made a mistake.
Max Verstappen was superior in qualifying for the US GP. PDO
US GP starting order
1. Max Verstappen, 2. Lando Norris, 3. Charles Leclerc, 4. George Russell, 5. Lewis Hamilton, 6. Oscar Piastri, 7. Kimi Antonelli, 8. Oliver Bearman, 9. Carlos Sainz, 10. Fernando Alonso, 11. Nico Hülkenberg, 12. Liam Lawson, 13. Yuki Tsunoda, 14. Pierre Gasly, 15. Franco Colapinto, 16. Gabriel Bortoleto, 17. Esteban Ocon, 18. Lance Stroll, 19. Alex Albon, 20. Isack Hadjar
Saturday night’s biggest tension was whether McLaren could get their cars, which were badly damaged in the sprint race, right before qualifying.
Papaijatalli had to cancel the mechanics’ lunch at the Austin speedway, when both To Lando Norris that For Oscar Piastr equally wanted to provide a fully functional device.
Rear ends, floors were changed for both cars, and Piastri also got a new suspension. The job was over just a few minutes before the start of the first part.
– I don’t think we got as much done as we would have liked under normal circumstances. We just have to get clean laps, Mäkkäri boss Zak Brown admitted to Sky Sports.
Right from the start, it was clear that McLaren’s pace was not quite right. Neither driver was able to challenge Max Verstappenwho took the pole position after a rather overwhelming performance.
He left Norris in the second frame with a difference of almost 0.3 seconds, although he only had time to drive one fast lap in the last round.
Red Bull sent Verstappen too late on the track, and he didn’t have time for the timed lap before the checkered flag.
– The preparatory round was a bit confusing. “Luckily we didn’t need it,” Verstappen said.
Piastri, leading the World Series, was exceptionally quiet. The Australian will start Sunday’s race only from the sixth grid.
The first part saw a violent exit, when Isaac Hadjar crashed his car into the wall even before any colleague had gotten a lap time on the board. The destruction of Hadjar’s car was so complete that qualifying was stopped with red flags.
The Frenchman’s time trial naturally ended at that place.