Norris claims pole for F1 U.S GP by tight margin over Verstappen, Hamilton starting from 19th

Written by Owen Bradley

Lando Norris claimed an extraordinary pole position, the Briton's fourth pole in five races. Norris achieved this result by an incredibly tight margin, just 0.031s ahead of Max Verstappen. Elsewhere, George Russell would crash at the end of Q3, with teammate Lewis Hamilton unable to make it out of Q1.

Credit: McLaren F1

Qualifying 1

Q1 would see the slowest lap times throughout the field, with Max Verstappen topping the timesheets with a 1:33.046. The Dutchman would be joined by Charles Leclerc just a couple of tenths behind, also joined surprisingly by Liam Lawson, who returns after almost a year out of F1, replacing Daniel Ricciardo.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri would only manage 10th and 12th place in the opening Qualifying session, with margins incredibly tight throughout the field.

Multiple drivers would make mistakes at Turn 1, locking their inside left-front tyre, rendering their final flying laps null and void essentially, with a few managing to set fast laps, securing their place in Q2. Both Haas cars impressed towards the end of the session, both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg managing to get inside the Top 10.

However, to the surprise of many, Lewis Hamilton would be unable to progress any further in Qualifying after only managing a lap time that was over one second from Verstappen - subsequently putting the seven-time World Champion out of Qualifying, Hamilton recording one of his worst qualifying performances at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Drivers Out of Q1 - Albon, Colapinto, Bottas, Hamilton, Zhou

Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

Qualifying 2

Q2 would re-establish the equilibrium of the usual results, with Verstappen once again topping the timesheets, setting a 1:32.584's, a solid few tenths ahead of the drivers behind. Carlos Sainz would bring his Sprint Race momentum through into Q2, finishing the session in second place and convincingly ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, still a couple of tenths ahead.

The top seven places would be occupied by the usual drivers, with Verstappen taking the top spot, followed by Sainz, Norris, Leclerc and teammate Sergio Perez.

Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso would both manage to push through into the final stage of Qualifying, after narrowly beating Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg by less than a tenth of a second. Liam Lawson would unfortunately not quite be able to fulfil the potential that the Kiwi showed in Q1, this time without a meaningful lap. Lawson qualified in 15th place after giving teammate Yuki Tsunoda a tow for one of the early runs in Q2.

Drivers Out of Q2 - Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Stroll, Lawson

Credit: Red Bull Content Pool

Qualifying 3

Lando Norris would raise the bar in Q3, setting the pole position lap time on the first run, with a lap time of a 1:32.330's, only just 0.031s ahead of Max Verstappen, who would have his final run rendered null and void after George Russell crashed at the penultimate corner, the Brit losing control of the Mercedes mid corner, sliding all the way out into the barriers.

Carlos Sainz would only be a further few tenths down on both Norris and Verstappen, the Spaniard continuing what has been a positive Saturday, taking a Sprint podium and now starting the Grand Prix on Sunday from third place. Sainz would be joined by teammate Leclerc for fourth, Ferrari holding the second row of the grid, with both drivers working to the strategic advantage for Sunday's Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri would correct some of his mistakes and pace problems that he has faced throughout the weekend, starting the Sprint race from 14th earlier on Saturday. However, for the Grand Prix, Piastri will start from fifth place, an impressive result when considering that COTA does not suit the McLaren, particularly over the bumpier areas of the circuit.

George Russell would end up sixth, despite a crash which effectively ended the session, Mercedes evidently struggling this weekend with Hamilton in 19th, tyre problems in the Sprint race and Russell's crash. Pierre Gasly would set a fantastic lap time for Alpine, the Frenchman putting his Alpine in seventh place for the Grand Prix, only 0.044s down on Russell ahead.

Gasly would be joined by Fernando Alonso in eighth place to complete the fourth row of the grid, the pair of them and Kevin Magnussen just behind in ninth, all beating out Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who didn't set a lap time.

Coming into the Grand Prix, Verstappen looks fast despite not being on pole position. The Dutchman had set purple first and second sectors, with the reigning champion seemingly poised to take another pole position, however Russell's incident meant that Verstappen had to slow down and lose lap time.

Ferrari seem extremely energetic and full of serious potential this weekend, the pair of them both closing on Lando Norris at the end of the Sprint race, and now starting from the second row of the grid for the Grand Prix, Sainz and Leclerc will likely be genuine threats for the Grand Prix victory on Sunday.

F1 U.S Grand Prix - Qualifying Results

1st Lando Norris, McLaren

2nd Max Verstappen, Red Bull

3rd Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

4th Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

5th Oscar Piastri, McLaren

6th George Russell, Mercedes

7th Pierre Gasly, Alpine

8th Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

9th Kevin Magnussen, Haas

10th Sergio Perez, Red Bull

11th Yuki Tsunoda, VCARB 12th Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

13th Esteban Ocon, Alpine

14th Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

15th Liam Lawson, VCARB 16th Alex Albon, Williams F1

17th Franco Colapinto, Williams F1

18th Valtteri Bottas, Sauber

19th Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

20th Guanyu Zhou, Sauber