Written by Meghana Sree
Max Verstappen's welcome return to the head of the field headlined sprint qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas, as the Dutchman will start the 19-lap sprint from the front, ahead of George Russell, with Verstappen's closest contender Lando Norris only fourth on the road for the Saturday sprint.
Image Credit - Formula One
After another agonising three-week break, Formula One has returned — this time to the land of cowboy boots and county sheriffs. The fourth Sprint weekend of 2024, being held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, kicked off with a busy practice session and numerous subsequent talking points.
Ferrari’s 1-2 at the top, Mercedes spinning out of control seemingly everywhere, and of course, the 2024 debut of Liam Lawson were just some of the exciting takeaways from FP1 as we headed into the Sprint Qualifying.
Sprint Q1 (SQ1) - Spins and Unexpected Exits
The usual 12 minutes began to tick down as cars trickled out onto the resurfaced track, with Max Verstappen starting his push lap first. A 1:34.698 was the benchmark set by the defending World Champion on the mandated medium tyres, which was bested by Kevin Magnussen, then Lando Norris, and soon after, Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, Sergio Pérez had his lap time deleted, just as Lewis Hamilton delivered a reversal of fortunes for Mercedes from FP1, and slotted his car into P1.
On the lower end of the field, the Williams pair found themselves stuck just above the elimination zone, which was occupied by Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, the Saubers, and Pérez as a result of his deleted lap. However, a neat lap from the Mexican quickly lifted him from the bottom into seventh place.
As minutes turned to seconds, Franco Colapinto set off on a rapid lap, leaving barely any margin compared to his teammate. While the Argentinian rookie made it through to the next part of Sprint Qualifying, Albon had a dramatic spin, and though he swiftly recovered the car, it could not guarantee a good enough lap for SQ2.
The biggest fall, however, was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, being eliminated after a messy lap that was flagged for track limits.
SQ1 Exits
Oscar Piastri
Esteban Ocon
Alex Albon
Valtteri Bottas
Zhou Guanyu
The two unexpected exits of SQ1 | Image Credit - Formula One
Sprint Q2 (SQ2) - Incidents and Excitement
The second part of Sprint Qualifying saw both Mercedes cars attacking the track early, with Hamilton quickly finding time. He was soon pipped by the man who topped FP1, Carlos Sainz, who set a 1:33.274 – proving that although Ferrari lacked major upgrades compared to their rivals, their package was just as strong and more stable.
With just two minutes to go, the Drivers’ Championship contender Norris found himself in an unfavourable position, stuck in sixth, with no time to improve.
Meanwhile, both Astons and the VCARBs were yet to set a time. Pérez also found himself in the midst of this frenzy, which then escalated into a three-way tussle between himself, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lawson. Tsunoda beat the others to it, narrowly escaping elimination, while Pérez was left sandwiched between the two VCARBs and kicked out from the next part of Sprint Qualifying.
They were joined by Pierre Gasly in 14th, after the Alpine driver avoided further investigation when he impeded Colapinto. Despite this incident, Colapinto still managed to deliver a tidy lap that landed him a spot in SQ3 for his first ever Sprint weekend.
SQ2 closed out with a bumpy lap from Fernando Alonso, resulting in a deleted lap time, and Sainz still occupying P1 ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton.
SQ2 Exits
Sergio Pérez
Liam Lawson
Pierre Gasly
Lance Stroll
Fernando Alonso
Sprint Q3 (SQ3) - A Familiar Name Returns to the Top
As we progressed into SQ3, it was clear that it would be a battle between the Ferraris, Verstappen, and surprisingly the Mercedes pair after their FP1 blunders. Norris, still struggling to find a competitive lap time, is sure to have been dismayed at being disadvantaged in a session that was crucial to his championship hopes, as every single point truly counts.
The green light signalled the start of SQ3 and once again, Mercedes were the early birds on track, this time on the softs. They were joined by Colapinto, who had also been sent out early.
A momentary yellow flag appeared as the Williams driver span out, but like his teammate earlier, he recovered quickly.
With the rest of the pack still off-track, George Russell and Hamilton set lap times separated by nearly half a second. An unhappy Hamilton immediately radioed his team, sighing: “That was not good.” As things stood, provisional pole was occupied by Russell with a 1:32.845.
Having under two minutes to go, the rest of the SQ3 contenders spilled out of the pits for a one-shot shootout for pole.
The previously rapid Ferrari’s were losing out in Sector 1, and were unable to challenge Russell’s lap time. Sainz, Norris, and Leclerc successively replaced each other for the front row next to Russell, but none could beat him to P1.
But there was still one other driver to have his go – Verstappen. Skillfully yet rapidly manoeuvring his car around the plentiful turns of the COTA, the Red Bull driver was able to beat Russell’s time by 12-thousands of a second.
Image Credit - Formula One
The team was jubilant, celebrating their return to the top of the field after a disappointing couple of races in the recent past. Verstappen will be content to start another Sprint on pole, and even more so after seeing his closest championship rival starting back in fourth. With even more points to grab this weekend, every advantage each driver and team has measures up in millions.
US Grand Prix Sprint Race Starting Grid - Sprint Qualifying Results
1st - Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2nd - George Russell, Mercedes
3rd - Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
4th - Lando Norris, McLaren
5th - Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
6th - Nico Hülkenberg, Haas
7th - Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8th - Kevin Magnussen, Haas
9th - Yuki Tsunoda, RB
10th - Franco Colapinto, Williams
11th - Sergio Pérez, Red Bull
12th - Liam Lawson, RB
13th - Pierre Gasly, Alpine
14th - Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
15th - Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
16th - Oscar Piastri, McLaren
17th - Esteban Ocon, Alpine
18th - Alex Albon, Williams
19th - Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
20th - Zhou Guanyu, Sauber
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