Formula 1 United States GP
F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen takes US pole
Max Verstappen took pole position for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, the 17th round of the 2021 F1 World Championship, ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Oct 24, 2021, 8:52 AM
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Red Bull’s Verstappen will start ahead of Hamilton (Mercedes) and teammate Sergio Perez after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
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US Grand Prix grid results: Verstappen on pole from Perez
Cla Driver Time Gap km/h 1 Max Verstappen
1'32.910 213.613 2 Lewis Hamilton
1'33.119 0.209 213.133 3 Sergio Perez
1'33.134 0.224 213.099 4 Charles Leclerc
1'33.606 0.696 212.024 5 Carlos Sainz Jr.
1'33.792 0.882 211.604 6 Daniel Ricciardo
1'33.808 0.898 211.568 7 Lando Norris
1'33.887 0.977 211.390 8 Pierre Gasly
1'34.118 1.208 210.871 9 Valtteri Bottas
1'33.475 0.565 212.322 10 Yuki Tsunoda
1'34.918 2.008 209.094 11 Esteban Ocon
1'35.377 2.467 208.087 12 Antonio Giovinazzi
1'35.794 2.884 207.182 13 Lance Stroll
1'35.983 3.073 206.774 14 Nicholas Latifi
1'35.995 3.085 206.748 15 Kimi Raikkonen
1'36.311 3.401 206.069 16 Mick Schumacher
1'36.499 3.589 205.668 17 Nikita Mazepin
1'36.796 3.886 205.037 18 Sebastian Vettel
1'35.500 2.590 207.819 19 George Russell
20 Fernando Alonso
1'44.549 11.639 189.832 View full results
What happened in Q1?
Verstappen set the initial bar at 1m34.521s, 0.054s faster than Perez, with both Red Bulls ahead of the Mercedes duo. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo then beat everyone with a lap of 1m34.407s, before Verstappen took P1 back on a second run with 1m34.352s and Perez almost matched him again, 0.017s slower this time.
On his final lap, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc grabbed P1 on 1m34.153s, beating both the Red Bulls and the McLarens. The Mercedes cars dropped back to eighth and ninth, despite running again on scrubbed soft tyres.
Falling at the first hurdle were the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi (Williams), the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and the Haases of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
US Grand Prix Q1 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 8 1'34.153 210.793 2 Max Verstappen
Red Bull 6 1'34.352 0.199 0.199 210.348 3 Sergio Perez
Red Bull 6 1'34.369 0.216 0.017 210.310 4 Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 3 1'34.407 0.254 0.038 210.225 5 Lando Norris
McLaren 3 1'34.551 0.398 0.144 209.905 6 Carlos Sainz Jr.
Ferrari 3 1'34.558 0.405 0.007 209.890 7 Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri 6 1'34.567 0.414 0.009 209.870 8 Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 6 1'34.579 0.426 0.012 209.843 9 Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes 6 1'34.590 0.437 0.011 209.819 10 Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin 6 1'35.281 1.128 0.691 208.297 11 Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri 6 1'35.360 1.207 0.079 208.125 12 George Russell
Williams 6 1'35.746 1.593 0.386 207.285 13 Esteban Ocon
Alpine 6 1'35.747 1.594 0.001 207.283 14 Fernando Alonso
Alpine 6 1'35.756 1.603 0.009 207.264 15 Antonio Giovinazzi
Alfa Romeo 5 1'35.920 1.767 0.164 206.909 16 Lance Stroll
Aston Martin 7 1'35.983 1.830 0.063 206.774 17 Nicholas Latifi
Williams 6 1'35.995 1.842 0.012 206.748 18 Kimi Raikkonen
Alfa Romeo 7 1'36.311 2.158 0.316 206.069 19 Mick Schumacher
Haas 9 1'36.499 2.346 0.188 205.668 20 Nikita Mazepin
Haas 8 1'36.796 2.643 0.297 205.037 View full results
What happened in Q2?
Verstappen set the Q2 bar at 1m33.464s on his solo run, a third of a second ahead Hamilton on 1m33.797s as most of the frontrunners used the medium tyres to ensure they’ll start on that compound.
Norris was third, ahead of Leclerc, Bottas and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz (using the soft tyre) – while Perez and Ricciardo lost laps for exceeding track limits at Turn 19 and 9 respectively and had to run again, both making it through to Q3.
Knocked out at this point were Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Fernando Alonso (Alpine, who gave Ocon a big tow on the back straight) and George Russell (Williams, whose 13th-fastest lap was deleted for track limits). Vettel, Alonso and Russell will start at the rear of the grid due to engine penalties.
US Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Hamilton
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Max Verstappen
Red Bull 3 1'33.464 212.346 2 Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 3 1'33.797 0.333 0.333 211.593 3 Lando Norris
McLaren 5 1'33.880 0.416 0.083 211.406 4 Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 3 1'33.928 0.464 0.048 211.298 5 Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes 3 1'33.959 0.495 0.031 211.228 6 Carlos Sainz Jr.
Ferrari 6 1'34.126 0.662 0.167 210.853 7 Sergio Perez
Red Bull 6 1'34.178 0.714 0.052 210.737 8 Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri 5 1'34.583 1.119 0.405 209.834 9 Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 6 1'34.643 1.179 0.060 209.701 10 Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri 6 1'35.137 1.673 0.494 208.612 11 Esteban Ocon
Alpine 6 1'35.377 1.913 0.240 208.087 12 Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin 3 1'35.500 2.036 0.123 207.819 13 Antonio Giovinazzi
Alfa Romeo 3 1'35.794 2.330 0.294 207.182 14 Fernando Alonso
Alpine 6 1'44.549 11.085 8.755 189.832 15 George Russell
Williams 5 View full results
What happened in Q3?
On the first runs, Hamilton’s 1m33.564s was beaten by Bottas by 0.089s on 1m33.475s. Verstappen then unleashed 1m33.199s to take P1, but Perez snatched it off him by 0.019s on 1m33.180s for provisional pole.
On the final runs, Hamilton aced the middle sector to grab P1 with 1m33.119 but Verstappen wasn’t to be denied and produced 1m32.910s for pole position by two-tenths of a second – despite spots of drizzle towards the end of his lap.
Perez was third fastest, ahead of Bottas (who will lose five places due to a grid penalty), Leclerc, Sainz, Ricciardo, Lando Norris (McLaren) and the AlphaTauris of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda.
Read Also:
- Verstappen feared late drizzle would scupper USGP F1 pole chance
- Hamilton: Mercedes ‘fell back a little’ through F1 practice, qualifying
US Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Max Verstappen
Red Bull 7 1'32.910 213.613 2 Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 7 1'33.119 0.209 0.209 213.133 3 Sergio Perez
Red Bull 7 1'33.134 0.224 0.015 213.099 4 Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes 6 1'33.475 0.565 0.341 212.322 5 Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 6 1'33.606 0.696 0.131 212.024 6 Carlos Sainz Jr.
Ferrari 6 1'33.792 0.882 0.186 211.604 7 Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 6 1'33.808 0.898 0.016 211.568 8 Lando Norris
McLaren 6 1'33.887 0.977 0.079 211.390 9 Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri 6 1'34.118 1.208 0.231 210.871 10 Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri 6 1'34.918 2.008 0.800 209.094 View full results
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