2024 US Grand Prix – Sprint qualifying F1 results (COTA)

Thomas Maher
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Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 2024 United States Grand Prix.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri on track at the 2024 United States Grand Prix.

Here are the complete results from the Sprint qualifying session at COTA ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen has returned to top spot, with the Red Bull driver taking pole position for the Sprint race after a strong flying lap in SQ3 in Austin.

2024 United States Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying Results

SQ3:

The short eight-minute SQ3 session saw Mercedes‘ George Russell set his time early, with the British driver putting in a 1:32.845 on the mandatory soft tyre.

While his rivals left it later in the session to put in their flying laps, ostensibly with better track conditions, only Max Verstappen could go quicker as the Dutch driver underlined the possibility of Red Bull addressing its recent performance issues by setting a 1:32.833.

With Verstappen ahead of Russell on the front row for the Sprint race, Charles Leclerc took third place for Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Carlos Sainz was fifth in the second Ferrari, with Nico Hulkenberg delighting the home Haas fans as he took sixth place.

Lewis Hamilton was seventh, and was unhappy with the timing of his lap as he had a scrappy middle sector, while Kevin Magnussen was eighth for Haas.

Yuki Tsunoda came out on top of the VCARB teammate battle by setting the ninth-fastest time, with Franco Colapinto 10th for Williams.

  1. 1. Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.833
  2. 2. George Russell Mercedes +0.012
  3. 3. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.226
  4. 4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.250
  5. 5. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.256
  6. 6. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.350
  7. 7. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.545
  8. 8. Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.565
  9. 9. Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.969
  10. 10. Franco Colapinto Williams +1.573

FULL REPORT: US GP: Red Bull respond to bib drama with Max Verstappen F1 Sprint pole

SQ2:

Sainz set the pace in the second part of Sprint qualifying, with the Ferrari driver clocking a 1:33.274 to find nine-tenths of a second of improvement compared to SQ1.

Verstappen, in second and 0.016 behind, improved by six-tenths to get through to the top 10, but Sergio Perez was unable to improve by the same margin and was a surprise knock-out as he could only manage 11th overall.

Also eliminated were the two Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso, in 12th, and Lance Stroll, in 15th. Liam Lawson was 13th for VCARB, with Pierre Gasly 14th for Alpine – a blocking incident between Gasly and Colapinto was noted by the stewards, before deciding upon no further action.

  1. 1. Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:33.274
  2. 2. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.016
  3. 3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.096
  4. 4. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.118
  5. 5. George Russell Mercedes +0.270
  6. 6. Lando Norris McLaren +0.292
  7. 7. Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.514
  8. 8. Franco Colapinto Williams +0.678
  9. 9. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.720
  10. 10. Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.778
  11. 11. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.970
  12. 12. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.977
  13. 13. Liam Lawson VCARB +1.010
  14. 14. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.089
  15. 15. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.147

SQ1:

Hamilton set the fastest time of the first part of Sprint qualifying, with the seven-time F1 World Champion setting a 1:33.647 on the mandatory medium tyre compound to go almost two-tenths of a second quicker than Leclerc.

Verstappen was third, ahead of championship rival Norris, with both making it through to SQ2, but there was less good fortune on the opposite side of the McLaren garage.

Oscar Piastri’s final flying lap was deleted for exceeding track limits and, as a result, his fastest time was only good enough for 16th – he was eliminated as a result, in what will be a blow for McLaren and Norris’ title bids.

Joining Piastri on the sidelines were Esteban Ocon for Alpine and Williams’ Alex Albon – the British/Thai driver spun on his final flying lap to rule himself out of contention.

The Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu qualified in 19th and 20th for Saturday’s Sprint race.

  1. 1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.647
  2. 2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.193
  3. 3. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.261
  4. 4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.272
  5. 5. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.462
  6. 6. George Russell Mercedes +0.478
  7. 7. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.659
  8. 8. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.677
  9. 9. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.686
  10. 10. Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.756
  11. 11. Franco Colapinto Williams +0.959
  12. 12. Liam Lawson VCARB +0.970
  13. 13. Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.999
  14. 14. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1.178
  15. 15. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.218
  16. 16. Oscar Piastri McLaren +1.234
  17. 17. Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.270
  18. 18. Alex Albon Williams +1.407
  19. 19. Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.501
  20. 20. Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.546

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