US Grand Prix: Max Verstappen keeps the pressure on McLaren with stunning pole position

Thomas Maher 17 Oct 2025 11:27 PM

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 2025 United States Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen set the fastest time of Sprint Qualifying at the United States Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen has snatched another Sprint Qualifying pole position, as the Red Bull man toppled the McLaren drivers to set up an exciting front-row in Austin.

The championship dark horse has applied further pressure to the McLaren drivers as he put in an imperious lap in the third part of Sprint Qualifying to take top spot away from McLaren’s Lando Norris.

SQ3:

The eight-minute session mandated the use of the soft tyre, meaning that the drivers would likely only have a single-lap effort to put in their best times due to the tyre life available to them.

Mercedes’ George Russell, and the Williams duo of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were the first out on track, trying to make use of the vacant track in the early minutes of the qualifying segment.

Russell logged a 1:32.888, 0.023 clear of Sainz, with his lap somewhat imperfect as Turn 1 saw his car get squirrelly. He was two-tenths clear of Albon’s time as the trio put in their times, as the remaining seven drivers started to peel out on track.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was next up to put in a time, going purple in the first sector, and he took provisional pole away from Russell by almost quarter of a second with a 1:32.645.

The Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc failed to make an impression on the top times, but it was Norris of the expected front-runners who went quickest with a 1:32.214, only for Verstappen to snatch it away from the British driver with a 1:32.143 to go 0.071 clear of Norris.

Piastri wasn’t able to bring it to Norris and Verstappen, almost four-tenths of a second down on Verstappen’s time, with the Red Bull man delivering a stellar third sector to keep top spot away from the two McLarens.

If Verstappen can capitalise on his starting position, the Dutch driver could take more points out of the two McLaren drivers in the championship.

After impressing in practice, it was Hulkenberg up next with fourth place, half a second away from Verstappen, but ahead of Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Seventh went to Sainz, as the Spaniard starts alongside Hamilton in eighth, Albon in ninth, and Leclerc in 10th.

1. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:32.143
2. Lando Norris McLaren +0.071
3. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.380
4. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +0.502
5. George Russell Mercedes +0.745
6. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.767
7. Carlos Sainz Williams +0.768
8. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.892
9. Alex Albon Williams +0.956
10. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.961

SQ2:

Like SQ1, the medium tyre was the mandatory compound for the second session, and the action ramped up immediately as Verstappen found two-tenths from the first session to put in a 1:33.163.

Norris overhauled this to go just over a tenth clear, while Piastri latched in just behind with a quarter-second deficit to Verstappen.

Four drivers opted for a single run in the final three minutes, meaning it was Hulkenberg, Hadjar, Lawson, and Gasly attempting to escape the drop zone, as well as Stroll, who was 11th of the 11 drivers to put in an earlier laptime.

Lawson moved up into 11th but, while negotiating traffic, exceeded track limits and lost his laptime as a consequence. “Mate, what the f**k was that?” he radioed in, pointing out that a car had been in the middle of the track when he turned into Turn 19.

Hadjar’s time of 1:34.241 wasn’t enough to keep himself into the top 10, while Antonelli put in a 1:34.018, a time that also proved insufficient as the two Ferraris improved right at the end of the session for make it into the top 10.

With Lawson knocked out in 15th, he was joined on the sidelines by Antonelli in 11th, Hadjar in 12th, Gasly in 13th, and Stroll in 14th as the Canadian failed to improve on his second run.

1. Lando Norris McLaren 1:33.033
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.130
3. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.338
4. George Russell Mercedes +0.429
5. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +0.544
6. Carlos Sainz Williams +0.619
7. Alex Albon Williams +0.798
8. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.905
9. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.918
10. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.979
11. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.985
12. Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1.208
13. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.225
14. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.361
15. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls No time

Q1:

After having sat out most of practice due to a technical issue, Sainz was able to take part in the session as Williams repaired his car in time to make the start of Sprint Qualifying, while Ferrari also succeeded in getting Leclerc’s car put together again after ending FP1 early with an issue.

With the drivers mandated to use the medium tyre in SQ1, Verstappen set the fastest time on the first runs, pipping Hamilton by just 0.086 seconds.

The McLaren drivers were a tenth further back with Piastri ahead of Norris, with Antonelli responding to his subdued FP1 session to place fifth and having set the fastest middle sector of anyone.

Into the final runs, Leclerc was the surprise driver in the bottom five, while Gabriel Bortoleto was facing the pressure having had his first laptime deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19.

Leclerc did manage to make it out of the bottom five by going 13th-quickest, being slightly fortunate on his flying lap as he met traffic at the final corner as the chequered flag fell.

In the elimination zone were Haas’ Oliver Bearman, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, while Bortoleto failed to get a lap in and was knocked out down in 20th.

Tsunoda had been sent out too late to start his outlap, meaning he met a chequered flag when what should have been his flying lap. His outlap also saw him having to race other drivers in his desperation to try making it to the line in time, proving ultimately futile. The Japanese driver wasn’t impressed with the timing of his release, taking to the radio to query, “What?!” as he returned to the pits.

The session ended with the stewards confirming several drivers would be investigated for driving too slowly, with Hadjar, Tsunoda, Albon, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Hulkenberg, Antonelli, and Stroll all singled out for having exceeded the maximum delta time.

However, as Sprint Qualifying ended, the stewards followed up to state no further action would be taken against the named drivers.