United States: Qualifications – Lewis Hamilton by a whisker
Lewis Hamilton was able to capitalize on the full potential of his car by securing a new pole position, just ahead of the two Ferrari drivers. Sebastian Vettel will have to settle for fifth place on the grid. Max Verstappen will start from the back due to a suspension failure in Q1.
After yesterday’s deluge, the weather did not manage to disrupt the qualifications, despite strong winds and large clouds over the Austin circuit. Lewis Hamilton began the session in ideal conditions as he already knew Sebastian Vettel would not be able to challenge him for pole position due to his penalty incurred from his error during the first practice session.
During Q1, the big surprise was seeing Max Verstappen slowed down. The reason: a breakage of the lower arm of his suspension when passing over an outside curb. The Dutchman was able to move on to Q2, but his session had to be cut short earlier than expected.
Despite his penalty, Pierre Gasly was keen to prove that the performance of his Toro Rosso is improving as he managed to set the 7th fastest time during this Q1. Similarly, Brendon Hartley was also able to advance to Q2, with the 15th fastest time of the session.
The eliminated from Q1 were therefore: Alonso, Sirotkin, Stroll, Ericsson, and Vandoorne.
For Q2, Ferrari decided to split the strategy for its two drivers, sending Kimi Räikkönen out on ultra-soft tires while Sebastian Vettel went out on super-softs. This harder compound was also chosen by both Mercedes drivers, who were more than half a second behind Kimi Räikkönen’s benchmark. Mercedes decided not to take any risks and asked Lewis Hamilton to set a second flying lap on the same set of tires to secure his place in Q3.
Apart from Max Verstappen and the two Toro Rosso, the eliminated drivers of this second session are Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen. The gap between the Renault driver and his teammate was tiny, with only two thousandths separating them.
Everything was then in place for the final showdown. During the first assault, it was Lewis Hamilton who managed to set the fastest time, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel, while Kimi Räikkönen was far behind in 4th position. It was then an opportunity for him to hold the track record.
The last attempt was magnificent as all four front-runners improved. But in the end, it was Lewis Hamilton who managed to secure a new pole position, his 9th of the season! The gap with Ferrari is extremely small as Kimi Räikkönen, in third place, was only seven hundredths behind. Sebastian Vettel is therefore pushed back to fifth position while Esteban Ocon secures a fine sixth place. He can also be pleased to have once again outperformed his teammate, Sergio Perez, who is in 10th place.
