US Grand Prix - Qualifying: Lando Norris beats Max Verstappen

F1. Lando Norris responded with his second consecutive pole position, ahead of rival Max Verstappen, while Q3 was interrupted by George Russell's off-track excursion. Lewis Hamilton could do no better than 19th!

Written by By Matthieu PicconOn 20/10, 01:04

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Lando Norris takes his seventh pole position

After the surprise of Oscar Piastri's elimination during the Sprint Qualifying, the qualifications also reserved a big surprise as early as Q1: Lewis Hamilton was not able to get out of this first practice session with the 19th time! The British driver remained speechless to explain such an underperformance but this could allow him to get a new engine and change his settings to attempt a comeback during the race.

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On the positive side, we could note Liam Lawson's third time while the New Zealander will incur a 60-place penalty for a power unit change. Similarly, Pierre Gasly, with his improvements, placed his Alpine in fifth position.

During this Q1 session, it should be noted that there were many canceled laps for exceeding track limits: Pierre Gasly (twice), Yuki Tsunoda (twice), Charles Leclerc, Guanyu Zhou, Lewis Hamilton, and Esteban Ocon.

Eliminated from Q1: Albon, Colapinto, Bottas, Hamilton and Zhou

In difficulties after his first attempt (14th), Charles Leclerc was able to save himself in Q2 (4th). However, after his exploit yesterday (6th), Nico Hülkenberg found himself eliminated with only the 12th time whereas his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, maintained his streak of being in the top 10. The Dane now has the same upgrades as his teammate.

On the contrary, Pierre Gasly confirmed his strong performance from Q1 by finishing eighth in this Q2, allowing him to advance to the final stage of qualifying.

Eliminated from Q2: Tsunoda, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Stroll and Lawson.

During the first assault in Q3, it was Lando Norris who set the fastest time, only 31 milliseconds ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull. The second Red Bull was very far behind, as Sergio Perez was only 8th before his attempt was canceled.

It was enough since the second attempt was cut short due to the big off-track excursion of George Russell's Mercedes in the second to last corner. Very impressive, the contact with the wall had no physical consequences for the Briton.

From our special correspondent in Austin