Sainz secures pole position in Austin

Carlos Sainz will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position after setting the pace in qualifying at Circuit of the Americas.

The Spaniard beat teammate Charles Leclerc, but it will be Max Verstappen alongside Sainz on the front row, as Leclerc has an engine penalty.

The Monegasque driver will be one of four drivers dropping back after taking new components for this race.

The Mercedes drivers will line up on the second row, while Lance Stroll is set to start from fifth after a strong performance in qualifying.

The two teams fighting for fourth place in the constructors’ championship were dealt a blow in the first part of qualifying, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo both being eliminated.

Mick Schumacher’s hopes of progressing to Q2 ended when he spun on his flying lap at the end of Q1.

There was disappointment for Guanyu Zhou in Q2 as he thought he’d done enough to make it through to the top 10, but a track limits issue meant his fastest time was deleted, sending Lando Norris through to Q3 instead.

Provisional qualifying result:

1 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)**

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)*

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

6. George Russell (Mercedes)

7. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

8. Lando Norris (McLaren)

9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)*

10. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

11. Alex Albon (Williams)

12. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)

13. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

14. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)*

15. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

16. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

17. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

18. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

19. Mick Schumacher (Haas)

20. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)

 

*Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Guanyu Zhou each have five-place grid penalties

**Charles Leclerc has a 10-place grid penalty