Max Verstappen will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position, after beating championship rival Lewis Hamilton by 0.2s in qualifying at Circuit of the Americas.
Sergio Perez had looked favourite for pole after posting a strong time at the start of Q3, but his teammate and the reigning champion both found time late on.
Verstappen’s time came right at the end of the session, with the Dutchman finding time despite rain starting to fall around the circuit.
Charles Leclerc will start on the second row despite qualifying fifth, with Valtteri Bottas taking a grid penalty for changing engine parts.
Lance Stroll struggled to find his best pace at COTA, resulting in him being eliminated in the first session, while teammate Sebastian Vettel made it through, despite knowing he’d be starting towards the back of the grid thanks to an engine penalty.
George Russell also faced an engine penalty, and pushed hard in Q2 as he tried to outqualify Vettel and Fernando Alonso, but he had a couple of laps erased for track limits violations, meaning he’ll be starting dead last tomorrow.
Provisional qualifying result:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
4. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)**
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
8. Lando Norris (McLaren)
9. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
10. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
11. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
12. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)*
13. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
14. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)*
15. George Russell (Williams)*
16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
17. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
18. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
19. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
20. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
*Vettel, Alonso and Russell will all start at the back of the field after changing engine elements
**Bottas has a five-place grid penalty for changing engine elements