Lando Norris secured pole position for the United States Grand Prix, beating title rival Max Verstappen, after George Russell’s crash brought an early end to qualifying.
Norris delivered a stellar lap, edging world champion Verstappen by just 0.031 seconds on their initial flying laps in the final stage of qualifying. However, both drivers were forced to abandon their second attempts when Russell crashed at Turn 19. Verstappen had shown strong pace in the first sector and looked set to challenge Norris’ time, while Norris appeared unlikely to improve after a slower start to his lap.
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The result bolstered Norris’ chances of closing the gap on Verstappen in Sunday’s race. Verstappen, who earlier extended his lead over the Briton to 54 points by winning the Sprint, would still be a formidable opponent from the front row.
Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc locked out the second row, with Sainz finishing third, three-tenths behind Norris. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri starting fifth, giving Norris potential team support, while Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, started 10th after his Q3 time was deleted for exceeding track limits.
Russell’s crash left him in sixth, capping a disappointing session for Mercedes, as Lewis Hamilton surprisingly failed to make it out of Q1 and qualified 19th. Pierre Gasly delivered a standout performance for Alpine, taking seventh, followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
Liam Lawson, replacing Daniel Ricciardo at RB, showed promising pace in Q1 but would start from the back of the grid due to engine penalties.
United States GP Qualifying Results
2024 United States Grand Prix Qualifying, 19 October 2024
After nearly a month-long break following Lando Norris’ dominant victory at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, the key question in Austin was whether the Brit could sustain his challenge to prevent Max Verstappen from securing a fourth consecutive drivers’ title in the final six races of the season.
Some of the attention leading into the weekend was diverted by McLaren’s public criticism of a controversial ride height-adjusting device on Red Bull’s car. However, once the drivers hit the track on Friday, Norris faced worrying signs.
Verstappen capitalised on Red Bull’s new upgrades, taking pole for the Sprint and then securing victory in the 19-lap race on Saturday, his first win since the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix Sprint in June.
Verstappen carried his strong form into qualifying, emerging as the favourite for the pole after outpacing Norris by more than two-tenths in Q2. Yet, in the decisive Q3, Norris delivered an outstanding lap. His engineer, Will Joseph, advised him to “trust the car” and avoid overdriving, Norris responded with what he called the best lap of his career.
“It was probably the best lap of my career,” Norris said. “It was a beautiful lap. I wasn’t going to go much quicker than that. It’s what we needed. We’ve been on the backfoot all weekend and haven’t had the pace of the Ferraris or Red Bulls.”
Despite Verstappen’s strong start in the final session, setting himself up for a possible pole with a solid first sector, his hopes were dashed when George Russell’s crash brought qualifying to an early end.
“I was a good amount up,” Verstappen admitted. “I lost a bit of time at Turn 19 on my first run, which would have been enough for pole. There was more time to find on the second lap, but I never got the chance. That’s how it goes sometimes. Qualifying isn’t always in your control.”
2024 United States Grand Prix Starting Grid
The Grand Prix starting grid, with or without penalties, after the 2024 United States Grand Prix Qualifying session.
2Zhou penalised five positions for use of additional power unit element.
3Russell required to start from the pit lane for breach of Parc Ferme conditions.
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