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By: Geoff Creighton

Summary

Hamilton takes pole position, Vettel P2 but set for three-place grid drop, Raikkonen P3
Out in Q2: Sainz, Magnussen, Gasly, Hartley, Verstappen
Out in Q1: Alonso, Sirotkin, Stroll, Ericsson, Vandoorne
Promoted: Play along with Pitstop Betting. Download the app today. T&Cs.
Status: Stopped
Driver, Team
Hamilton,Mercedes
Vettel,Ferrari
Raikkonen,Ferrari
Bottas,Mercedes
Ricciardo,Red Bull
Ocon,Force India
Hulkenberg,Renault
Grosjean,Haas
Leclerc,Sauber
Perez,Force India
That's it for Autosport Live tonight - thanks for joining us. Remember to stay tuned to Autsport.com and Motorsport.com for all the post-qualifying news coming tonight and tomorrow morning in the UK.
Here's the report on Hamilton claiming pole position for the 2018 US Grand Prix - remember, he can clinch title if things go his way in the race tomorrow.
US Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton on pole, Sebastian Vettel fifth
"It's been a pretty positive day," says Raikkonen, who is loudly cheered by the crowd. "For sure we got pretty close so it's far from ideal. But I felt good with the car - we'll try tomorrow, it's going to be a long race and nobody really knows how the tyre will survive because of yesterday's rain. It will be interesting."
"Pretty happy, given the last couple of weeks that we had, that we are back in range," adds Vettel.
"It was pretty close," says Vettel. "Always a bit of a shame when you miss out on that little time. I was pretty happy with the laps I had, it was tricky to get everything together."
"I was adamant that today I was going to do a better second lap, so I was very happy with that," adds the championship leader.
"That was close - I didn't know how close it was going to be when we got to qualifying," says Hamilton after climbing from his car. "That last run, I knew it was quite edgy between us and it would require sold laps. The first one was decent but not good enough, and the second one was just that little bit better that enable me to pull that out."
Vettel responds to hearing the gap to pole with some swearing. Good thing it's past the watershed in the UK, although, admittedly, it was bleeped out anyway.
"Beautiful work," Mercedes tells Hamilton.
Q3 results: 1 Hamilton; 2 Vettel; 3 Raikkonen; 4 Bottas; 5 Ricciardo; 6 Ocon; 7 Hulkenberg; 8 Grosjean; 9 Leclerc; 10 Perez.
In the midfield battle, Ocon has seen off Hulkenberg and Grosjean for sixth on the grid.
Vettel can only manage second-quickest, 0.061s slower than Hamilton. He will start fifth.
Hamilton beats Raikkonen by 0.070s! This will be pole position.
Now Raikkonen takes over at the top, posting a 1m32.307s.
The chequered flag is out.
Bottas goes second, 0.049s behind Hamilton.
The same goes for Hamilton - but Vettel is almost two tenths quicker than the championship leader in sector one alone!
Hamilton goes very wide at Turn 9 - that looked rapid.
Bottas and Raikkonen are through the first sector, and their times are about the same as they were on the first attempt.
"There's some rain on the back straight," Raikkonen tells Ferrari, which responds by saying no rain showers are expected.
 
Vettel will be the last of the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers to start the second round of flying laps in Q3.
 
"You need to have those fans on the brakes, guys," Hamilton told his Mercedes crew as he returned to the pits.
As it stands, Hamilton will start first and Vettel will start fifth. If they stay like that, start like that and finish like that tomorrow, that'll be a fifth world championship for Hamilton.
Current order: 1 Hamilton; 2 Vettel; 3 Bottas; 4 Raikkonen; 5 Ricciardo; 6 Grosjean; 7 Hulkenberg; 8 Ocon; 9 Perez; 10 Leclerc.
The only driver yet to set a time is Sauber's Ferrari-bound Charles Leclerc.
Ricciardo comes through in no man's land in fifth place, half a second down on Raikkonen but well up on the midfield cars - among which Grosjean leads Hulkenberg, Ocon and Perez.
Raikkonen's lap gets away from him, and he comes up 0.457s short. And Vettel is second, 0.088s behind Hamilton.
Hamilton goes faster than Bottas, but not by a lot - 1m32.567s.
Hulkenberg comes through 2.1 seconds slower.
Hamilton is flinging his Mercedes around this lap.
Bottas' initial benchmark is a 1m32.686s.
And even better from Vettel! Hamilton outpacing Bottas by a tenth and a bit in sector two.
Good first sector from Bottas, marginally better from Hamilton, then even better from Raikkonen.
Hamilton starts his first flying lap.
Bottas and Hulkenberg are first on the road, Hamilton is running just ahead of Raikkonen.
Q3 is underway.
 

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