F1 qualifying results: Carlos Sainz takes United States GP pole

Sainz will start ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc was second quickest in Q3 but has a 10-place grid penalty. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fourth fastest but has a five-place grid penalty, all of which elevated Hamilton by two spots.

United States Grand Prix qualifying results: Sainz on pole from Verstappen

What happened in United States Grand Prix Q1?

Leclerc set the early pace at 1m35.795s, 0.069s clear of Verstappen. Sainz then beat them all with a lap of 1m35.297s, helped by running slightly later. His time was almost half a second clear of his team-mate.

Falling at the first hurdle were Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Mick Schumacher (who spun his Haas exiting Turn 1) and Nicholas Latifi (Williams).

United States Grand Prix Q1 results: Sainz fastest from Leclerc

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'35.297			208.262
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'35.795	0.498	0.498	207.179
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'35.864	0.567	0.069	207.030
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'36.148	0.851	0.284	206.419
5	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'36.163	0.866	0.015	206.387
6	George Russell	Mercedes	1'36.195	0.898	0.032	206.318
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'36.446	1.149	0.251	205.781
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'36.465	1.168	0.019	205.740
9	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1'36.577	1.280	0.112	205.502
10	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	1'36.656	1.359	0.079	205.334
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1'36.695	1.398	0.039	205.251
12	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'36.746	1.449	0.051	205.143
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'36.808	1.511	0.062	205.011
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1'36.860	1.563	0.052	204.901
15	Alex Albon	Williams	1'36.932	1.635	0.072	204.749
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1'36.949	1.652	0.017	204.713
17	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1'37.046	1.749	0.097	204.509
18	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'37.068	1.771	0.022	204.462
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1'37.111	1.814	0.043	204.372
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1'37.244	1.947	0.133	204.092
View full results

What happened in United States Grand Prix Q2?

Verstappen set the bar at 1m35.294s, but Leclerc toppled him by 0.048s on 1m35.246s to top the session.

Knocked out at this point were a hugely impressive Alex Albon (Williams), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri, who was livid over his car’s braking performance at hairpins), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo, who had a Q3 lap deleted for exceeding track limits and had a 5-place grid penalty anyways) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri).

United States Grand Prix Q2 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'35.246			208.374
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'35.294	0.048	0.048	208.269
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'35.590	0.344	0.296	207.624
4	George Russell	Mercedes	1'35.692	0.446	0.102	207.402
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'35.732	0.486	0.040	207.316
6	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'35.864	0.618	0.132	207.030
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'35.988	0.742	0.124	206.763
8	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1'36.032	0.786	0.044	206.668
9	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'36.321	1.075	0.289	206.048
10	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'36.341	1.095	0.020	206.005
11	Alex Albon	Williams	1'36.368	1.122	0.027	205.948
12	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1'36.398	1.152	0.030	205.883
13	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1'36.740	1.494	0.342	205.156
14	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	1'36.970	1.724	0.230	204.669
15	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'37.147	1.901	0.177	204.296
View full results

What happened in United States Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen’s opening gambit was 1m35.044s but Leclerc banged in 1m34.624s to go P1, with Sainz right behind him by 0.159s. Hamilton jumped up to third, a tenth ahead of Verstappen.

On the final runs, Leclerc improved his fastest time to 1m34.421s but Sainz beat him with 1m34.356s, which was good enough for pole.

Verstappen took third on 1m34.448s, ahead of Perez (who has a five-place grid penalty).

The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and George Russell were fifth and sixth fastest, ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Lando Norris (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (Alpine, who has a five-place grid penalty) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo).

United States Grand Prix Q3 results: Sainz takes pole

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'34.356			210.339
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'34.421	0.065	0.065	210.194
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'34.448	0.092	0.027	210.134
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'34.645	0.289	0.197	209.697
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'34.947	0.591	0.302	209.030
6	George Russell	Mercedes	1'34.988	0.632	0.041	208.940
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1'35.598	1.242	0.610	207.606
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'35.690	1.334	0.092	207.407
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'35.876	1.520	0.186	207.004
10	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'36.319	1.963	0.443	206.052
View full results