How a 3mph difference squeaked Verstappen ahead of Russell for sprint pole

Max Verstappen edged George Russell to Formula 1 United States Grand Prix sprint pole by just 0.012s, with GPS trace data revealing that his approach at one critical corner made the difference.

The result meant Verstappen claimed his first pole – although sprints do not count towards official pole tally statistics – since he topped GP qualifying in Austria, as he lost his Belgian GP pole due to his engine change grid penalty.

It came on a day where Red Bull was under fire from title rival McLaren over its front bib ride height adjuster.

But Verstappen responded commandingly in an upgraded Red Bull, while Russell was also on the up with the much more heavily updated Mercedes, while McLaren’s many design tweaks left Lando Norris feeling they had made little, if any, difference to the MCL38’s performance.

With Oscar Piastri out in Q1 due to a track limits infraction and Norris not in the sprint pole fight as he could only manage fourth, SQ3 was about two drivers that ran at very different times.

Russell led the drivers out of the pits early for the only runs on the soft tyres and shot down the pitstraight quicker than Verstappen would do running with the main pack – per the GPS trace data logged on the cars.

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

But an oversteer snap exiting the first corner was to prove costly.

It was a spot the W15s had been struggling with all day, which Pirelli says is the lowest grip area of the resurfaced parts of the circuit. The moment wasn’t as dramatic as his Turn 1 spin in FP1, but it certainly had an impact.

On the approach to the rapid left at the start of the Esses, Russell had shipped almost 0.2s to Verstappen, which had come down to 0.17s by end of the sequence.

But from there, Russell’s prowess on the straights plus a better traversing of Turn 11 meant he erased his previous losses by the end of the main straight and while Verstappen’s run through Turns 12-15 was better, Russell rocketing Turns 16-18 meant he held a narrow 0.046s advantage.

But next up was Turn 19, where Verstappen made the critical difference on Russell, as he chucked his RB20 in the plunging apex and shot through 3mph faster than Russell on a tighter line to come out with a fractional advantage.

When Russell’s ever so slightly quicker run through the final corner made next to no difference to their gap on the same lines, Verstappen’s narrow triumph was sealed.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“From lap one, I think the car was in a decent window,” Verstappen said of what made the difference late on Friday. “I felt quite comfortable. I could attack the high-speed corners. I think we're quite quick there.”

But Mercedes insiders remain confident that it is in the fight this weekend – particularly as there is so little data on long-run pace thanks to the sprint format.

The Silver Arrows squad is also delighted to have got through the Monza/street-circuit run that followed Zandvoort, as the "90° corners" that don't suit "underlying characteristics of our car" at such tracks don’t suit the W15, per Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.