United States GP Sprint Qualifying: Verstappen denies Norris
F1 NewsSaturday, 18 October 2025 at 00:17
Max Verstappen took pole for the Sprint Race of the 2025 United States Grand Prix, beating Lando Norris by a monstrous lap in the dying moments of SQ3.
Verstappen kept his best for last as Norris topped SQ1 and SQ2 only for the four-time Formula 1 Champion to deliver the goods at the very end.
He was the last driver to start a flying lap in SQ3 when the track was at its best but when the slightest of mistakes would've had serious "repercussions" not marginal...
"It’s been a nice qualifying," Verstappen said after taking his third consecutive Sprint pole in Austin. "Throughout all the segments we were quite close, just about trying to put it all together when it matters at the end, which is not easy because you go to the soft compound with no reference really.
"It worked out well, but I still expect it to be a tough battle tomorrow in the Sprint, but that’s I think exactly what we want to see. I’m excited for tomorrow and happy with today.
"The wind was coming up and down, very gusty," the Dutchman revealed. "The track is very bumpy as well, so the cars can easily step out on you in the high speed.
"In a qualifying like that, you have to leave a few margins here and there, but for us this has been a very good day," he claimed.
When asked about his strategy for the Sprint, Verstappen said: "Just try to have a good start. It’s a wide turn one as well, and then I hope that we have good pace in the race, but we’ll find out tomorrow."4
Verstappen was 0.071s faster than Norris while Piastri was almost four tenths off the pace in third. Yuki Tsunoda, on the other hand, was down in 18th.
But the surprise of the session was Nico Hulkenberg, the Sauber driver mixing it up with the top teams throughout and went on to finish fourth fastest albeit half a second off the pace. His teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, who seemed to have the upper hand recently was down in 20th after failing to post a lap time in SQ1.
George Russell was the fastest Mercedes driver, dragging his W16 in hot track conditions it does not enjoy to fifth on the grid. Kimi Antonelli was down in 11th.
Fernando Alonso delivered a lap time of 1:32.910 to go sixth fastest in the Aston Martin while Lance Stroll was down in 14th.
After missing out on half of FP1 due to gearbox issues and with a new gearbox bolted to his Williams FW47, Carlos Sainz produced a respectable performance to go seventh fastest with teammate Alex Albon ninth fastest what was a great session for the Grove team.
Lewis Hamilton was eighth fastest in the Ferrari, splitting the Williams while Charles Leclerc struggled all session long to go tenth fastest after also having a new gearbox installed on his SF-25 due to issues he suffered from in practice.
SQ1: Tsunoda out!
With the mandatory Medium tyres bolted to their cars, all 20 drivers started Sprint Qualifying in clear conditions with track temperatures at 44 degree Celsius - four more than FP1 - while air temperature was also higher at 32 degrees.
Cars scrambled out of their garages to book a track position at the start of the 12-minute SQ1 as both McLarens, Mercedes, Ferraris and Verstappen waited.
Isack Hadjar was the first to start a timed lap which was a bit rough, and naturally went fastest but then Hulkenberg went to the top while Ollie Bearman was third with Tsunoda fourth as Esteban Ocon, Bortoleto were followed.
Then Liam Lawson went to the top but soon the big boys joined the action as Leclerc and Hamilton started their first timed laps.
Leclerc went tenth fastest but Hamilton went to the top as Piastri followed and went second fastest while Norris followed.
Norris went third only as Verstappen came in his wake to take the top spot from Hamilton by less than a tenth. Russell then went seventh as Antonelli went fifth.
Order after first runs was: Verstappen - Hamilton - Piastri - Norris - Antonelli - Lawson - Sainz - Russell - Alonso - Hulkenberg - Hadjar - Stroll - Bearman - Tsunoda - Albon.
In the drop zone: Leclerc - Pierre Gasly - Ocon - Franco Colapinto - Bortoleto. The Brazilian had his lap time deleted for breaching track positions at Turn 19.
With less than three minutes remaining, the drivers went for another run to try and avoid early elimination.
At the end of SQ1, Norris was the fastest with a 1:33.224, 0.139s ahead of Verstappen in second as Piastri was third, 0.665 off the pace.
The rest of the top 15 were as follows: Hamilton - Hulkenberg - Sainz - Hadjar - Antonelli - Albon - Lawson - Russell - Alonso - Leclerc - Stroll - Gasly.
The pack missing out on SQ2 were led by Bearman who was 16th fastest missing out to Gasly by 0.015s as Colapinto was 17th in the second Alpine.
Tsunoda was 18th in the Red Bull after missing out on a second run as the team sent him out late and could not start another lap before the time was over.
Ocon was 19th as Bortoleto was 20th.
SQ2: Antonelli out!
The drivers lined up at the end of the pitlane awaiting for the green light to signal the start of the 10-minute SQ2 with Medium tyres on their cars as per the rules of Sprint Qualifying.
Verstappen started his timed lap first and went fastest with Russell second.
Then Piastri started his lap with Norris following. The Australian went second fastest but Norris came and took the top position as Leclerc went ninth fastest as Hamilton was ninth.
The first runs yielded: Norris - Verstappen - Piastri - Russell - Sainz - Albon - Alonso - Antonelli - Hamilton - Leclerc - Stroll.
Hulkenberg, Hadjar, Lawson, and Gasly did not take part in the first runs opting for one run only as Verstappen, Norris and Piastri stayed in their respective garages while everyone else went out on track.
In the end of SQ2, Norris led the way with a 1:33.033, 0.130s ahead of Verstappen with Piastri 0.208s further behind in third.
The rest of the top ten were as follows: Russell - Hulkenberg - Sainz - Albon - Leclerc - Alonso - Hamilton.
Out of Sprint Qualifying after SQ2 began with Antonelli who was 11th, beaten by Hamilton by 0.006s with Hadjar behind him in 12th.
Gasly was 13th fastest ahead of Stroll who was 14th as Lawson was 15th with no lap time after losing the only lap he posted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19.
SQ3: Verstappen delivers the goods!
And then came the time for the top ten shootout where the Soft compounds will finally be used and Russell was the first out on track at the start of the eight-minute stage.
Sainz and Albon followed Russell who posted the fastest lap temporarily as Albon then went second fastest with Sainz following and denying his teammate second.
Then the remaining drivers joined the track with Norris, Verstappen, and Piastri the last to take to the track.
Hulkenberg then started his lap with Leclerc following with Hamilton just behind him. The German went to the top as the Monegasque went fifth with Hamilton fourth.
Then came Norris and took the top spot with Piastri chasing but not as fast and posted the second fastest time.
But then Verstappen came through, the final driver to post the top time and take Sprint pole position in Austin by 0.071s.
The final order was: Verstappen - Norris - Piastri - Hulkenberg - Russell - Alonso - Sainz - Hamilton - Albon - Leclerc.
United States GP Sprint Qualifying Provisional Classification
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