Kimi Antonelli secures United States Grand Prix pole position

Antonelli clinches pole as Red Bulls falter

Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the United States Grand Prix, beating Max Verstappen by 0.179s in Q3. The Mercedes driver took his seventh pole of the season after finishing sixth in Q1 and 0.080s behind Charles Leclerc in Q2. After finishing sixth in Q1 and 0.080s behind Charles Leclerc at the top of the Q2 order, Antonelli jumped to provisional pole at the start of Q3 with a 1m34.035s before his final driving error. He faced a big correction on the exit of the Turn 13 right-hander during his final attempt, but he still held the top spot. Red Bull failed to improve because track-limit offences saw the final efforts of both drivers scrubbed. Antonelli was one of three drivers to go through Q1 on mediums to save an extra set of soft tyres for Q3, alongside George Russell and Oscar Piastri. Red Bull also ran Verstappen and Hadjar on one set of softs in Q1 and Q2. Isack Hadjar finished third, marking a change for the second Red Bull driver after he struggled throughout practice. Verstappen, who used the same tyres for Q1, Q2, and Q3, said "for whatever reason on both of those sets [in Q3] I didn’t have a good balance".

Ferrari lose ground in Austin

Ferrari saw its qualifying challenge fall apart as Charles Leclerc finished fourth, 0.232s behind the leader. Leclerc was fastest in Q2, but he could not replicate that pace in the final session to secure second. Lewis Hamilton salvaged fifth for the team, finishing 0.276s behind Leclerc. Oscar Piastri took seventh, 0.768s behind Antonelli. Lando Norris dropped to eighth, 1.014s behind the pole-sitter, after track limits deleted his lap. George Russell finished sixth, 0.441s behind his teammate, and he was perhaps fortunate to secure that spot after Lando Norris had gone ahead of him. Arvid Lindblad qualified ninth, but a five-place grid penalty for a change of internal combustion engine means he will drop behind Liam Lawson, who had no time in Q3. This allows Lindblad to potentially drop one place less than he otherwise would have done.

Audi gamble fails and Williams struggle

Audi failed a tactical gamble at the end of Q2 when Gabriel Bortleto attempted to give Nico Hulkenberg a tow. Hulkenberg looked slow on the back straight and finished 12th, just 0.078s away from the Q3 cutoff. Bortleto finished 13th and carries a grid penalty for engine component changes. Pierre Gasly will start tenth after Arvid Lindblad’s five-place grid penalty for a change of internal combustion engine means Lindblad’s ninth place position will drop. Gasly finished 11th, 0.022s away from Lawson’s time. Franco Colapinto finished 14th, 0.642s behind Gasly, and Fernando Alonso finished 15th, 0.738s behind Gasly, after managing to improve on his final lap. Alonso was the slowest of the 16 cars in Q2, but he was rewarded for improving on his final lap. Ollie Bearman fell to 16th, 0.951s behind Alonso, after track limits at the Turn 11 hairpin deleted his lap.

I found the Williams performance to be a total disaster as both cars finished more than half a second off the pace. Esteban Ocon finished 17th, 0.291s behind Bearman, after failing to beat Alonso, while Lance Stroll finished 18th, 0.146s behind Alonso. Carlos Sainz finished 19th, 0.239s behind Stroll, and Alex Albon finished 20th, 0.436s behind Sainz. Albon slid through Turn 18 in the final sector and told reporters "What a ****show" and "Even worse, I don’t know what’s going on." At the rear, Sergio Perez finished 21st, 0.902s behind Albon, while Valtteri Bottas finished 22nd, 0.992s behind Perez.