Verstappen storms to pole in Austin ahead of Norris, Piastri only sixth
- Maham Mir
- Oct 18
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 19
By Maham Mir, Edited by Marit Everett
The morning at the Circuit of the Americas saw Max Verstappen obtain his 13th Sprint victory, with George Russell and Carlos Sainz completing the top three and McLaren looking to bounce back after a double DNF. After a busy and hectic Sprint, including five retirees and two Safety cars, Formula One returned to on-track action with Qualifying for the full-length Grand Prix.
Q1: Verstappen sets the pace
Early on into the first part of qualifying at COTA, Isack Hadjar caused a red flag after a high impact crash with the tyre wall. As a precaution, given the impact of the crash, he was taken to the medical centre for a check.
The Ferraris found pace as both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton returned to the top of the timesheets. At the halfway mark of the session Leclerc went fastest with a 1:33.525 which brought him less than one tenth ahead of Max Verstappen.
For the 2025 Constructors’ World Champions, Qualifying did not start off the way they would have hoped, especially after the earlier disappointment of the Sprint race. Although they did not emerge as the front-runners, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri progressed into Q2 with no issues.
With a set of new tyres in the closing stages of Q1, Russell set the fastest time with his teammate Kimi Antonelli in P2. However, these times did not last as Verstappen returned to the top step where he stayed as the clock ran out.
Nico Hulkenberg, despite the disappointment after retiring from the Sprint after a season-best qualifying position, recovered fairly quickly as he finished Q1 in P6.
In the final moments of Q1, both Lance Stroll and Alex Albon had lap times deleted due to track limits. For Stroll, it was his 13th Q1 elimination—the most of any driver in F1 in 2025. As a reminder, Lance Stroll is carrying a five place grid penalty so he will start at the back of the grid for the race.
Q1 Exits
Gabriel Bortoleto
Esteban Ocon
Lance Stroll
Alex Albon
Isack Hadjar
Q2: Verstappen continues fine form
Like Q1, all flying laps were set on the soft compound tyres. Pierre Gasly had a difficult start to the session as he had a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits; he was the third deleted lap time of the session after Stroll and Albon in Q1.
As the clock continued to tick down in the second part of Qualifying, a gap emerged between the two McLaren cars. Throughout Q2, and the weekend as a whole, Norris was ahead of Piastri as the lead McLaren and capable of challenging Verstappen for the fastest lap times.
Looking elsewhere on the grid, the pace from Ferrari and Mercedes with new soft compound tyres raised some eyebrows especially for the former who have seemingly struggled all weekend despite their positive result in the Sprint.
Not everyone enjoyed their second running in Austin as Alpine faced yet another disappointing session. Finishing in P14 and P15, Gasly emerged as the lead Alpine with Colapinto in P15. For Colapinto especially, the result was disappointing as he failed to capitalise on the opportunity given to him by Albon's lap-time being deleted in Q1.
Q2 Exits
Nico Hulkenberg
Liam Lawson
Yuki Tsunoda
Franco Colapinto
Pierre Gasly
Q3: Verstappen makes his mark
To demonstrate how close together the grid has come towards the tailend of this set of regulations, there were seven different constructors in the top ten. Looking at this track specifically, there have been six different pole sitters in the last six editions of the United States Grand Prix.
Honorary mentions are justified for both Fernando Alonso who was in the top ten for the second time this weekend and Oliver Bearman who reached Q3 for the second weekend in a row for the first time in his career. Bearman, for his rookie season, has enjoyed relative success with five point scoring weekends so far.
As expected, the times continued to tumble as the track ramped up. Although provisional pole belonged to Norris, it did not last as Verstappen emphatically returned to the top of the timesheets by almost four tenths of a second with a 1:32.510.
In the final stages of qualifying, Verstappen failed to get to the line in time to set a second flying lap due to issues with traffic. However, the reigning world champion did not need another opportunity, as Norris finished as the closest driver with a 0.291s gap. Championship leader Piastri could only manage a lap capable of qualifying P6.
Another special mention must be given to Sainz and Williams as well for following their good form from the Sprint earlier in the day into Qualifying. Sharing the fifth row with fellow Spaniard Alonso, Sainz's performances allows him to celebrate a sixth consecutive Q3 appearance in Austin.
It is Verstappen’s first pole position in Austin since 2021 and he remains the last driver to win this race from pole position. Looking at the season overall, it is Verstappen's seventh pole position in 2025 despite the Red Bull not having the performance it used to.
Top ten
Max Verstappen
Lando Norris
Charles Leclerc
George Russell
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri
Kimi Antonelli
Ollie Bearman
Carlos Sainz
Fernando Alonso
Looking Ahead
The grid has been set for Sunday’s Grand Prix! With Verstappen leading the pack, Norris next to him and championship leader Piastri further back, will the championship lead swing into someone else's favour this weekend? Can either McLaren driver stop Verstappen from eating into their championship lead?
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