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
| Cla | no | drivers | Car / Engine | time | delay [s] |
delay [%] |
| 1 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1’34,356 | – | – |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | red bull | 1’34,448 | 0.092 | 0.098 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34,947 | 0.591 | 0.626 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’34,988 | 0.632 | 0.670 |
| 5 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’35,598 | 1,242 | 1,316 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’35,690 | 1,334 | 1,414 |
| 7 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1’36,319 | 1,963 | 2,080 |
| 8th | 11 | Sergio Perez | red bull | 1’34,645 | 0.289 | 0.306 |
| 5-place penalty, additional power unit element has been used |
||||||
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 1’36,368 | 2.012 | 2.132 |
| 10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’36,398 | 2,042 | 2.164 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri/Red Bull | 1’36,740 | 2,384 | 2,527 |
| 12 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’34,421 | 0.065 | 0.069 |
| 10-place penalty, additional power unit elements have been used |
||||||
| 13 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Red Bull | 1’37.147 | 2,791 | 2,958 |
| 14 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine/Renault | 1’35,876 | 1,520 | 1,611 |
| 5-place penalty, additional power unit element has been used |
||||||
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1’36,949 | 2,593 | 2,748 |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’37,046 | 2,690 | 2,851 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1’37,068 | 2,712 | 2,874 |
| 18 | 47 | Mike Schumacher | Haas/Ferrari | 1’37.111 | 2,755 | 2,920 |
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1’36,970 | 2,614 | 2,770 |
| 5-place penalty, additional power unit element has been used |
||||||
| 20 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams/Mercedes | 1’37,244 | 2,888 | 3,061 |
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
What happened in United States Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen set the bar at 1m35.294s, but Leclerc topped 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
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) .
