Lando Norris takes US GP pole as George Russell crash costs Max Verstappen
Lando Norris pips F1 title rival Max Verstappen to pole for the United States Grand Prix.
Lando Norris hit back to beat F1 title rival Max Verstappen to pole position at the United States Grand Prix.
After losing two points to the championship leader in the sprint race, Norris put himself in prime position to respond in Sunday’s grand prix by producing a stunning lap to pip Verstappen by just 0.031 seconds and claim his sixth pole of the 2024 season.
Verstappen had been on a quicker final lap having set a purple first sector but his chances of potentially claiming pole were scuppered when George Russell crashed his Mercedes at Turn 19, forcing the Red Bull driver to slow down for yellow flags.
"It was a beautiful lap," Norris said. "I was not going to go much quicker than I did. When you just do a lap and you think it’s going to be tough to beat... I put everything on the line, I needed to do it.
"We’ve not had the pace of the Ferraris or Red Bulls so I had to do something, and I did that. It was a very good lap. I can probably say quite confidently the best of my career."
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third-quickest ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, with the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri over six-tenths adrift of his teammate in fifth.
Russell set a lap good enough for sixth before his shunt, but Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton suffered a shock Q1 elimination and his worst qualifying performance at COTA, leaving him only 18th on the grid.
Pierre Gasly took seventh for Alpine, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was left 10th after seeing his fastest lap deleted due to exceeding track limits.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda narrowly missed out on a spot in the top-10 shootout in 11th, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was 13th-fastest, while Lance Stroll was only 14th for Aston Martin.
After advancing with the third-fastest time in Q1, returning RB driver Liam Lawson opted to sit out the second session knowing that he will start Sunday’s grand prix last once his engine penalty is applied.
The Williams pair of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were 16th and 17th, while Valtteri Bottas outqualifed former Mercedes teammate Hamilton, with Sauber stablemate Zhou Guanyu slowest of all in 20th.
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