Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris to United States Grand Prix Sprint pole as Ferrari struggle

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The Formula 1 Sprint race is back for the United States Grand Prix after a long break since Belgium.

Max Verstappen dominated the last Sprint race weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, leading the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

It was a mixed practice session earlier in the day, which saw Lando Norris top timings, with Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber splitting the McLaren duo.

Carlos Sainz was forced to miss over half of the only practice session of the weekend, after the Williams suffered from gearbox issues, although the Spaniard was able to get back out onto the track for Sprint qualifying.

Read more: 2025 F1 United States Grand Prix: how to watch, race and sprint UK timings and COTA weather forecast

Yuki Tsunoda and Gabriel Bortoleto out of Q1 after mistakes

Charles Leclerc found himself in a difficult position in the final minutes of Q1 after struggling with his Ferrari at the end of FP1. The Monegasque driver experienced hydraulics issues, which meant he was unable to do any qualifying practice runs.

Leclerc found himself in P16, with just minutes of the session remaining after struggling to set a strong qualifying time on his opening fast lap.

Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to set a time during the first qualifying session after having his lap time deleted for track limits. It was a missed opportunity for the young Brazilian as the Sauber appears to have some pace this weekend, with his teammate Hulkenberg finishing the first run in fifth.

Yuki Tsunoda missed out of a shot at Q2 after several cars got stuck in traffic coming out of the pit lane for their final flying laps. The Red Bull driver was quick on the radio to tell the team he didn’t think he would make it to the line before the chequered flag, which proved correct.

Pierre Gasly denied Haas a Q2 appearance, knocking Oliver Bearman out of the session and taking Alpine out of the bottom five.

It was a chaotic end to the first part of qualifying, with traffic causing issues for several drivers as they came out of the pit lane, before it all became an issue again at the end of the lap.

Ferrari scrape into SQ3 after struggling for pace in SQ2

Ferrari struggled for single-lap pace during the SQ2 session, with both Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton unable to get their cars towards the top of the time sheets. It could be reflective of the team’s decision to fuel them for multiple flying laps.

The pair were able to scrape into the final part of qualifying, pulling themselves out of the drop zone and into 8th for Leclerc and 10th for Hamilton.

Both Racing Bulls drivers were unable to get themselves out of the second qualifying session, with Liam Lawson losing his time due to track limits at Turn 19. Isack Hadjar was also unable to get himself out of the bottom five, reducing the threat of the Ferraris being knocked out.

Kimi Antonelli saw a lock-up at Turn 11, which ultimately left the Mercedes driver down on time and unable to progress to SQ3.

Max Verstappen denies McLaren sprint race pole

Only three drivers risked setting a flying lap in the early stages of Sprint qualifying, after McLaren team principal Zak Brown said he didn’t believe the mandatory soft tyres would survive two laps. The other seven cars opted to wait until there were just a few minutes of the session remaining to go out and set their times.

George Russell and the two Williams cars had the opportunity to go again after coming out early, although it would be a real test of the cars’ soft tyres.

Ferrari once again struggled for pace, finishing the session towards the bottom, which doesn’t bode well for the Italian team in qualifying tomorrow.

Hulkenberg took provisional pole from Russell, ahead of the faster teams crossing the line. He was denied the sprint pole by Verstappen and the McLarens, but will start the Sprint race from fourth, ahead of Russell.

Verstappen will start ahead of Lando Norris at tomorrow’s Sprint race after taking by pole position by seven hundredths of a second.