Kimi Antonelli takes pole position ahead of the United States Grand Prix, the first time he has done that since August’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Q1
It was a sorry performance from the American teams during the first part of qualifying in their home race, as only one of their four drivers would make it through to Q2, and even then Haas’ Ollie Bearman only managed to get 15th, looking likely to not make it far past Q2.
Williams will also be disappointed in their performance this weekend, as both Sainz and Albon were both eliminated in Q1, all the while being watched on by Claire Williams, former Team Principal and daughter of the team’s founder Frank Williams.
ELIMINATED
17. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.291
18. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.437
19. Carlos Sainz – Williams +0.531
20. Alex Albon – Williams +0.727
21. Sergio Perez – Cadillac +1.192
22. Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac +1.283
Q2
Audi had sent out their drivers early in order to benefit from a clear track, all with the aim of getting Hulkenberg through to Q3 as Bortoleto was taking a 60 place grid penalty due to a number of components being changed in his car. However, they struggled with maximising the slipstream effect for Hulkenberg on the back straight, and both cars were knocked out in Q2.
Alpine would’ve been disappointed with their showing at this track, as they were another team that had both drivers eliminated, all the while both VCARB drivers found a way through to Q3, which could prove crucial at this point in the season in the fight for P5 in the Constructor’s Championship.
ELIMINATED
11. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.022
12. Nico Hulkenberg – Audi +0.100
13. Ollie Bearman – Haas +0.534
14. Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi +0.633 (60 PLACE GRID PENALTY)
15. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.664 (10 PLACE GRID PENALTY)
16. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.760
Q3
Antonelli was able to set the pace early on, taking provisional pole position by nearly 2 tenths of a second ahead of Verstappen after everyone’s first flying laps, a surprise as it seemed that Verstappen and the two Ferraris had appeared quickest up to this point in the weekend.
Conditions on track meant that many drivers were struggling to improve on their times, and only a couple managed to improve on their initial qualifying positions, with Hamilton having pushed Russell down to 6th after his time. Norris had initially gone 6th fastest, but had his final time deleted due to track limits, something that is very easy to do at this circuit, leaving him in 8th.
This meant that, despite making a mistake on his final lap, that Antonelli went uncontested on the fight for pole position, doing so on a weekend where he could mathematically win the World Driver’s Championship.
Qualifying Results
1. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes 1:34.045
2. Max Verstappen – Red Bull+0.179
3. Isack Hadjar – Red Bull +0.215
4. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari+0.232
5. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.276
6. George Russell – Mercedes +0.441
7. Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.768
8. Lando Norris – McLaren +1.014
9. Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls +2.014 (5 PLACE GRID PENALTY)
10. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls NO TIME
