Carlos Sainz took a surprise pole position for Ferrari at the US GP at the Circuit of the Americas.
Sainz pulled out a sterling flying lap as Ferrari looked comfortably quicker than Red Bull on the weekend that the latter are looking to wrap up the constructors’ championship following on from Max Verstappen securing the drivers’ title last time out at the Japanese GP.
Sainz was 0.065 seconds quicker than his teammate Charles Leclerc, who will star the grand prix back in 12th after being handed a grid penalty for engine infringements.
Verstappen was third overall in qualifying, ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, who once again beat out George Russell as the fastest qualifying Mercedes.
| Position | Driver | Team | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:34.356 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.065 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.092 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.289 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.591 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.632 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.242 |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.334 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +1.520 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +1.963 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | Williams | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 14 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 17 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Eliminated in Q3 |
