Formula 1

Qualifying for the Austin sprint from 23:30 LIVE

Max Verstappen

(Bild: AFP)

Red Bull star Max Verstappen has secured pole position for the sprint race at the US Grand Prix in Austin. The Dutchman was just 12 thousandths of a second faster than George Russell in the Mercedes in the corresponding qualifying session on Friday (local time), with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc third.

The sprint decision will take place on Saturday from 20:00 CEST, with qualifying for the Grand Prix starting at midnight.

George Russell

(Bild: AP)

Verstappen's world championship challenger Lando Norris (McLaren) followed in fourth place, with the second Ferrari man Carlos Sainz, who had set the best time in the only free practice session, in fifth place. Verstappen, who has won all three sprints so far this season, currently leads the championship standings by 52 points from Norris. There are still six Grand Prix stages to go. The US Grand Prix takes place on Sunday (21:00, live on ServusTV, Sky).

"Sprint qualifying is very difficult"
Verstappen was delighted with a "good day", as he said afterwards. "Sprint qualifying is very difficult because you drive medium-medium and then soft, so you don't know how much you can attack. I'm happy to be first, it's been a while." The three-time world champion noted that the largely newly asphalted track was "fantastic to drive". "We will do our best in the sprint tomorrow, but we know that the most points will be scored on Sunday and we really want to do well there."

"A very good start"
For Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko, the result was "a very good start". However, the Styrian was only referring to Verstappen's performance; for his team-mate Sergio Perez, who has been under internal pressure several times this season, only eleventh place remained. In any case, it had become clear that the work of recent weeks had "clearly brought an additional gain", said Marko in the ServusTV interview. "But it's still damn close." During the race break, the team had been able to produce new parts, "and thank God these parts (...) worked straight away".

Norris said he was satisfied with fourth place in some respects. "But my lap was shocking," emphasized the Briton. "It wasn't a terrible day - it could have been worse, it could have been better, but I'll take it as it is." Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri, a two-time Grand Prix winner this year, failed to finish in the first qualifying segment. The Australian only finished 16th.