Events are unfolding quickly in Austin, as within hours of the sprint race, qualifying for the United States Grand Prix took place, won by Lando Norris.
During Q1, the trio of Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Sergio Perez dominated the field. However, after a few minutes, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz took the lead, and by the end of Q1 Verstappen, Leclerc and the returning Liam Lawson were in the top three. Among the retirements, to everyone's surprise, were Lewis Hamilton, the two Williams and the Stake Alfa Romeo cars.
In Q2, Norris, Verstappen and Piastri showed the way, and eventually Verstappen, Sainz and Norris entered the top three. The track conditions were steadily improving, the fight was intensifying, and at this stage the qualifying session of the United States Grand Prix seemed to be practically a three-way affair. However, for the two VISA RBs, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hülkenberg there was no more continuation, and they withdrew from further competition.
After that, it was the decisive Q3, where it was virtually impossible to guess who would be the winner! As a result, at the end of the first laps, the order was Norris, Verstappen, Sainz, but the time difference between the two leaders was virtually insignificant. Verstappen then started the last lap sensationally, but was unable to convert his pace into results, as qualifying was "interrupted" due to George Russell's accident.
This meant that Lando Norris took pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz!
