Red Bull’s Max Verstappen snatched pole position for the 2024 US Sprint from George Russell.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz topped practice but come sprint qualifying, Verstappen left it late to take pole position by 0.012 seconds from George Russell, whilst his title rival – Lando Norris qualified fourth.
Now here is a roundup of practice and sprint qualifying for the 2024 US Sprint in Austin, Texas.
Practice
Norris was first on track as the session went green but it was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who set the initial pace on 1m 38.681 on hard tyres.
Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Verstappen however quickly set the pace in the opening stint as many drivers opted for the hard tyre, with Leclerc quickest at the halfway mark with 1m 34.966 ahead of Sainz and Mercedes’ Russell.
The opening half hour though wasn’t smooth-sailing for Russell and his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, as the British pair suffered spins in the opening corners but were able to continue.
Unlike everyone else, Red Bull went early for a soft-tyre Sprint Qualifying simulation which saw Verstappen go top with 29 minutes left as he posted 1m 33.855 whilst Sergio Perez fell 0.783 seconds shy of his teammate.
Sainz left it until seven minutes left on the clock to set his soft-tyre flier of 1m 33.602 to top the session from Leclerc by 0.021s, whilst Verstappen and Norris found themselves split by 0.013s in third and fourth respectively.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m 33.602 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.021 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.253 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.266 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.306 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.361 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.491 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.494 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.510 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.711 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.762 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.773 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | RB | + 0.841 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.016 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.017 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.036 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.204 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 1.439 |
| 19 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 1.646 |
| 20 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 3.617 |
Sprint Qualifying
SQ1
Verstappen was first out on track and set 1m 34.698 but his time was soon usurped by various drivers, with Hamilton quickest on 1m 33.840 once everyone set a lap time.
Ocon meanwhile headed those in the bottom five ahead of; Hulkenberg, Bottas, Zhou and Perez – whose first flier was deleted after he exceeded track limits.
As the checkered flag fell, Piastri was a shock elimination as his final lap was deleted following a wide moment at Turn 19, which also ended Albon’s session in 18th after he spun at the same corner.
Ocon sandwiched the pair in 17th position whilst Bottas and Zhou will start the Sprint at the back.
SQ2
Hulkenberg was first out of the pits but his benchmark 1m 33.994 was quickly beaten as Sainz topped the segment with 1m 33.274 on his first flier.
Others meanwhile left their fliers until the final minutes including Perez, as the Mexican could only manage 11th and was eliminated alongside; Lawson, Gasly, Stroll and Alonso whose lap time was deleted after he ran wide at Turn 19.
SQ3
Unlike SQ1 and Q2 in which everyone ran medium tyres, the top ten moved onto the soft tyres with Russell setting the initial benchmark pace with 1m 32.845 after he ventured out first.
Hamilton and Colapinto were the other drivers to head straight out whilst everyone else waited until the end to set their final fliers of the session.
At the checkered flag, Russell looked destined for the sprint pole until Verstappen found 0.012s to take pole with 1m 32.833 from the Brit and Leclerc.
Norris qualified fourth ahead of Sainz whilst Hulkenberg put his Haas sixth on the grid ahead of Hamilton and his teammate – Magnussen, whilst Tsunoda and Colapinto will share the fifth row.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 32.833 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.012 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.226 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.250 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.256 |
| 6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.350 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.545 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.565 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.969 |
| 10 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 1.573 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1m 34.244 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | RB | + 0.100 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.119 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.955 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | No Time |
| 16 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 34.881 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.036 |
| 18 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.173 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 0.267 |
| 20 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 0.312 |