Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated Qualifying to claim pole position for the 2025 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Despite suffering a messy outlap on his final Q3 run which saw him miss the checkered flag, Verstappen clung onto pole ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in a repeat of the sprint front row.
Ferrari meanwhile made a step forward as Charles Leclerc qualified third ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell who sandwiched Leclerc and his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
Q1
Haas’ Esteban Ocon was first on track but before anyone set a lap time, the session was red flagged with 14 minutes and 51 seconds left, after Isack Hadjar spun out at Turn 6 after he caught a bump which upset the rear of his Racing Bulls.
The segment resumed after a ten-minute delay and once everyone attempted a first flying lap bar Hadjar, Leclerc sat top with 1m 33.525.
Franco Colapinto, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto found themselves in the elimination zone alongside Norris after the Brit aborted his lap due to an error, plus Hadjar who played no further part in the session.
As the checkered flag fell, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Ocon and Lance Stroll were eliminated but Albon’s final lap time was deleted due to having exceeded track limits at turn 15 which left him 19th, and in-turn saved Colapinto who by luck snuck into Q2 as a consequence.
Verstappen meanwhile topped the segment with 1m 33.207 in the penultimate minute.
Q2
Haas’ Oliver Bearman was first on track in the second segment and set 1m 33.238 as the benchmark time, but Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli beat his time with 1m 33.044 to go quickest.
Once everyone set their first lap times, Verstappen headed the order with 1m 32.701 whilst the bottom five comprised of; Liam Lawson, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Colapinto and Pierre Gasly – who hadn’t set a lap time.
At the checkered flag, Russell survived at the expense of Hulkenberg who qualified 11th ahead of Lawson and Tsunoda, whilst Gasly’s sole lap time put him 14th on the grid just ahead of his Alpine teammate – Colapinto.
Nobody within the top ten bettered Verstappen’s fastest lap in their final runs, whilst he stayed in the pit lane.
Q3
Bearman again was first out onto the track and set 1m 3 as the initial benchmark time but Russell displaced him with 1m 32.959 to go onto provisional pole.
Upon completion of the first set of Q3 fliers, Verstappen headed the order with 1m 32.510 from Norris by 0.394 seconds, whilst Russell sat third ahead of; Antonelli, Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc however had spun at the end of his flier which left him 4.804s adrift of Verstappen’s lap time.
At the checkered flag, Verstappen missed the line to start his final lap but managed to hang on to pole as Norris fell 0.291s shy and just 0.006s quicker than third-placed Leclerc.
Russell, Hamilton, Piastri, Antonelli, Bearman, Sainz and Alonso completed the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 32.510 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.291 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.297 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.316 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.402 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.574 |
| 7 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.604 |
| 8 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.629 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.640 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.650 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1m 33.334 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.026 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.132 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.317 |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.710 |
| 16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 1m 34.125 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.011 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.415 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Aston Martin | + 0.565 |
| 20 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | No Time |
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