After his start-finish victory in the sprint race in Austin, Max Verstappen also secures pole position for Sunday's US Grand Prix. World championship leader Oscar Piastri has to make do with 6th place on the grid.
19.10.2025, 00:44
19.10.2025, 07:08
SDA
Verstappen secured his seventh pole position of the season despite a minor mishap: In the decisive section of qualifying, the four-time world champion in the Red Bull did not make it across the finish line in time to set a final fast lap like the competition.
However, the missed opportunity had no consequences - Verstappen had already set the fastest time. Lando Norris in the McLaren came closest to him, 0.291 seconds behind.
Piastri only from grid row 3
"Fortunately, we didn't need it (the last lap)," said a relieved Verstappen after his 47th career pole position. In third place in the championship standings after the sprint win, he is now only 55 points behind leader Oscar Piastri. The Australian, who like team-mate Norris retired early in the sprint race after a pile-up at the start, had to settle for sixth place in qualifying.
Last year's winner Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari and George Russell in the Mercedes, who recently triumphed in Singapore, make up the second row of the grid. Verstappen was the winner three times in a row in Austin from 2021 to 2023.
No Sauber in the top 10
Nico Hülkenberg in the Sauber was not quite able to build on his strong performance at the start of the weekend. After second place in practice and fourth on the grid in sprint qualifying, the German had to settle for 11th place in qualifying for the Grand Prix - equaling his best result of the season so far. Hülkenberg missed out on advancing to the third part of qualifying for the first time this year by less than a tenth of a second. Earlier in the sprint race, he had dropped out of the fight for championship points early on after a collision at the start.
Gabriel Bortoleto, driving the Hinwil-based team's second car, will start from 16th on Sunday at 21:00 Swiss time.
