Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the US Grand Prix with an immense lap for Red Bull at the Circuit of the Americas. However the day was marked by yet another incident between the two world championship contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with the latter crashing into Norris on the opening lap of the sprint race taking them both out and leaving McLaren with a headache as to how they manage their drivers.
Verstappen had been all but untouchable throughout qualifying, his lead over Norris in second place was a full three-tenths, an age on this track. However in what is an increasingly tense title fight Piastri’s difficult weekend continued as he managed only sixth on the grid. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took third and fifth for Ferrari, with Mercedes’ George Russell in fourth.
The real drama, certainly for McLaren, had already taken place to devastating effect. On the first corner of the sprint, which was won by Verstappen, with Norris starting in second and Piastri in third, the Australian looked to cut back inside his teammate but in doing so was struck by the Sauber of Nico Hülkenberg. The impact speared him into Norris at speed, lifted Piastri’s car into the air and entirely sheared off one of Norris’s wheels, damage that ended both their races.
It was the worst possible scenario for McLaren on a weekend when the team wanted nothing more than a clean meeting to calm the atmosphere that has begun to surround their drivers, with Piastri leading Norris by 22 points in the world championship, as they strive to manage their title fight as fairly as possible.
The incident occurs only a week after Norris was told there would be “consequences” for his move in Singapore where he attempted to pass Piastri and in so doing clipped Verstappen and was skewed into the side of his teammate. Both continued but Norris was held to have been in the wrong.
This far worse incident in Austin leaves McLaren once more having to address their complex management of their men. Certainly if Norris was at fault for going for a gap in Singapore, Piastri was equally to blame for cutting back at the notoriously crowded turn one in Austin, where the chances of there being more than one car inside him through the apex was very high.
The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after the sprint race collision. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images
The team principal, Andrea Stella, cited a “lack of prudence” on Hülkenberg ’s behalf but his real issue is how they once more try to balance the increasingly complex scales they are now employing to ensure both drivers are treated equally. The issue has refused to go away and the team’s repeated efforts to be scrupulously fair in intervening has created a torturous set of precedents from which they can no longer simply retreat.
“We have lost eight points with both drivers, we just look forward to some normal racing,” Stella noted with a hint of exasperation.
The team did well to repair both their cars for qualifying but without having quite the time to prepare as they would like. Norris nonetheless must consider this a good chance to make points back on his teammate but both drivers will be more than aware that neither could come even close to an imperious Verstappen.
“Just don’t get hit is my plan for tomorrow,” said Norris after the travails of the sprint. “Hoping for a good race with Max, we’ve had some good ones in the past, so I’m looking forward to it again.”
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Quick Guide
F1 US GP qualifying times
Show
1 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 1min 32.510sec
2 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 1:32.801
3 Charles Leclerc (Mon)Ferrari 1:32.807
4 George Russell (GB) Mercedes 1:32.826
5 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari 1:32.912
6 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:33.084
7 Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes 1:33.114
8 Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas 1:33.139
9 Carlos Sainz Jr (Sp) Williams 1:33.150
10 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Aston Martin 1:33.160
Eliminated in Q2
11 Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Sauber 1:33.334
12 Liam Lawson (NZ) Racing Bulls 1:33.360
13 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull 1:33.466
14 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Alpine 1:33.651
15 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 1:34.044
Eliminated in Q1
16 Gabriel Bortoleto (Br) Sauber 1:34.125
17 Esteban Ocon (Fr) Haas 1:34.136
18 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:34.540
19 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:34.690
20 Isack Hadjar (Fr) Racing Bulls no time set
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Red Bull have proved in recent races that they appear to have finally ironed out the issues with their car that plagued it for most of the season. They have now shown form across a range of circuits and conditions, with the team’s motorsport adviser Helmut Marko pronouncing “we are there” of the car earlier this week. Certainly they look in position to compete for wins now at every track and Verstappen demonstrated that emphatically in Austin.
After the victory in the sprint he is now 55 points off Piastri and what had once appeared to be an insurmountable gap is suddenly looking to be a genuine target for the Dutchman. Before the summer break he was 97 points adrift but two wins and two second places since have given him a sniff of a chance which will have cause to focus the mind at McLaren, who have acknowledged their rivals are very much up to speed.
On the first hot runs in Q3 Piastri, who did not really settle into a good single lap, opened with a marker but was swiftly eclipsed by Russell. Norris and Verstappen followed and the Dutchman was immediately quick in the first two sectors, before he claimed provisional pole by almost a full four-tenths from Norris.
It was a huge gap to make up in the final laps but Verstappen had waited again to go out last and could not make the line to begin his last lap before the clock counted down. Yet for all that Red Bull had cut it too fine he had done enough. Norris went hard but could not match him, still three-tenths off the world champion’s time of 1min 32.510sec.
