Max Verstappen produced a mighty final lap in the United States Grand Prix sprint shootout to seal a P1 grid slot on Saturday. Title rival Lando Norris struggled and will start from P4.

The first part of sprint qualifying was full of drama as Oscar Piastri’s rough start to the weekend continued. A track limit violation at Turn 19 cost him his final flying lap, relegating him into the bottom five and effectively ending his hopes of points in Saturday’s sprint race.

At the top end of the field, it was Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton who showed the better pace with Verstappen and Norris following closely behind. There was less to celebrate for Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon and the two Sauber drivers, who were eliminated in SQ1.

Sergio Perez suffered a similar fate to Piastri as he was knocked out in SQ2. Even more concerning for the Mexican was that Yuki Tsunoda – his potential replacement for 2025 – made it into the final part of the sprint shootout.

Both Aston Martin drivers were also eliminated in SQ2 as the Silverstone-based team’s struggles continued at the Circuit of the Americas. Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly were also eliminated, but Williams rookie Franco Colapinto impressed, making it into the final part of qualifying.