Lando Norris steals pole from Max Verstappen in Austin thanks to a timely accident by George Russell

Lando Norris has given the reply. After being totally dominated by Max Verstappen both in qualifying and in the sprint race, the McLaren driver took pole position in Austin with a magical lap in which he stopped the clock at 1:32.330. Of course, he has had some luck to achieve it.

A George Russell accident in the last minute has cut the drivers’ last attempt in Q3 in half. So Verstappen was unable to complete a promising lap with which perhaps he could have cut those 31 thousandths that have separated him from the pole position that Norris retains this time.

Fernando Alonso’s small miracle, Lewis Hamilton’s supreme disaster

Lando Norris will start first in Austin. The British driver took pole position when no one expected it, with a formidable lap at the moment of truth that beat Verstappen by 31 thousandths. Yes indeed, the red flag that caused Russell’s accident On the second attempt it has been a key help.

In any case, given the sprint race, Verstappen remains the favoritesince that Red Bull seems to have better pace than the McLaren. For Norris, it will be vital to defend that first position at the start in any way possible in order to set his pace without falling into the problems of dirty air that come with following another car.

What is clear is that Norris and Verstappen are far ahead of their teammates. Oscar Piastri is not having a good weekendalthough he saves the furniture with a fifth place, but Sergio Pérez has been the worst in Q3, unable to set a fast lap without exceeding the track limits, and will start tenth.

Be careful with Carlos Sainz, because he has serious options for victory. The Spanish driver is going to start third, and already in the sprint race he has shown that this Ferrari has a lot of pace and maintains its tires well. If there is tension between Norris and Verstappen, Sainz could hit him. Of course, right behind him will be Charles Leclerc, fourth.

Absolute Mercedes debacle. Russell has crashed and will start sixth, but the thing is Lewis Hamilton has made one of the worst qualifications of his lifefinishing second to last, only ahead of Guanyu Zhou’s Sauber. He will start eighteenth thanks to Liam Lawson having a penalty for changing an engine.

Russell suffers an accident and ends the classification

Sainz will start THIRD and Alonso will be EIGHTH on the grid #USADAZNF1 pic.twitter.com/IZaXJeliIg

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) October 19, 2024

Small miracle of Fernando Alonso, who has gotten into Q3 that Aston Martin and he will start eighth. In fact, it could even improve since Pierre Gasly, seventh with the Alpine, has a pending investigation. Kevin Magnussen also got into Q3 with the Haas, although he finished ninth, hurt by the red flag.

Formula 1 United States GP 2024 classification results