After his Austin sprint race win, Max Verstappen secured pole position for the 2025 United States Grand Prix. But the big talking point post-qualifying centers on the form of McLaren and its drivers.

Take the first Q3 runs at the Circuit of the Americas, for example. Verstappen stormed past Lando Norris’ time by 0.394 seconds to claim provisional pole position with a 1:32.510-second lap. Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, was down in seventh and nearly a second slower than the Dutchman.

This starkly contrasted FP1 on Friday, where Norris led and Piastri was third quickest, before Verstappen led the duo in securing pole position for the sprint race, where both McLaren drivers crashed out and the Red Bull driver won commandingly.

The McLaren has struggled with bumps on track surfaces at times this year and there are plenty of these at COTA. But Norris and particularly Piastri seemed off the ultimate pace Verstappen has been setting since FP1 and especially compared to their own form through much of the season.

Norris was in brief danger of being eliminated in Q1 in this session, while Piastri did not look comfortable getting through to Q3. And while Piastri struggled to finish sixth in qualifying’s final moments, Norris had a chance to topple Verstappen.

Red Bull had made a rare mistake — sending the world champion out too late to complete a second Q3 run. But while Norris set a personal best on his last go, it was only enough to rescue second and was still 0.291s-seconds adrift of pole.

Meanwhile, the Mercedes drivers looked strong despite the hot temperatures (reminder: it’s so hot in Texas the FIA has declared another heat hazard race this weekend) that tend not to suit their car.

George Russell, who finished second to Verstappen in the sprint race earlier in the day, qualified fourth for Sunday’s GP, while his teammate Kimi Antonelli will line up seventh. They ultimately were bested by the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who qualified third and fifth respectively.

Red Bull’s late slip ultimately didn’t matter for the driver who was perfect throughout Saturday — winning the sprint race and topping Q1, Q2 and Q3.

Considering what’s at stake in the drivers’ championship and the gain he made in winning the shorter race with his rivals eliminated, the front-row start for Verstappen and Norris will one to watch on Sunday.

Q2: Hülkenberg can’t repeat his sprint qualifying heroics

Nico Hülkenberg was one of the stars of Friday, as the Sauber driver managed to qualify fourth for the sprint race. According to his team in a statement, that was “the best qualifying result for the team (in any format) in more than a decade – incidentally, equalling Nico’s own grid start for Sauber in Austin in 2013.”

But he was unable to bring any points home from the sprint race to help close Sauber’s gap to Aston Martin in their fight for seventh in the constructors’ championship  because of the Lap 1, Turn 1 incident with Piastri and Fernando Alonso that wiped that duo and Norris out of the sprint.

The chaotic start to the 2025 Austin F1 sprint race (David Buono/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

The three drivers went three-wide in Turn 1 after Piastri cut back around Norris’ rear towards the track’s inside line. But that left Hülkenberg sandwiched and he collided with Alonso and Piastri, who then hit Norris. While Alonso and the McLaren drivers were out, Hülkenberg continued on, finishing P13.

Out of the two Sauber drivers, Hülkenberg is in the best position to score points on Sunday, given Gabriel Bortoleto dropped out in Q1. Only 13 points separate Aston Martin and Sauber heading into the Austin grand prix, and out of the four drivers, only Alonso escaped into Q3.

Hülkenberg was out in 11th in Q1, followed by Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, who registered another poor qualifying result for Red Bull. The other fallers were the Alpine pair, with Pierre Gasly outqualifying Franco Colapinto.

Q1: Hadjar spins out early, Albon knocked out late

It didn’t take long before a red flag came out at Circuit of the Americas, with just under 15 minutes remaining in the opening session. While heading towards Turn 6, Isack Hadjar went for a spin after hitting a bump in the asphalt, crashing into the barriers shortly on the track’s inside. He was uninjured, but frustrated over a missed opportunity given that Lawson advanced to Q2 after setting the fifth fastest Q1 time, which was topped by Verstappen.

Williams and Racing Bulls are fighting for fifth in the 2025 constructors’ standings, though Sainz’s Baku podium and sprint P3 finish in Austin earlier on Saturday widened that gap between them even more to 39 points. But what helps the Racing Bulls drivers is that Alex Albon was also knocked out in Q1 due to a late track limit infringement. He’ll start ahead of Hadjar and the Williams drivers otherwise looked strong (Albon’s deleted lap briefly had him eighth in Q1).

Lance Stroll, who qualified P18 after also losing a lap to a track limits violation, has a five-place grid penalty for his collision with Esteban Ocon in the sprint race. Stroll will therefore start last, with Albon and Hadjar elevated to start behind the other Q1 fallers, Gabriel Bortoleto and Ocon.

Results:

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Lando Norris, McLaren
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
4. George Russell, Mercedes
5. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
6. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
7. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
8. Ollie Bearman, Haas
9. Carlos Sainz, Williams
10. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
11. Nico Hülkenberg, Sauber
12. Esteban Ocon, Haas
13. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
14. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
15. Franco Colaptin, Alpine
16. Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
17. Esteban Ocon, Haas
18. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
19. Alex Albon, Williams
20. Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls