CHARLES LECLERC ON POLE FOR UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for the United States Grand Prix after Max Verstappen lost a possible 11th pole position of the season to a track limits violation in the final corner of his final flyer of a close-fought qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Leclerc claimed provisional pole, but Verstappen beat the Ferrari driver’s pace over the first sector of his final lap.

The Dutch man looked to have done enough as he crossed the line 0.005s ahead of the Ferrari driver, but within seconds his time was deleted for exceeding track limits in Turn 19.

He dropped to sixth place at the end of the session. Lecler will be joined on the front row for the race by McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.

At the start of Q1 Verstappen made an instant impression, jumping up to P1, 0.152 clear of Leclerc.

With eight minutes remaining Nico Hülkenberg moved to the top of the order in his upgraded Haas, before being quickly outpaced by Pierre Gasly who went seven hundredths of a second quicker than the German.

However, with five minutes remaining and just ahead of the final runs, Carlos Sainz Jr. set a new target time, with three tenths of a second ahead of Leclerc who also improved.

Verstappen was back on track, however, and the champion returned to the top of the order, 0.478 clear of Sainz Jr..

In the final moments, however, Verstappen was edged out of P1, with Hamilton moving to the top ahead of Norris. That left the Red Bull driver with P3 at the end of the session, ahead of Sainz Jr. and Yuki Tsunoda.

Ruled out at the end of the session were 16th-placed Nico Hülkenberg followed by Ferrnando Alonso, Alex Albon, the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and last-placed Logan Sargeant in the other Williams.

Leclerc set the pace at the start of Q2, but the Ferrari driver was swiftly eclipsed by both Mercedes AMG drivers and by Oscar Piatsri who took P1.

Verstappen was just behind the Australian on track, however, and when he crossed the line he was 0.085s ahead and in top spot. Sergio Pérez then moved to P5 in the other Red Bull and just 0.188 covered the closely matched top five.

In the final runs, Leclerc managed to hold on to top spot. The Ferrari driver was first on track and he set the benchmark, almost three tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Sainz Jr..

Verstappen booked his Q3 spot in P2, just 0.004s off Leclerc and more than two tenths ahead of Hamilton.

The drop zone’s leader was Yuki Tsunoda and the 11th-placed Japanese driver was followed to the exit by Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and AlhaTauri’s returning Daniel Ricciardo.

Verstappen was first on track at the start of the final 12-minute session and the Dutchman stopped the clock at 1:35.081. However, he caught Pérez in the final corner and he ended the first run in P3, behind Leclerc and second-placed Hamilton.

In the final runs Leclerc set a new target, posting a lap of 1:34.723. Verstappen looked to have done enough but in the final corner, he slid wide and slid back to sixth.

Norris took P2 0.130 off Leclerc with Hamilton just 0.009s further back in third. Carlos Sainz Jr. took P4 for Ferrari ahead of George Russell with Verstappen sixth.

Behind the champion Gasly will start in P7 ahead of team-mate Esteban Ocon with Pérez in P9 ahead of Piastri.