Formula 1 today: Antonelli on pole in Austin

Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start the United States GP from first on the grid. In qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas, the Mercedes championship leader beat both Red Bull cars: Max Verstappen was second, Isack Hadjar third. According to formula1.com, Antonelli abandoned his second attempt in Q3. In gusty wind, however, nobody was able to make a decisive improvement afterwards.

Behind them come the two Ferrari drivers, with Charles Leclerc fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth. George Russell ended up sixth. At McLaren, Oscar Piastri finished ahead of Lando Norris, who according to formula1.com had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits. You can find the full starting grid under Results.

Verstappen was surprised after qualifying that he had missed out on pole. He said he had made no mistakes: “… something that I don't understand because I didn't make mistakes” (formula1.com). A few corners hadn't come together in Q3, and the car hadn't felt as planted as he had hoped. For the race, he is hoping for a good balance and for being gentle on the tyres.

Russell put his sixth place down to a slide at Turn 12 that cost him time in the final sector: “Just one slide around Turn 12, and then it was just a snowball.” (formula1.com). He added that the track temperature rising by a few degrees had also played a big role for the tyres in the final sector.

Three drivers will drop back on the starting grid for taking additional power unit components. According to formula1.com, Arvid Lindblad of the RB F1 Team loses five places, meaning he slides back despite having reached Q3. Franco Colapinto of Alpine receives a ten-place grid penalty. Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi will start from the back of the field after several component changes. The starting grid therefore differs from the qualifying result.

According to the-race.com, Hamilton was fastest in the third free practice session, meaning Ferrari topped all three practice sessions this weekend. The session had consequences with the stewards: Bortoleto received a warning for impeding Hamilton. Hadjar was also warned after an incident with Alexander Albon at Turn 1. Both cases are listed in the official FIA documents for the weekend.

Antonelli leads the championship with 340 points, ahead of Russell on 238. According to formula1.com, he could be crowned world champion as early as this weekend. To do so, he has to win, and his challengers can only score a few points. The race starts today at 21:00 German time. Remember that the clocks went back to winter time overnight. You can find all other dates in the calendar.