Max Verstappen dominated Saturday’s action at the United States Grand Prix, winning the sprint race before securing pole position for Sunday’s main event. Verstappen’s pole-winning lap was a 1:32.510, placing him three-tenths of a second ahead of Lando Norris. There was a first-corner crash in the sprint race involving McLaren teammates and championship rivals Norris and Oscar Piastri, which eliminated both drivers.
The sprint race drama unfolded just seconds after the start. With Norris in P2 and Piastri in P3, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg attempted a dive on the inside of Piastri at Turn 1. Hülkenberg made contact, sending Piastri’s car into Norris. The collision sheared a wheel off Norris’s car and caused significant damage to Piastri’s, ending their races immediately. Verstappen cruised to the sprint victory, further tightening the championship battle.
In the main qualifying session hours later, Verstappen’s first run in Q3 was sufficient for pole, as he ran out of time to start a final lap. Norris secured P2, just six-thousandths of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third. George Russell, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari will start fourth and fifth, respectively, while Piastri, who struggled in the session, qualified sixth.
The sprint crash has intensified the pressure on McLaren as they attempt to manage their two drivers in the title fight. Piastri retains his 22-point lead over Norris, but Verstappen has closed the gap to the leader to 55 points. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella cited a "lack of prudence" from other drivers. Norris defended his teammate, stating, "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong... Oscar got hit." Piastri described the crash as a "racing incident," adding, "could I have done something a bit different? Maybe yes, but that different thing would have been to potentially let two or three cars go by."
Looking ahead to Sunday's Grand Prix, Verstappen was satisfied with his car's performance. “The first run in Q3 was good," he said. "Unfortunately, I couldn’t do my final run. It was a bit messy with the out laps, but luckily, we didn’t need it.” Norris, meanwhile, summed up his goal for the race: “Just don’t get hit is my plan for tomorrow. Hoping for a good race with Max, we’ve had some good ones in the past, so I’m looking forward to it again.”