Max Verstappen takes sprint race pole in US Grand Prix to turn up heat on Lando Norris
Norris could only qualify a disappointing fourth for the Saturday sprint race in Austin
Max Verstappen claimed pole for the sprint race in Austin
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Lando Norris risks losing ground to Max Verstappen in his bid to be crowned world champion after seeing his rival take pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in the United States.
Norris, who trails Verstappen by 52 points heading into the concluding six rounds of the campaign, will line up three places behind Verstappen for the 19-lap dash after he qualified a disappointing fourth at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.
Verstappen has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix, nearly four months ago, but he pulled out an impressive lap in the closing seconds to beat Mercedes’ George Russell to top spot by just 0.012 seconds.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will line up from third, one place ahead of Norris, with Lewis Hamilton seventh.
The top eight are awarded points in the sprint race which takes place ahead of a second qualifying session to determine the starting order for Sunday’s main event.
“The whole day the car has been working well,” said Verstappen. “I’m happy to be first, it’s been a while, so I am happy with today.
“We will do the best we can in the sprint, but we also know the most points are available on Sunday, so that’s where we really want to do well.”
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