US GP: Verstappen beats Leclerc to P1 in the Sprint Shootout

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Max Verstappen claimed P1 in the Sprint Shootout at the United States Grand Prix.

After the disappointment of Friday, the reigning world champion led all three segments in Austin albeit by fine margins with Charles Leclerc finishing only 0.055s in second.

Lewis Hamilton continued to enjoy his upgraded Mercedes in third.

SQ1

Just 0.002s split Verstappen and Leclerc at the top in SQ1 with Alex Albon jumping up to a surprise third in the Williams late on.

Further down, Daniel Ricciardo produced a last-gasp effort to sneak through in 15th at the expense of Nico Hulkenberg in 16th.

The second Haas of Kevin Magnussen followed in 17th ahead of Valtteri Bottas in 18th.

Yuki Tsunoda finished 19th after an altercation with Lewis Hamilton prior to his final run that saw the Mercedes bump into the AlphaTauri as a result.

Leclerc and George Russell were also caught up in the incident at Turn 19, with the latter under investigation by the stewards.

American driver Logan Sargeant brought up the field in his Williams.

SQ2

Verstappen continued to set the pace in SQ2 despite a spin at Turn 9 on his final run.

Several drivers waited until the final moments to complete their only flying lap with the two Mercedes' only just making it through in eighth and ninth.

Alex Albon squeezed in in P10 with Ricciardo falling just 0.03s short in 11th.

Aston Martin's difficult weekend continued as Fernando Alonso finished 12th and Lance Stroll 14th.

Esteban Ocon was 13th and Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top 15.

SQ3

All teams waited until there were four minutes to go before heading out for a single run to decide the top 10 for the Sprint.

Verstappen led the pack and posted the best time of the weekend, a 1m34.538s, to claim P1 by just 0.055s from Leclerc.

Hamilton finished just 0.014s behind the Monegasque in third, with Lando Norris fourth just 0.101s behind Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri followed in fifth in the second McLaren, ahead of Carlos Sainz in sixth.

Sergio Perez was seventh, followed by Russell, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly in 10th. 

 

         

 

 

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