Saturday Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the pole for Sunday’s F1 USGP at COTA, but from there back the places were shuffled thanks to grid penalties. His teammate Charles Leclerc grabbed the second spot but has a 10-place grid penalty for engine changes meaning Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be lining up on the front row.
Likewise, Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez will be giving up his 4th place starting spot, along with Fernando Alonso while was to start 9th. That will move Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to 4th, and Valtteri Bottas up to 9th.
“It was a lot of fun,” Sainz said. “It was very tricky out there with these winds; it’s so gusty that every corner is a bit of an adventure with these cars, and you don’t know how much grip you are going to get or how much grip to expect.
“I managed to put together a good lap without mistakes and [claim a] pole position that was a long time coming after a few qualis in the dry getting very close to it, but not getting there.”
Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s passing cast a shadow over the paddock ahead of qualifying, but the Red Bull team carried on as they look to secure their first constructors’ championship victory since 2013.
“Yeah of course, for us it was I think a tough entry to qualifying,” Verstappen said. “Then you don’t really care about the result as well – it doesn’t matter – because we’re more about what happened today and also what he has meant to everyone within the team, the whole team, what he has built up, the company itself, Red Bull and personally to me.
“Because, without him, I wouldn’t be sitting here today, and I wouldn’t have had the success I’ve had, so it’s incredibly tough for everyone in the team. Luckily, I got to see him a couple of weeks back so we could spend a little bit of time together. But it’s still a tough day.”
George Russell will be moving up to join Hamilton on the second row.
“I thought we were closer, if I’m really honest,” Hamilton said. “My laps weren’t great; I really struggled with the car in this session. I think with the temperature drop, [the track] in P3 was around 30 to 40 degrees, then it was like six degrees, seven degrees cooler [in qualifying] – it really changed the set-up of the car – it was a real handful.
“I’m praying it’s going to be better tomorrow. I’m really just hopeful that… If we can hold onto the guys [ahead], at least keep them in [viewing] distance, that would be awesome, because then strategy can come into play. But I think they’re too quick.”
Alex Albon took 11th for Williams ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, while Pierre Gasly was frustrated with a lack of braking performance as he locked up on the way to P13. Zhou Guanyu seemed safe for Q3 but had his final lap deleted and qualified 14th – which will become 19th once his five-place penalty kicks in. Yuki Tsunoda qualified 15th but is set to be promoted at Zhou’s expense.
Also moving up a place will be Kevin Magnussen, who lost out on a spot in Q2 by 0.018s, while Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon struggled to P17 and P18, respectively. Mick Schumacher spun on his final Q1 lap and qualified 19th, while Nicholas Latifi qualified last and is set to start 20th for Williams.
FORMULA 1 ARAMCO UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 2022 – QUALIFYING
| Pos | Driver | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:35.297 | 1:35.590 | 1:34.356 | |
| 2 | 1:35.795 | 1:35.246 | 1:34.421 | |
| 3 | 1:35.864 | 1:35.294 | 1:34.448 | |
| 4 | 1:36.163 | 1:35.864 | 1:34.645 | |
| 5 | 1:36.148 | 1:35.732 | 1:34.947 | |
| 6 | 1:36.195 | 1:35.692 | 1:34.988 | |
| 7 | 1:36.860 | 1:36.032 | 1:35.598 | |
| 8 | 1:36.465 | 1:36.341 | 1:35.690 | |
| 9 | 1:36.446 | 1:35.988 | 1:35.876 | |
| 10 | 1:36.746 | 1:36.321 | 1:36.319 | |
| 11 | 1:36.932 | 1:36.368 | ||
| 12 | 1:36.695 | 1:36.398 | ||
| 13 | 1:36.577 | 1:36.740 | ||
| 14 | 1:36.656 | 1:36.970 | ||
| 15 | 1:36.808 | 1:37.147 | ||
| 16 | 1:36.949 | |||
| 17 | 1:37.046 | |||
| 18 | 1:37.068 | |||
| 19 | 1:37.111 | |||
| 20 | 1:37.244 |
Q1 107% time – 1:41.968
Note – Leclerc penalised 10 grid places for use of additional power unit elements. Alonso, Perez and Zhou penalised 5 grid places for use of additional power unit elements.
Greg has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.