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Hear from the Team after Qualifying in Austin
1 min
Hear from the Team after Qualifying in Austin
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Front row fight for race day as Max narrowly misses pole
Max Verstappen will start the US Grand Prix from the front row, with Isack Hadjar directly behind him in P3 on the grid as the Bulls battle for pole in Austin was blown off course by unpredictable tailwinds in the final runs of a closely contested Q3.
The Bulls sailed through the opening session, with Max opening with a lap of 1:35.215 and Isack crossing the line just seven hundredths of a second behind his teammate. That left the pair just behind early pace setter Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris put in a late lap of 1:35.029 to take top spot, but both ORBR drivers’ laps were easily good enough to guarantee progress to Q2 in P3 and P4.
The Ferraris were again quick out of the blocks in Q2, with Lewis Hamilton taking top spot with a lap of 1:34.833 and Leclerc just behind. Max was finding more time, however, and a purple first sector saw him move well clear with a lap of 1:34.471, set on the same set of Soft tyres he used in Q1.
Behind him, Isack crossed the line in 1:34.887, but as Norris took P2 behind Max, and Mercedes’ duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell rose to third and fourth respectively, the Frenchman slotted into sixth place, five hundredths of a second behind Hamilton.
The Bulls again opted to sit out the final runs of the middle segment and that opened the door for Leclerc, on new Softs, to take top spot with a lap of 1:34.198. Antonelli climbed to second ahead of Russell, and that meant Max qualified for the top-10 shootout in fourth place. Isack also made comfortable progress with his opener, leaving him in P8 at the Q2 flag.
In the opening runs of Q3, it was Antonelli who threw down the gauntlet, with the Mercedes driver delivering an opener of 1:34.035 to claim provisional pole. Max, complaining that the grip levels were “so tricky”, staked a claim to the front row, just 0.179s off the Italian, while Isack also put in a strong lap 1:34.250 to take P3, 0.035s off Max and almost a tenth ahead of Leclerc and Russell.
Antonelli’s lap meant Max would have to push right to the limit in the final runs and in the end, he went beyond it, creeping wide in Turn 19 to have his final lap deleted. It was a similar tale for Isack who also went over the blue line on his final flyer, and he too had his final time deleted, with both Bulls saying a massive tailwind had derailed their laps.
However, there were no major movers behind them and with Antonelli’s opener handing him pole, Max took his 91st career front row, with Isack taking his best grid position since the season-opening grand prix in Melbourne.
The final lap, you could see that it wasn’t really happening with the tailwind. So, you try to push a bit more, you hit the bump wrong, and the car is like a kangaroo, so you just have a massive slide. Not what I wanted, not what I expected. But if it's still a P2, I'll take it.
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Hear from Hannah Schmitz after Friday in Austin
1 min
Hear from Hannah Schmitz after Friday in Austin
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Bulls in the ballpark in Austin
A strong start to the weekend at COTA saw Max finish third on the FP2 timesheet, while Isack ended the opening day in ninth.
Max was quickly on the pace in FP1, finishing second. Despite initially complaining of "friction" when turning left, he continued to improve, and a switch to Softs propelled him to within a tenth of early pacesetter Charles Leclerc. Isack finished 14th after losing a lap time to track limits while pushing to explore the limits of his RB22.
The strong pace continued in FP2, with Max finishing third, just 0.189s behind Leclerc. Kimi Antonelli split the two, taking second, 0.147s ahead of Max.
Isack, however, was less satisfied with his Soft-tyre run and the level of tyre degradation throughout. He ended the session ninth.
The Bulls then turned to longer runs, with Max testing the Softs’ durability and Isack running Mediums. Both showed competitive pace ahead of FP3 and tomorrow’s crucial qualifying session.