2024 F1 Round 19 United States Grand Prix qualifying: Norris takes pole in 1:32.330, Russell crash brings double yellows and cuts short Q3 battle, Hamilton exits in Q1

Qualifying for Round 19 of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the United States Grand Prix, took place at the Circuit of The Americas early on 20 October, Beijing time. McLaren’s Lando Norris took pole with a 1:32.330, 0.031s ahead of Max Verstappen. Ferrari team mates Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were third and fourth. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was eliminated in Q2 in 11th, while seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton suffered a shock Q1 exit in 19th.

The Q3 pole fight was cut short by a crash. George Russell lost control at Turn 19 on his final flying lap and hit the wall, immediately bringing out double yellow flags. Drivers who had not completed their laps abandoned their final pushes, leaving the order from the first flying runs as the final result. The showdown for pole ended unfinished. Verstappen was the biggest loser: he had set the fastest first sector on that lap and had been nearly two-tenths ahead of Norris, but had to abandon the effort under yellows, leaving him just 0.031s short of pole.

Ferrari carried its strong Sprint form into qualifying to occupy the second row, with Sainz third and Leclerc 0.088s behind his team mate in fourth. Oscar Piastri bounced back from his SQ1 exit in Sprint Qualifying the previous day to take fifth, but was still more than six-tenths behind Norris. Russell was sixth after his crash, but the damage to his car meant he would start the race from the pit lane. Pierre Gasly secured an impressive seventh for Alpine, ahead of Fernando Alonso in eighth and Kevin Magnussen in ninth, although Gasly was investigated after the session for an unsafe release in the pit lane. Sergio Pérez had his first flying lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 9 and did not record a Q3 time, leaving him tenth.

Hamilton’s Q1 exit was an even bigger blow for Mercedes than Russell’s crash. Oversteer at the exit of Turn 12 ruined his lap and left him 19th, more than six-tenths behind his team mate. Albon, 16th, Colapinto, 17th, Bottas, 18th, and Zhou Guanyu, 20th, were also eliminated in Q1.

Tsunoda’s qualifying session had several twists. His first flying lap in Q1 was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 12, wasting a set of new tyres. On his final lap at the end of the session, he used every inch of the circuit and narrowly made it through to Q2. RB then tried a team tactic: Lawson, already consigned to the back of the grid by power-unit changes, ran on old tyres and twice provided his team mate with a tow on the straights. Tsunoda still missed out in 11th with a 1:33.506, just 0.032s behind tenth-placed Magnussen and only 0.077s adrift of Alonso in ninth in Q2. Lawson had been third-fastest in Q1 with a 1:33.339, 0.456s ahead of his team mate, but did not record a timed lap in Q2.

The 56-lap race will take place in the early hours of 21 October, Beijing time, with the championship battle set for its next development.