F1 | United States GP: Bottas on pole, front row for Vettel

Valtteri Bottas will start from first place on the starting grid for the fifth time this season. The Finnish driver set the best time in 1:32.029. Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari will start alongside him (who achieved his 100th career front row). Third position for Max Verstappen.

Fourth time for Charles Leclerc who will not have any penalties after the engine failure during FP3 as Ferrari fitted an old power unit. Lewis Hamilton will start in fifth position, ahead of Alex Albon.

Note of merit for the McLarens with the seventh and eighth times of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. Also good performance from Daniel Ricciardo, ninth; Pierre Gasly closes the top 10.

Let's review the most important moments of this qualification in the recap!

News – Q1 starts with 20 degrees in the air and 26 on the asphalt. Leclerc takes the lead but with still high times, 1:34.696. Albon then takes the lead in 1:33.984, followed by Norris but Sainz sets the pace with 1:33.916.
Max Verstappen then arrives with 1:33.549 but Hamilton does better than him with 1:33.454. Vettel reaches fourth position, behind Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes. We reach the checkered flag with a surprising first time by Lando Norris in 1:33.353! Drivers excluded from Q2: Giovinazzi, Raikkonen, Russell, Perez and Kubica.

Q2: Ferrari immediately on track with yellow tyres, as did Mercedes and Red Bull. Hamilton finishes in 1:33.045, Bottas second at 115 thousandths. Vettel third, Leclerc takes the German's position.
Verstappen moved up to second place and Albon set the pace with 1:32.898, while Hamilton took second place.
A few minutes before the end of the session, Mercedes goes out on soft tyres, while Vettel remains on yellow rubber as does Leclerc.
The checkered flag arrives, Vettel in the lead but Leclerc mocks him with 1:32.760. Drivers excluded from Q3: Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Stroll and Grosjean.

And we arrive at the most awaited moment, the Q3! Hamilton is the first to launch, followed by the two Ferraris. Gasly in command, Sainz closes in 1:32.847 but Hamilton arrives ahead of everyone. Bottas goes first with 1:32.029, Vettel second ahead of Leclerc. Only 12 thousandths separate Bottas from Vettel!
The drivers return to the pits with the exception of Ricciardo who takes advantage of the absence of traffic and climbs to eighth position. The time available runs out. Verstappen remains third, Vettel does not recover and remains second. Leclerc remains fourth, slows down Hamilton who goes to the pits. And it is the fifth pole of the season for Valtteri Bottas.

United States GP: qualifying results

Pos. N. Driver Team Time
1 77 V. Bottas Mercedes 1’32″029
2 5 S. Vettel Ferrari 1’32″041
3 33 M. Verstappen Red Bull 1’32″096
4 16 C. Leclerc Ferrari 1’32″137
5 44 L. Hamilton Mercedes 1’32″321
6 23 A. Albon Red Bull 1’32″548
7 55 C. Sainz McLaren 1’32″847
8 4 L. Norris McLaren 1’33″175
9 3 D. Ricciardo Renault 1’33″488
10 10 P. Gasly Toro Rosso 1’33″601
11 27 N. Hulkenberg Renault 1’33″815
12 20 K. Magnussen Haas 1’33″979
13 26 D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 1’33″989
14 18 L. Stroll Racing Point 1’34″100
15 8 R. Grosjean Haas 1’34″158
16 99 A. Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1’34″226
17 7 K. Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1’34″369
18 63 G. Russell Williams 1’35″372
19 11 S. Perez Racing Point 1’35″808
20 88 R. Kubica Williams 1’35″889