Verstappen Dominates US GP Qualifying, tsunoda and Stroll Struggle
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Austin, TX – Max Verstappen secured pole position for the United States Grand prix, outpacing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by over three tenths of a second in qualifying. While Red Bull celebrates another front-row lock-out with Sergio Perez alongside, several drivers faced disappointing sessions, notably Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll. The qualifying results set the stage for a possibly strategic race Sunday, with overtaking opportunities limited by the Circuit of the americas’ challenging layout.
This qualifying session underscored Red Bull’s continued dominance as the championship nears its conclusion, but also highlighted performance gaps within teams. Tsunoda’s struggles raise questions about his consistency, while Stroll’s repeated failures to reach Q2 are intensifying scrutiny of his performance relative to teammate Fernando Alonso. The grid positions will be crucial as teams navigate tire strategy and race pace in what promises to be a competitive event.
Winner: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Verstappen’s pole position continues his extraordinary form, marking yet another dominant qualifying performance.He set a blistering lap time of 1:34.502, securing his place at the front of the grid for Sunday’s race. This is a significant advantage at a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
loser: Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)
Tsunoda will start the United States Grand Prix from 13th position, a disappointing result that saw him trailing his Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson and a full 12 places behind polesitter Verstappen. Despite citing traffic as a factor, his overall pace appeared to be the primary issue. A strong opening lap will be essential for tsunoda to make up ground on Sunday.
Loser: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Stroll qualified in 18th position, continuing a recent trend of underperforming compared to teammate Fernando Alonso.His fastest qualifying time was eight tenths of a second slower than Alonso’s, despite both drivers completing their laps under similar conditions. This marks the fourth time in the last five grand prix qualifying sessions that Alonso has reached Q3 while Stroll has been eliminated in Q1, placing him on track to become the third driver to be consistently outperformed by Alonso in qualifying – following Nelson Piquet Jr. and stoffel Vandoorne. However, Stroll’s five-place grid penalty was reduced to two places due to his qualifying position.
