Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the United States Grand Prix as practice pacesetter Ferrari watched its challenge crumble in qualifying.
๐ The Core Development
Antonelli came good as the qualifying hour went on and beat Verstappen by 0.179s in Q3 to clinch his seventh pole position of the season, while Isack Hadjar made it two Red Bulls in the top three.
Antonelli was one of three drivers - alongside Mercedes team-mate George Russell and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri - to go through Q1 on mediums in order to save an extra set of soft tyres for Q3. (Something Red Bull did too by running Verstappen and Hadjar on one set of softs in Q1 and Q2.)
๐ Background & Sector Context
Having been sixth in Q1, Antonelli then ended Q2 just 0.080s off the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc at the top of the Q2 order, and jumped to provisional pole at the start of Q3 with a 1m34.035s.
He had been more than a tenth up on that time through the second sector on his final attempt, but then had a big correction on the exit of the Turn 13 right-hander that wrecked that attempt and appeared to open the door to his rivals.
๐ Industry & Real-World Impact
But the Red Bulls failed to improve their times - both actually had their final, slower efforts scrubbed off for track-limits offences - and with Leclerc finding less than a tenth, that meant Antonelli held on to pole.
โก Prefer Visual Stories on Mobile?
Experience this news piece in an interactive 5-slide visual format crafted for mobile devices & Google Discover.
๐ฎ Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
Verstappen said in failing to beat Antonelli that, having come through Q1 and Q2 on the same set of tyres, "for whatever reason on both of those sets [in Q3] I didn't have a good balance".
Third for Hadjar marked a drastic turnaround for the second Red Bull driver after struggling throughout practice, as Ferrari's fortunes went the other way.
