Antonelli takes US Grand Prix pole by 0.179 s, with Verstappen second and Hadjar third

A pole that came with a title attached

Kimi Antonelli arrives at Sunday's race in the best possible position. The Mercedes driver set a 1:34.035 in the final part of qualifying at the Circuit of The Americas and kept pole when the last runs failed to beat it. Max Verstappen was 0.179 s behind, and his Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar was a further 0.036 s back in third.

The result matters beyond the front row. Antonelli leads team-mate George Russell by 102 points, and RacingNews365 spelled out the route to the crown: he must win the race, Russell must finish ninth or lower, and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton has to be kept far enough behind as well.

How the session played out

Ferrari had topped all three practice sessions, yet could not carry that pace into qualifying. Charles Leclerc was fourth, 0.232 s off pole, and Hamilton fifth. Russell qualified sixth, 0.441 s behind his team-mate, with Oscar Piastri seventh and Lando Norris eighth.

Verstappen struggled with grip in his Q3 run, according to the FIA's report. Antonelli abandoned his second flying lap once pole was secure. "Q3 was very tough with the wind, very gusty and unpredictable," he said afterwards, adding that he was happy the team had "stuck it on pole".

Track limits shaped the order behind. Norris first appeared to be sixth, but a deleted lap dropped him to eighth. Earlier, Pierre Gasly lost his opening Q1 lap for the same reason and missed the top ten by 0.022 s, and Oliver Bearman's final Q2 lap was deleted.

By the numbers

For Antonelli it is the seventh pole of the season in our timing data, ahead of Russell with five. Norris has three, Verstappen two and Gasly one. RacingNews365 describes it as his first pole since Belgium. In the standings he has 340 points after 17 rounds, and he has won eight of them.

The starting grid will not match the qualifying order exactly. Engine and component penalties push Arvid Lindblad back to 14th, while Gabriel Bortoleto, with an 80-place penalty, will start last, according to RacingNews365. The race starts at 20:00 UTC on Sunday.