Carlos Sainz claimed his third pole of the 2022 Formula 1 season at the United States Grand Prix, with only a 10-place penalty for Charles Leclerc denying Ferrari a front-row sweep.
Leclerc had been the quicker of the pair after the first Q3 runs, then improved on that time only for Sainz to pip him by 0.065 seconds with a 1m34.356s.
World champion Max Verstappen was only fourth at first in Q3, behind Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
He looked on course for pole on his next attempt but lost time in the final sector and ended up third, albeit just 0.092s off pole.
Leclerc’s penalty for new engine components will move Verstappen’s Red Bull onto the front row with Sainz.
Hamilton was only fifth in the end, but penalties for Leclerc and fourth-fastest Sergio Perez turn that into third, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell alongside him.
Aston Martin also benefits from the penalties, Lance Stroll moving up from seventh to fifth on the grid. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel was knocked out of the top 10 late in Q2 but is set to end up 10th when penalties take effect.
Lando Norris’s McLaren and Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo are set to be promoted to sixth and seventh.
Bottas’s team-mate Zhou Guanyu had laps deleted for track limits offences in both Q1 and Q2, the second of those denying him a Q3 spot and handing that to Norris instead. Zhou had a five-place penalty coming anyway so is set to start 19th.
Fernando Alonso is currently the other penalised driver. He qualified ninth, while Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon was a shock Q1 departure in 18th, and will drop to 14th.
On the day Logan Sargeant was announced as his 2023 Williams team-mate, superlicence permitting, Alex Albon achieved his second-best qualifying of 2022 with what will be eighth place after the penalties. His current team-mate Nicholas Latifi starts last.
Daniel Ricciardo had hinted earlier in the weekend that he was getting on better with the upgraded McLaren, but an error on his final Q1 lap left him 17th in qualifying.
Haas had a disappointing qualifying at its home race weekend. Kevin Magnussen was only 16th and Q1 spinner Mick Schumacher 19th.
Race Results
| Pos | Name | Car | Laps | Laps Led | Total Time | Fastest Lap | Pitstops | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 56 | 40 | 1h42m11.687s | 1m39.541s | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | 9 | +5.023s | 1m39.83s | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | 1 | +7.501s | 1m39.731s | 2 | 15 |
| 4 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 56 | 4 | +8.293s | 1m39.563s | 2 | 12 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | 0 | +44.815s | 1m38.788s | 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | 0 | +53.785s | 1m41.322s | 2 | 8 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 56 | 0 | +55.078s | 1m41.804s | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 56 | 2 | +1m05.354s | 1m41.538s | 2 | 4 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 56 | 0 | +1m05.834s | 1m42.546s | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 56 | 0 | +1m10.919s | 1m42.206s | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 56 | 0 | +1m12.875s | 1m41.243s | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 56 | 0 | +1m15.057s | 1m42.471s | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 56 | 0 | +1m16.164s | 1m42.394s | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 56 | 0 | +1m21.763s | 1m41.674s | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 56 | 0 | +1m24.49s | 1m42.32s | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | 0 | +1m30.487s | 1m42.42s | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 56 | 0 | +1m43.588s | 1m43.485s | 2 | 0 |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 21 | 0 | DNF | 1m43.08s | 1 | 0 | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 16 | 0 | DNF | 1m43.391s | 1 | 0 | |
| Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1 | 0 | DNF | 0s | 1 | 0 |
