None other than Carlos Sainz took pole position in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc finished second, but the Monegasque is put back 10 spots because of his grid penalty. As a result, Max Verstappen gains a spot.
Verstappen grabbed next to pole in Austin on Saturday, but the Dutchman will still start from the front row of the grid on Sunday. Leclerc has a 10-spot grid penalty for swapping engine parts, dropping the Ferrari driver to 12th position.
Sergio Perez, Guanyu Zhou and Fernando Alonso also have grid penalties, but only five spots. This leaves many drivers gaining a number of positions in the provisional starting grid. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell start from P3 and P4 for Mercedes, a good starting point for the team if they want to finish on the podium.
Perhaps the big surprise in qualifying was Lance Stroll. The Canadian managed to qualify seventh, but due to the shifts of Perez and Leclerc, the Aston Martin driver starts in fifth place. Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and Alexander Albon also gain two spots. Perez can be found in ninth position, Alonso in P14 and Zhou in P19 after grid penalties.