F1 LIVE | Marko praises Verstappen after claiming COTA Sprint pole

Max Verstappen will start on pole position for the Sprint at Circuit of the Americas ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion performed admirably to get ahead of Lando Norris by less than a tenth of a second, with championship leader Oscar Piastri in third.

Helmut Marko was delighted with Verstappen's efforts at the end of SQ3, particularly with his driving in the final sector

He told GPblog: "Super. In Sector 3, he took the pole. Turn one, he went sideways, but was even so quicker. Even so, he was sliding a bit too much, I guess. But unbelievable lap in Sector 3."

Verstappen has a slim chance to win his fifth consecutive world championship as he is 63 points down on Piastri.

Verstappen drove very well in SQ3 and kept calm while his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, could only manage 18th in the session.

Lando Norris finished in second place ahead of his teammate, Oscar Piastri, while Nico Hulkenberg completes the second row of the grid.

Ferrari had a difficult session, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finishing eighth and tenth respectively.

After Friday's running at Circuit of the Americas saw the only practice sessions and Sprint Qualifying, Saturday brings more action.

There will be two sessions, which are the 100km Sprint race as well as qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix.

F1 Sprint: 18:00 - 18:30 BST (12:00 - 12:30 local time)

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