Carlos Sainz will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position. Max Verstappen will complete the front row of the grid on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will start on the second row of the grid. Charles Leclerc managed to set the second fastest time, but has a grid penalty of 10 spots. Sergio Pérez drove the fourth fastest time, but he too will have to start further back.

Just before qualifying, Red Bull Racing received the sad news that Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-owner of Red Bull has passed away. All employees of the Austrian racing stable could be found in the hospitality building an hour before qualifying where everyone heard the news. An hour earlier, the mood within the team was still good. Indeed, Verstappen managed to set the fastest time in the third free practice, in which he was over three tenths faster than Leclerc.

Sainz was faster than his team-mate Leclerc in Q3 by posting a 1:34.356, and that eventually proved to be enough for pole position. Verstappen clocked a time of 1:35.044 in Q3, but Leclerc dipped below that by over four tenths. Verstappen was fast on his final lap, but his third sector was not enough for the fastest time, leaving him third fastest.

Here's how things finished in Q3 at @COTA

The grid will look a bit different to this, with grid penalties for Leclerc, Perez, Alonso and Zhou to come#USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/FSAxvG1bjP

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 22, 2022