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F1 LIVE | Sainz starts United States Grand Prix from pole, Verstappen P2
The contrast was stark on Saturday: Carlos Sainz was thrilled with his pole, while Max Verstappen - who starts from P2 due to Charles Leclerc's engine change - was not talking about racing at all. In the Red Bull Racing camp, there was sheer sadness over the death of Dieter Mateschitz. With the win in today's Grand Prix, a nice tribute can be paid to the Austrian. Following the liveblog, you can see whether that happens, along with the constructors' championship victory for Red Bull.
F1 LIVE | United States Grand Prix
It is another one of those weekends: several drivers incur grid penalties due to engine changes, so the qualifying results are anything but the order in which the race will start. However, the man who took pole yesterday will actually start the Grand Prix from this spot. Carlos Sainz already showed he was fast during the first free practice and when it was necessary, the Spaniard proved it again. He was 0.065 seconds faster than his teammate Leclerc, one of the men who received a grid penalty.
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So not the Monegasque, but Verstappen starts next to Sainz on the front row of the grid. The Dutchman had a poor third sector in his all-important lap in Q3, leaving him well behind Ferrari. But this season has proven many times that qualifying is not the race. During the long runs, Verstappen was faster than Ferrari, making the Dutchman the favourite for victory. With his teammate Sergio Perez, Verstappen basically does not have to reckon with either, as the Mexican also has a penalty hanging on his trousers.
Therefore, on the second row of the grid are the two Mercedes drivers. Lewis Hamilton will start third, and teammate George Russell fourth. Hamilton loves the Texas circuit, so this may be his best chance to secure the season's first win. To keep up his admirable run, time is slowly running out: in every season, Hamilton managed to win at least one Grand Prix.
