Max Verstappen grabbed pole position for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday. In a thrilling qualifying session the Red Bull Racing driver managed to win by two tenths of a second. Lewis Hamilton, the current number two in the world championship, had to settle for second. Sergio Perez finished third.

Q1 - McLaren surprisingly fast

The Red Bulls are the first of the men up front to set times in the first session of qualifying. Max Verstappen goes straight to a 1:34.4, a big improvement on what we saw earlier this weekend. Sergio Perez closes in on half a tenth, while the Mercedes have to settle for a P5 and a P6.

That has everything to do with the speed of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. The former goes to the fastest time, although former team mate Verstappen takes it away in his second run. The orange cars look fast in any case. The same goes for the Ferrari's, because in the closing stages of the race Leclerc sets a 1:34.1, which puts him on P1. At the back of the grid, it's the 'usual suspects' who are struggling.

The Haas F1 drivers are once again out of the running and for Mick Schumacher (P19) and Nikita Mazepin (P20) it ends in Q1. The advantage for the men of the American formation is that Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and George Russell will start behind them due to grid penalties. The other dropouts are Kimi Raikkonen, Nicholas Latifi and the disappointing Lance Stroll.

Q2 - Many mediums

Tyre degradation is high in the US, so softs don't seem to be the compound that drivers want to start their race on Sunday. Therefore, there is plenty of driving on the mediums. Verstappen is also one of those driving on the yellow-cheeked tyre, as are Perez and both Mercedes drivers.

Remarkably, the men go a lot faster than in Q1, while driving on harder rubber. Perez's lap has to be repeated though, as he loses his time for exceeding track limits. The same goes for Daniel Ricciardo. After the first run Verstappen is in the lead with an impressive time of 1.33.4. The gap to Hamilton (P2) is then three tenths.

We say goodbye to George Russell, Fernando Alonso, Antonio Giovinazzi, Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon. Yuki Tsunoda, who hasn't really impressed in the three free practice sessions, reaches Q3 on his debut at COTA, as does Pierre Gasly. Both Ferrari and McLarens also go through.

Q3 - Red Bull sets pace in first run

The Mercedes set the first time in the first six minutes, but then Verstappen dived below them by almost three tenths. It's Perez who leads the way though, going nineteen thousandths (!) faster than his Dutch teammate. The Ferrari's are on P5 and P6 after the first run, the McLarens on seven and eight and the fifth row of the grid goes to AlphaTauri.

The final result after the second run:

1. Verstappen2
. Hamilton3
. Perez4
. Bottas5
. Leclerc6
. Sainz7
. Ricciardo8
. Norris9
. Gasly10
. Tsunoda