Ferrari take pole as Verstappen SLIPS UP in United States Grand Prix qualifying

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will start on pole for the United States Grand Prix after Red Bull star Max Verstappen had his lap time deleted for track limits during Qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas.

Leclerc put in an unbeaten lap time of 1:34.723s and will be joined on the front row by McLaren's Lando Norris, who will be keen to snatch his maiden win.

READ MORE: F1 track limits explained: What are they and why are they important?

As it happened

Aston Martin paid the price for their reliability issues in the only Free Practice session of the Grand Prix weekend as both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were knocked out of Q1. It is the first time that Alonso has progressed from the first round of Qualifying.

AlphaTauri's Daniel Ricciardo had a disappointing return to F1 action as he had a lap time deleted in Q2, seeing him and his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda get knocked out.

The pressure was on for Verstappen as Leclerc and Hamilton topped the timing charts as the field went for their final pole position attempts.

In his final attempt, Verstappen put down a lap which would've seen him claim pole, however, the Dutchman breached the track limits and was demoted to sixth place.

Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton claimed P3 and will be looking to win at one of his favourite tracks.

Barring any late penalties, the grid is now locked in for Sunday's race, with Saturday's Sprint events having no impact on the starting order for lights out.

F1 Qualifying Results: United States Grand Prix 2023

1. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] 1:34.723s

2. Lando Norris [McLaren] + 0.130s

3. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] +0.139s

4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] +0.222s

5. George Russell [Mercedes] +0.356s

6. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] +0.358s

7. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] +0.366s

8. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] +0.431s

9. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] +0.450s

10. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] +0.744s

ELIMINATED IN Q2

11.Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri]

12. Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo]

13. Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo]

14. Kevin Magnussen [Haas]

15. Daniel Ricciardo [AlphaTauri]

ELIMINATED IN Q1

16. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas]

17. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]

18. Alex Albon [Williams]

19. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]

20. Logan Sargeant [Williams]

READ MORE: Unstoppable Verstappen is a MAJOR PROBLEM for F1

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