F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Verstappen strikes MAJOR title blow in dramatic session

Max Verstappen took pole for Saturday's sprint race at the US Grand Prix by the barest of margins, beating out George Russell by just 12 thousandths of a second.

Lando Norris, challenging the Dutchman for the drivers' title this season, could only go fourth fastest as Verstappen struck a huge psychological blow.

READ MORE: Ricciardo set for surprise return to US after stunning offer

Oscar Piastri fell victim to track limits at the Circuit of the Americas in the first part of sprint qualifying on Friday, getting dumped out of the session at the first opportunity.

Sergio Perez followed the McLaren out in SQ2, albeit simply for lack of pace rather than due to any track limits issues.

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Here are the times from qualifying in Austin:

F1 Qualifying Results: US Grand Prix 2024

1. Max Verstappen [Red Bull]
2. George Russell [Mercedes]
3. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari]
4. Lando Norris [McLaren]
5. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari]
6. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas]
7. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes]
8. Kevin Magnussen [Haas]
9. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB]
10. Franco Colapinto [Williams]

ELIMINATED IN Q2

11. Sergio Perez [Red Bull]
12. Liam Lawson [VCARB]
13. Pierre Gasly [Alpine]
14. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
15. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]

ELIMINATED IN Q1

16. Oscar Piastri [McLaren]
17. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]
18. Alex Albon [Williams]
19. Valtteri Bottas [Sauber]
20. Zhou Guanyu [Sauber]

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

READ MORE: Verstappen speaks out on move to IndyCar

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