Lando Norris Pips Max Verstappen To Take Pole For The Austin Grand Prix As F1 Returns To Action

As fans gets to witness Formula One action after a month long hiatus, in the Sprint feature race Max Verstappen took the win but it will be Lando Norris who will be starting at the front of the grid due to him edging out Max Verstappen in qualifying. Verstappen was not sad about missing out on pole as Red Bull brought in a lot of upgrades to their car and the car showed some hints of old times with the pace and dominance it carried from time to time. As Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have taken the top two spots for the race, they are followed by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who starts third. 

Norris On Pole For Austin Grand Prix 

McLaren’s Lando Norris edged Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the pole at the United States Grand Prix on Saturday as Formula 1 returned from its autumn break with those two resuming their fight for the drivers’ season championship.

Verstappen won the sprint race earlier in the day to stretch his lead over Norris to 54 points with six grand prix and two more sprint races left in the season. Verstappen is chasing his fourth consecutive championship, Norris his first.

Norris took the top starting spot Sunday, fighting back to beat Verstappen by 0.31 seconds on his first lap of the final session at the Circuit of the Americas.

Verstappen was in the middle of a scorching final lap that looked destined to take the front spot, but had to abandon it when Mercedes’ George Russell crashed and the session ended under a yellow caution flag. 

“That happens,” Verstappen said. “Qualifying is not always in your control.”

Norris called his pole lap the best qualifying of his career.

Read More: Ex-F1 Driver Reveals The One Thing Norris Needs To Do To Beat Verstappen

“It came together perfectly ... I didn’t expect to be here,” said Norris, who took his fourth pole position in five races. “I’m lucky and I’ll take it. Tomorrow is going to be a tough race.” 

Starting from the front will be a boost for Norris and McLaren after Verstappen easily controlled the sprint race and extended his championship lead by two points when Norris finished third.

The sprint race was Verstappen’s first win of any kind in nearly four months. His last grand prix win came in Spain in June. He won the sprint race in Austria a week later and has struggled ever since.

Norris has been chipping away at Verstappen’s commanding championship lead ever since raising doubts as to whether Verstappen could hold on. Norris has two wins and three other podium finishes since Verstappen’s last grand prix victory, and McLaren has overtaken Red Bull in the team constructors' championship. 

Potential Hope For Red Bull? 

The sprint victory should renew Red Bull’s confidence that it has improved a car that Verstappen has called “undrivable” and “a monster” in his winless streak. Red Bull brought several upgrades to the car this week.

The early returns were promising. 

Read More: F1 season resumes in Austin with McLaren's Lando Norris in hot pursuit

Verstappen was able to easily hold off Norris in the early stages of the sprint race and eventually won the 19-lap race by nearly 4 seconds. And even without taking pole, Verstappen car showed flashes of its old speed and control.

“Feels a bit like old times,” Verstappen said after the sprint race win.

After the qualifying session that left him second, Verstappen said he liked the performance rebound and would not be frustrated on missing pole.

At the previous race in Singapore, Verstappen finished second but 21 seconds behind Norris.

“We’re on the front row at least. The potential is there,” for a victory, Verstappen said.

Verstappen has not started from pole position in Austin since 2021. He still won the race in 2022 and 2023.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start third on Sunday. 

(With AP Inputs)