Max on P1 in sprint qualifying Austin: 'A very good day'
Published on 18 October 2025 by Florence Cobben
Max Verstappen will start the Austin sprint race from pole position. He will share the front row with Lando Norris in P2, followed by Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, in P3. Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber and George Russell’s Mercedes completed the top five. Max’s Oracle Red Bull Racing-teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, will start the sprint from eighteenth.
“Yeah, it’s been a nice qualifying”, Max explained after the sprint qualifying wrapped up. ”I think throughout all the segments we were quite close. It’s just about trying to put it all together when it matters, of course, at the end. Which is not easy, because you go to the soft compound with no reference really. But it worked out well. I still expect it to be a tough battle tomorrow in the sprint, but that’s exactly what we want to see, right? So yeah, excited for tomorrow and happy with today.”
“As you can feel, the wind is going up and down; very gusty. The track is very bumpy as well so the cars can easily step out on you in the high speed. So, yeah, in qualifying you have to leave a few margins here and there. Nevertheless this has been for us, I think, a very good day.”
At the start of SQ1, everyone is required to run a set of medium tyres. It’s a sunny day, with temperatures hovering at a pleasant 32 degrees. When the lights go out at the end of the pit lane, Isack Hadjar is the first to appear on track, and the Racing Bulls-driver eventually also sets the first time on the timesheets.
Following the completion of the grid’s first run, the top three are as follows: Max, Lewis Hamilton, and Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto, and Gabriel Bortoleto are in danger of elimination. Bortoleto didn’t manage to set a time at all – he had his lap deleted for exceeding track limits.
When the flag is waved, signifying the end of SQ1, Norris is the fastest man on track ahead of Max. It is Oliver Bearman, Colapinto, Tsunoda, Ocon, and Bortoleto who can hit the showers.
At the start of SQ2, Max is ready and raring to go; his car is planted already at the front of the pit lane when the light turns green. He has the luxury of a clear track ahead of him in this nine-minute session. With three purple sectors to his name, P1 is his after his first flying lap. Oscar Piastri comes up just short of Max, but his teammate Norris sets a faster time than the Dutchman and reclaims P1.
A number of drivers choose to do only one run, estimating they are safely through to SQ3 on the efforts of their first lap alone. Among them are Norris and Max. As SQ2 ends, it is Norris who is again fastest, ahead of Max. Kimi Antonelli, Hadjar, Gasly, Lance Stroll, and Liam Lawson are the losers of this portion of qualifying.
At the start of SQ3, the whole grid finally dons soft tyres. George Russell is the first man on track, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz following a short while later. With just under three minutes to go in this eight-minute session, Max is the last to leave the pits.
Everyone only has time for one run, and as the session is ending, it is Max who charges across the finish line and snatches pole position ahead of both McLarens, with Norris being the fastest of the two papaya drivers. Hülkenberg is an impressive fourth in his Sauber, ahead of Russell's Mercedes.
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