Verstappen is back: Sprint pole in Austin

"We had a good day. I'm very happy. The car worked very well and I'm very happy to be in first place again," said Verstappen before receiving the trophy for pole from Germany's decathlon star Leo Neugebauer.

George Russell came second in a Mercedes. Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari came third, ahead of World Championship rival Lando Norris in a McLaren. Nico Hülkenberg from the American Haas team came in a strong sixth. "To be honest, I didn't really feel comfortable in the car," said the Rhineland native on Sky, adding that the car was "a bit bitchy."

Red Bull finds its way back to its former strength It was already clear in the only free practice session that the new features on the Red Bull were having the effect that the bosses and Verstappen had hoped for. In the 60-minute session on the partially newly asphalted track, Verstappen finished third behind Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Leclerc. Norris also finished fourth.

The Red Bull was travelling at lightning speed. © APA / CHRIS GRAYTHEN

The trend continued in the knockout round for the fourth sprint race of the season. Verstappen won the first three sprints this year, and another win would see him bag the additional eight points. He is 52 points ahead of Norris in the standings before the race over around 100 kilometers this Saturday (20.00 p.m./Sky).

The losers are mainly Pérez and Piastri Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri, a two-time Grand Prix winner this year, failed in the first time slot. His fastest lap was cancelled because the Australian was off the track with his McLaren. Piastri will have to tackle the 16 laps of the Circuit of the Americas from 19th position.

While Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull was hit in the second knockout round and the Mexican once again failed to live up to expectations, finishing eleventh, Verstappen was able to keep up with the fastest drivers again. He was only 16 thousandths of a second behind Sainz in the second section. But both Mercedes drivers were already strong in the significantly modified Silver Arrow. Hamilton in particular likes the track - the record world champion has already won the Grand Prix in Austin five times, but in the last three years the winner has been Verstappen.

In the decisive minutes for the best starting position for the sprint race, Russell took the lead early on. Hamilton was initially faster than his teammate, but a spin by Argentinian Franco Colapinto in the Williams forced him to slow down and he lost valuable time. His competitors pulled out a little later and in the end Verstappen, who had celebrated his last Grand Prix victory to date on June 23 in Spain, was in first place.

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Verstappen is back: Sprint pole in Austin

Max Verstappen has narrowly secured pole position for the Formula 1 sprint race in Austin. The Dutch world championship leader raced to first place in qualifying with a lead of 12 thousandths of a second.

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