Verstappen Stumped by Missing Pole in Austin; Antonelli Takes Top Spot

Max Verstappen was left scratching his head after he missed out on pole position for the United States Grand Prix, a spot claimed by the current Drivers' Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli. Despite showing improvement throughout Saturday's sessions, Verstappen's best Q3 effort of 1:34.214 was overshadowed by Antonelli's quicker lap, which edged out the Red Bull driver by just under two-tenths of a second.

Reflecting on the session, Verstappen noted, "I think just a few corners didn’t come together in Q3, which is something I don’t understand because I didn’t make mistakes." He further explained that the car wasn't as stable as he had hoped, leading to minor slides that prevented him from fully deploying power when it mattered. "It cost me in the first run unfortunately, and okay, you have another run, but then the wind picked up and nobody could improve, so it was very difficult," he added.

Antonelli's performance secured pole for Mercedes, with Verstappen lining up in second and his teammate Isack Hadjar starting third. This result halted Verstappen's recent pole streak, having taken the top spot in both Malaysia and Singapore, races he eventually won. Nevertheless, Verstappen remains confident about his chances in Sunday's race. "The whole weekend has been close between a lot of cars, and it’s just a matter of details to get it right. That’s the same tomorrow in the race. You need to look after your tyres, have a solid balance in the car, and hopefully, we have that tomorrow," he said.

Isack Hadjar, starting from the second row, was pleased with his own recovery after a challenging start to the weekend. "I didn’t do a lap on the softs this morning because I could not complete it – that’s how hard the car was to drive. To be third is outstanding," Hadjar remarked. He credited the team's hard work for his turnaround, saying, "I’m very happy with how we worked on the car. It’s not like we waited for the track conditions to improve or put on new tyres; we were working hard on it and I’m happy with the comeback."

Looking ahead to the race, Hadjar stated the team's ambitions clearly, "Yes - that’s the target," he said about winning the Grand Prix. "From third, we believe the car is good, and Max is right there as well, so as a team, it’s going to be helpful for sure, and we’ll try and have a go at it."