Max Verstappen in a Red Bull stormed to pole position for the US Grand Prix on Saturday, edging out title rival and Mercedes’ world champion Lewis Hamilton in front of an estimated crowd of 120,000 people.
Verstappen, who leads Hamilton by six points in the championship race, claimed his ninth pole of 2021 with a time of 1min 32.910sec, just two tenths faster than the British driver.
Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull, was third, only 0.15sec behind Hamilton.
Valtteri Bottas, in the other Mercedes, was fourth quickest, but will drop to ninth on the gird for Sunday’s race after changing his engine.
“In Q3 my first lap wasn’t amazing but in the final lap it started drizzling in the final sector so I wasn’t sure if I could hold on to my lap time but it came together,” said Verstappen.