2018 United States GP Qualifying report: Sebastian P2, Kimi P3. Qualifying Results – 2018 United States Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton claimed his ninth pole position during a tightly-contested qualifying session for Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix. Hamilton set a time of 1:32.237 to edge title rival Sebastian Vettel by just 0.061s, with Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen a mere 0.009s further back in third.

Sebastian Vettel’s penalty for a red flag transgression in first practice means he will drop to fifth on the grid, elevating Raikkonen to the front row.

Vettel was just 0.061 seconds adrift of Hamilton’s lap-record time of one minute 32.237 seconds, but a positive development for the German came in the shape of teammate Kimi Raikkonen going third-quickest.

Raikkonen will start on the front row alongside Hamilton but, crucially, will be on quicker tyres, having set his Q2 time on ultrasofts while Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Vettel opted for supersofts.

However, Raikkonen has not made up a place on the opening lap of a grand prix since 2016 and if Hamilton can hold off the early charge from the Finn he will soon set his sights on gaining the result he will need to secure title number five.

If he does secure victory, Vettel must follow him home in second place to take the title fight on to Mexico.

United States – Qualifying Result

Pos	Driver	Team		Time	Gap
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1:32.237
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari		1:32.298	0.061
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari		1:32.307	0.070
4	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes		1:32.616	0.379
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull		1:33.494	1.257
6	Esteban Ocon	RP Force India		1:34.145	1.908
7	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault		1:34.215	1.978
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas		1:34.250	2.013
9	Charles Leclerc	Sauber		1:34.420	2.183
10	Sergio Perez	RP Force India		1:34.594	2.357
11	Carlos Sainz	Renault		1:34.566
12	Kevin Magnussen	Haas		1:34.732
13	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso
14	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso
15	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
16	Fernando Alonso	McLaren		1:35.294
17	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams		1:35.362
18	Lance Stroll	Williams		1:35.480
19	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber		1:35.536
20	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren		1:35.735