Q1 was about to get under way in Austin, with Red Bull undoubtedly wanting to put on a performance Dietrich Mateschitz would have been proud of.
The action was officially under way at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Alex Albon was the first car on track for Williams. Of the first bunch of cars who went out on track, it wa Mick Schumacher who was fastest. He was more than 0.3s quicker than Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen, with Zhou Guanyu and Alex Albon between them. Just a few moments later Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet after the first runs, edging out Max Verstappen by just 0.069s. Lewis Hamilton was third, but more than 0.3s off the pace.
But Carlos Sainz was the last of the front-runners to complete a flying lap, and he went almost half a second better than his Maranello team-mate. At the other end of the timesheet, Daniel Ricciardo was down in 18th for for McLaren, while Esteban Ocon was only 14th for Alpine. They were both aided by Zhou Guanyu being relegated to last after losing his lap-time for exceeding track limits. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Mick Schumacher (Haas), Nicholas Latifi (Williams).
The second part of qualifying was now under way. Alex Albon was once again the first driver to take to the track. Charles Leclerc edged Max Verstappen once more to sit top of the timesheet after the first runs in Q2. Carlos Sainz was third, with George Russell fourth for Mercedes. Sergio Perez was fifth, and Lewis Hamilton was more than 0.2s than his team-mate in sixth. Alex Albon, Williams, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri, Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo and Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri were out in Q2.
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Now that Q2 was over, we knew know the 10 drivers through into the final shootout: Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton, Perez, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas, Norris, as Ferrari had topped both segments so far.
Green light for the final 12 minutes of qualifying, which of course set the top-10 grid for tomorrow and decided who took pole. Those Ferraris looked quick over one lap today and Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap at the start of Q3, a 1:34.624. That was provisional pole for him – although we have to Charles will start from the back of the grid tomorrow!
Carlos Sainz was second a tenth away and Lewis Hamilton was third ahead of Max Verstappen. Sergio Perez was fifth, and George Russell sixth.
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