Mercedes scored pole position thanks to a great effort by Lewis Hamilton followed by Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas. It was a tough one because Vettel needed every chance he could get to stay ahead of Hamilton in ever there was a chance of getting the drivers championship.
Valtteri Bottas is in 3rd position followed by Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari car. Max Verstappen is in sixth but he faces a 15-place grid penalty and Esteban Ocon of Force India is in 7th position. Carlos Sainz who swapped over to Renault qualified eighth with Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez completing the top 10 line up for the race later today.
Notable incidences occurred during the first qualifying where Romain Grosjean almost hit Lance Stroll’s Williams’ when Stroll went out of the grid. This forced Grosjean unto the grass and then back on the track without much incident. He did sound extremely pissed off.
Kevin Magnussen was penalised by the stewards for blocking Grosjean who was on a fast lap but that was due to his team informing Magnussen that the car behind wasn’t on a fast lap. It almost uneventful at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas, the race is heating up with Lewis Hamilton hoping to hold on strong to his lead in the drivers’ championship.
The provisional grid, after penalties:
Hamilton, Vettel; Bottas, Ricciardo; Raikkonen, Ocon; Sainz, Alonso; Perez, Massa; Kvyat, Grosjean; Ericsson, Vandoorne; Wehrlein, Stroll; Verstappen, Magnussen; Hulkenberg, Hartley.
Here are the full qualifying results.
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:34.822 | 1:33.437 | 1:33.108 | |
| 2 | 1:35.420 | 1:34.103 | 1:33.347 | |
| 3 | 1:35.309 | 1:33.769 | 1:33.568 | |
| 4 | 1:35.991 | 1:34.495 | 1:33.577 | |
| 5 | 1:35.649 | 1:33.840 | 1:33.577 | |
| 6 | 1:34.899 | 1:34.716 | 1:33.658 | |
| 7 | 1:35.849 | 1:35.113 | 1:34.647 | |
| 8 | 1:35.517 | 1:34.899 | 1:34.852 | |
| 9 | 1:35.712 | 1:35.046 | 1:35.007 | |
| 10 | 1:36.358 | 1:34.789 | 1:35.148 | |
| 11 | 1:35.603 | 1:35.155 | ||
| 12 | 1:36.073 | 1:35.529 | ||
| 13 | 1:36.286 | 1:35.641 | ||
| 14 | 1:36.835 | 1:35.870 | ||
| 15 | 1:35.740 | |||
| 16 | 1:36.842 | |||
| 17 | 1:36.868 | |||
| 18 | 1:36.889 | |||
| 19 | 1:37.179 | |||
| 20 | 1:37.394 |
