United States – Qualifying: An Undisputed Pole for Hamilton

She was starting to keep everyone waiting! For the needs of the show and a concert by singer Justin Timberlake, the qualifying session in Austin took place four hours after the conclusion of the third free practice session. An eternity on the scale of Formula 1… And a boon for teams fond of heat.

The mercury soared to 40 degrees on the track as the green light passed. As often since the beginning of the weekend, the two Toro Rosso drivers took the bull by the horns first.

Q1: Hartley with honors

For the first qualifying session of his career, Brendon Hartley didn’t perform badly in the first stint. The New Zealander was three-tenths behind his teammate of the day, Daniil Kyvat. But both drivers had to fight to avoid falling into the danger zone. There was quite the excitement around them, in fact. For Max Verstappen, the word was clear to illustrate the situation: “a mess” on the track!

Proof if any was needed with this misunderstanding between Grosjean and Stroll. The Haas garage was definitely very involved, with a more than questionable closing of the trajectory by Magnussen on Pérez.

But beyond the chaos, the heavy hitters were indeed there. Lewis Hamilton made up for a poor first stint. The Englishman took the lead with the ultra-soft tires. His teammate and the two Ferraris had done the same operation.

The final minutes of the session had seven drivers facing the threat of elimination. Under pressure from Kyvat’s improvement, Brendon Hartley made a commendable effort. Unfortunately, his time of 1:36.889 was not enough. In reality, the attempt was merely anecdotal, given his 25-place penalty.

But the real slap was for Lance Stroll, 17th, a second and three-tenths behind Massa. By five-thousandths, Grosjean holds his ground and makes it into Q2, after a complicated start to the weekend. He also leaves his teammate last for the team’s home race.

The eliminated in order: 16. Ericsson / 17. Stroll / 18. Hartley / 19. Wehrlein / 20. Magnussen

Q2: Alonso’s performance!

The second part began without Nico Hülkenberg. The Renault driver did not face his new teammate, choosing to step down due to his 20-place penalty on the grid for simultaneous changes to the engine, turbo, and MGU-H.

On the track, we just had to wait for the first relay to see a new absolute record. With a 1:33.560, this time on super-soft tires, Lewis Hamilton continued his quest for the impossible: nine-tenths faster than in FP3! Vettel couldn’t keep up, eight-tenths behind the Englishman. Moreover, Bottas took the second position. The quartet of Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull-Force India drivers placed within the top ten without issues. For Q3, Grosjean and Kvyat seemed a notch below the entry level. For the two McLaren drivers, everything remained possible in eleventh and twelfth positions, Alonso ahead of Vandoorne. The double world champion then delivered a quality lap and joined the top ten. Joining him was fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz, already comfortable in the Renault. As a result, Felipe Massa found himself pushed out of the qualifiers.

Lewis Hamilton finished this part of the session in the lead, with a benchmark pushed to 1:33.437.

FASTEST SECTORS Q2

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🇬🇧#USGP 🇺🇸 #Quali #F1 pic.twitter.com/Ub1IWK6UbD

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 21, 2017

The eliminated in order: 11. Massa / 12. Kvyat / 13. Vandoorne / 14. Grosjean / 15. Hülkenberg

Q3: Lewis Hamilton’s lead time

The ten pole candidates set off, with the exception of Carlos Sainz, who started a little later. Despite a slightly slower first sector during his initial run, Lewis Hamilton continued to do the job: 1:33.108, and still the best time! The increase in temperatures did not affect the W08. Sebastian Vettel still managed to limit the damage. He did so with a solid final lap, less than three-tenths off and still ahead of Valtteri Bottas. The other Ferrari struggled, with Kimi Räikkönen facing setup issues and only finishing fifth. Despite being ill, Esteban Ocon finishes best of the rest in seventh position, three places ahead of his teammate!

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING): Confirmation of a dominate performance by @LewisHamilton #USGP 🇺🇸 #Quali #F1 pic.twitter.com/W4NXSGKvLD

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 21, 2017

For Hamilton, it’s a new pole position, the 71st of his career. The Briton makes further history in the discipline, with an additional record for the most front-row starts.

Confirmation of another all-time #F1 record for @LewisHamilton

More front row places than any driver in history #F1FastFact #USGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/k1h4hSWu8f

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 21, 2017

Honoured to hold the record for most front row starts. Thanks to the fans for the awesome energy today 🇺🇸 #Pole72 #USGP pic.twitter.com/azpboi6Sq0

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 21 octobre 2017