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AUSTIN, Texas — Championship contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have renewed their battle upon Formula One’s return to the Lone Star State, setting up a tantalizing fight for the United States Grand Prix on Sunday.
Norris secured pole, but Verstappen will be beside him on the front row as the two competitors charge uphill toward a tight Turn 1. Verstappen leads the championship by 54 points after winning the sprint race earlier on Saturday, his first win of any kind in 112 days. McLaren still has the edge over Red Bull in the constructor standings on a weekend when a technical battle unfolded off-track, adding an interesting twist to the title fight — even if the FIA said it is now a “non-story.”It wasn’t just Red Bull and McLaren that had the pace at COTA on Saturday. Ferrari showed encouraging speed as Carlos Sainz qualified third, only three-tenths of a second back, prompting Norris to believe the Ferraris could be a threat at the front. But Mercedes isn’t in the same ballpark. Lewis Hamilton qualified P19 after a rough Saturday, and George Russell crashed in Turn 19 during the final Q3 laps.
There’s plenty to play for among the lower midfield, with the likes of Alpine and Haas starting in the top 10. And Liam Lawson may need to serve a 60-place grid penalty, but his qualifying indicates he may not be far off the kind of pace he displayed through his 2023 cameo.
As the paddock prepares for the U.S. Grand Prix and the rest of Austin focuses on the Texas Longhorns-Georgia Bulldogs football game, we dive into the storylines heading into Sunday.
Verstappen’s controlled, comprehensive sprint race victory on Saturday afternoon at COTA was an important result to snap McLaren’s recent momentum. It was Verstappen’s first win since the Austrian GP sprint in June, but the bigger tell was his positivity about the performance of his car. At last, a Red Bull car upgrade had worked and returned the confidence he’d lost.
But Norris wasn’t going to back down without a fight. He was disappointed with how the sprint race ended, struggling with his tires toward the end as he barely clung to third, only for some car setup changes ahead of qualifying to put him back in contention.
It took a magic lap from Norris to secure pole, one he would “probably say quite confidently (was) the best of my career.” He also needed a bit of luck with the yellow flags after Russell’s late crash to deny Verstappen a late improvement. The duo will go side-by-side up the hill to Turn 1 tomorrow in the next installment of their title battle
“It’s going to be a tough race,” Norris said. “Ferrari were very quick in the race today with the degradation. Max is Max, so (Red Bull is) going to be fast. I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a good battle and a good one to watch.”
Verstappen may have lost out to Norris by three-hundredths of a second, but he remained upbeat about the performance of his car. He said it felt more stable, allowing him to attack the corners with greater confidence, and that it was proving easier on its tires. The sprint race victory was a welcome boost, as was the outright pace over a single lap. “We could at least fight for pole, and that has been a while,” Verstappen said.
After the pivotal opening lap, the race could become one of tire management and strategy plays. Unlike the Singapore or Zandvoort races, it genuinely appears that Red Bull and McLaren are now very even for pace, potentially setting up a really exciting fight for victory between the two championship protagonists.
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