Championship leader Kimi Antonelli has claimed his seventh pole of 2026 at Formula 1's United States Grand Prix, defeating Max Verstappen in a thrillingly close qualifying session in Austin.
Antonelli surged to pole with his first of two Q3 runs, which yielded a 1m34.035s as he headed Red Bull tandem Verstappen and Isack Hadjar by around two tenths, as few frontrunners improved on their final lap.
It was Antonelli's first pole since the summer break as he denied Verstappen a third consecutive pole, breaking this weekend's trend of Verstappen and the two Ferraris looking to have a slight edge on Mercedes across the demanding 5.5km Circuit of the Americas.
After impressing in practice and leading the way in Q2, Leclerc only managed fourth when it mattered, with Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton in fifth.
George Russell was a disappointing sixth ahead of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who lost two spots after seeing his final lap deleted for track limits.
Meanwhile, Racing Bulls pairing Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson further helped their squad's bid to cement fifth in the standings.
With Lindblad facing a five-place penalty for taking a new combustion engine, Lawson opted to sit out Q3 to minimise the damage for his team-mate. Lawson will start ninth anyway now, with Lindblad set for a start from 14th.
Q2 - Ferrari quickest
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
Leclerc headed Q2 with a 1m34.198s on his second run, beating Antonelli and Russell as well as an early Verstappen benchmark.
The battle for the remaining Q3 spots featured Piastri, who couldn't string a good first lap together and needed a second effort to move up to sixth after taking provisional 10th. Lindblad and Lawson also found late improvements to move into the top 10 in a dramatic end to the segment, knocking out the Alpine and Audi cars.
So Pierre Gasly was the first driver to miss the cutoff by just 0.022s for Alpine, ahead of Audi's Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, with Franco Colapinto, Fernando Alonso and Oliver Bearman also eliminated. Haas man Bearman saw a lap that was quick enough for 13th scratched for track limits at Turn 11.
Bortoleto is facing a back-of-the-grid start for taking a new Audi power unit anyway, but the Brazilian advanced to Q2 to try and hand Hulkenberg a valuable slipstream on COTA's long straight. Alpine's Colapinto will be docked 10 grid places for installing new engine control electronics, joining Bortoleto on the back row of Sunday's grid.
Q1 - Double Williams exit while Norris goes fastest
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images
Norris led the way in a tight Q1 session by setting a 1m35.029s, with the reigning world champion conducting two runs to cement his place, heading the four cars from Ferrari and Red Bull.
Behind them, Antonelli and Russell, as well as the second McLaren of Piastri, all advanced using a set of medium tyres, saving a set of softs.
In the background, Alonso's strong 1m36.240s lap got him through to Q2 in 16th at the expense of Haas man Esteban Ocon and his Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll, who lamented a lack of rear grip.
Aston Martin's improved performance relegated Williams to F1's slowest team outside of newcomer Cadillac. Carlos Sainz headed a frustrated Alex Albon in 19th, while 21st-placed Sergio Perez again had the measure of Cadillac team-mate Valtteri Bottas.