United States Grand Prix: Live qualifying coverage

This week marks the start of a Formula 1 triple-header, as the grid will see three races across three weekends. But before heading to Mexico City for the Mexican Grand Prix, and Brazil for the São Paulo Grand Prix, F1 makes its annual stop in Austin, for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

As this is an F1 Sprint weekend, things get rolling early. Teams and drivers will have just one hour of practice before qualifying for the Grand Prix gets underway Friday afternoon.

There are many storylines as weekend gets underway down in Austin, from Sergio Pérez fighting for his Red Bull future, the battle for second place in the Constructors’ Championship between Ferrari and Mercedes, and the return of Daniel Ricciardo, as he comes back from an injury suffered at the Dutch Grand Prix.

We will have all the qualifying action covered for you as Friday unfolds, so check back early and often!

All updates are in Eastern time.

Q3

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Update 6:04: Leclerc captures pole, and will start next to Norris, who comes in second.

Ferrari back? Maybe so.

Update 6:02: A SHOCKER! Verstappen’s time is deleted for exceeding track limits. Leclerc goes back into P1, with Norris into P2.

Hamilton cannot catch them, and stays in P3. Russell gets into P5, but Advantage: Ferrari.

Update 6:01: Leclerc improves, but so does Verstappen, who jumps into P1 just ahead of Leclerc.

“That’s what champions do” is the call from the F1TV booth.

Update 6:00: Verstappen locks up in Turn 1, but, well, it’s Max Verstappen so he’ll still probably turn in a banger of a lap.

Update 5:59: This is your two-minute warning for Q3.

(Hey, I am an NFL writer as well, so, yeah).

Update 5:58: Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Gasly, Norris, Piastri, and Ocon are back on the track for what will likely be their final runs of qualifying.

Update 5:55: F1TV plays a bit of radio from Verstappen who was struggling on his final turn, and may have been held up by his teammate.

Update 5:54: All the drivers have completed their first laps and Leclerc remains on provisional pole, followed by Hamilton, Verstappen, and Sainz.

An incredible fight for pole is shaping up.

Update 5:53: The first few times have been posted and here are the top five:

Leclerc
Versteappen
Sainz
Norris
Piastri

Update 5:47: Leclerc, having topped Q2, gets the photo of honor for Q3.

Update 5:49: Q3 is underway. Can Leclerc capture the 21st pole of his career?

Q2

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Update 5:41: Both Hamilton and Russell get into the top ten.

Sergio Pérez survives in P10, narrowly advancing into Q3.

The five eliminated drivers:

Tsunoda
Zhou
Bottas
Magnussen
Bottas

Update 5:39: Things are winding down and both Mercedes drivers are in the drop zone as the session comes to a close.

Update 5:36: Just under four minutes left in Q2, and about half of the remaining drivers are on the track looking for that one big lap.

Update 5:33: Whoa. Two stunning laps from the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly and the pair are both inside the top five, with Ocon in P3 and Gasly in P4.

Update 5:31: Under ten minutes to go here in Q2, and your current top five:

Verstappen
Piastri
Gasly
Russell
Hamilton

While the upgrades Haas brought to COTA garnered the early attention, the new floor at Mercedes seems to be working right now.

Update 5:28: Q2 is now underway. 13 minutes for the 15 drivers left vying for just 10 spots in Q3.

Q1

Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Update 5:22: The five eliminated drivers in Q1:

Sargeant
Albon
Hülkenberg
Stroll
Alonso

Update 5:20: Q1 is drawing to a close. Sargeant and Hülkenberg are the first two drivers eliminated.

Fernando Alonso joins them, and the Aston Martin driver will fail to reach Q3 for the first time all season.

Update 5:19: Hamilton posts a big lap as well, jumping into P1 for the moment.

Update 5:17: Verstappen with a banger, posting a lap that is nearly half a second ahead of Sainz who currently sits P2. He got the lap Red Bull wanted to see from him.

Update 5:16: Verstappen is on a push lap — the one he needs from his team — but he’s encountered a ton of traffic through the first sector.

Update 5:15: Red Bull tells Verstappen that his current lap time is “on the bubble,” so he’s being told that a bigger lap is needed to book his spot in Q2.

Update 5:11: We have our first lap deleted due to exceeding track limits, and it takes Logan Sargeant off the board.

With six minutes left in Q1 the five drivers currently in the drop zone:

Kevin Magnussen
Daniel Ricciardo
Carlos Sainz Jr.
Zhou Guanyu
Sargeant

Update 5:10: There are eight minutes left in Q1 and your leader?

Nico Hülkenberg at Haas.

Update 5:09: The Silver Arrows are on the board. Hamilton battles a moment of oversteer but still posts a lap good enough for P5. But he drops into P6 when teammate George Russell edges ahead of him with a time good enough for P3.

Update 5:07: Sergio Pérez posts his first lap of the day and goes into P3. More notable, however, is that he seemed to stay within track limits the entire time. That has been an issue for him this season, most notably during the Austrian Grand Prix when he failed to post a lap time during Q2, and did not advance to Q3.

Update 5:05: The first few times have been posted and the early leader is Charles Leclerc, followed by Norris and Oscar Piastri. Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz Jr. round out the early top five.

Update 5:04: Again, just four minutes into qualifying and we have our first discussion of track limits.

Update 5:01: Q1 is underway at COTA. 18 minutes for the first segment of qualifying.

Update 4:50: Speaking of Haas. Steiner tells F1TV their upgrades are “going in the right direction.”

Lawrence Barretto notes that the upgrade from Haas is the most expensive in the team’s history.

Update 4:48: Qualifying is set to g et underway down in Austin. Could we see a stunner from Steiner and Company?

Notes from Free Practice

Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images

Update 2:48: The weekend’s only practice session is in the books. Verstappen P1? As expected.

But …

BUT …

HAAS!?

Update 2:26: The Haas duo complete their first quali sims and both Magnussen and Hülkenberg go into the top five, Magnussen in P2 and Hülkenberg in P5.

Update 2:24: Ho-hum. Verstappen bolts to the top of the timing sheet on a set of softs.

Also in the top five on softs? Sargeant, Tsunoda, and Ricciardo. At least for the moment.

Update 2:18: Quali sims are underway, and Logan Sargeant jumps into P4 on a set of softs.

Teammate Alex Albon follows and rockets to the top of the board on his own quali sim.

Update 2:13: AlphaTauri brought some updates as well, and they seem to be working. With just over 15 minutes left in practice Yuki Tsunoda sits in fourth place, with Daniel Ricciardo in P9.

Update 2:09: With 20 minutes left in practice, Norris is atop the timing sheet on a set of mediums. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen sit P2 and P3, respectively, on hard tyres.

Update 2:07: Problems are mounting for Aston Martin. Both Stroll and Fernando Alonso have spent a great deal of time in the garage as time ticks down in the only practice session of the week. The team brought a number new elements for the AMR23 this week — including a new floor — and they might not have all the data they want by the time qualifying rolls around in a few hours.

Update 2:05: Scary moment for Oscar Piastri and McLaren, as the rookie slides off the track at Turn 9. Thankfully, he manages to avoid the wall.

Update 1:59: In addition to Haas, Mercedes has brought a set of upgrades to Austin, most notably a new floor for the W14. While this may benefit the team in their battle with Ferrari for second in the Constructors’ Championship, it was also done with an eye for their 2024 challenger.

Legendary F1 journalist and analyst Albert Fabrega shared these images of the new design:

Update 1:53: Radio clips presented without context:

Update 1:46: Aston Martin now dealing with an issue, as Lance Stroll is instructed to box and not use his brakes, as there is an issue with his front left.

This comes as Stroll is trying to regain his form from earlier in the season, and the team tries to hold off McLaren in their battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Updates 1:44: Lots of eyes on Haas this weekend. Not just because they are the one team on the grid at the moment with ties to America, but the team has brought an entire new concept for their VF-23 this weekend, with a new aerodynamic approach.

Both drivers — Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen — have posted strong laps in the early going of practice.

Update 1:42: Scary moment for Carlos Sainz Jr., as the Ferrari driver nearly runs into Lando Norris on the track.

Update 1:36: We are not even five minutes into the only practice session of the weekend and “track limits” are already a point of discussion on F1TV. They were a huge part of the story at the Qatar Grand Prix, and there is already a belief that track limits will be an issue at COTA.

For those that need a refresher.

Update 1:32: Free practice is underway at the Circuit of the Americas.