Austin, Oct 20 (IANS): Lando Norris took a stunning pole position for the United States Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver’s solid first effort in Q3 ultimately unable to be beaten as the session was brought to an early end following a dramatic crash for George Russell.

Norris had initially taken P1 during the opening runs with his effort of 1m 32.330s, disrupting Max Verstappen’s run at the top through Q1 and Q2. And while the Briton’s second lap was slower, nobody was able to improve when the double waved yellow flags came out after Russell hit the wall at Turn 19 during the final moments, the Mercedes driver fortunately emerging unharmed from the incident.

That confirmed Norris as the pole-sitter, with Verstappen 0.031s back in second while Carlos Sainz took third for Ferrari. The Spaniard’s teammate Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in fifth, while Russell’s time from before his crash put him in sixth.

Pierre Gasly was a strong seventh for Alpine, with Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin. Kevin Magnussen took ninth for Haas in his first Q3 appearance of 2024, and Sergio Perez found himself down in 10th after the Red Bull man’s opening lap was deleted due to track limits.

Yuki Tsunoda just missed out on a spot in Q3, the RB driver ending the session in P11, while Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg was also eliminated in Q2 after locking up on his final effort.

Esteban Ocon dropped out of that section of qualifying in 13th for Alpine, along with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in 14th and RB’s Liam Lawson in 15th. The New Zealander impressed in Q1 but did not set a timed lap in Q2, given that he will start from the back of the grid due to power unit penalties.

There was a big shock in Q1 when Lewis Hamilton was unable to better his lap in P16 following a scruffy middle sector and, given that there was not enough time to go again, the seven-time world champion was pushed down to a final position of P19.

Also exiting in the first segment were the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto in 16th and 17th along with the Kick Saubers of Valtteri Bottas in 18th place and Zhou Guanyu at the back in 20th.