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Verstappen grabbed the lead from third on the grid after powering past the Ferraris that had locked out the front row. His team-mate Sergio Perez tried to follow him around the outside of the first corner, but bounced off Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and was forced out of the race.

Leclerc will start ahead of his team-mate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

At the start, Verstappen and Leclerc moved away seemingly in unison, but the Ferrari gained during the launch’s second phase. As Leclerc tried to move alongside the Red Bull, Verstappen edged his rival right across the track and close to the grass by the pitlane exit.  

Verstappen just held onto his pole advantage at the start, seeing off the challenge of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will start from pole position for Sunday’s US GP.

Leclerc will start ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Leclerc will start ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

F1’s teams were thrown a curveball with a mandated maximum of 18-lap stints – effectively pushing all drivers into a three-stop strategy – due to safety concerns over tyre trouble.

Mercedes’ George Russell passed polewinner and early leader Piastri soon after a restart on lap three, but Russell’s pace on softer tyres fell away as the sprint entered its second half and Piastri repassed him to lead once more.

Verstappen will start ahead of Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.