Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the United States Grand Prix, according to BBC. The Mercedes driver set the fastest qualifying time of 1:34.035, beating Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds.
Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar finished third, 0.215 seconds behind Antonelli, or just 0.036 seconds behind the four-time world champion. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth, 0.232 seconds off the pace, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton was fifth, 0.276 seconds back. Leclerc beat Hamilton in qualifying by 0.044 seconds.
Mercedes' George Russell will start sixth, 0.441 seconds behind his team-mate. The fastest McLaren, Oscar Piastri's, was 0.768 seconds off pole position, while Lando Norris was 1.014 seconds back. Norris's best lap time was deleted due to a track limits infringement, meaning Piastri will start ahead of him.
Racing Bulls drivers filled the second row of the qualifying grid: Arvid Lindblad was ninth, 2.014 seconds off the pace, while Liam Lawson was tenth, despite not setting a time. Lindblad will nonetheless be demoted five places due to a penalty for using too many engine parts. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso qualified 14th but will start 12th after penalties for Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine's Franco Colapinta, alongside Lindblad.
Antonelli thus claimed his first pole position since the Belgian Grand Prix in July. The 20-year-old Italian will become world champion on Sunday if he wins the race in Austin, provided Hamilton finishes lower than fourth and Russell lower than eighth. His engineer Peter Bonnington said he had not expected pole position.
Ferraris were the fastest in all three practice sessions, with Leclerc quickest in the second and third practice. Verstappen was the fourth-fastest in Q2 despite driving on used tyres. The United States Grand Prix takes place on 25 October at 20:00 GMT.
