Max Verstappen takes pole position for sprint race in Austin as Red Bull driver battles to keep faint F1 title hopes alive

Max Verstappen took a crucial pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in Austin as he tries to claw back a 63-point deficit to world championship leader Oscar Piastri.

The Dutchman, who is defending his title as if for his life, has six grands prix and three sprint races, including this weekend’s editions in the US, to pull off one of F1’s greatest heists.

He finished 0.071sec ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Piastri third. It is a decent result for Norris, who is 22 points behind his team-mate.

The Briton has been told by his McLaren bosses that he faces ‘consequences’ after he banged wheels with Piastri in Singapore a fortnight ago. The team have refused to specify what sanction he faces, but an insider has indicated that it will be ‘sporting’ rather than financial.

Yet with eight points on offer in the one-third distance sprint here in Texas, there is a clear opportunity for Norris to make an inroad on Piastri’s advantage – if he is given a free hand to do so.

Team principal Zak Brown has said whatever penalty Norris faces for the first-lap incident, which was clearly not deliberate, would not be severe.

‘It’s marginal,’ said Brown. ‘It’s consistent with what happened - which was a racing incident at the start of a grand prix with a track that was somewhat damp.

‘The penalty probably won’t be noticed. Lando and Oscar know what it is, which is what’s most important.

‘Of course we want to be transparent with our fans. We are doing it the hard way – trying to let both guys race for the championship. The easy way out would be to have a No1 and No2 as some teams do, but that’s not how McLaren want to go racing.’

Hot temperatures have seen the race designated a ‘heat hazard’. Reaching an air temperature of 31C demands that classification under new FIA rules, and it was nudging 33C as the action unfolded with the track temperature 43C.

Lewis Hamilton crept into Q3 at the 11th hour but the Ferraris lacked pace as he qualified eighth on a track where he has triumphed five times and is adored by fans. He eclipsed his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was 10th quickest.

George Russell qualified fifth in the week he signed his new £30million contract to stay at Mercedes for at least another year, way ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the other Silver Arrow.

Russell’s fellow Brit Ollie Berman was eliminated in the first session, in 16th, but beating his Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon, 19th.