Max Verstappen: "Very tricky with the grip, ****. So tricky with the car."

1. Kimi Antonelli

2, Max Verstappen

3. Isack Hadjar

4. Charles Leclerc

5. George Russell

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Oscar Piastri

8. Lando Norris

9. Arvid Lindblad

10. Liam Lawson (no time)

We've said the Ferraris have been strong in Cota but after the opening flying laps in Q3, Charles Leclerc is in fourth, three tenths off Kimi Antonelli's provisional pole time, and Lewis Hamilton is sixth, half a second back on the Italian.

Kimi Antonelli crosses the line and goes onto provisional pole with a time of 1:34.035. Can Max Verstappen beat that time? No! The Dutchman is on the front row in P2 after his opening flying lap.

Image source, Getty Images

Right then. Who do you think is grabbing pole position for the United States Grand Prix? Max Verstappen has been the man to beat in the past two races, but Ferrari are looking quick tonight.

Verstappen is purple in the first sector, Kimi Antonelli has the speed in the second part of the lap...

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

I think if Charles Leclerc can keep his head clear and get the job done then it will be a terrifically well-earned pole position. He's got the car to do it. But we haven't seen the best of Max Verstappen yet and we just can't count him out.

Liam Lawson is getting out of his car and is high-fiving his Racing Bulls crew in the garage. Is the New Zealander going to skip this session altogether? It looks like it.

Charles Leclerc was back on top in Q2, beating championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.080 seconds. George Russell was next up followed the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton ended up seventh on the timesheets, below the two McLarens of world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and the other Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson are also in the Q3 fight, but rookie Lindblad does have a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race.

Q3 is green.

Gabriel Bortoleto: "I hope he went through with that tow I gave, **** it was a big one. Even Leclerc helped."

Engineer: "No he's P11 right now. In any case, thank you very much Gabi for trying to help."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Austin

Max Verstappen is fourth quickest, he did one run on used tyres at the beginning of the session and he's only 0.273 seconds off the pace. I think we have the pole favourite there.

11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

12. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

16. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

Mercedes have suddenly decided to show what they've got now.

Kimi Antonelli beats George Russell's time by only a few tenths but Charles Leclerc, on fresh rubber, pushes both Mercedes down the order with a time of 1:34.198.

The tow didn't work out for Audi - Nico Hulkenberg tumbles down a few places and ends up P12 on the timesheets - Liam Lawson makes it through in 10th.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

An interesting tactic from Audi there.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar, who is sixth, are still in the garage along with world champion Lando Norris.

Gabriel Bortoleto gives his Audi buddy Nico Hulkenberg a slipstream on the back straight, which lifts the German to P9.

George Russell is purple in the opening second but the Mercedes man is bouncing around in the cockpit because of the Austin bumps. He completes his lap and goes to the top of timesheets.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

For whatever reason, Ferrari feel the need to show what they've got and other teams try to keep it under wraps a little bit. We shouldn't jump to conclusions but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have suddenly appeared after we've been watching the Ferrari show for quite some time this weekend.

According to Sky Sports, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were both on a used set of soft tyres for those first flying laps - but so was Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli is third in Q2 at the moment, and has just headed out onto the Circuit of the Americas with team-mate George Russell.

11. Arvid Lindblad

12. Pierre Gasly

13. Franco Colapinto

14. Oliver Bearman

15. Fernando Alonso

16. Gabriel Bortoleto

With the track evolving with every lap, Lando Norris has found some pace in his McLaren and goes second quickest behind Max Verstappen - just 0.068 seconds separates the two drivers.

Kimi Antonelli is 0.285 seconds behind Verstappen in third followed by Mercedes team-mate George Russell in fourth.

The Ferraris are fifth for Lewis Hamilton and seventh for Charles Leclerc after those opening runs.

McLaren boss Zak Brown tells Sky Sports on the pit wall that Ferrari are in a league of their own so far this weekend. Lewis Hamilton is purple in the middle sector, but it was Max Verstappen whp was rapid in the first.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton gets us off the mark with a 1:34.833 but that time is quickly beaten by four-time title winner Verstappen. The Dutchman, who is on the soft tyre with the rest of the field, is more than three tenths faster than Hamilton.

Image source, Getty Images