Red Bull
Verstappen looked strong on Friday in Austin, and seemed in the mix with the McLarens. But despite being a smidgen behind through the early stages of Sprint Qualifying, he gambled by coming out last in SQ3, running the risk of yellow flags. It meant he had the best track conditions to exploit which he did in style by grabbing Sprint pole in Austin for the third straight year. But Tsunoda had a harder session, after being sent out too late for his last run in SQ1. Like a few drivers, he missed the chequered flag and was unable to start a flying run – much to his frustration.
Max Verstappen, 1st, 1:32.143
“It was nice to finish on Pole for the Sprint. In practice, we were fine tuning the car and understanding the track. The track got even bumpier which made it more difficult to drive so we kept making some little adjustments to the car. In Sprint Qualifying it was a little bit better. Of course, we went through the compounds and onto the Soft tyre on the final run and we only had one go with it and it paid off. The grip actually improved quite a bit on the Soft tyre compared to the Medium tyre. For us it was all about putting it together and the wind was also changing around quite a bit. To be first was good, it was close and I expect it to also be close tomorrow. We know that in the race the McLarens step it up so it will be tough.”
Yuki Tsunoda, 18th, 1:35.259
“I ran out of time to get my final lap in and it is something we will have to look into because we should have been here talking about a much more successful Friday. It was a bit of a messy session, I don’t know exactly what happened because we weren’t close to getting the lap in, something went wrong and we lost our opportunity, it’s a real shame. It’s very frustrating because sometimes these things are out of your control. We need to make sure the rest of the weekend goes better and we get the best out of the car and are where we can and should be in the order.”
Pierre Wache, Technical Director
“During any Qualifying session we are trying to maximise the performance of the car by trying to go as low as possible on set-up. During FP1 we tested two types of set-up across the two cars and we realised that Yuki’s set-up was a little bit better. It helped the high-speed bottoming that we have in the corners here and it achieved performance in the car without losing out in the low speed. It was a very good performance extraction from Max today and he really put it all together to get Pole. Unfortunately, Yuki didn’t have a chance to do more than one lap and clearly, we have to review on our side how to make sure he gets the chance to use the car, because with a second lap I think he would have been in SQ2 for sure.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Sprint Pole qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Sprint Pole qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
McLaren
McLaren started the weekend strongly, with Norris topping the only practice session and Piastri not too much further back. When Norris topped SQ1 and SQ2, it looked like McLaren were back to their best. But he was powerless to prevent Verstappen grabbing pole by just 0.071s. Piastri could not match his team mate and wound up a distant third, admitting he had a scruffy lap in SQ3. The result means the top three in the Championship are in the front three on the grid, but in reverse order. Who goes for it and who plays it safe in the Sprint off the line will be fascinating to watch.
Oscar Piastri, 3rd, 1:32.523
“P3 for the Sprint tomorrow. It wasn’t my best lap in SQ3 as it was a little scrappy in places, but I’m relatively happy with the position, and we have really good pace in the car. I know where I need to tidy it up for Qualifying tomorrow, so we’ll aim to have a good Sprint in the morning and then fine-tune for the afternoon.”
Lando Norris, 2nd, 1:32.214
“Pretty happy with that. Of course, I would have liked to be on Pole, but it’s not a big surprise to be P2. There are a couple of little things here and there that I could have improved on, but that’s just the difficulty of this track. Otherwise, all good and we’re in a good position for tomorrow.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
“A positive start to the weekend in Austin with a relatively comprehensive representation of the field. Today’s sessions confirm that our main competitor has improved their car and continues to provide close competition at the different types of circuits we face.
“During Free Practice, we were able to work through our run plan despite the disturbance caused by the Red Flag. Lando and Oscar collected plenty of important data from their laps, which we were then able to carry into Sprint Qualifying.
“Overall, a good result but not the one we wanted. We are here for Pole positions, however, we can still take the positives from today’s running. Our car looks competitive compared to some recent circuits, and we have a good foundation to fine-tune some areas of performance before we head into tomorrow’s Sprint and Qualifying.
“We look forward to the Sprint race, the conditions are very hot, and alongside the factor of increased tyre degradation, we should have an entertaining and competitive Saturday for the fans.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Kick Sauber
Hulkenberg surprised many by finishing second in FP1, but the German very much showed that pace was not a flash in the pan. He was quick throughout SQ1 and SQ2, before heading out fourth for his one and only lap in the top 10 shootout. He nailed his lap to go top, with only the McLarens and Verstappen going on to beat the German. But while that was an impressive result, Sprint Qualifying on the whole was a mixed bag for the team with Bortoleto losing his first lap time in SQ1 to track limits. He was then sent out too late to make it across the line for a second effort, and thus exited without setting a time.
Nico Hulkenberg, 4th, 1:32.645
“I’m really satisfied with how things went today. We looked strong from the start in P1, and it was nice to see that performance carry through. The car felt good: it was in a great window, right in the sweet spot, and the lap times backed that up. I enjoy driving around this track; it’s good fun and quite rewarding when everything clicks. The sprint will be challenging with plenty of quick cars around us, but we’ll fight hard and try to turn this momentum into a strong result.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, 20th, No time set in SQ1
“Unfortunately, I don’t have much to say about today. My first timed lap was cancelled due to track limits, and the second attempt was unfortunately not enough to make the cut. It’s obviously disappointing, especially since our car felt quite good earlier today during free practice. Looking at tomorrow, we’ll use the Sprint as an extra chance to learn something more about this track and how our car behaves here, before putting our focus on delivering in Qualifying ahead of the main Race.”
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“An outstanding qualifying performance from Nico today. It’s remarkable; every time people start to question him, he finds a way to prove them wrong. He delivered a flawless run through SQ1, SQ2, and SQ3, securing our highest-ever grid position in a sprint and matching our best starting position in recent years.
“I feel for Gabi today; had we managed to put that first lap together, the outcome could have been different. Unfortunately, timing caught us out on his second run, as it did for several other teams. This is something we’ll review, analyse and learn from.
“There’s plenty to take away from today as we look ahead to the sprint. The priority remains clear: to maximise our points potential. This is a circuit where overtaking is possible, which means we’ll need to be on top of our game to defend our position.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber is interviewed during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber is interviewed during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)
Mercedes
Antonelli had a tricky practice session and wound up down the order. His Sprint Qualifying started better, but he had a messy lap in SQ2 and ran wide to boot, which cost him the chance to progress. That left Russell to fly the flag for the team, and he opted to come out first in SQ3 and set his lap time nice and early. He sacrificed some track evolution for clean air, and wound up a solid fifth.
George Russell, 5th, 1:32.888
“That wasn’t the maximum we could have achieved today but it’s fair to say that we were never in the fight for Sprint pole. Nico (Hulkenberg) put in an amazing lap to take P4; having a Kick Sauber ahead of us wasn’t what we expected but well done to him and his team.
“As we’ve been saying all year, on our good days we’re in the battle for the win and on our bad days we are P5. We just got P5 today; hopefully we have a better race car than a qualifying one though. We also know it can be tricky to hit the ground running on Sprint weekends so we will do what we can in the Sprint race itself and then look to improve the car for qualifying and Sunday’s race.”
Kimi Antonelli, 11th, 1:34.018
“It is disappointing to get knocked out in SQ2 and by such a small margin too. I felt good in the car in SQ1 and only needed the one lap to get through. I had two big lock-ups on my final lap in SQ2 though and that ultimately cost me. We definitely had the pace to get into SQ3 and fight for the top five, so it is frustrating. We will reset overnight though, push as hard as we can in the Sprint and then try to have a better qualifying tomorrow afternoon.
“Our long run pace in FP1 was more encouraging than our single lap work. Hopefully that bodes well for Sunday. We know that we won’t be able to show that though if we don’t start near the front of the field. We will work hard to improve the car ahead of qualifying, using the Sprint to build our learning, and try our best to have a better session than we’ve just enjoyed.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“That was a frustrating Friday here in Austin. It can be difficult to get the car dialled in immediately on a sprint weekend, particularly on a circuit as challenging as this. It is important to do so though if you are to have a positive Sprint. Sadly, whilst our long run pace looked competitive in FP1, we clearly had work to do on the single lap. We made some adjustments ahead of Sprint Qualifying but we were never in the fight for the top three unfortunately.
“Kimi, on his first visit to COTA, put in a good lap in SQ1 but a few lock-ups in SQ2 cost him. He was only a few thousandths short of getting through but fell just the wrong side of the cut-off. George progressed to SQ3 but didn’t enjoy the cleanest of laps on the Soft tyre, losing a couple of tenths at turn one. Whilst that cost him, P4 was probably the maximum today given our pace.
“Starting P5 and P11, it is unlikely that we will score major points tomorrow morning. We will still give it our all but the main priority will be to gather data and learnings so we can improve the car for qualifying in the afternoon.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Aston Martin
Alonso said yesterday that he did not expect this track to suit his car and yet he was strong in practice and again over one lap, making it all the way to SQ3. Once there, his one lap was good enough for P6 on the grid as he out-qualified both Ferrari and both Williams cars. Stroll could not match that as he exited in SQ2. He also caused the only red flag of the day, when he lost some bodywork after running wide over the kerbs in practice.
Fernando Alonso, 6th, 1:32.910
“I’m happy with P6 today. It’s one of our better qualifying sessions of the season and we put together some good laps. It felt like we really maximised the opportunity, but we do have some fast cars starting behind us, so we’ll see if we can score points in the Sprint tomorrow.”
Lance Stroll, 14th, 1:34.394
“I thought we did what we could today, qualifying in P14 for the Sprint tomorrow. In SQ2, I had a snap in T6 during my second push lap and aborted the lap – we could have probably found a couple of tenths there. But in hindsight, you can always look back and find a bit here and there. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow in the Sprint – it’s a very tight midfield and Sprint weekends are intense, but I like it.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 Mercedes on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 Mercedes on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Williams
Sainz looked quick early on in practice, before his session was curtailed with a gearbox issue. That left him without any quick laps heading into Sprint Qualifying. It did not hamper the Spaniard one bit, as he made it all the way to SQ3. Albon joined him, despite the team sending both out too late in SQ2 to set a second lap time. Once there, it was a clearly still buoyant Sainz that was the quicker of the duo, to the tune of nearly two tenths.
Alex Albon, 9th, 1:33.099
“We thought SQ3 was on the cards today but to have both cars through was nice. We struggled a bit still and didn’t feel as comfortable compared to practice, but nevertheless, a nice surprise. We’re starting the Sprint on the clean side of the grid, so we want to keep it tidy and with points on the table let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Carlos Sainz, 7th, 1:32.911
“It’s encouraging to be P7 in Sprint qualifying, especially with the little track action I’ve had today after missing most of FP1. Considering the circumstances, I’m happy with my laps on both compounds and I’ll do my best to grab some points in the Sprint race. We’ll also take the learnings for tomorrow’s main qualifying and hopefully we can repeat or improve today’s result.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Sparks fly behind Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Williams FW47 Mercedes on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Sparks fly behind Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Williams FW47 Mercedes on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Ferrari
Ferrari had a tricky practice session, with Leclerc sidelined with a gearbox issue and Hamilton complaining about the throttle pedal. The Scuderia got both cars out for the start of Sprint Qualifying, but lacked pace throughout the session. They only just scraped into SQ3 late on with the medium tyres and did not seem to have better speed on the softs. Hamilton did get the beating of his team mate over one lap for the second weekend in a row, but neither driver was happy with the pace on display.
Charles Leclerc, 10th, 1:33.104
“My lap in SQ3 was clean and I didn’t leave anything on the table. Maybe we could have fine tuned the car a bit more if we had done some more runs on the Medium compound this morning, but the maximum we could have gained there would be a tenth. We will give everything to find something more for tomorrow, but for now it seems that this is the potential of our car this weekend.”
Lewis Hamilton, 8th, 1:33.035
“We’ll need to review today’s session, as the car showed promising pace and I was generally satisfied with its balance in FP1 and SQ1. However, for the rest of Sprint Qualifying, I found it challenging to maintain that pace. We’ll regroup tonight to discuss the best approach for tomorrow’s race given our starting position.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Racing Bulls
Lawson was fortunate to make it to SQ2, after being caught out in traffic at the end of SQ1 and failing to cross the line in time to complete his last flying lap. Fortunately his first lap was good enough, but the problems continued – he lost his lap time in SQ2 for track limit infringements. Hadjar failed to make the top 10 as well, as he spent the day frustrated in the cockpit – both with traffic, and with his Race Engineer mistakenly reinstating Valtteri Bottas onto the grid a few races early.
Isack Hadjar, 12th, 1:34.241
“I had a good feeling at the end of FP1, but in that session it felt completely different. In SQ1, I managed to put a lap together to get the car through and it felt quite competitive. I expected to make a good step in SQ2, but we committed to a single push lap and the car was very difficult to drive, it was quite challenging out there. I still think we’re fast, and tomorrow is all about maximising everything and putting it all together. Starting from 12th will make it tough to score points, but we’ll push hard and aim for Q3 in Qualifying.”
Liam Lawson, 15th, No time set in SQ2
“We got hit by traffic on our laps, so we’ll have a look tonight on whether we should have run earlier in the session as opposed to later, which may have mitigated the issue. However, there are positives to take away as the car is very fast. Points will be tricky, but we’ll be pushing for that and will continue to work on building a strong car for Sunday.”
Mattia Spini, Chief Race Engineer
“A Sprint weekend always brings a unique challenge for both engineers and drivers, with only one Free Practice session available to fine-tune the car setup and driving. We completed FP1 running some setup differences across the cars to maximize learning on balance and overall performance. We opted to use the Medium tyre for the second run, unlike most of the field that used the Soft, considering it a better plan for the rest of the weekend. The pace looked promising ahead of Qualifying, although the drivers were not entirely satisfied with the car’s balance, so we made some changes to address that before Sprint Qualifying. We managed to progress into SQ2, but lacked the pace to reach SQ3 today. On top of that, Liam had his best lap deleted due to track limits. We’ll now focus on extracting as many insights as possible from today’s sessions, as tomorrow offers another opportunity to adjust the car ahead of Qualifying.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Isack Hadjar of France driving the (6) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Isack Hadjar of France driving the (6) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Alpine
Alpine looked set to struggle here, but Gasly managed to take advantage of the gaggle of cars that got their timing all wrong in SQ1. He did cross the line in time to start a flying run, using the evolved track to his advantage as he made SQ2. Once there he grabbed P13, for his best one-lap performance since Spa, which was also the last Sprint weekend. Colapinto exited at the first time of asking.
Pierre Gasly, 13th, 1:34.258
“I’m actually quite pleased with today’s result in Sprint Qualifying. The last few weekends have been tricky for us and we have not really been in the mix with our competitors. The team has worked really hard in the week between Singapore and here to find some improvements and it was important to find more performance to put ourselves back in the mix, which I feel we have done today. We always want more than what we achieved today but, looking at the work everyone has put in, we can be pleased as we have a good baseline to work from for the rest of this weekend. Tomorrow for the Sprint, we need to try and maximise the start and gain some places and see where we end up. It is a tricky track and we will just take one session at a time and try to maximise what we have every time we are on track.”
Franco Colapinto, 17th, 1:35.246
“It has not been the smoothest of days and with only one Practice session, we were not able to get on top of some of the issues we have been facing and fine tune our package. I think there is potential in the car and our position is not necessarily reflective of where we could be if we manage to put everything together. I have been struggling a lot for grip, especially when putting the power down on traction. It did not feel great on either run in SQ1 and the wind also seemed to pick up later in the day, which made it a bit more unpredictable. This track lends itself to good racing so let’s see what we can do tomorrow, but also keeping one eye on Qualifying and the Grand Prix itself. We will try our best to move forward from our starting position and also use the track time to keep learning about what improvements we can bring between the sessions.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Haas
Ocon ran the upgraded parts in FP1, but locked his brakes and ran across the gravel. As such, the team unfortunately lacked data on their upgrades heading into Sprint Qualifying. Bearman was one of a gaggle of cars not to make it across the line in time as the clock hit zero, and thus exited in P16. Ocon also fell at the first time of asking, having struggled for pace all day.
Esteban Ocon, 19th, 1:36.003
“It was a very bad first lap unfortunately, I went into Turn 1 and lost the rear, so the first lap was quite compromised. On the second lap, I took the flag basically with the entire group around me, including Ollie. Our first lap wasn’t good enough, so it clearly wasn’t an ideal session but we’ll try and get the best out of it tomorrow. The Sprint is now going to be an experiment, we’re far from scoring points, so we’ll do the best we can and learn as much as we can about the car.”
Oliver Bearman, 16th, 1:35.159
“Sprint Quali today was a big shame. This morning I felt pretty happy with the car, but in qualifying I only got one lap, and I’m still learning the track, so that lap wasn’t my best, but I wasn’t expecting that lap to be my best. That’s why in SQ1 you have two laps to at least get a feeling of the car. I put the update on in between sessions, so a lot of things changed. We’ll need to review why we didn’t make it around in time, but there was no point in pushing flat out to make it as my tyres would’ve been gone.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“It was a very disappointing Sprint qualifying. I think FP1 was okay, and Ollie got on with it considering this is a new track for him. Esteban ran the new package in FP1, but we also put the update on Ollie for Sprint quali. What happened in the second run in SQ1, with time running out, we didn’t make it around in time so in hindsight we should’ve taken more margin to make it through. That made it extremely hard for Ollie, who’s had changes to his car, and we should’ve had two laps but essentially, he’s only had one. On Esteban’s side, he struggled with rear grip feeling. It’s very tough to take. We need to look at timings, which is pretty clear, and then we need to look at Esteban’s feeling as well.”
Gallery2AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Pirelli
Simone Berra, Pirelli Chief Engineer
“As expected, all the teams chose to start the day on a set of C1 tyres: a compound probably not thought of as a competitive race option, and so used mainly in FP1 to help drivers familiarise themselves with the initial track conditions. The real performance gap to the other two compounds is actually less compared to the pre-event simulations, but it’s still significant. Nonetheless, the C1 offered good grip during the performance runs and underlined its consistency in the long runs carried out by some of the teams. Even though asphalt temperatures were higher than last year, the fastest soft tyre laps in FP1 and SQ3 were faster, which is mainly down to the technical evolution of the cars. Verstappen’s sprint pole today was two-tenths faster than the pole time from Norris for the 2024 grand prix here at COTA. The performance gap between medium and soft is slightly bigger than predicted, but that’s not unusual during a sprint weekend, with the teams having limited time to optimise car setup and maximise overall performance.”