F1 2024 United States Grand Prix LIVE: Sprint race schedule, times ...

Super lap from Max Verstappen! He takes pole position, 0.012 secs quicker than George Russell in second!

Charles Leclerc comes home third, with Lando Norris two-tenths off in fourth - a blow for his title hopes!

5-10: Sainz, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Colapinto

1. McLaren - 516 points

2. Red Bull - 475 points

3. Ferrari - 441 points

4. Mercedes - 329 points

5. Aston Martin - 86 points

6. RB - 34 points

7. Haas - 31 points

8. Williams - 16 points

9. Alpine - 13 points

10. Sauber - 0 points

Mexican driver Perez trails teammate and championship leader Max Verstappen by 187 points after 18 races this year and has not won a grand prix since April 2023.

Perez has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2025 – with an option to extend for 2026 – but Liam Lawson’s promotion to sister team RB for this weekend’s US Grand Prix indicates that Red Bull are assessing their options ahead of next year.

Having relinquished their spot at the top of the constructors’ standings to McLaren, Red Bull boss Horner acknowledges that his team “can’t afford a big gap” between Verstappen and his team-mate next year.

Full quotes below:

Ricciardo was dropped after the last race in Singapore in favour of Liam Lawson!

Here you can look back on his F1 career, which is now likely to be at an end...

Formula One wants to return. Lewis Hamilton insists F1 cannot continue to ignore it. But after 31 years away, the sport still can’t thrash out a route back into the only viable continent (sorry Antarctica) it fails to race in: Africa.

It was 1993 the last time the “Mother Continent” hosted an F1 grand prix. That was at Kyalami, 20 miles north of Johannesburg, as Williams driver Alain Prost won the 27th version of the South African Grand Prix.

Rather obviously, it is difficult to claim the full veracity of the competition “Formula 1 World Championship” while a record 24-race calendar does not actually include the entire world and its continents.

But F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has made no secret of his desire to add an African race to the schedule, amid an opening set of talks with Rwandan officials last month.

However, is Rwanda the only option? South Africa has come close in recent years, too. And what are the major obstacles? The Independent takes a look at all the potential locations F1 could venture to in Africa.

Lando Norris risks losing ground to Max Verstappen in his bid to be crowned world champion after seeing his rival take pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in the United States.

Norris, who trails Verstappen by 52 points heading into the concluding six rounds of the campaign, will line up three places behind Verstappen for the 19-lap dash after he qualified a disappointing fourth at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.

Full report below:

“I got unlucky with the yellow flag. It is what it is, four-tenths up.

Is that a pole gone begging? “Yep. The team has made a step with the car, the upgrade has clearly worked. It’s been a tough slog for everyone. Tomorrow we have another chance.

“We made changes to the car, it’s always a bit of a gamble. As soon as I got out the car, night and day different.”

1. Max Verstappen

2. George Russell

3. Charles Leclerc

4. Lando Norris

5. Carlos Sainz

6. Nico Hulkenberg

7. Lewis Hamilton

8. Kevin Magnussen

9. Yuki Tsunoda

10. Franco Colapinto

11. Sergio Perez

12. Pierre Gasly

13. Lance Stroll

14. Fernando Alonso

13. Lance Stroll

15. Liam Lawson

16. Oscar Piastri

17. Esteban Ocon

18. Alex Albon

19. Valtteri Bottas

20. Zhou Guanyu

“I’m really happy, been a while since we’ve been on the front row. My lap at the end was really strong. Lewis got caught out by the yellows. Great to be back in the mix again.

“We knew we had potential in the car. If we manage to qualify in second, feeling good.”

“Most of the lap was good, made a few mistakes in the last sector, second-last corner went too fast and this is the result. We have another shot tomorrow.

“It feels OK, maybe not as strong as the other races. I don’t think we’re weaker but the others are just stronger.”