AUSTIN, Texas – Adding to an already record-setting career, Lewis Hamilton matched yet another of Michael Schumacher’s legendary Formula One marks during qualifying for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday.
Hamilton sped to his ninth pole of the season and fourth in the United States with a lap of 1:32.237 around the 3.427-mile, 20-turn permanent road course.
The quartet of American poles equals Schumacher’s benchmark for the most in event history. Sunday, Hamilton will take aim at his record-extending seventh United States Grand Prix win and sixth in Austin.
“I’m so happy; this is a great result,” said Hamilton of his 81st-career F-1 pole. “We knew that it was going to be extremely close today and that we would have to give it everything. Q1 and Q2 were fairly straightforward. Once we got to Q3, we made sure that we got out on the track at the right time to have a good window and not be stuck in traffic. My first lap in Q3 was good, but it was really close between us all. I think I was ahead by less than a tenth and I knew the others would improve as well, so there was no room for error.
“There have been some Q3s in past races where I had to bail out on the second run, so I was very strict on myself and I told myself, ‘Today, you have to pull through on that second lap,’ which is exactly what I did,” he continued. “The team has done a really great job this weekend so far, the approach for us has been very sturdy and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.
“We knew that it was going to be close this weekend and that we have to put in the same work, effort and diligence as before – and that’s exactly what we will continue to do.”
Though Hamilton’s title rival Sebastian Vettel qualified his Ferrari second overall, the German will roll off fifth for the 56-lap race due to a three-position grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently for a red flag during the first free practice session earlier in the weekend.
Vettel’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen will move up to the front row as a result, followed by the sister Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo before Vettel grids on row three alongside Force India’s Esteban Ocon.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean, Sauber’s Charles Leclerc and the second Force India of Sergio Perez completed the top 10.
Max Verstappen failed to advance out of Q1 after smacking the curbs and slowing with suspected rear-suspension damage, while both Toro Rosso entries will start from the rear due to grid penalties for engine changes.
