© Oracle Red Bull Racing2024 United States Grand Prix - Saturday ReportMax dominated the COTA Sprint, but yellow flags halted his pole bid after George Russell's crash. Max starts P2, while Checo faces a tough challenge from P10 after a track limits penalty.
MaxtastedthesweetandsouroftheCircuitoftheAmericasasthechampiontookhisfirstwinsinceJunewithadominantSprintvictory,onlytothenbedeniedapossiblepolepositionasacrashforGeorgeRussellbroughtoutyellowflagsandscupperedhisfinalQ3flyer.
“I think we had a really good shot, but that's how it goes. We're still on the front row. At least the potential was there, you know, to be first, so that's very good.”
The yellow flags meant that no improvements were possible across the top 10 and after having his first run time deleted for a track limits infringement, Checo qualified in 10th place.
Austin Sprint Starts© Oracle Red Bull Racing
Max kept up his perfect record of 2024 Sprint wins with a controlled victory in the 19-lap race at COTA, beating Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by almost four seconds, while Lando Norris was third for McLaren. Checo, meanwhile, finished just outside the points in ninth place.
Starting from pole, Max got away well at the start, taking the inside line to Turn 1 to cover any attack from front-row starter George Russell. That forced the Mercedes driver to go wide through Turn 1 and as he baulked Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Norris sneaked past both on the inside to take P2.
Initially, Norris was able to stay within DRS range of Max, but on lap 5 the Dutchman broke the one-second barrier and as the McLaren driver came under pressure from Russell, Max was able to carve out a gap that allowed him to control the race.
Russell eventually overcooked his tyres and was passed by both Ferrari drivers. Norris closed the gap to Max but the champion’s careful tyre preservation meant he had the ability to simply extend the gap once more. And when Norris’ front tyres gave up, Sainz closed in and on the final lap demoted the McLaren driver to third.
Checo’s Sprint hopes were dented by a P11 start and though he got past Williams’ Franco Colapinto at the start and then won a feisty mid-race battle with VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda, there was no way he could reel in Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg before the flag.
Max Sprints to 1st© Oracle Red Bull Racing
At the start of qualifying for Sunday’s race, Norris led the way early on with a time of 1:34.029, seven hundredths of a second ahead of Sainz. Max and Checo held fire initially but after four minutes, both left the garage for their first runs. Max quickly jumped to the top of the timesheet thanks to a lap of 1:33.690, while Checo slotted into third place, on exactly the same time as Norris. And as both were shuffled back by other drivers putting in second runs on an improving track, the Bulls headed back to the garage to prepare for their final runs of the session.
Pit Lane Pros© Oracle Red Bull Racing
With a little over four minutes left Max headed out for his final run. And after posting purple first and third sectors, the champion once again climbed to the top of the pile with a lap of 1:33.046. That lap proved good enough to keep the Dutchman in P1 to the end of the session, just under two tenths ahead of Leclerc, with VCARB’s Liam Lawson an impressive third on 1:33.339.
Checo, meanwhile, was one of the last out on track and at the end of his late run, the Minister made his way to P9 to secure his place in Q2.
At the wrong end of the timesheet the shock faller was Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver struggled badly in the middle sector of his final flyer, and he was eliminated in P19, just ahead of Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu. Also eliminated at the end of Q1 were Williams’ Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto in P16 and P17, while Sauber’s Valterri Bottas dropped out in P18.
Keeping with tradition, the Bulls were out on track almost as soon as the green lights signalled the start of Q2. Max, on used tyres, claimed an early lead with a time of 1:33.052, just 0.006s ofF his Q1 best on new tyres.
Checo slotted into P2, four tenths off his team-mate and the Mexican was soon bumped down the order as both Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz posted quicker times. Max too was edged out of top spot as Norris, on new tyres, dipped below the 1m32s mark to eclipse the Dutchman by two tenths of a second.
Checo At Work© Oracle Red Bull Racing
There was no keeping the champion out of top spot though and on his final flyer, on new tyres, Max’s time of 1:32.584 vaulted him to P1, a quarter of a second clear of Sainz and Norris. Checo also eased through to the top-10 shootout and an improvement of 0.467s on his final flyer took him to P5 behind Leclerc.
Ruled out at the end of Q2 were VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda in P11, followed by Hülkenberg. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Lawson.
Austin Antics© Oracle Red Bull Racing
In the first runs of the top 10 shootout, Norris took the fight to Max with a strong opener of 1:32.330. Max responded with a purple first sector but at the end of the second sector the champion was just two hundredths ahead of the McLaren. However, in the final third Max lost time to slot into second place, 0.031s off his title rival. Checo’s opener initially put him eighth, but a track limits infringement at Turn 9 and a deletion left the Minister with a mountain to climb in the final runs.
The Straight At Austin© Oracle Red Bull Racing
Max’s final run got off to the perfect start as the champion powered to a two tenths advantage over Norris. But midway through the second sector, Max’s chance of pole was snatched away when Russell crashed out at Turn 19.
With double waved yellow flags quickly displayed, any chance of improvement was gone and Max was forced to settle for a front-row start behind pole position man Norris and ahead of Sainz and Leclerc. The yellow flags ruled out gains across the top 10 and with no chance to get in a time, Checo qualified in P10 behind Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
