US Grand Prix qualifying: Hamilton grabs pole at the last

Published 22/10/2016 at 19:35 GMT

Lewis Hamilton took his first-ever pole in Austin, pipping Nico Rosberg in the final seconds. Carrie Dunn takes a look at qualifying.

Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo after qualifying for the 2016 US Grand Prix

Image credit: AFP

Q1

Lewis Hamilton made a cracking start, working his way through traffic to lead the standings, with his team-mate Nico Rosberg a tenth of a second behind him.

So far, so standard.

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But who cares about the Mercedes drama? All eyes were on Haas - and Romain Grosjean making history.

He still didn't make it through to Q2, mind.

Meanwhile, Manor continued to boast some excellent speed - but only in straight lines. Both Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein dropped out of qualifying.

Jenson Button of McLaren found himself encountering compatriot Jolyon Palmer at the final corner, blocking up the racing line and ruining his chances of progressing to Q2.

OUT: Romain Grosjean (Haas), Kevin Magnussen (Renault), Jenson Button (McLaren), Pascal Wehrlein (Manor), Felipe Nasr (Sauber), Esteban Ocon (Manor).

Q2

Daniel Ricciardo went out on softs in the Red Bull, and went almost a tenth of a second quicker than Rosberg.

The Mercedes pair were happy to sit tight behind him for this spell, though, and the Ferraris tucked in behind them.

Ricciardo's colleague Max Verstappen was a surprisingly slow seventh.

At the lower end of the grid, Felipe Massa was sneaky to move into Q3 - and force Sergio Perez into the drop zone.

OUT: Sergio Perez (Force India), Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Esteban Gutierrez (Haas), Jolyon Palmer (Renault), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber).

Q3

Not very collegial in Q3. Rosberg thought he had it - but Hamilton nipped in at the last to take pole by more than 0.2secs.

Moments afterwards, Ricciardo did the same to Verstappen, with a 0.3secs margin there.

Good work from Carlos Sainz - finishing in the top ten. He's having an excellent weekend after the news that he'll be staying with Toro Rosso next year.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Felipe Massa (Williams), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso).

BIGGEST SHOCK

Jenson Button got himself in the top eight at one point this weekend - but when it came to the crunch, he disappeared out of the pack. He'll blame Palmer, of course, but he had the chance to go quicker and sooner...