Sprint Shootout Highlights | 2023 United States Grand Prix

So, good lap for Alex Albin, he's P3. Fernando Alonso is in 7th. Stroll went over the line in 12th position. Holkenberg got himself up to what is 14th at the moment. Gasly is only 13th for Alpine, and now we've got Magnussen in the drop zone, he's gone. So is Yuki Tsunoda, who got into the second part of qualifying. Piastri goes over the line, but only 14th fastest. Still lap times to come from Daniel Ricciardo, from Logan Sargent, and from Valtteri Bottas. Bottas goes in the first part of qualifying, he's only 17th fastest. Sargent at his second home Grand Prix of the year, wringing the neck of the Williams, but to no effect at all. He's only 19th. Can Daniel Ricciardo make it out? He can! He finds a great lap when it counts, to go over the line, to demote both Haases at their home race, along with Bottas and his teammate. And Daniel Ricciardo, who is going to be directly compared to Yuki Tsunoda, is ahead of him today, he's 15th, Tsunoda drops out, and Sargent is 20th. What the... Come on, man! F*** off! So I don't speak Japanese, what did he say? Well, that is right, you definitely speak frustrated racing driver, so... Now, that is George Russell and Charles Leclerc. And penalty for Mr Russell. Thank you, copy. Charles is downright reasonable at all times, but I like that, that's a penalty. Falling at the first hurdle, Hülkenberg, his teammate Magnussen, Bottas, a former winner of this Grand Prix, and then Tsunoda and Logan Sargent. Oh, there's been a moment there for Max Verstappen, we join him on board, but the tyres, the tyres tell a story. Here we go, we are heading to Turn 9. Okay, well, looks to me, as the car's been bouncing through the apex, as you get bound, as you get variation in downforce, and he's just found himself in a window, where he's applying throttle, when the car's saying, hey, I'm not giving you the downforce. Yeah, you see, like, that frequency of the balance, it's kind of, to Sam Collins' point from earlier, that the Red Bull just really doesn't seem to handle the, tolerate the bumps. Who is going to make it into SQ3? It's a time good enough for 9th place at the moment for Esteban Ocon, still we wait to see what Albon, Hamilton, Gasly and Ricciardo can do. 8th fastest for Lewis Hamilton, behind his teammate, we're seeing a complete variation compared to yesterday's performance. They are still on a medium tyre, that's Pierre Gasly lighting up the rear tyres, going ahead of both Mercedes and demoting his teammate out of the session, as he does so. Alex Albon, 3rd fastest in the first part of this sprint shootout, looking for another performance that takes him into the top 10. That's the aim for the tyre driver as he comes across the line, and he does go to 10th to drop down Fernando Alonso, who is not on a strong lap at this point at all. Joe will not take part in the final shootout, he is struggling. No time on the board for Daniel Ricciardo, he is the sole AlphaTauri in this session. The eight-time Grand Prix winner coming to the final corner of the 3.4 miles, the second of the Americas, and he fights his way to 11th, but it's not enough to get through. That is a superb performance for Alex Albon, who was knocked out in Q1 yesterday to make SQ3 today. On board the Lance Stroll, coming down to Turn 12, and very unusual, something stepped out on the rear axle there, it's almost as if the braking by wire just pulled the handbrake on. And then both fronts lock very, I mean that's a very peculiar incident. Ricciardo got close, but not close enough, and Alonso, Ocon, Stroll in the second Aston Martin, and Joe Guan Yu go out in the second part of the shootout. And Verstappen in the middle sector, that's a very tidy time. It is, and Norris in the middle sector, he's less than a tenth down on Verstappen, so I still have a net ahead right now. Benchmark set for Max Verstappen on the soft tyre is a 1.34.538. Lando Norris is going to be close here, how much does he risk in the final corners of the lap? It will be tight, but has it been another phenomenal final sector for Max Verstappen? It has, there's a tenth of a second between the two. Here's the man who took the shootout last time we ran the session, Oskar Piastri, new to this circuit, behind his teammate, behind Max Verstappen, by three and a half tenths, but the man on pole yesterday is rapid once again. Charles Leclerc, who took the shootout in Baku, our first sprint race weekend of the season, wants to go back-to-back as Pierre Gasly goes into fourth. You can hear him scrubbing off the speed, staying within the white lines of Turn 19. Rotate the car through the left-hander at the end, this will be tight. Trying to go past Norris, trying to go past Verstappen, but he's missed out by half a tenth there, five hundredths of a second. What about his teammate trying to respond as Albon goes ahead of Pierre Gasly? A superb lap for a driver in great form. And looking down the rest of the order, the Mercedeses are not turning purple anywhere. Over the line goes Carlos Sainz to fifth position. Couldn't get on terms with his teammate. One tenth of a second separating the top three. Here comes Sergio Perez across the line, he goes behind Sainz in the Ferrari, unable to do what his teammate was able to do a few moments ago. It's looking quick for the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton across the line. What an extraordinary situation we've got here. Four drivers separated by a tenth of a second, but Hamilton couldn't find a response to Verstappen. George Russell is going to complete this session to go over the line. He cuts the beam, he goes up to eighth position, and the sprint shootout delivers once again. For the third time this year, it's Max Verstappen who takes it. He's the fastest car at the end of the shootout. And that's P1 as well, fuel in hand as well, nice shot. Yeah, not bad considering the issues, but all good. Max Verstappen was pushed all the way, but he delivered to make amends for yesterday. Charles Leclerc on the front row for both races this weekend. Lewis Hamilton only 69 thousandths of a second away, P3. Lando Norris putting the top four separated by just, just over a tenth of a second. Then it was Piastri, Sainz, Perez, Russell. A great lap from Alexander Albon, and the lead Alpine is Pierre Gasly. Daniel Ricciardo missing out by fine margins to make it into the top 10 shootout. And it's Alonso, Ocon, Stroll, Joguanyu. It's Hülkenberg, Magnussen, Bottas, Sonoda, and Sargent who complete the field.