2025 F1 United States GP Qualifying LIVE: Can Max Verstappen put more pressure on McLaren?

A long - very long - cheer from the crowd (with plenty of screams from the female contingent) for Carlos Sainz for his run to third place

He doesn't believe he is doing anything differently to the start of the season, despite a real upturn in results during the second half of the year

"Nothing. We are just getting a little more lucky and things stopped happening for us. Things are running a lot smoother - I'm doing the same thing as the first half of the season, but things are now clicking"

Second top three finish of the season for Sainz and Williams

"I knew you don't get many opportunities with Max, so I took my chance. I'm glad I gave it a go, P2 is better than expected."

"Took a few laps after the safety car to have decent pace, we need to work out what is going on there. We won the Sprint though, that's most important. We need to be better in race trim.

"We'll have a look (at the rear) and then hopefully it will stick better tomorrow"

A great outcome for Yuki Tsunoda, who finishes seventh for two points - some 11 places higher than he qualified.

His result is even more remarkable considering he ran right over Hulkenberg's front-wing in the Turn 1 chaos, only shaking it free further around the lap.

Your point scorers

1- Max Verstappen

2- George Russell

3- Carlos Sainz

4- Lewis Hamilton

5- Charles Leclerc

6- Alex Albon

7- Yuki Tsunoda

8- Kimi Antonelli

George Russell and Carlos Sainz bolster their points tallies in a fine second and third.

It's a significant result for Sainz too - those six points move him from 12th to 10th in the overall standings ahead of Hulkenberg and Alonso, while he is just a point adrift of ninth place Hadjar too.

A disastrous race for McLaren, BUT it could have been worse - after all, it's only an 8 point swing in Verstappen's favour.

So Piastri still leads Norris by 22 points, but Verstappen is now 55 points adrift of the Aussie

The safety car stays out for the final lap, so this is how we'll finish (albeit with Bearman copping a 10 second penalty)

Stewards have spoken and Oliver Bearman has a 10 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his battle with Antonelli.

Harsh decision given the current safety car conditions because a post-race penalty will leave him plum last - a shame given the eight positions he'd gained on his grid slot

Ocon's car has been retrieved and this is a long lap... so could we go back racing on lap 19 of 19? 

It's going to be a busy few hours for the guys and girls down at McLaren and Aston Martin as they battle to repair all of their cars in time for qualifying after a bruising Sprint Race 

The safety car is out after Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll come together at Turn 1

Stroll comes from a (very) long way back and then locks up, sending him tobogganing into the Haas

Ocon's car is stranded right on the exit of Turn 1 with three wheels on his wagon. Stroll has stopped further around the lap, completing as double DNF for Aston Martin

With three laps to go and safety car out, this could be the end of the race

Kimi Antonelli is putting significant pressure on Oliver Bearman for the eighth and final point.

Some dogged defence from Bearman to repel Antonelli's dive into Turn 16, but might be some question marks over whether he did so while off track.

Stewards will be expecting a call from Mercedes no doubt

Max Verstappen has hitched up his overalls and is getting on with it after that scare from Russell earlier - the defending champion is now 2.2secs up the road on the Mercedes

Carlos Sainz is quietly holding down third place after avoiding the Turn 1 melee - the Spaniard is just over a second clear of a charging Hamilton.

As it stands, it'll be a positive day for Williams with Alex Albon also inside the points in sixth

1- Verstappen

2- Russell

3- Sainz

4- Hamilton

5- Leclerc

6- Albon

7- Tsunoda

8- Bearman

A quick resolution - no action for Russell

Crack on, boys!

Stewards are looking into whether Russell's lunge sent Verstappen off the track unlawfully, even though they didn't ultimately swap positions...

Hamilton gets one up on Leclerc with a big pass into the hairpin to grab fourth place

Russell is clinging onto Verstappen to remain within DRS range but it's getting marginal - both have moved more than two seconds clear of Sainz, who has Leclerc on his tail

Stewards agree it was a racing incident - albeit a messy one - so no grid penalties coming the way of anyone for Sunday's race

Max Verstappen backs them right up with Russell and Sainz on his tail but bolts early - we are underway again

The scattering of the field at Turn 1 in avoidance of various cars and wings has led to quite the mixed up field with the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Oliver Bearman emerging as the big winners after threading from the back all the way to the points in seventh and eighth - race about to get back underway