United States Grand Prix qualifying times + grid
1 Lewis Hamilton 1:34.999; 2 Nico Rosberg +0.215; 3 Daniel Ricciardo +0.510; 4 Max Verstappen +0.748; 5 Kimi Raikkonen +1.132; 6 Sebastian Vettel +1.359; 7 Nico Hulkenberg +1.629; 8 Valtteri Bottas +2.117; 9 Felipe Massa +2.270; 10 Carlos Sainz Jr +2.327; E-Q2 11 Sergio Perez; 12 Fernando Alonso; 13 Daniil Kvyat; 14 Esteban Gutierrez; 15 Jolyon Palmer; 16 Marcus Ericsson; E-Q1 17 Romain Grosjean; 18 Kevin Magnussen; 19 Jenson Button; 20 Pascal Wehrlein; 21 Felipe Nasr; 22 Esteban Ocon
Lewis Hamilton boosted his hopes of cutting Mercedes-GP teammate Nico Rosberg's lead in the Formula One drivers' standings by taking pole position for Sunday's United States Grand Prix.
The triple world champion, who is 33 points adrift of Rosberg, lapped the Circuit of Americas track in Austin, Texas, in a time of 1 minute 34.999 seconds. That was 0.215 seconds quicker than Rosberg’s best effort.
Hamilton is aiming for a fourth victory in five races at the venue on Sunday, but this will be the first time that he has started the race from pole position.
Rosberg’s lead in the championship means that he can still win the title even if Hamilton wins on Sunday and the three other remaining races in Mexico, Brazil and the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
To do that the German must finish second in three of those four races and no worse than third in the other one.
The Red Bull Racing cars of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were third and fourth quickest, ahead of the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India was seventh, ahead of the Williams pair of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, with Carlos Sainz completing the top 10 in his Toro Rosso.
It was a disappointing day for 2009 world champion Jenson Button as he was only 19th fastest in his McLaren, the Briton complaining of traffic ruining his final lap in the opening part of qualifying.
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