Hamilton beats Rosberg to Austin pole

Image Courtesy: Mercedes

Hamilton lapped the Circuit of the Americas in 1:34.999, improving by nearly four tenths on his final run.

After a scruffy opening sector on his first run, Rosberg was able to nail a clean lap on his second run. However, it proved 0.216s slower than Hamilton’s best effort.

Behind, Red Bull locked the second row of the grid, with Daniel Ricciardo comfortably outqualifying Max Verstappen. The two Red Bull drivers have split their strategy, with Ricciardo opting for supersoft tyres and Verstappen choosing the soft compound for his first stint.

Further back, Kimi Raikkonen beat Sebastian Vettel in the intra-Ferrari battle, the Finn qualifying just ahead of the German in fifth.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was the best of the rest in seventh, ahead of the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa.

Carlos Sainz completed the top 10 in the lead Toro Rosso.

Jenson Button was the biggest casualty in Q1, the 2009 world champion losing time due to traffic on his final run.

Esteban Gutierrez qualified 14th on Haas’ home turf, while Romain Grosjean was eliminated in the first leg of qualifying.

by Rachit Thukral