US Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton favourite for glory after claiming pole position in Austin
Lewis Hamilton is a red-hot 1/2 favourite with Sky Bet to win the US Grand Prix after taking pole position in Austin.
US Grand Prix: Front two rows
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 33.108secs
- Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:33.347
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:33.568
- Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:33.577
Scroll down for full qualifying times
Qualifying report & odds update
Lewis Hamilton will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position after blitzing his rivals in Austin on Saturday.
Hamilton, who could be crowned champion here on Sunday, has been in scintillating form this weekend topping every practice session before storming to the top of the timings in qualifying, too.
The 32-year-old British driver will be joined on the the front row by his championship rival Sebastian Vettel with Valtteri Bottas, in the sister Mercedes, third on the grid.
Hamilton will win the title at the Circuit of the Americas if he triumphs in Sunday's race and Vettel fails to finish in the top five - Sky Bet have Price Boosted him to do that from 5/1 to 7/1.
Hamilton is 1/2 chance to win the race with Vettel on offer at 9/4 and Bottas a 11/1 chance.
''Sebastian is right there so unless he makes a silly mistake, which is unlikely as he's a four-time world champion, the championship is going to continue to the other races," Hamilton said.
''He did a great job to bring the Ferrari up there. Ultimately all I can do is the best I can with my abilities, and we will work as hard as we can to get maximum points.
"It is going to be a tough race tomorrow, but I am the best prepared that I can be.''
Hamilton has won four of the five grands prix staged in Austin, and he is on course to better his tally after claiming the 72nd pole of his incredible career - the result of which never appeared in doubt.
Qualifying here was pushed back by two hours after the Formula One's owners took the unprecedented step of adapting the schedule in order to accommodate a Justin Timberlake pop concert.
And despite the four-hour wait between final practice on Saturday morning and qualifying, Hamilton, cheered on by his mother Carmen and brother Nicolas, did not disappoint.
His fastest lap of one minute and 33.108 seconds - the fastest ever recorded at the Circuit of the Americas - saw him finish a quarter of a second clear of Vettel.
Vettel looked set to start only fourth, but produced his best lap in the closing moments to join Hamilton on the front row.
Hamilton must outscore the Ferrari driver by 16 points to surpass Sir Jackie Stewart and become the first Briton to win more than three championships.
But unless Vettel hits problems - either in the form of a mechanical issue or an incident with another driver - the smart money would be on Hamilton sealing his fourth title in Mexico a week on Sunday.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo will start fourth ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen posted the sixth best time, but the Dutchman will be thrown to the back of the grid after he was hit with a 15-place penalty following an engine change.
Force India driver Esteban Ocon will be bumped up to sixth ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz on his Renault debut.
Fernando Alonso, who earlier this week confirmed he will remain at McLaren next year, finished ninth in the order, while New Zealander Brendon Hartley qualified 18th on his first F1 outing.
US Grand Prix qualifying times
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 33.108secs
- Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:33.347
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:33.568
- Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:33.577
- Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:33.577
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:33.658
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:34.647
- Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 1:34.852
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:35.007
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:35.148
- Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:35.155
- Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.529
- Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:35.641
- Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:35.870
- Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault No Time
- Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.842
- Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:36.868
- Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.889
- Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.179
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:37.394
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