
Lewis Hamilton has qualified on pole position for the 2018 United States Grand Prix, making it his 81st pole position after finishing just 0.061s faster than Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari, who will be starting in fifth place after he was given a 3-place grid penalty for failing to slow down sufficiently under red flags during Free Practice 1, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen inheriting his slot in second place. Max Verstappen suffered a broken suspension during the first part of qualifying which meant, that although he made it through to the second stage of qualifying, he took no further part and will thus be starting further down the grid than he would have expected.
If Hamilton does win tomorrow's race, then Sebastian Vettel must finish in second place in order to prolong the battle for the World Championship into the next race in Mexico, as if Hamilton wins and Vettel finishes third, Hamilton would be confirmed as the 2018 World Champion.
Starting grid:
Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes
Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
Esteban Ocon - Racing Point Force India-Mercedes
Nico Hulkenberg - Renault
Romain Grosjean - Haas-Ferrari
Charles Leclerc - Sauber-Ferrari
Sergio Perez - Racing Point Force India-Mercedes
Carlos Sainz - Renault
Kevin Magnussen - Haas-Ferrari
Max Verstappen - Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Renault
Sergey Sirotkin - Williams-Mercedes
Lance Stroll - Williams-Mercedes
Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren-Renault
Pierre Gasly - Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda
Brendon Hartley - Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda