US Grand Prix qualifying, stay: Latest F1 updates from Austin

After winning seven of the first 10 races of the season (and plenty more the previous season), Verstappen has not won any of the last eight rounds, with just two podium positions in that time. Sadly for McLaren fans they have not managed to fully capitalise on this downturn in form from Red Bull, and – apart from perhaps some particularly bad luck for their rivals – Norris will need to be close to perfect from here on in to win the championship. 

Unfortunately that was not the case in yesterday’s sprint qualifying. Verstappen took pole for that; his first F1 pole of any kind for quite a time. Norris could only qualify fourth, 0.25sec behind the Red Bull pole man. There are not that many points available in the sprint race (eight for the winner, one for the eighth-placed driver) but this is an opportunity for Verstappen to make his rival’s life that little bit more difficult by finishing ahead. Plenty can happen in a sprint race, especially on a track like this. That said, it often does not. 

The action gets under way at 7pm BST and we will be here for all the build-up, live action and reaction from that before moving onto qualifying coverage around 10pm, with the session under way at 11pm. That, perhaps, could be more consequential for the title but McLaren will need to find something that they did not have yesterday and hope Red Bull lose that something, too. 

Source: telegraph.co.uk