Oscar shocker as Aussie DQ'd from F1 Sprint qualifying; Verstappen ...

Australia’s Oscar Piastri will start the US Grand Prix sprint race in 16th position after being eliminated in the first part of sprint qualifying for exceeding track limits.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start the sprint race from pole with Mercedes’ George Russell in second.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who recorded the second fastest time in practice for the main race, will start the sprint in third on the grid with Lando Norris fourth.

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“Obviously a disappointing start to sprint qualifying. Car looks like it’s got plenty of speed,” McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said.

“Unfortunately Oscar lost his lap there, he was comfortably in. Bit of a long day tomorrow.

“Drivers aren’t totally happy with the handling of the car. That corner gets some people caught out.”

Piastri said: “Most of the lap was good. Made a few mistakes in the last sector and second last corner just tried to go a bit too fast.

“A shame but the one good thing about sprint weekends is we have another shot tomorrow.It feels OK.”

Meanwhile, Norris described his sprint qualifying lap as “shocking”.

“Been struggling the whole day honestly with the balance and the set-up,” he said.

“Happy with P4 because I feel like it could have been a lot worse, but my lap was shocking.

“Not a terrible day, could have been worse, could have been better.”

The US Grand Prix is one of six of the 24 events this season that has been designated F1 Sprint events.

Verstappen has won all three sprint races this year.

The Dutchman says he’s pleased with the sprint qualifying result but was already looking ahead to the main race on Monday morning (AEST).

“We had a good day. I’m happy, the car was working quite well, very happy to be first - it’s been a while,” Verstappen said.

“It’s not easy, to deal with it over one lap is not the easiest but it’s fun.

“We’ll do the best we can in the sprint but the most points are available on Sunday.”

PRACTICE

Carlos Sainz topped the times ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari set the pace ahead of title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Friday’s opening practice at the United States Grand Prix.

Sainz clocked a fastest lap in one minute and 33.602 seconds to beat Leclerc by 0.021 seconds with three-time champion and series leader Verstappen of Red Bull adrift by two-tenths.

Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were fourth and fifth ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate George Russell with Kevin Magnussen eighth on his return for Haas.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin ahead of Yuki Tsunoda of RB with Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull languishing in 16th place.

Verstappen, without a win since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, is hoping to end a run of eight winless races to stay well clear of Norris who has closed to within 52 points in the title race with six rounds remaining.

After a four-week break, most teams arrived in Texas with a raft of upgrades for the championship run-in, McLaren and Mercedes leading the way on a bright, warm and dry morning.

Norris led the cars out and was soon running off track as he mistimed his braking while Leclerc was the early pacesetter in 1:36.724.

Sainz soon joined his Ferrari teammate at the top of the monitors before Russell and then Verstappen took over, the Dutchman clocking 1:35.538 for Red Bull.

In gusty conditions, Hamilton and Russell both survived big spins at Turn Four, the seven-time champion wrecking a set of tyres.

Leclerc and Sainz then regained the top two spots before Red Bull switched from hards to mediums or softs, a change that saw Verstappen sweep ahead of the pack in 1;33.855, almost a second clear of Sainz with Perez third.

The Mexican soon climbed to second with 20 minutes remaining making it two Red Bulls on top ahead of the two Ferraris, Russell and Norris as the field settled before Zhou Guanyu lost power and returned to the pits in his Sauber.

With 10 minutes remaining, all the leaders returned on softs while Alex Albon, in his 100th Grand Prix, took to a run-off in his Williams at Turn 12 before Hamilton rose to second behind Verstappen, Liam Lawson taking third for RB.

Piastri then almost hit a pit-entry wall, as he came in with too much speed, triggering a brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC) before the final laps flurry.