Hamilton takes pole at US Grand Prix
Title rival Vettel ends up fifth on the grid after being slapped with three-place penalty
Austin: Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for Sunday’s potential title-deciding United States Grand Prix by just 0.061 seconds on Saturday with another record-breaking performance for Mercedes in a tense qualifying session.
The 33-year-old Briton topped the times with a late flying lap that kept him narrowly ahead of his only remaining title rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari who, after taking a three-place penalty, will be fifth on the grid. Kimi Raikkonen was third-fastest in the second Ferrari ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes with Daniel Ricciardo fifth for Red Bull.
Esteban Ocon was an impressive sixth for Force India ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Romain Grosjean of Haas, Charles Leclerc of Sauber and Sergio Perez in the second Force India.