• Verstappen forced onto grass while attempting to pass Briton• Valtteri Bottas takes pole for Sunday’s US grand prixLewis Hamilton qualified for the
United States Grand Prix in a disappointing fifth position after a near-miss with Max Verstappen. There was a close encounter at turn 19 in Q2 between Verstappen and Hamilton, who had engaged in a war of words via the media after their collision at the start of the
Mexico Grand Prix last week, with Hamilton complaining of the threat of being “torpedoed” by the aggressive style of the Red Bull driver and Verstappen accusing him of being “disrespectful”.
Verstappen was forced on to the grass as he tried to pass Hamilton, who was himself seeking to get past the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat. Stewards did not investigate the incident. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, secured pole with a lap time of 1.32.029, just ahead of
Sebastian Vettel, Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Hamilton was 0.292 seconds slower than Bottas.