Max Verstappen took Sprint pole for the United States Grand Prix sprint with a lap of 1:32.143, edging Lando Norris by 0.071s and setting the grid for tomorrow’s Sprint. The Dutchman’s lap capped a tight qualifying session at COTA, where seven drivers posted in the 1:32s.Since the summer break, Verstappen has been the driver to beat, winning two of the last three races. Despite being more than three-tenths slower than Norris in FP1 earlier in the day, Verstappen turned it around when it mattered.The F1 official account posted the pole win on X, captioned:“MAX VERSTAPPEN IS ON SPRINT POLE!! 🥇 What a lap from the Red Bull driver! 👏”Fans were quick to join in, celebrating the Dutchman’s resilience after a challenging Friday practice. One referred to the performance gap between Red Bull and McLaren and wrote:“Max taking the tractor to fight with rocket ships.”Others echoed the sentiment, praising Max Verstappen's final flying lap.Yash @yashv011LINKMax is just maxing, papaya boys nowhere close💀FergiesRightRef @FergiesRightRefLINKIf he had that McLaren, he would indeed be in Tokyo.Kamren @KamrenRKLINKMcLaren has the faster car, but Red Bull has the fastest driverSome fans pointed to the bigger picture of how Verstappen’s form since the summer has reignited a title race, trimming the points deficit to 63 from 97.Mr Khalif🇿🇦 @IdrisKhalifLINKThe absolute scenes if Max claws himself back into title contention and then win it. It'd be pure cinemaKachwanya @kachwanyaLINKMcLaren boys might just throw away the championship to MaxWith Red Bull introducing steady upgrades to the RB21 through the past two rounds, while McLaren halted development, the balance of power looks to be shifting slightly back in Red Bull’s favor.“Not easy when you go to the soft compounds”: How Max Verstappen sealed Sprint pole at COTAMax Verstappen (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 during Sprint Qualifying. Source: GettyFriday’s Sprint Qualifying at Austin began with McLaren dominance. Lando Norris topped both SQ1 and SQ2, while Oscar Piastri stayed close behind. For most of the hour, it seemed a McLaren front row was inevitable.Kimi Antonelli missed out on SQ3 by just 0.006 seconds, while several drivers, including Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson, lost laps to track limits. By the time the final eight-minute SQ3 segment began, teams knew the soft compound would deliver only one peak lap, as tire strategy had become crucial.Drivers like George Russell, Alex Albon, and Carlos Sainz went out early, but that decision cost them track evolution. Nico Hulkenberg produced a stunning opening sector in SQ3 with a purple first and second sector that briefly put him on provisional pole. But Norris delivered a brilliant lap, four tenths clear of Hulkenberg, while Piastri followed him into P2, three tenths behind his teammate.Max Verstappen was the last to leave the garage, building heat slowly into his soft tires. A purple first sector, a clean middle section, and a perfect final corner exit sealed it for the Dutchman. After the session, he admitted it was one of those laps that required precision and nerve.“It’s been a nice Qualifying, throughout all the segments we were quite close, just about putting it all together, which is not easy when you go to the soft compounds. Excited for tomorrow, happy for today. This has been a very good day for us. I’ll try and have a good start. I hope we have good pace in the Sprint but we’ll find out tomorrow,” he told F1.For Max Verstappen, the result carries extra weight. He has won both sprints here from pole in 2023 and 2024.