Final starting grid United States GP | Verstappen and Sainz first row

As was known prior to qualifying, the starting grid for the US Grand Prix will look slightly different from Saturday's result. Six drivers will incur a penalty for changing engine or gearbox parts and will be moved back five or 10 places on the grid as a result. Esteban Ocon has to start his race from pit lane.

Charles Leclerc seemed on his way to a pole time, but in the final moments of Q3 his teammate Carlos Sainz dipped below it. The Spaniard managed to find just that little bit extra after expressing his frustration in Japan that he is usually just short of pole position.

For Max Verstappen, there was no more in it than a third time, but Leclerc's grid penalty moves the Red Bull Racing driver up one place. Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took full advantage of Leclerc and Sergio Perez 's grid penalties to start from the second row.

Perez will have to work his way through the field from ninth on the grid, the same goes for Leclerc from 12th position. Alonso will also try to move forward from P14, while Alexander Albon will want to defend his eighth starting position with everything he has. The Williams driver moved up three places due to grid penalties for Leclerc, Perez and Alonso.

Meanwhile, penalties have also been imposed on Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon: Tsunoda gets a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox, while Ocon will have to start from the pits after Alpine replaced engine parts, breaking the parc fermé rules. This seems like a strategic choice: Ocon was set to start 17th after a poor qualifying session, so the penalty hurts him relatively little.