Mercedes have owned the Circuit of The Americas in recent years and they just about carried that performance advantage into this year’s edition on Saturday, with Lewis Hamilton putting himself in the box seat to clinch a fifth world title with a brilliant pole position.

Championship rival Sebastian Vettel was a very close second, but he will start fifth, courtesy of a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently for a red flag during free practice earlier in the weekend.

Hamilton judged qualifying impressively once more, setting a strong banker lap with his first Q3 effort and then improving on his second run to take an 81st pole position and third consecutive pole at Austin. Worryingly for his rivals, Hamilton has always won the United States Grand Prix when starting on the front row.

Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest, but he’ll be promoted to the front row courtesy of his Ferrari team mate’s grid penalty, while Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo will also be promoted one place for Sunday. Intriguingly, Raikkonen will start on the ultrasoft tyres, with Hamilton and Vettel on the supersofts, and that could give the Finn more grip off the line and subsequently provide a great battle for the lead into the uphill Turn 1.

Esteban Ocon, currently without a seat for 2019, earned the accolade of best of the rest in the Force India, a fraction ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, with Haas’s Romain Grosjean, Sauber’s Charles Leclerc and Force India’s Sergio Perez completing the top 10 in Texas.