F1 2024 United States Grand Prix LIVE: Qualifying schedule, start time and updates after sprint race in Austin

Here we go then with the first stage of qualifying!

18 minutes and we’ll lose the slowest five drivers from the rest of qualifying…

Forget the sprint – this is the big one ahead of the grand prix tomorrow!

Can Norris get some revenge on Verstappen?

We’re under 10 minutes away from qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas!

Can McLaren find some form? How about Ferrari? Can Mercedes bring some pace to the party? Or is it Max Verstappen’s to lose?

Qualifying is right up at 11pm (BST)!

The gap between the top two is now 54 points…

1. Max Verstappen – 339 points

2. Lando Norris – 285 points

3. Charles Leclerc – 250 points

4. Oscar Piastri – 237 points

5. Carlos Sainz – 197 points

6. Lewis Hamilton – 177 points

7. George Russell – 159 points

8. Sergio Perez – 144 points

9. Fernando Alonso – 62 points

10. Nico Hulkenberg – 25 points

11. Lance Stroll – 24 points

12. Yuki Tsunoda – 22 points

13. Alex Albon – 12 points

14. Daniel Ricciardo – 12 points

15. Kevin Magnussen – 8 points

16. Pierre Gasly – 8 points

17. Ollie Bearman – 7 points

18. Esteban Ocon – 5 points

19. Franco Colapinto – 4 points

20. Zhou Guanyu – 0 points

21. Logan Sargeant – 0 points

22. Valtteri Bottas – 0 points

For a sport which struggled for the best part of 70 years to find a home across the Atlantic, Formula One’s presence in the United States has reached unprecedented heights this year. And that’s not just a nod to the three US races, in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas, nor to the boom in popularity stateside – a result of Liberty Media’s 2017 takeover and Netflix’s Drive to Survive fever.

Rather it has been, ahead of the highly charged US presidential election on 5 November, the surprising arena for the two nominees to appear, promote and present themselves in a unique and increasingly attractive way to the electorate.

Four-time F1 world champion Vettel retired in 2022 after 16 seasons in the sport, where he raced for the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Yet next March at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, Vettel will form a German ‘super team’ alongside Schumacher – son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher – in the ROC Nations Cup.

Asked by Sky F1 why the FIA still wanted to add seals to the bib adjuster, Horner replied: “I think there’s been a bit of moaning from one of our rivals.

“And it’s the FIA’s job to look into these things. It’s on a list of the open-source components, so it’s been publicly available for the last three years. The FIA are happy with it, I think, just to satisfy perhaps some paranoia elsewhere in the paddock.”

“I feel that it’s sometimes to distract from perhaps what’s going on in your own house, then sometimes you try to light a fire somewhere else?”

5. Aston Martin – 86 points

Formula One wants to return. Lewis Hamilton insists F1 cannot continue to ignore it. But after 31 years away, the sport still can’t thrash out a route back into the only viable continent (sorry Antarctica) it fails to race in: Africa.

It was 1993 the last time the “Mother Continent” hosted an F1 grand prix. That was at Kyalami, 20 miles north of Johannesburg, as Williams driver Alain Prost won the 27th version of the South African Grand Prix.

Rather obviously, it is difficult to claim the full veracity of the competition “Formula 1 World Championship” while a record 24-race calendar does not actually include the entire world and its continents.

But F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has made no secret of his desire to add an African race to the schedule, amid an opening set of talks with Rwandan officials last month.

However, is Rwanda the only option? South Africa has come close in recent years, too. And what are the major obstacles? The Independent takes a look at all the potential locations F1 could venture to in Africa.