Max Verstappen will start alongside championship leader Kimi Antonelli for the United States Grand Prix.

A third consecutive pole position was just out of reach for Max Verstappen after he failed to improve on his final lap of the qualifying session.

Kimi Antonelli claimed pole position on the weekend where he could mathematically win the championship, but he’ll have to defend his lead against Verstappen heading into turn 1.

Kimi Antonelli takes pole for the United States Grand Prix 🔥 What was your biggest takeaway from qualifying?

Max Verstappen frustrated by Red Bull’s Q3 in Austin

Remarkably, Verstappen used the same set of soft tyres to progress through both Q1 and Q2 and he did it with incredibly competitive lap times.

Therefore, heading into Q3 he was perhaps the favourite to claim pole position. But the balance of his RB22 seemed to drift in the final session.

After qualifying, Max Verstappen told Sky Sports: “Just Q3 was not good. Q1 and Q2 were nice, but for whatever reason on the new sets didn’t have a good balance. No mistakes, but just no grip. Started to slide a lot and then on the last lap you can see it’s just not happening with the tail wind in places.

“So you start to push a bit more. I hit the bump wrong, and the car is like a kangaroo so you have a massive slide and you know the lap is over.

“Not very happy with Q3 to be honest. Just not what I wanted or what I expected, but if it’s still a P2 I’ll take it.

Max Verstappen can take confidence from P2 record

The good news for Verstappen is that he is still on the front row and he even has the inside line heading to turn 1 for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.

While Antonelli will have the championship battle in the back of his mind, Verstappen can aggressively chase a third consecutive Grand Prix victory by starting well and fighting into the first corner.

In five of the last eight United States Grand Prix, the first lap has been led by the driver starting second, and that will be music to the ears of Verstappen.