After the most exciting thing we saw on track at Circuit of the Americas yesterday was a couple of school buses due to rain, Formula One finally got most of a qualifying session in and Mercedes is on top with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
The session red flagged early after Carlos Sainz wrecked in the rain, and F1 managed to get Q1 and Q2 in before calling off the third for — you guessed it — weather conditions. This is the second U.S. Grand Prix pole in a row for Rosberg, and he said he’s “fine” with the weather outside (not totally sure I, or my currently soaked pants and umbrella, can totally agree on that).
“It was difficult out there with aquaplaning,” Rosberg said. “You just really struggle to have control of the car. It’s been quite challenging.”
Starting after the Mercedes duo on grid are Red Bull Racing Renault drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, and both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will receive a 10-place grid penalty for using a fifth engine this season. Vettel and Raikkonen qualified fifth and eighth prior to penalty assessment.
The Historic Masters F1 cars are out on the circuit at the moment (and they’re actually moving in this rain), so we’ll see how that goes. We’re scheduled to get a race in at 2:30 p.m. ET today on NBC.
Photo credit: AP Photo/John Locher
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