It's really close here. It's really hard to pick a potential pole winner, Max Verstappen has been so dominant the last couple of races. This weekend's looked a lot closer between the top four teams. Of those four, McLaren are probably more towards the back, but between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull you can look at indications that suggest any of them could be on pole position. I'm anticipating a very close fight.
More ways to listenpublished at 21:59 BST 24 October
21:59 BST 24 October
BBC Sounds
Harry Benjamin, F1 correspondent Andrew Benson and 1996 world champion Damon Hill are back with us for qualifying.
To follow along, you can either click the listen live tab at the top of the page, search 5 Sports Extra via the BBC Sounds app if you're heading out for the night, or you can ask your smart speaker to "play 5 Sports Extra".
What can McLaren do in qualifying?published at 21:56 BST 24 October
21:56 BST 24 October
Image source, Getty Images
Can McLaren mount a challenge for a spot on the front row this weekend?
Zak Brown told Sky Sports on the pit wall during third practice the team could do with some more points and some more wins (they've won two races this season), but he added the diffcult start to the campaign due to the complex nature of the new power units means they've been trying to understand how to maximise their package for most of the year.
Following their scuffle on the final lap of the Singapore sprint, world champion Lando Norris, who also had a lap time deleted in FP3, said he had a telling off from the big bosses for the contact with team-mate Oscar Piastri. The good news is, if the pair qualify close to each other for the United States Grand Prix, they're free to race - but no funny business.
Stewards have been kept busypublished at 21:53 BST 24 October
21:53 BST 24 October
Image source, Getty Images
The stewards had a few incidents to look at after third practice earlier on, as well keeping long list of the various track limits infringements.
Nico Hulkenberg was released into the path of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll in the pit lane, while the other Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto, who now has a 60-place grid penalty at Cota for taking a new power unit, was a slow-moving car ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
At the end of the hour, Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon were involved in a moment when the Red Bull driver locked up at Turn One and pushed the Williams man off the track. Both drivers were unhappy on the radio, with Hadjar being investigated for driving erratically.
And we have a decision for one of those - it's no further action for Hulkenberg's alleged pit-lane incident with Stroll.
50 years since Hunt's titlepublished at 21:49 BST 24 October
21:49 BST 24 October
Image source, Getty Images
While Kimi Antonelli is hoping to secure the drivers' championship this weekend, today marks the 50th anniversary of a world title for a very different personality.
It was on 24 October 1976 that James Hunt finished third in his McLaren in a very, very wet Japanese Grand Prix to beat Ferrari's Niki Lauda to the crown by a single point.
So dramatic was that race, that season and the Hunt-Lauda rivalry, it was given the big-screen treatment in the 2013 film Rush.
Red Bull chasing McLarenpublished at 21:46 BST 24 October
21:46 BST 24 October
Image source, Getty Images
In the constructors' championship, Mercedes hold an 134-point advantage over second-placed Ferrari with six (as it stands) races remaining.
Red Bull have been the big winners over the past few races and now the team are only seven points behind defending champions McLaren in third.
Liam Lawson collected a decent points haul for Racing Bulls in Singapore, putting them 32 points ahead of Alpine in the fight to finish fifth this season. Both teams are on slightly on the backfoot this weekend, as Franco Colapinto (10 places) and Arvid Lindblad (five places) are each taking grid penalties for Sunday's 56-lap grand prix.
Antonelli one step closer to titlepublished at 21:42 BST 24 October
21:42 BST 24 October
Image source, Getty Images
Kimi Antonelli has a mathematical chance of securing the title at the United States Grand Prix this weekend, but he needs a few things to go his way in Austin.
The Italian is 102 points clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell and 111 points ahead of third-placed Lewis Hamilton.
To be crowned the youngest ever F1 world champion, he needs to win the race on Sunday and Russell to finish ninth or lower and Hamilton to finish outside the top four.
Max Verstappen's two main wins and a sprint victory in the first triple-header to close the season has lifted him from sixth to fourth in the standings. His next target is Hamilton's third spot, with only eight points separating the two multiple world champions.
Mercedes have reverted both their cars to the upgraded specification that was introduced in Malaysia two races ago but about which there remain questions over its relative performance.
The team believe that the upgrade has more performance within it, but that they have not yet found the appropriate set-up to maximise it. They hope a full, 'normal' weekend with three practice sessions will enable them to hone it.
"Having both cars on the same package helps because we can try lots of different stuff and we have a better understanding of this package," Kimi Antonelli said.
"However, we are still trying to get the car in the right window."
Hamilton sets pace in FP3published at 21:34 BST 24 October
21:34 BST 24 October
Image source, Getty Images
Can this upgrade package hand Ferrari their first victory since the British Grand Prix in the summer? How about a first pole position since the Hungarian Grand Prix last year? Charles Leclerc was downplaying expectations after Friday's performance in Austin, but the Italian team must feel confident they can put up a genuine fight for pole position today.
Along with Max Verstappen, the two Mercedes drivers are also in the mix, with Kimi Antonelli and team-mate George Russell finishing third practice in fourth and fifth respectively.
Championship leader Antonelli also had a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Nine. "We were doing so well," joked the Italian's race engineer Pete Bonnington, but had that stuck, he would've ended the session second behind Hamilton.
Austin: Qualifyingpublished at 21:30 BST 24 October
21:30 BST 24 October
Lorraine McKenna BBC Sport Journalist
Welcome back, folks. The Circuit of the Americas is getting ready to stage what should be an intriguing qualifying session, with Ferrari setting the pace across every practice session, but the other top teams are not too far behind.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was the quickest driver in the final hour of rehearsal earlier on, edging out old Red Bull rival Max Verstappen by 0.168 seconds.
But falling foul of track limits hindered many drivers, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who topped the first two practice sessions on Friday, ended up third on the timehseets after his best lap time was scrubbed.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton edged Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the Formula 1 teams completed final practice before qualifying at the United States Grand Prix.
On this weekend on which Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has his first chance of clinching his first world title, the fight at the front between Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes appears to be close.
Antonelli will only become the youngest champion in history this weekend if he wins the race with team-mate George Russell lower than eighth and Hamilton lower than fourth.
Antonelli was ranked fifth fastest in final practice but he had a faster lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Nine. Had it counted, he would have been second fastest ahead of Verstappen.
On legitimate times, Hamilton was 0.168 seconds ahead of the Dutchman with the seven-time champion’s team-mate Charles Leclerc third fastest from Russell.
The McLaren drivers were struggling to put a lap together, continuing to find their car difficult to drive. Lando Norris made mistakes on three consecutive laps as he ran this soft tyres towards the end of the session. His best attempt - on his third lap on the tyres - was good enough for fourth but he was also pinged for exceeding track limits at Turn Nine.
The world champion’s team-mate Oscar Piastri was sixth fastest ahead of the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg.
Back for qualifying build-up from 21:30 BSTpublished at 19:46 BST 24 October
19:46 BST 24 October
The track limits violations have stacked up across the trio of practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas, so teams and drivers will be feeling slightly nervous when qualifying gets under way at 22:00 BST.
Ferrari topped every practice hour in Austin but Max Verstappen and Red Bull are waiting in the wings should they slip up. The Dutchman is aiming for a third consecutive pole position this weekend, while the Scuderia are searching for their first pole since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2025.
We'll take a short pit stop now, and then come back and join us for quali build-up from 21:30.
Andrew Benson
