US Grand Prix: Lando Norris beats Max Verstappen and takes pole in Austin

That made Norris' task in the championship even more difficult – he had to take an average of almost nine points per race from Verstappen in the remaining six Grands Prix of the season to beat him for the title.

Pole position has given Norris the opportunity to make up some of that lead in the Grand Prix, although Verstappen's pace looked impressive all weekend after Red Bull made some improvements to his car.

McLaren struggled in comparison, but Norris outdid himself and went fastest in the early runs before Russell's accident secured his pole.

“It was a beautiful round,” said Norris. “I didn’t want to be much faster than I was.

“If you just do one lap and think it's going to be hard to beat… I put everything on the line, I had to do it.”

“We didn’t have the pace of the Ferraris or Red Bulls so I had to do something and that’s what I did.”

“It was a very good round. I can probably confidently say it’s the best of my career.”

Both Norris and Verstappen made mistakes at Turn 19 on their first laps. Norris slipped and had to catch the tail, while Verstappen had to take off after missing the apex.

Verstappen was then 0.2 seconds faster than Norris in the first sector on their second run – and Norris was slower there than on his first run – before both had to stop.

Verstappen said: “I lost quite a bit of time on the first lap in the third qualifying. I knew we had one more run, but unfortunately I couldn't finish the lap, but that's how it is. At least there was the potential to come first,” so that’s very good.”

McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished fifth, 0.620 seconds slower than Norris, while Russell was still sixth despite his crash.

It was a terrible day for teammate Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion qualified 19th, with Mercedes saying he had “chaotic balance and a front block.”

Norris' pole was his fourth in the last five races, while Verstappen has not been fastest in qualifying since the Belgian Grand Prix in July, when he was demoted with a penalty for using excessive engine parts.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull's Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10.