Hello and welcome to ESPN's coverage of qualifying for the U.S. Grand Prix.

A reminder that Max Verstappen topped this morning's final practice in a Red Bull 1-2. Verstappen was 0.5s faster than Kimi Raikkonen in third and 0.7s clear of Lewis Hamilton in the leading Mercedes. His teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg was a further three tenths back.

However, neither Mercedes driver was able to set a representative flying lap on the super-soft compound. Rosberg bailed out of his lap after running wide in the final sector, while Hamilton -- who crossed the line to start his lap with just one second remaining in the session -- also aborted his effort after hitting traffic in the shape of Felipe Nasr.

Heading into qualifying it appears that the battle for pole position will be contested between Mercedes and Red Bull with Ferrari not too far behind.

Although practice times rarely prove to be a true representation of the order, and its highly likely that Mercedes has more pace to unleash during qualifying, as seen throughout 2016 so far.

Other battles to keep an eye on include the fight over fourth place in the constructors' standings. Force India currently boast a 10-point advantage over Williams and seem to have the edge so far in Austin.

Renault-bound Nico Hulkenberg was seventh in FP3 but only two tenths clear of Valtteri Bottas. Sergio Perez was P11, while Felipe Massa was 13th quickest. Expect a close fight between both teams to make it into Q3.

Daniil Kvyat - fresh from signing a new deal at Toro Rosso for 2017 -- was 14th, once again outpacing teammate Carlos Sainz. However the Spaniard's session was reduced to just six laps after not one but two punctures. Kvyat has out-qualified Sainz in the last two qualifying sessions.

Less than 10 minutes until Q1 gets underway.

Of course the main focus is on the championship battle between Rosberg and Hamilton. Interestingly, although Hamilton has dominated on race-day with three wins out of the four races held at COTA so far, he is yet to record a pole position at the circuit.

Rosberg, on the other hand, has been on pole at the last two grand prix, but Hamilton beat him to victory from second on both occasions.

With both drivers tied on eight poles each in 2016, it promises to be a fascinating qualifying session in Austin.

Q1 is underway.

Perez is out on track on the soft compound tyre.

Wehrlein begins a flying lap on the super-soft tyre.

Wehrlein posts the first timed-lap of the session on a 1:39.319s.

Nasr slots into second on a 1:39.703s.

Ericsson now moves to the top of the timings with a new benchmark of 1:39.017s.

Both Haas cars are running in formation on track.

"Something with the brakes doesn't feel right," reports Nasr.

Grosjean moves into P1 on a 1:38.520s.

Both Mercedes head out on the super-soft tyre.

Hamilton lowers the benchmark time to a 1:36.296s, one tenth faster than teammate Rosberg.

Ricciardo moves himself into P4, one tenth down on Verstappen and 0.4s off Rosberg in P2.

Raikkonen and Vettel can only manage fifth and sixth -- that is until Hulkenberg pops into P5.

Ocon moves himself up to 18th on a 1:38.806s.

Five minutes to go, Gutierrez, Ocon, Wehrlein, Ericsson, Button and Nasr currently occupy the drop zone.

After a slight lull of track action, Button heads out and has the whole circuit to himself. He is in need of an improvement in order to make it into the second part of qualifying.

With two minutes left on the clock, Button begins his latest flyer.

Button improves but only goes P16 after hitting traffic in the final sector.

Ericsson moves up to P13, which officially pushes Button into the bottom six.

Grosjean cannot move out of the bottom six on his final lap.

Out in Q1: Grosjean, Magnussen, Button, Wehrlein, Nasr and Ocon.

An impressive lap from Ericsson sees him make it through into Q2 for only the fourth time in 2016.

Q2 is go. It's time to find out who will make it into the top 10 shootout.

Rosberg hits the track on the soft tyre.

As is his Mercedes teammate Hamilton.

Hamilton begins his flying lap.

Rosberg sets a 1:36.351s to go P1.

Hamilton slots into P2, just 0.099s off his teammate.

Perez posts a 1:37.578s to move third.

Bottas locks up a number of times on his way to going third on the super-softs.

Ricciardo, on the super-softs, goes only one tenth quicker than Rosberg to move into P1.

Verstappen can only manage P5 on the softs.

Vettel and Raikkonen move into fourth and fifth respectively.

Massa, Ericsson, Gutierrez and Palmer are yet to go out. Six minutes remain in Q2.

Current drop zone: Sainz, Kvyat, Ericsson, Massa, Gutierrez and Palmer.

Ericsson begins a flying lap on the super-softs.

Alonso and Bottas now head out, while Ricciardo jumps out of his Red Bull. The Australian should have done enough to make it into Q3.

Alonso starts his final flying lap of qualifying. He's currently 10th fastest.

The top six are all happy enough with their lap times not to come out again in Q2.

Alonso improves on his time but only goes P9.

Perez moves himself into P9.

Hulkenberg goes sixth and knocks Verstappen down.

Sainz goes P8 and gets a Toro Rosso into the top 10 shootout.

Ricciardo tops Q2.

Eliminated from Q2 are: Perez, Alonso, Kvyat, Gutierrez, Palmer and Ericsson.

Rosberg, Hamilton and Verstappen will all start tomorrow's race on the more durable soft tyre.

Palmer slows to a stop in the pitlane, he has managed to get back to his Renault garage.

Q3 is underway. Who will claim pole position for the 2016 United States Grand Prix? It's time to find out.

Rosberg is the first driver to head out onto track. He is followed out by Hamilton.

Rosberg begins his flying lap on the super-softs.

Rosberg sets a 1:35.442s.

But Hamilton moves onto provisional pole on a 1:35.370s, just 0.072s ahead of Rosberg.

Verstappen moves into third, but he is 0.6s down on Hamilton's time.

Vettel moves into P4, Raikkonen slots into P5.

Ricciardo jumps up to P3, one tenth clear of his Red Bull teammate.

Replays show that Rosberg ran wide in the first sector, which undoubtedly lost him some time. His final sector was particularly impressive, however it is Hamilton who has the advantage after the first Q3 runs.

Bottas breaks the silence as he heads out for his first run.

He is followed out by Rosberg, Sainz and Hamilton.

"Weird shifts up to seventh," reports Hamilton.

Rosbeg begins his final lap.

Rosberg posts a 1:35.215s.

But Hamilton takes back pole position by two tenths of a second on a 1:34.999s.

Ricciardo goes third, two tenths ahead of teammate Verstappen.

Raikkonen out-qualifies Vettel by snatching fifth.

Lewis Hamilton takes his ninth pole position of the season for the 2016 United States Grand Prix.

That's Hamilton's first pole position at Austin.

Outside of the top five comes Vettel, Hulkenberg and Bottas, while Massa and Sainz complete the top 10.

That's a wrap on our LIVE coverage for today. Thank you for joining us and please do join us again tomorrow for our coverage of the 2016 United States Grand Prix.