Las Vegas Grand Prix: George Russell on pole with Max Verstappen fifth and Lando Norris sixth
Mercedes’ George Russell beat Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to win the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a riveting final lap of qualifying pole position.
Russell finished just 0.098 seconds ahead of Sainz, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finishing a shocking third.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth after a chaotic race, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth, ahead of his championship rival McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Norris needs to finish ahead of Verstappen to challenge for the title at the next race in Qatar.
Two errors by Lewis Hamilton left him tenth in the Mercedes, when he should have been battling Russell for the lead.
Hamilton took the lead in the second session of qualifying but struggled when pushing the limits and finding the last bit of time, as has been a trend this year.
Mercedes looked strong all weekend, with Hamilton leading both Friday’s practice and Russell’s on Saturday, and that form continued into qualifying.
Russell hit the wall on the first run and required a front wing replacement, but he kept his composure and asked to come out last to ensure he got the best track conditions.
It was Mercedes’ first pole position since he took the lead at the British Grand Prix in July.
“It feels incredible to get back on pole,” Russell said. “We’d been fast all weekend and I knew the third quarter lap was the most important.
“Sometimes you have to leave it on the table and I was confident in myself and I knew if I did a clean lap it would be enough to finish at the front, but we need to turn that into wins now.”
The final top-10 penalty shootout was delayed by around half an hour after Franco Colapinto crashed his Williams at the end of the second qualifying session.
When the race finally started, many riders failed to live up to their potential.
Like Hamilton, Leclerc made a mistake on the first lap and had to abort, then struggled in the first part of the final lap. Finishing fourth in this situation hinted that he was on the verge of pole position.
Both McLaren drivers faded. Norris finished roughly the same time as Verstappen in the first round, but was 0.211 seconds behind his rival at the crucial moment.
Behind Norris, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda is seventh, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is eighth, and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton round out the top ten.
