George Russell secured pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a very competitive Q3 qualifying session, as champion-elect Max Verstappen was fifth fastest ahead of rival Lando Norris.
Russell was the final driver to set a time in Q3, and his lap time of one minute, 32.312 seconds was enough to carry him ahead of provisional polesitter Carlos Sainz in the final result.
The Mercedes driver had led the first runs of the session, setting a time of one minute, 32.811 seconds before the final ten drivers switched tyres, as Q2 headliner Lewis Hamilton had abandoned his lap after going off at Turn 14.
The following runs then put Russell’s earlier time under pressure as Charles Leclerc set a time of one minute, 32.783 seconds to move ahead, although Sainz found three more tenths on his Ferrari teammate to claim P1.
Russell, however, put together a final charge to take pole – claiming the front row advantage over Sainz.
Pierre Gasly was excellent in his charge to third on the grid, allowing the Alpine driver to split the Ferrari duo. This follows his podium finish in Brazil.
Verstappen and Norris closed out the third row, while Yuki Tsunoda was seventh fastest over Oscar Piastri. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth, just 0.750 seconds away from Russell’s pole lap.
Hamilton was unable to set a representative time – although he completed a second lap, he lost the rear in Turn 4 and understeered off-track which led to the lap-time deletion. Either way, it was only enough for P10 and, had he replicated his Q2 time, would have been third.
Q2 was brought to a close by Franco Colapinto’s massive crash on the exit of Turn 16, although most drivers had already completed their final runs before he created the red flag and delay.
The Williams driver clipped the inside of the barrier and slid into the opposite wall – which stripped his car of three corners and also caused heavy damage elsewhere to add to the team’s repair costs.
Esteban Ocon had been unable to improve enough to get into the top ten, as teammate Gasly push through at the last minute to knock out Kevin Magnussen in the process.
Zhou Guanyu was a rare sighting in Q2 and managed to set P13, as Colapinto takes P14 following his accident. Liam Lawson’s final attempt at a lap was abandoned as he retreated to the pits, resulting in P15.
Sergio Perez again fell out of the qualifying reckoning in Q1, complaining of a lack of grip in his Red Bull, as he was pushed towards the drop zone by a series of late improvements.
He will thus line up P16, ahead of Fernando Alonso – neither Aston Martin made it out of Q1 as Lance Stroll was the slowest driver, as his car was repaired from an FP3 halt as his power unit appeared to switch off.
Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas were also knocked out at the first hurdle, and Bottas will start last in the Las Vegas Grand Prix owing to a grid penalty.
So a fantastic qualifying result for George Russell with pole. The Mercedes was quick in all three practice sessions so to get P1 is a nice reward. As for the title contenders, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are next to each other. Will be fascinating what happens in the race. Game on!
Las Vegas Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.312
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:32.410
3 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.664
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:32.783
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.797
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:33.008
7 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:33.029
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:33.033
9 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:33.062
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:48.106
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:33.221
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:33.297
13 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:33.566
14 Franco Colapinto Williams 1:33.749
15 Liam Lawson RB 1:34.257
16 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:34.155
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:34.258
18 Alexander Albon Williams 1:34.425
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:34.430
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:34.484
Mercedes driver George Russell stormed to pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, edging out Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz and the high-flying Alpine of Pierre Gasly in Saturday night’s pulsating qualifying session.
Having topped final practice and led the way after the first Q3 runs, Russell posted a time of 1m 32.312s on his final lap to secure the top spot and end a run of Ferrari and McLaren poles stretching back to his P1 performance at Silverstone.
Sainz was a tenth of a second back, while Pierre Gasly and Alpine built on their sensational double podium finish at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last time out to deliver another eye-catching result in third place.
Charles Leclerc had to settle for fourth in his Ferrari, with championship rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris set to share the third row of the grid for Red Bull and McLaren in P5 and P6 respectively.
Yuki Tsunoda delivered a strong run to seventh in his RB, as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton completed the top-10 – the Mercedes man looking strong early on but making mistakes on both Q3 laps.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/russell-charges-to-pole-for-las-vegas-grand-prix-over-sainz-and-gasly.4UjbnFjRtnyaSVWe2NPRZx
Lando Norris feels that the 2024 Formula 1 championship was already lost in the first six races, long before he entered contention, but nonetheless was proud to have taken it to Las Vegas.
The Briton effectively called time on his outside championship bet after the Brazilian Grand Prix, and needs to outscore Max Verstappen by three points in Las Vegas to at least remain in mathematical contention until Qatar’s sprint race.
Norris would then need to win the Qatar sprint and grand prix, the Abu Dhabi race, and secure both points for fastest lap – all while hoping Verstappen fails to score a single point.
After qualifying behind Verstappen for the Las Vegas race, Norris said that he was not too tied to the outcome of the race, and only wanted to focus on getting the best out of himself and the car, noting that Red Bull was nonetheless beatable.
“I mean, whether he wins or not tomorrow, for me it’s not going to change anything,” stated Norris.
“He’s pretty likely to win the championship, but I’m here to race and do my best in every single race I can, whether Max finishes ahead or not, that’s life. He’s only just ahead of us today.
“I think we have a chance to beat them tomorrow, but I’ll go out and do my best like I do in every single race. And whatever the outcome is, the outcome is.
“[I’m proud], of course. I mean, I’m the one there fighting Max. So I’m proud that it’s me and not anyone else.
“Do I wish it could have gone a bit further down the line? Sure. But the race [for the title] was lost in the first six races of the year. That’s when Max dominated, when Red Bull were too far ahead and points got to a gap which was just too difficult to claw back.
“So I’m proud. I’m happy we brought it as far, and it’s us, no one else.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-2024-f1-title-was-over-after-first-six-races-aims-at-beating-ferrari/10675684/
Max Verstappen said Red Bull “throw away two race weekends” by not having a specific low-drag rear wing like some of its Formula 1 rivals as it suffered “in the corners and on the straights” in Las Vegas.
Red Bull lacked straightline speed compared to its rivals during practice, with GPS data showing it to be 7km/h down on the straights compared to Mercedes and McLaren, which led to focus on adjusting its rear wing to reduce drag.
In qualifying Verstappen’s top-speed deficit shrunk across the key splits, but the Dutch driver still felt his RB20 lacked performance to its direct rivals without a specific low-drag rear wing – something chief rival McLaren’s Lando Norris has in his armory.
Verstappen, who qualified fifth and directly ahead of Norris, explained that Red Bull doesn’t have a low-drag rear wing that is suited to high-speed circuits like Las Vegas and Monza due to calls influenced by the budget cap – but feels it is a decision that needs revising.
“We opted to not make one, we don’t have one,” Verstappen said about a Red Bull low-drag rear wing. “So this is already from 2022, I think we just never thought we would run it that low. And then with the budget cap, you choose your priorities and we shifted that.
“We would have liked to have a lower wing, a lower-downforce wing, or at least a different shape, a more efficient shape.
“It’s something I will look at but, on the other hand, there’s only one more year left with these rules, and I don’t know if it makes sense.
“But for me at least, it feels a bit like we throw away two race weekends like this because you definitely lose too much on the straights.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-red-bull-throw-away-two-races-with-rear-wing-decision/10675697/
George Russell put it all on the line in qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix to convert Mercedes’ electric practice pace into a pole position that was unexpected coming into the weekend.
While it was Russell’s out-going Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton who swept Thursday’s free practice sessions at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Russell hit back on Friday, heading FP3 before converting that pace into his fourth career pole – overcoming a brush with the Turn 5 wall on his first lap in Q3, before setting two laps good enough for pole, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and shock P3 finisher, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Asked if pole was expected coming into the weekend, Russell replied: “Honestly, absolutely not. It feels incredible to be back on pole.
“We’ve been so quick all weekend and I just knew coming into that last Q3 lap… that’s going to be the one that counts. It doesn’t matter what’s happened before then.
“I had a bit of a moment on my first run and we had to change the front wing, so there was a moment when I thought we weren’t going to make the flag. I’m just so happy, and we’ve got to do some deep diving to understand why we’ve been so quick so far this weekend, because it was a real surprise!”
Pushed on where his Q3 confidence had come from, Russell said: “Ultimately you’ve got to put it on the table sometimes. I felt confident in myself – I knew if I did a clean lap, it would be enough to secure a front row, so to get pole position is incredible. Ultimately, we’ve had a few good qualifyings recently – we need to convert that into a win now.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/sometimes-youve-got-to-put-it-on-the-table-russell-reflects-on-real-surprise.6QSh8Vqy2fRFpTcCQS1BHU
Williams driver Franco Colapinto faces a pre-race fitness evaluation after a 50G impact with a concrete wall during qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Argentine was on course to set a time good enough for Q3 when he clipped the inside wall at Turn 13 – the last of a sequence that takes drivers away from the Strip – which sent him into the outside barrier at unabated speed.
A sickening impact saw the car leave the ground before skating several hundred metres down the track towards the final corner, bringing an end to the second segment of qualifying.
Following an initial assessment at the medical centre due to the high-G impact, Williams revealed in a statement that the rookie would face a second test before the race on Saturday local time.
“During qualifying Franco sustained a significant impact of over 50G, requiring a medical check-up,” read the statement.
“An impact of this magnitude is obviously significant and severe and he will need to be evaluated again tomorrow before we will know whether he is clear to race.
“Franco’s health is all that matters and we are glad he is otherwise OK. We will provide further updates when we can.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/colapinto-fitness-evaluated-pre-race-50g-qualifying-crash/10675672/