F1 – Russell takes Las Vegas pole ahead of Sainz and Gasly. Verstappen fifth ahead of Norris

George Russell took his third pole position of the year in a close-fought qualifying session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the Mercedes driver beating Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by less than a tenth of a second. Pierre Gasly qualified a surprise third for Alpine, while title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will line up fourth and fifth on the grid respectively for the race.

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In the opening runs of Q1 it was the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Norris that led the way, with the former establishing the early benchmark at 1:34.058. The duo improved again on their second runs, with Piastri dropping the P1 time to 1:33.450. Verstappen also improved on his second run and he jumped up to fourth with a time of 1:33.800.

After a difficult start to the weekend, the championship-leading Red Bull driver was beginning to find a groove and with his next run Verstappen, aided by a purple middle sector, posted a lap of 1:33.299 to rise to P1. He couldn’t hang on to top spot, however, and in the final moments he was shuffled back to third place behind Russell and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez could not find a comfort zone, however, and as the final runs began the Mexican driver languished in 18thplace, deep in the drop zone. His final attempt put him 12th but with improvements being posted all around him​, the Mexican dropped to P16 and back into the drop zone. “Unbelievable,” he said afterwards. “It just doesn’t get any better. Couldn’t find any grip.” Eliminated behind the Red Bull driver were Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ Alex Albon, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and the second Aston of Lance Stroll.

At the start of Q3 Verstappen was first out on track but it was Hamilton who made the early running. The Mercedes driver posted a lap of 1:33.267, just 0.001s ahead of Piastri, with Verstappen 0.065s further back in third. The Dutchman erased those gaps with his second flyer and this time a purple first sector helped him to P1, 0.051s ahead of Hamilton.

Both Mercedes drivers were into flying laps, though, and Russell went quickest to take top spot with a lap of 1:32.881. Hamilton slotted into second  while Leclerc jumped up the order to push Verstappen back to fourth ahead of the final runs.

The team determined the champion’s time of 1:33.085 was good enough to see him through to the top 10 shootout and it proved to be a wise choice.

Hamilton improved again to take top spot in the session with a time of 1:32.567 ahead of Sainz and Russell. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rose to fourth ahead of Leclerc and Piastri and Verstappen eased through in P7.

The session ended with a bang, however. Almost as soon as the chequered flag was waved, Franco Colapinto clipped the wall on the inside of Turn 15. The impact, which broke his front left suspension, sent the Williams driver flying into the wall on the opposite side of track where a second impact added heavy damage to the right side of his Williams car.

After an almost 30-minute delay, Q3 got underway and this time it was Russell to leapt to the fore. The Briton claimed provisional pole with a lap of 1:32.811, two hundredths of a second clear of Norris, with Verstappen third but four tenths off the pace.

Russell’s opener appeared to be on the limit, however, and he clipped to wall in Turn 5. That left him needing a new front wing for his final run. He soaked up the pressure, though, and demanded that he be sent out last.

It meant that when Carlos Sainz posted a time of 1:32.410 he initially felt he had done enough for pole. Russell was behind him on track, however, and the Briton sealed his third pole of the year 0.098s ahead of the Ferrari driver.

“It feels incredible to be back on pole,” said Russell. “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. And I had a bit of a moment on my first run, and we had to change the front wing. So there was a moment I thought we weren’t going to make the flag. But just so happy and, you know, we’ve got to do some deep diving to understand why it’s been so quick so far this weekend because it was a real surprise.”

Gasly sprung the day’s major surprise, powering his Alpine to third place ahead of Leclerc, Sainz and Norris.

“It’s unbelievable. Honestly, we didn’t think we’d be able to achieve a top three in the quali, so it was an incredible lap, especially around this track, you know, you’re flirting with the walls everywhere through the lap, and a lot of adrenaline, a lot of excitement. I knew crossing the line it was a good lap, but when they came up on the radio telling me we’re lining up third tomorrow, it’s just amazing, so really happy.”

Behind the top six, Yuki Tsunoda qualified in P8 for RB, while Piastri was ninth for McLaren. Hamilton, who had both his Q3 flyers deleted for track limits infringements qualified tenth.

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