Formula 1: Russell claims Las Vegas pole

George Russell clinched pole position in Las Vegas this evening in dramatic fashion as the checkered flag flew, outpacing Carlos Sainz and a rapid Pierre Gasly in the final moments of qualifying as the British driver continued Mercedes dominant form under the bright lights of Las Vegas. With his FP3 session in the bag, Russell looked poised to be quick in qualifying as he ended a commanding performance of poles from Ferrari and McLaren that stretched back to Russell’s last pole position in Silverstone in July.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the qualifying action from Las Vegas as Russell claims pole while Colapinto crashes out

Q1 Results:

Mercedes dominance leading into Q1 had many teams on the back foot as the recent strong performance caught many in the paddock off guard, but with one-lap pace being the ultimate goal, it was still anyone’s shot for pole. As the majority of the field trickled out on to the dusty circuit, the Aston Martin squad scrambled to get the stricken car of Lance Stroll back on track after the Energy Recovery System (ERS) failed at the tail end of FP3. While the mechanics worked, others opted to stay in their garages, hopeful that the early runners would assist in clearing some of the dust and litter off the circuit.

Meanwhile, on-track, Oscar Piastri set the provisional pace over Lando Norris and Charles LeClerc as drivers continued to build temperature in their tires. Before long, George Russell dropped his quickest lap of the session to take the top spot again while LeClerc improved to second over Piastri and Carlos Sainz.

As in so many sessions, Sergio Perez found himself again in the drop zone in Q1 as he was joined by Bottas, Colapinto, Lawson, and Stroll – who had yet to set a lap time at this point. Despite additional efforts, it wasn’t enough for the Mexican driver as he was relegated to sixteenth for the start of tomorrows race, exiting early once again.

With the clock clicking to zero, a final run of fast laps dropped as Verstappen and Hamilton each took a quick look at P1, before George Russell further lowered the benchmark with a 1:33.186s lap time, cementing the Mercedes drivers firmly at the top of the time sheets for Q2.

Drivers out in Q1:

• 16th: Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
• 17th: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 18th: Alex Albon (Williams)
• 19th: Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
• 20th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Q2 Results:

With his teammate showing strong pace, Lewis Hamilton came out of the garages swinging in Q2 as he quickly set a benchmark time of 1:33.136s to start off the session with Oscar Piastri just slightly behind. Not to be outdone, Russell countered, lowering the benchmark time further by three-tenths of a second to stay ahead of an improving Hamilton as LeClerc and Verstappen also improved their attempts at provisional pole.

As final times began to drop in near the end of the session, Hamilton remained quickest ahead of Carlos Sainz and teammate Russell. Meanwhile in a last ditch effort to pull himself out of Q2, Franco Colapinto brought out the red flags in dramatic fashion. Exiting turn 16, the Williams driver clipped the inside wall, sending him into the barriers on the opposite side of the track. The massive impact – additional strain for an already struggling Williams team – sent medical cars to the scene as a reported 50g impact was registered by Colapinto’s data traces.

Red Flags immediately flew, ending the session early and forcing marshals to repair the temporary wall at Colapinto’s impact zone. While he walked away from the incident unharmed, the Williams team now faced an uphill battle to prepare the damaged chassis for the race tomorrow.

Drivers out in Q2:

• 11th: Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
• 12th: Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
• 13th: Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)
• 14th: Franco Colapinto (Williams)
• 15th: Liam Lawson (RB)

Q3 Results:

A semi-lengthy delay for the track repairs caused by Colapinto in Q2 meant that drivers were faced with even chillier conditions for the final runs in qualifying.

Opening runs finished in the session with all ten drivers on track as George Russell set the pace from Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen, while the McLaren duo sat in forth and fifth. Hamilton however, sat in tenth after a massive lockup forced him to abandon his first attempt.

With conditions improving, despite the cooler temperatures, drivers went back out for the final runs as Russell pleaded with his team to get him out last amongst the running drivers, to which they did as Russel started his final flying lap. As the checkered flag flew, Pierre Gasly tossed in a stunning lap to put himself on provision pole ahead of Charles LeClerc and Max Verstappen, but was soon dropped down by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Meanwhile, however, the final lap for Russell showed green and purple sectors as the Mercedes driver made his way through the final turns, dropping in a 1:32.312s lap to put himself on pole for the first time since Silverstone of this year.

Unable to improve, Hamilton was resigned to tenth on the grid, a far cry from the true performance of his Mercedes, as he will have his work cut out for himself come race time. Charles LeClerc was unable to take pole again in Las Vegas and was left in forth position ahead of Verstappen and title rival Lando Norris, as Yuki Tsunoda put in a strong performance for seventh ahead of Piastri, Hulkenberg, and Hamilton.

It’s lights out under the lights tomorrow for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix as Max Verstappen looks to clinch his forth world championship title while Lando Norris looks to deny the Dutchman the clinching race once more. Catch everything live on your local streaming services and tune in here for our continued coverage.

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FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2024 Schedule

Qualifying Results: