George Russell maintained Mercedes' superb Las Vegas pace to take pole; Carlos Sainz in second as Pierre Gasly takes shock third; Max Verstappen edges out Lando Norris; watch the Las Vegas GP live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event at 6am on Sunday, with build-up from 4.30am
Saturday 23 November 2024 08:31, UK
George Russell produced a stunning lap to claim pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Max Verstappen boosted his chances of sealing the world championship by beating Lando Norris.
After Mercedes had topped all three practice sessions at the stunning street circuit, Russell maintained the Silver Arrows' impressive pace to edge out Ferrari's Carlos Sainz by almost a tenth of a second.
Pierre Gasly took a shock third for Alpine as the rapidly-improving surface created unpredictable results in the closing stages, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth.
Red Bull's Verstappen, who can seal a fourth successive drivers' title by finishing ahead of Norris in the race - live on Sky Sports F1 at 6am on Sunday - edged out Norris by finishing a place ahead of the McLaren in fifth.
Norris must gain three points on Verstappen to ensure the title battle continues to the penultimate round of the season in Qatar next weekend.
Lewis Hamilton had appeared to be his team-mate Russell's main rival for pole position after impressing in practice and the early stages of Qualifying, but made errors on each of his flying laps in Q3 and will start 10th.
Yuki Tsunoda impressed to beat Norris' McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to seventh, while Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Haas.
Sergio Perez's Qualifying struggles continued as the under-pressure Red Bull driver was knocked out in Q1 for the fifth time this season.
Williams' Franco Colapinto, who has been touted as a possible replacement for Perez if Red Bull decide to make a change next season, potentially harmed his hopes of that move by crashing heavily at the end of Q2 in an incident which caused a 20-minute delay.
Since claiming three victories in four races before the summer break, Mercedes have struggled to compete for podiums and therefore it came as quite a significant surprise when they topped all three practice sessions under the lights of Las Vegas.
However, they have often been competitive in practice before falling away when it matters most, so doubt remained even as Russell topped Q1 before Hamilton went fastest in Q2.
Hamilton, who has struggled badly in Qualifying this season, blew his first flying lap by locking up and ruining that set of tyres. Then, having limited his opportunity to assess the track conditions after the delay for Colapinto's crash, the seven-time world champion made another error with his final chance to set a lap and finished 15 seconds off the pace.
Russell produced a fine first flying lap in Q3 to go fastest, but also made an error by brushing a barrier and damaging his front wing to the point it needed changing.
By the time Mercedes had carried out the repairs it was touch and go for Russell to make it to the line before the chequered flag, but he did so and took full advantage of having the best of the improving track conditions to edge out Sainz.
"It is incredible to be back on pole. We have been so quick all weekend," Russell said. "I knew coming into that last Q3 lap that would be the one that counts, it doesn't matter what happened before then.
"I had a bit of a moment on my first run. We had to change my front wing. There was a moment I thought we wouldn't make the flag.
"We have to do some deep diving to understand why we have been so quick this weekend because it was a real surprise."
Sainz produced an impressive lap to outpace his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc by almost four tenths of a second.
The Ferraris were split by Gasly, who backed up Alpine's remarkable two-three finish in the wet in Brazil to further boost their hopes of taking an unlikely sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
Verstappen came into the weekend knowing that finishing ahead of Norris would enable him to seal the title with two rounds to spare, but that looked unlikely as Red Bull struggled in practice.
Team principal Christian Horner dismissed reports that Red Bull had brought "the wrong" rear wing to Las Vegas, explaining that they - unlike some rivals - simply don't have an event-specific low-downforce version of the part.
Horner's insistence that the RB20 had the potential to be competitive bore fruit as Verstappen found some pace late in final practice and in the early stages of Qualifying.
The Dutchman never appeared to have the speed to challenge Mercedes, but crucially was able to edge out Norris and make the prospect of the title being won in Las Vegas a realistic one.
There were indications in practice that McLaren possess stronger race pace than Red Bull but with the potential for all sorts of drama on The Strip, the weekend could turn into a special one for Verstappen.
"We tried to do the best we could. We worked well together. We tried a lot of different things to see what was the right direction," Verstappen said.
"I think what we did was the right direction but still clearly not enough to fight for pole. I'm still quite happy.
"We are still in front of McLaren, which for me is a bit of a surprise, but I'm quite happy with how Qualifying went and my laps."
McLaren's disappointing performance has also given Ferrari a major opportunity to reduce their 36-point lead at the top of the Constructors' Championship.
The Italian squad clearly had the best long-run pace in practice and are primed to challenge Russell for victory.
Sunday November 24
4.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP build-up*
6am: THE LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX*
8am: Chequered Flag: Las Vegas GP reaction*
9am: Ted's Notebook*
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 returns with the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1, where Max Verstappen could seal the championship. Stream the final three F1 races and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
