F1 Las Vegas GP: Russell grabs pole from Sainz, Gasly

George Russell clinched pole for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a closely contested Q3 session, as champion-elect Max Verstappen was fifth ahead of rival Lando Norris.

Russell was the final driver to set a time in Q3, and his resulting 1m32.312s effort was enough to carry him ahead of provisional polesitter Carlos Sainz in the final order.

The Briton had led the first runs of the session, setting a 1m32.811s before the final 10 drivers switched tyres, as Q2 headliner Lewis Hamilton had abandoned his lap after an off at Turn 14.

The following runs then put Russell’s earlier time under scrutiny; Charles Leclerc set a 1m32.783s to move ahead, although Sainz found three more tenths on his team-mate to claim top spot.

Russell, however, put together a final charge to clinch pole – claiming the front row advantage over Sainz.

Pierre Gasly was stellar in his charge to third on the grid, allowing the Alpine driver to split the Ferrari duo on Saturday’s grid.

Verstappen and Norris closed out the third row, while Yuki Tsunoda was seventh fastest over Oscar Piastri. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth, just 0.750s away from Russell’s pole lap.

Hamilton was unable to set a representative time that stood; 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 good enough for 10th and, had he replicated his Q2 time, would have been third.

Q2 was brought to a close by Franco Colapinto’s hefty crash on the exit of Turn 16, although most drivers had already completed their final runs before he created the stoppage and delay.

The Argentine clipped the inside of the barrier and was spat vigorously into the opposite wall – which stripped his Williams 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 10, as team-mate Gasly crept through at the last minute to dump out Kevin Magnussen in the process.

Zhou Guanyu was a rare sighting in Q2 and managed to set the 13th fastest time, as Colapinto was pegged with the 14th-best time following his accident. Liam Lawson’s final attempt at a lap was abandoned as he retreated to the pits, resulting in 15th.

Sergio Perez again fell out of the qualifying reckoning in Q1, lamenting a lack of grip in his Red Bull RB20, as he was pushed towards the drop zone by a flurry of late improvements.

He will thus line up 16th on Saturday’s grid, ahead of Fernando Alonso – neither Aston Martin made it out of Q1 as Lance Stroll was also consigned to an exit as the slowest performer, as his car was repaired from an FP3 halt as his power unit appeared to switch off.

Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas were also dumped out at the first hurdle, and Bottas will start last in the grand prix owing to a grid penalty.

Photos from Las Vegas GP Practice & Qualifying