Russell takes poll in Las Vegas after intense qualifying

LAS VEGAS: Mercedes driver, George Russell, took pole position in an intense qualifying session on Saturday, which saw Ferrari and McLaren fight over the top spot, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly put on an incredible performance of his own.

Q1

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez had a disappointing qualifying as the Mexican was eliminated in Q1, after setting the fifth slowest time of the session with a 1:34.430. It was the sixth time he was eliminated in Q1 this year. Alongside him, two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso and his teammate Lance Stroll, as well as William’s driver Alex Albon and Sauber’s Valterri Bottas were done for the day.

Q2

In an effort to get out of the bottom five in Q2, the other William’s driver Franco Colapinto had a huge crash with the barrier. After a collision with the inside wall, Colapinto and his car hurtled into the opposite wall before he skidded along the track until he came to a final stop. The crash continued a woeful streak for Williams, as the team suffered five crashes in total between the Mexico and Brazil Grand Prix races, which cost them over $3 million.

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Q3

Lando Norris, looking for his eighth pole position of the season, took first early on in Q3 with a time of 1:33.237. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, was right behind him with a time of 1:33.520. Carlos Sainz would set a better lap soon after, knocking Norris off the top spot with a time of 1:33.022. Max Verstappen would then knock Norris further down, taking second position with a time of 1:33.215.

George Russell would then throw his hat into the race as he took provisional pole with a time of 1:32:811. His teammate Lewis Hamilton didn’t have the same time, having to bail on his lap on turn 12, due to a front left lock up.

Piastri would climb back up to third place on his last lap, knocking Verstappen out of the top three with a time of 1:33:033, but just missing out on the front row by a hundredth of a second. Norris was McLaren’s last hope of taking pole, but would fall just short with a time of 1:33:008. He did however, take second, confirming his place on the front row for Sundays GP.

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Charles Leclerc would throw a wrench into the race, knocking Russell out of the top spot with a time of 1:32:783. Then the other Ferrari driven by Sainz would regain pole on his last lap, with a time of 1:32:410, while Pierre Gasly would drop Leclerc further down, taking second with an incredible time of 1:32.644 in an Alpine.

However, Russell was the last man still on a lap, and he made it count, taking pole position from Sainz, and dropping Gasly off the front row. The British Mercedes driver set a blistering time of 1:32.312 to take his third pole position of the season.

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sunday is sure to be a thrilling race in Las Vegas with the two contenders for the drivers’ championship, Verstappen and Norris, starting from fifth and sixth place respectively. While Verstappen hasn’t secured the championship just yet, he does lead by 62 points. There are only 86 points left up for grabs across the final three races, meaning the Red Bull driver could win the championship on Sunday, if Norris and he finish in their qualifying positions.

The constructor’s championship is a little closer. Currently, McLaren is in first with 593 points and Ferrari are in second with 557 points. Earlier, the CEO of McLaren Racing, Zak Brown stated that “A 36-point lead can evaporate in one race weekend when you’ve got Ferrari, who could easily finish first and second, which can happen in a street race as we saw in Brazil.”

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