Mercedes’ George Russell grabbed his third pole position of the season at the 2nd edition of the revitalized Las Vegas GP.
The British driver showed promising and continuous form throughout a racing weekend in what seems to be his weekend of the season.
Cooler weather conditions seemed to favor Mercedes very much as they were practically the strongest team the entire weekend until Lewis Hamilton’s mistake cost him resulting only in the 10th
The top 3 were rounded up by the Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, coming out of nowhere.
The qualifying session began at a slow pace, with only half of the grid managing to set a valid lap time as Q1 progressed. Drivers faced the additional challenge of extremely low track and air temperatures, making it difficult to bring their tires up to optimal performance.
Ferrari was among the last teams to deliver a competitive lap. Leclerc placed himself just behind the McLarens, while Sainz slotted between the two McLaren drivers.
Mercedes once again demonstrated strong form at the Las Vegas GP, securing the front row by the end of Q1, with Russell leading Lewis Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez were surprising eliminations, joined by Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, and Lance Stroll.
Ferrari drivers were once again the last to attempt a flying lap, anticipating that track evolution would aid in heating their tires more effectively. Until then, Lewis Hamilton led Oscar Piastri by just one-thousandth of a second.
In the pole-position battle, Max Verstappen made an impressive move to claim the top spot, leapfrogging the Mercedes drivers. However, Russell and Hamilton quickly regained the first two positions, while Ferrari and McLaren drivers also entered the fray.
The gap between the top seven drivers was astonishingly tight, with less than three-tenths of a second separating them.
Hamilton extended his lead as the session concluded, which was prematurely halted by a red flag following a massive crash involving Franco Colapinto.
The young Argentine clipped the barrier with his front left tire, nearly going airborne before his car collided with the barrier on the opposite side.
The Williams rookie then slid along the barrier for over 100 meters due to the high speed of the impact.
4 teams, 7 drivers in the mix for Las Vegas GP pole
Very open competition for the pole lets multiple drivers change up on top of the leaderboard. Hamilton, then McLaren drivers, Sainz, and then ultimately George Russell all held a provisional pole position within the first 5 minutes of Q3.
The final flying lap of the session saw McLaren improving on their personal bests but not enough to dispatch George Russell from the provisional pole position. Their times were enough for 2nd and 3rd until Sainz and Leclerc overtook Russell.
Gasly stuns the paddock with another amazing performance in 2nd behind Sainz until Russell regains his well-deserved pole position.
Hamilton’s strong weekend ended up horribly as the British driver will start in 10th following a snap of oversteer that sent him over the curbs.