Las Vegas GP Qualifying: George Russell takes pole, Gasly in suprise third

George Russell secured his third pole position of the season for Saturday's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Russell of Mercedes recovered from a contact with the Turn 5 barriers on his opening lap in Q3 on Friday to set a top qualifying time of 1 minute 32.312 seconds. He finished slightly ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sanz (1:32.410) and Alpine's Pierre Gasly (1:32.664).

"Ultimately you've got to put it on the table sometimes," Russell said. "I felt confident in myself -- I knew if I did a clean lap, it would be enough to secure a front row, so to get pole position is incredible. Ultimately, we've had a few good qualifyings recently -- we need to convert that into a win now."

Sainz was pleased to finish as close as he did given the frigid weather.

"It was a tight quali," Sainz said. "I'm a bit closer to pole than what I was expecting, really."

Charles Leclerc (1:32.783) of Ferrari finished fourth fastest in qualifying.

Dutchman Max Verstappen (1:32.797), who won the Las Vegas race in 2023, qualified fifth, just ahead of rival Lando Norris (1:33.008).

Verstappen, who is chasing his fourth consecutive title, leads Norris of McLaren by 62 points with three races left. Verstappen must finish ahead of Norris in order to win the championship.

Williams rookie Franco Colapinto of Argentina finished 14th after colliding at the exit of Turn 16, causing a 20-minute delay in racing.

SportsLigue