George Russell slots into Pole Position in Vegas.
In all honesty, I didn’t watch qualifying because we had a power cut, but I know the result so I’m going to try my best!
What a qualifying and what a grid! Action from start to finish!
George Russell in the Mercedes stormed to pole, continuing the teams fine form in the cold of Vegas. Carlos Sainz won the Ferrari duel, beating Leclerc by over 3 tenths, finishing in P2.
Placing in P3 was my driver of the session, Pierre Gasly. Coming off an epic weekend I Brazil, the Frenchman continued where he left off. The cold, slick conditions of Las Vegas benefited the Alpine driver, finishing just over 3 tenths off pole position.
Meanwhile, Verstappen managed to salvage a P5 finish, a result Red Bull probably didn’t expect. After Practice 1 and 2, Red Bull found they bought the wrong rear wing to Las Vegas, losing up to 0.6 seconds on the main straight. However, he managed to vault his way up the grid, with the car suffering in the low grip conditions. His teammate Perez didn’t fair so well, failing to make it out of Q1 once again this season, finishing the session P16.
Then there’s McLaren. As someone who watched qualifying, I was quite surprised by their pace all weekend. They were consistently lacking speed, with Norris and Piastri separated by less than 0.025 seconds, finishing P6 and P8 respectively. With Norris being the only driver left able to challenge Verstappen for the championship, qualifying behind the Red Bull driver is far from what he would’ve been dreaming of.
In P7 finished once again an impressive Yuki Tsunoda. He was able to deliver in the slippery conditions, begging the question of why isn’t he driving the Red Bull next year. Liam Lawson finished down in P15, one place ahead of Perez, really emphasising the strong showing from Tsunoda.
Franco Colapinto was in line for a Q3 appearance until an over 50G crash in the last sector ended his lap, and the Q2 session. This is not the news the Williams team wanted. With several extreme incidents in Brazil between the two drivers and this large crash for Colapinto, spare parts are at a premium and is pushing them to the limit with the cost cap. In the end Colapinto finished 14th with Albon down in 18th.
The Haas duo once again delivered, with Hulkenberg finishing P9 and Magnussen P12. Hamilton finished a disappointing P10 after a costly mistake on his important run during Q3. Elsewhere Zhou finished P13 making it through to Q2 for one of the only times this season ahead of Bottas in P19, who completed a home Ironman in the time off fuelled by Coke and Porridge just because he wanted to!
The Aston Martin duo once again failed to impress. Alonso finished the better of the two Aston Martins down in P17 and Stroll qualifying last. Their form has dissipated over the last season and particularly over the last few races, with Dan Fallows leaving the F1 project, Adrian Newey has a tall order on his hands to try and push Aston Martin back up the grid and back to the podium positions of early last year.
So where does that leave us for tomorrow?
Mercedes displayed great pace, with Hamilton arguably the quicker of the pair. His charge through the field will be interesting to watch and whether he will be able to reach and challenge his teammate for the win. Sainz once again is in the running for victory, with pace to match the Mercs to challenge for victory.
Tomorrow could also be the crowning day for Verstappen to become a 4-time world champion. If results fall his way, he will become world champion or at least be almost guaranteed to become World Champion in Qatar, like in 2023.