Las Vegas Grand Prix – Qualifying: George Russell claims pole position, Pierre Gasly delivers an incredible performance

The title will be decided this weekend and Max Verstappen, although far from pole position, is well on his way to winning his 4th Formula 1 title. For this to happen, he must ensure that he finishes ahead of his rival, Lando Norris, and for now, after qualifying, that’s the case.

The pole for a Mercedes, Hamilton is struggling

While Lewis Hamilton had set the best times in free practice 1 and 2, George Russell seemed to be in better shape this Friday (Saturday morning in France). The English driver set the best time in Free Practice 3 and especially managed to grab pole position. However, on the other side of the garage, Lewis Hamilton looks disappointed. Qualified for Q3, the seven-time world champion could never put together a clean lap. He finishes 10th today.

Pierre Gasly, surprising third

If both Alpines made it to the podium in Brazil during the last Grand Prix, in apocalyptic conditions favorable to an opportunistic strategy, the predictions are much less positive. However, it must be acknowledged that Pierre Gasly was able to put all the elements together to set the third fastest time in qualifying. He is ahead of Charles Leclerc by 352 thousandths.

Gasly’s teammate, Esteban Ocon, just missed out on getting into Q3. He is in 11th position.

Max Verstappen on track for the title.

Max Verstappen must do better than his title rival this weekend and he manages to place his Red Bull in P5, just ahead of Lando Norris. This will put even more pressure on Lando Norris before the race. However, the McLaren driver still has to believe.

Red Bull had a very complicated start to the weekend with a rear wing problem, which was misjudged by the engineers and did not meet expectations. After making a few cuts with a circular saw on the wing, apparently the performance has slightly improved.

On his side, Sergio Perez fails to make it to Q2 and is once again eliminated in Q1. He is only 16th.

The big accident of Franco Colapinto

Franco Colapinto had a huge accident during Q2. The Argentine driver, a rising star in F1 since replacing Logan Sargeant, delivered a poor performance during these qualifications. By hitting the inside of turn 17, he was propelled to the outside and ended up destroying his single-seater.

Williams, in trouble. With this crash, the team will have to dig into its budget cap, let’s remember, to be able to repair the Williams. Two races to go and as the two crashes in Brazil have already cost more than 2 million euros, it is difficult to know if the team will be able to field two cars in the race on Saturday evening in Las Vegas, Sunday morning in France.

The result of the qualifying session for the 2024 Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix.