LAS VEGAS — George Russell secured pole position on Friday evening for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and Carlos Sainz will line up alongside him. The second row will be Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc.
But the driver championship contenders are farther back. Max Verstappen will line up fifth, while Lando Norris will be beside him, qualifying sixth. Sixty-two points separate the Dutchman and Briton, and Verstappen needs to beat Norris to secure his fourth consecutive title.
But the constructors’ battle is a bit murkier. Sergio Pérez didn’t advance out of Q1 and will start the race P16. That’s his sixth Q1 elimination of the year. Red Bull sits third in the standings and 13 points behind second-place Ferrari. While Red Bull relies heavily on Verstappen, Ferrari’s duo of Leclerc and Sainz are better positioned for Saturday’s race. And if Ferrari fares well during the race, it could take a chunk out of McLaren’s lead. The Woking-based crew is 36 points ahead of the Italian team, and Oscar Piastri qualified eighth.
Meanwhile, the midfield battle is heating up. Gasly’s P3 start comes after Alpine leapfrogged the grid in Brazil with a double podium, and it leads Haas by three points and RB by five points. And one team faces a major repair job. Qualifying took a sudden turn in the final moments of Q2 when Franco Colapinto clipped the inside of Turn 16 and smacked the barriers, heavily damaging his car once again. The repair job Williams now faces comes after the team endured three wrecks across the São Paulo Grand Prix weekend.
Here’s how the top 10 qualified.
- George Russell
- Carlos Sainz
- Pierre Gasly
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- Lando Norris
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Oscar Piastri
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Lewis Hamilton
This is a developing story.
Top photo: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
