F1 Las Vegas GP: Russell takes pole as Verstappen qualifies ahead of Norris

George Russell posted a post to the Las Vegas Grand Prix during the first pregnancy session because Max Firthstap was the fifth in front of his opponent’s opponent’s opponent.

Russell was the last driver who appointed time in the third quarter, and his efforts 1m32,312 was enough to lead the Carlos Seans preliminary pole in the final order. The Briton led the first lap of the session, setting a time of 1m32.811s before the final 10 drivers changed tyres, but Lewis Hamilton, who led Q2, abandoned a lap after going off the track at Turn 14.

Then in the laps Russell’s previous time came under scrutiny. Charles Leclerc took the lead with a time of 1m32.783s, but Sainz finished three tenths of a second ahead of his teammate. But Russell bounced back to take pole position and lead from the front row ahead of Sainz.

Pierre Gasly put in a brilliant attempt to qualify third on the grid on Saturday, allowing the Alpine driver to split the Ferrari duo on the grid. Verstappen and Norris occupied the third row, Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh ahead of Oscar Piastri, and Nico Hulkenberg finished ninth, just 0.750 seconds behind Russell’s pole lap. Hamilton could not define the typical time held. He finished the second round, but he lost the rear with turn 4 and off piping, which led to the abolition of the turn time. Anyway, it was enough for the 10th, and if he reproduced his time in the second quarter, he would have been third. Q2 was supported by Franco Colora Compint’s emergency accident with the 16th turn output, but most drivers have already completed the last execution before creating a stop and delay.

Argentina cut out the inside of the barrier, spit it on the opposite wall, and took Williams from three horns to increase the team’s repair costs. Esteban Ocon couldn’t do enough to get into the top ten, and teammate Gasly pulled away at the last minute to eliminate Kevin Magnussen.

Zhou Guanyu was one of the few to qualify for Q2 and set the 13th fastest time, while Colapinto was ranked 14th after a crash. Liam Lawson’s final attempt to complete a lap was aborted as he returned to the pits, leaving him in 15th place.

Sergio Perez again retired from qualifying in Q1, complaining about a lack of grip in his Red Bull RB20 as he was pushed towards the relegation zone by a series of late upgrades.