George Russell took pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a stunning lap on the city streets, narrowly beating Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Second place. With the title race likely to be decided in Las Vegas, Max Verstappen finished fifth, ahead of nearest rival Lando Norris in sixth. In a tight battle, Alpine Racing’s Pierre Gasly finished third, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth and RB Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda seventh.
The result ensures Verstappen still has a chance to claim a fourth successive world title in Saturday’s race and take the title with two rounds remaining in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Verstappen leads Norris by 62 points and will need a 60-point lead to win the title after Saturday’s Grand Prix. Any previous finish by Norris would have been enough to seal the title, and the British driver would have to finish three points or more ahead of Verstappen in Las Vegas to deny him the title and keep the battle going until Doha. Next round.
Franco Colapinto crashed his Williams in Q2, causing a run delay and Norris started the final session with a time of 1:33.237 Leading the lap, ahead of Piastri. Sainz was then faster and Verstappen was second, but Mercedes surged ahead and Russell took the top spot, two tenths ahead of Sainz. However, Lewis Hamilton had to abort his first run after locking down.
With the track rubberized and grip increasing, the final laps were crucial and Russell was demanding to come out as late as possible and come out last on time. Hamilton had some bad luck, losing the rear and going wide at turn three, and was unable to finish better than tenth. Sainz made progress and took first place, but only briefly, with Russell finishing a better lap in 1 minute 32.31 seconds to finish tenth ahead of Sainz.
It was Mercedes’ third pole position this season, following Russell’s wins in Canada and Silverstone. Russell’s previous wins in Austria and Hamilton’s wins at the British Grand Prix and Spa showed the team had a real chance of finishing fourth, a result they have not achieved since the 2021 season.
It was Russell’s first pole position in Las Vegas and the fourth of his career. He was disappointed at failing to convert pole positions into wins at Canada and Silverstone, and was disqualified from victory at Spa after his car was found to be underweight. He is determined to execute perfectly on Sunday and claim his third F1 victory. Judging from the way the car looked in the cooler temperatures in Las Vegas, he’s more than capable of making the most of it.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished eighth, with Haas’s Nico Hülkenberg ninth. Colapinto had a major collision with the wall at the penultimate corner, sustaining severe damage and ending the second stage, but escaped injury and finished 14th. The final race was postponed while the walls were inspected and debris was cleared from the track. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon ranked 11th, Haas’s Kevin Magnussen ranked 12th, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu ranked 13th, and RB’s Liam Lawson Ranked 15th.
Sergio Pérez’s woes continued, with the Mexican eliminated in the first round in 15th place. Aston Martin Racing’s Fernando Alonso finished 14th. His teammate Lance Stroll suffered an energy recovery system failure in the final practice session and was only able to participate in one qualifying lap, but only finished 20th. Williams’ Alex Albon was 18th and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was 19th but suffered a five-place grid penalty for an engine change. , he will start from the end.
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General Motors’ bid to enter F1 as an 11th team is believed to be in its advanced stages with this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. The team could formally announce its acceptance into the sport in 2026 as soon as next week. GM has been working with Andretti’s team as part of their efforts to gain a spot, but without success as F1 felt they were not competitive enough. However, F1 appears to believe it has a strong commercial future as GM’s workforce restructures its bid to include building its own engines by 2028, possibly entering under the Cadillac brand name.
