The third and final segment of F1 Las Vegas GP qualifying has been delayed. reason? Late in Q2, Williams driver Franco Colapinto's violent shunt spread debris across the Las Vegas Street Circuit, requiring a lengthy inspection of the wall Colapinto hit.
After an extended delay, Q3 finally began and an epic 12-minute shootout for pole position began. When the dust finally settled in Sin City, George Russell took his fourth pole position of his career and third of the season.
And although Mercedes were the strongest in the week leading up to qualifying, several drivers gave Russell their all. As the final flying lap unfolded, it was the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. who temporarily locked out the front row, but Pierre Gasly jumped into provisional second place and separated the Ferrari pair. This dropped Leclerc to 3rd place.
But Russell cut through the night in Sin City, performing under the pressure of expectations and taking pole position.
Asked trackside by James Hinchcliffe if he expected that pace this week, Russell said: “Absolutely not, to be honest.” “It feels incredible to be back on pole position. I was very fast all weekend.”
Russell requested to be the last car at the end of Q3 and his call worked perfectly.
“Ultimately, you have to put it on the table every now and then,” Russell said. “It's unbelievable to get pole position… but now we need to turn it into a win.”
Here are the full qualifying results for the Las Vegas Grand Prix:
