Russell takes pole with Verstappen ahead of Norris

Mercedes driver George Russell pipped Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with the final lap of an engrossing qualifying session.

Russell snuck ahead of Sainz by just 0.098 seconds while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly pulled off a major shock by taking third place.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth after a messy session, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took fifth, ahead of his title rival Lando Norris of McLaren.

Norris needs to finish the race ahead of Verstappen to take the title fight to the next race in Qatar.

Two errors by Lewis Hamilton consigned him to 10th place in his Mercedes when he should have been fighting for a place at the front with Russell.

Hamilton had topped the second session of qualifying but when it came to pushing to the limit and finding the last little bit of time, he fell short, as has become something of a trend this year.

Mercedes have looked strong all weekend, Hamilton topping both Friday practice sessions and Russell Saturday’s, and that form continued through into qualifying.

Russell hit the wall on his first run and needed a change of front wing, but he stayed collected and demanded to be sent out last to ensure he got the best of the track conditions.

His pole was Mercedes’ first since he was at the front at the British Grand Prix in July.

“It feels incredible to be back on pole,” Russell said. “We have been so quick all weekend and I knew the Q3 lap would be the one that would count.

“You have to put it on the table sometimes. I felt confident in myself, I knew if I did a clean lap out it would be enough to complete a front row, but we need to convert it into a win now.”

The final top 10 shootout was delayed by about half an hour after Franco Colapinto crashed his Williams at the end of the second qualifying session.

And when it finally started, a number of drivers failed to deliver their potential.

Along with Hamilton, Leclerc made an error on his first lap and had to abort and then had a weak first sector of his final lap. To achieve fourth in the circumstances hinted at the fact a shot at pole was on for him.

And both McLaren drivers faded. Norris had set more or less the same time as Verstappen on his first run but was 0.211secs off his rival when it mattered.

Behind Norris, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was seventh, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri eighth and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton completing the top 10.