Russell grabs the pole from Sainz, Gasly

George Russell took pole for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a closely contested Q3 session as newly elected champion Max Verstappen was fifth ahead of rival Lando Norris.

Russell was the last driver to set a time in Q3 and his resulting 1m32.312s effort was enough to put him ahead of provisional polesitter Carlos Sainz in the final standings.

The Briton had led the opening runs of the session, setting 1m32.811s before the final 10 drivers changed tires as Q2 headliner Lewis Hamilton had abandoned his lap after an off at turn 14.

The following races then put Russell’s previous time under the microscope; Charles Leclerc set a 1m32.783s to advance, although Sainz found a further three tenths on his team-mate to claim first place.

Russell, however, put together a final charge to win pole – and claim the front row advantage over Sainz.

Pierre Gasly was superb in his charge to third on the grid, allowing the Alpine driver to split the Ferrari duo on Saturday’s grid.

Verstappen and Norris closed the third row, while Yuki Tsunoda was seventh fastest over Oscar Piastri. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth, just 0.750s off Russell’s pole lap.

Hamilton was unable to set a representative time that stood; although he completed a second lap, he lost the rear end in turn 4 and understeered off-track, leading to the erasure of the lap time. Regardless, it was only good enough for 10th, and had he repeated his Q2 time it would have been third.

Q2 was ended by Franco Colapinto’s violent crash at the exit of turn 16, although most drivers had already completed their final run before he caused a stoppage and delay.

The Argentine clipped the inside of the barrier and was spat heavily into the opposite wall – depriving his Williams of three corners and also causing major damage elsewhere to increase the team’s repair costs.

Esteban Ocon had been unable to improve enough to break into the top 10 when teammate Gasly snuck through at the last minute to dump Kevin Magnussen out in the process.

Zhou Guanyu was a rare sighting in Q2, managing to set the 13th fastest time as Colapinto was tied for the 14th best time after his accident. Liam Lawson’s last attempt at a lap was abandoned as he retired to the pits, resulting in a 15th place finish.

Sergio Perez again dropped out of the qualifying account in Q1, lamenting a lack of grip in his Red Bull RB20 as he was pushed towards the drop zone by a flurry of late improvements.

He will thus line up 16th on Saturday’s grid, ahead of Fernando Alonso – neither Aston Martin made it out of Q1, as Lance Stroll was also sent to an exit as the slowest performer when his car was repaired following an FP3 stop as his power unit seemed to shut down.

Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas were also dumped out at the first hurdle, with Bottas starting last in the grand prix due to a grid penalty.

Pictures from Las Vegas GP Practice & Qualifying