P1racenews AI automatic summary:
George Russell earned Mercedes’ first Formula 1 pole position in over four months but team-mate Lewis Hamilton was only 10th after a Las Vegas Grand Prix Q3 disaster
George Russell secured Mercedes’ first Formula 1 pole position in over four months, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton struggled and ended up 10th after a disappointing Q3. Mercedes has only managed one podium finish since the summer break and had been falling behind F1’s leading teams before this race in Vegas. Russell and Hamilton showed strong performance in practice, with Russell dominating Q1, Hamilton Q2, and Russell ultimately taking pole position in Q3. However, Hamilton’s errors in Q3 left him at the opposite end, opening the door for Carlos Sainz to secure a front-row spot. Max Verstappen needs to finish ahead of Lando Norris to clinch his fourth world title this weekend, with Yuki Tsunoda impressively finishing seventh ahead of Hamilton. Additionally, Franco Colapinto’s crash in the Williams garage caused significant damage to his car, likely leading to a pitlane start. Lance Stroll faced issues that delayed his qualifying session, Aston Martin lost both cars in Q1, and Valtteri Bottas received a five-place grid penalty for exceeding energy stores.
