Las Vegas - Qualifying

The glorious lights of Las Vegas greeted the drivers as they flew in for the first race of the intense triple-header that will close out the beautifully unexpected 2024 season. With both championships still undecided and all the teams hungry for wins, the weekend promised a lot of excitement for all the fans who decided to stay late or wake up early to watch it. 

Qualifying began at 22:00 local time on a track rather cold for Formula One, with temperatures in Vegas reaching eight degrees Celsius. On top of being unpleasant for the viewers, mechanics, and race engineers, the cold caused quite a bit of trouble for the cars. In conditions such as those we saw throughout the session, tires take much longer to warm up enough to fall into the right temperature window and achieve the optimal level of grip. This can be especially consequential on a new and non-permanent street track, which is not as rubbered in as some of the others we've seen over the season. Grip played a great part in setting a good lap. The names and teams jumped all over the leaderboard, never staying in the same spot for too long. As it often does, the fight for Q2 came down to the last few minutes of the session. The two Haas opted for a risky strategy of driving out with only 4 minutes left, giving themselves little time to acclimate to the track. It worked out just fine for both of them, they made it through to Q2 with no issues. Stroll also waited until the very last moment to drive out, although in his case, it wasn't by choice as earlier in the day he had some problems with his power unit. He put his all into the one lap he had time to deliver, but it just wasn't enough. He finished the session last but won't be occupying the 20th spot on the grid tomorrow as Bottas, also in the drop zone, received a 5-place grid penalty for exceeding the limit of power unit components. Perez, Alonso, and Albon were also eliminated.  

Not for the first time this season, the Mercedes proved that it loves the cold. George Russel set a brilliant lap that quickly became the benchmark for all other drivers. There was a moment when the Brit lost P1 first to Verstappen and then to his teammate, but he was quick to get it back, emerging as a likely contender for the Vegas pole. The times improved alongside the track's grip, helping the drivers get quicker with every lap. A lot of them crossed the starting line as late as they could to give themselves the best possible shot at making it through to Q3. In that particular case, it ended up not being the best decision as, while the drivers were making their last efforts, Colapinto's Williams slammed into the wall, hitting the concrete track barriers with enough force to push them back from their original spots. The driver reported that he was fine and managed to get out of the car without the help of the stewards. His accident brought out an immediate yellow flag and ended the attempts of drivers who were still improving. This put Ocon, Magnussen, Zhou, Colapinto, and Lawson in the elimination zone. 

The fight for the pole was as tight as ever and the clear frontrunner was Russell, the man trying to start the race from the very front for the third time this year. After all the drivers finished their first attempts, he was the one on provisional pole. His teammate, on the other hand, closed out the P10: he locked up on his first run and ended with an unsatisfactory time. He tried to make up for it on his second attempt but lost the rear of his car and, even though he completed the lap, did not manage to move up. But while he couldn't challenge Russel, the other eight drivers tried to. The McLarens weren't quick enough to take the pole, but the Ferraris managed to do so, getting a provisional 1-2. It didn't last for long: only a few seconds after achieving the feat they were split by the Alpine of Gasly, a rather unexpected guest on the front rows. 

And, when it mattered most, Russell repeated his feat from the first half of Q3 and put together a lap better than those of his competitors. For the third time this year, he took the pole position. Will he be able to convert it into another win? Are we in for a thrilling Sunday race? After all, whatever happens in Vegas...

Order of the grid:

1. George Russel

2. Carlos Sainz

3. Pierre Gasly

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Max Verstappen

6. Lando Norris

7. Yuki Tsunoda

8. Oscar Piastri

9. Nico Hulkenberg

10. Lewis Hamilton

11. Esteban Ocon

12. Kevin Magnussen

13. Zhou Guanyu

14. Franco Colapinto

15. Liam Lawson

16. Sergio Perez

17. Fernando Alonso

18. Alex Albon

19. Lance Stroll

20. Valtteri Bottas