George Russell put his Mercedes on pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as team-mate Lewis Hamilton faltered to qualify only 10th.
As Russell saw off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by just 0.098 seconds to land top spot in Sin City, Hamilton was left to rue two mistakes which leaves him way down the order.
Pierre Gasly took a surprise third for Alpine, one place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Lando Norris must outscore Max Verstappen by at least three points to extend the title battle to the penultimate race in Qatar, but the British driver will start one place behind the Dutchman in sixth.
Live stream – Sky Sports subscribers can watch all the action in Las Vegas on the Sky Go app. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: Verstappen moves up to fourth! (Lap 4/50)
Max Verstappen gets it done down the back straight, with Gasly not even putting up a fight!
Meanwhile, Russell has to defend hard to keep the lead from Leclerc – who is right on his gearbox!
A note from the stewards too: Oscar Piastri noted for a potential false start. Bad news for McLaren.
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 06:12
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: Gasly drops to P4! (Lap 2/50)
Gasly with not the best start, dropping a spot to fourth – and now Max Verstappen is right on his tail!
Top-10: Russell, Leclerc, Sainz, Gasly, Verstappen, Norris, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Piastri, Hamilton
Pretty smooth through the opening two laps!
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 06:07
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: George Russell keeps the lead!
Lights out and it’s a great get-away from Russell!
He keeps P1, but Charles Leclerc has stormed past Gasly and teammate Sainz to get up to second!
Verstappen just keeps fifth from Norris too!
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 06:05
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: Formation lap!
George Russell leads the cars around this Vegas circuit then for the formation lap!
The top-14 all start on medium tyres, with a one-stop strategy likely over this 50-lap grand prix, while Fernando Alonso in P16 surprisingly starts on soft tyres!
Here we go then – who will lead after turn one?!
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 06:02
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: A reminder of the starting grid…
Pit lane. Franco Colapinto**
*Bottas has a five-place grid penalty for taking a new engine
**Colapinto will start from the pit lane after his crash in qualifying
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 05:58
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: Mercedes boss Toto Wolff…
For Russell’s start: “You need to create a gap in the first couple of corners because we are lacking straight-line speed.
“It’s always a balancing act.”
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 05:55
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: Lando Norris, who starts P6…
“I don’t think any car feels good around here.
“The car has good pace, it’s going to be a challenging day.”
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 05:53
F1 Las Vegas GP LIVE: Max Verstappen, ahead of what could be a title-winning night…
“It’s very windy, it’s very difficult to break.
“It’s still quite cold, it’s going to be tough on tyres.”
Typically focused answer from the Dutchman!
Kieran Jackson24 November 2024 05:50