2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix – Qualifying F1 results (Las Vegas Strip Circuit)

Thomas Maher 23 Nov 2024 6:24 AM

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez on track during the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Here are the complete qualifying results from the Las Vegas Strip Circuit in Nevada, where a thrilling qualifying session was marred by a huge crash in Q2.

Mercedes‘ George Russell has seen off a strong challenge from Ferrari to take pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Q3 Results:

Russell went quickest through the first runs, setting a 1:32.811, but took to team radio to ask to go later in the pack on the second run as he pointed out how the circuit would be ramping up.

With Russell quickest ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the first runs, there were mistakes from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton – Leclerc ran wide at Turn 7 and skittered into the escape area, while Hamilton missed his braking point for Turn 11 and had to turn himself around in the escape area to regroup.

Russell tapped the wall at Turn 5 on his flying lap, resulting in precautionary checks for Mercedes in the garage before sending the British driver back out on track with two minutes remaining, giving him only enough time for a single flying lap.

On the final runs, the timing screens were awash with green and purple sectors as the track evolution duly played out with Leclerc moving into provisional pole despite a poor first sector, before being pipped by Sainz.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly got himself in on the action by splitting the two Ferraris, before Russell’s last lap sent him to the top by a tenth of a second over Sainz.

With Russell ahead of Sainz on the front row, the second row will be Gasly and Leclerc, while the third row will be title protagonists Verstappen and Norris.

Hamilton was unable to improve on his second run, making a mistake sliding through Turn 2 as the rear of his W15 refused to cooperate – he wound up in 10th.

1. George Russell Mercedes 1:32.312
2. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.098
3. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.352
4. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.471
5. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.485
6. Lando Norris McLaren +0.696
7. Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.717
8. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.721
9. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.750
10. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +15.794

FULL REPORT: Las Vegas GP: From T5 wall to pole position, George Russell sets the pace in quali

Q2 Results:

It was a Mercedes on top again in Q2, with Hamilton putting in a strong lap at the chequered flag to set a 1:32.567.

With Hamilton quickest ahead of Sainz and Russell, the session was marred by a big accident for Franco Colapinto.

The Argentinean turned in slightly too early for Turn 16 and tapped the inside wall, slamming his Williams hard into the wall on the outside as a result.

Skating down the track, the Williams was torn apart in what will be another huge rebuild job for the Grove-based squad, while the Argentinean climbed clear in obvious frustration.

With Colapinto out in 14th, the other Q2 eliminations were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 11th, and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in 12th.

Zhou Guanyu was 13th for Sauber, with Liam Lawson in 15th for VCARB.

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.567
2. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.144
3. George Russell Mercedes +0.212
4. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.312
5. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.449
6. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.457
7. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.518
8. Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.522
9. Lando Norris McLaren +0.532
10. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.547
11. Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.654
12. Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.730
13. Zhou Guanyu Sauber +0.999
14. Franco Colapinto Williams +1.182
15. Liam Lawson VCARB +1.690

Q1 Results:

Verstappen underlined Red Bull’s improvements from practice by setting the quickest time as Q1 entered its closing stages, with the Dutch driver only undone by the final runs of Russell and Hamilton.

With the Mercedes leading 1-2, Verstappen slotted into third ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, but there was less good news for the other side of the Red Bull garage.

Perez’s final lap only scraped him into Q2, with late improvements from Colapinto and Tsunoda pushing the Mexican back down into the elimination zone in 16th.

Joining Perez on the sidelines were the two Aston Martins – Alonso down in 17th and Stroll in 20th, with the Canadian only getting a single run right at the end following an ERS issue that meant his car was in pieces for most of the session.

Alex Albon was 18th for Williams, with Valtteri Bottas 19th for Sauber.