What happened at the Las Vegas Grand Prix? Qualifying and the F1 weekend so far

George Russell will start at the front of the grid for tomorrow morning’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, after Mercedes’ shock form in Nevada delivered pole in qualifying.

The Silver Arrows had topped every session so far this weekend, with even the team admitting surprise at its form. Russell continued that run with the very last lap of the session, a tenth of a second quicker than second-fastest Carlos Sainz.

But hopes of locking out the front row of the grid were shattered by a disastrous end to the session for Lewis Hamilton, who had been fastest in the previous Q2 stage.

The seven-time champion locked up and ran down an escape road on his first flying run, then had to correct a slide on his second, which left him last and over 2sec behind his team-mate. To add insult to injury, he’d run off the track during that final lap and had his time deleted. Hamilton will start 10th.

Few would have predicted the final starting grid for Sunday’s race, with Pierre Gasly declaring his third place for Alpine “unbelievable” after an “incredible lap”. It means that he’ll start where he left off in Brazil, where he crossed the line behind Max Verstappen and team-mate Esteban Ocon.

Behind Gasly was Charles Leclerc, then Verstappen who hauled his Red Bull to fifth, having struggled for grip during practice in the cold night air of Las Vegas where temperatures dropped to 12C.

It was a turnaround for the reigning champion which left him ahead of Lando Norris, whose minimal title hopes will be extinguished tomorrow at this rate. McLaren’s low-key performance continued in qualifying, with Oscar Piastri eighth-fastest, between two impressive performances from the midfield: Yuki Tsunoda in seventh and Nico Hülkenberg ninth, just five-hundredths of a second slower than Norris.

The final Q3 shootout was delayed after Franco Colapinto crashed at the end of Q2. With five minutes remaining, he hit the wall at the exit of Turn 16, once again leaving the Williams mechanics with a wrecked car to repair before the race.

That confirmed the elimination of Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen, Zhou Guanyu, Colapinto and Liam Lawson at this stage.

But already out of qualifying at the Q1 stage were a series of drivers whose luck was well and truly out in Las Vegas. Sergio Perez endured another miserable session for Red Bull and was only 16th fastest, his body language too clearly relaying the despondency.

He was ahead of Fernando Alonso in an uncompetitive Aston Martin, and then Alex Albon, whose lap time was deleted. Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas make up the final row of the grid.

Full qualifying results

Las Vegas Grand Prix: the rest of the weekend so far

Thursday

Tsunoda grilled at border
Yuki Tsunoda revealed that he had feared not making it to Las Vegas after a run-in with customs officials on arrival to the US. “I nearly got sent back home,” he said. “Everything is all good now but yeah, luckily I’m here.”

On the skids
This weekend’s technical talking point was skid blocks, which are used underneath the car to protect the floor plank from being ground down — which could result in disqualification. Teams had been using a loophole to fit additional protective skid blocks, which could have allowed their cars to ride lower with performance benefits. That loophole has now been closed with a technical directive.

Drivers disgruntled
With a new race director in place for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, following the abrupt departure of Niels Wittich, F1’s governance was back on the agenda. The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) had written to racing’s governing body, the FIA, to demand that they are treated “like adults”, following a series of controversial statements from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and punishments imposed for swearing.
GPDA director George Russell said he was “fed up” that there had been no response from the FIA and that drivers had not been briefed about the decision to replace Wittich with Rui Marques.

Friday

Andretti back on the agenda
Andretti’s bid to run an F1 team in 2026 looked to have been thrown out, but now there are suggestions that it could be back on the cards, potential as a fully Cadillac-badged entry. It follows a Department of Justice probe into whether the handling of the bid contravened antitrust laws, as well as the resignation of Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, which owns F1’s commercial rights.

Red Bull winging it
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said that the team was struggling — just 17th and 19th fastest in the second free practice session — partly because it lacked the smaller rear wing used by competitors. It would be more helpful, for sure,” said Marko.

Even Mercedes can’t believe its pace
George Russell admitted, “we are scratching our heads” over Mercedes’ strong performance in practice. Lewis Hamilton topped both of the first two practice sessions, with Russell close behind