Russell Takes Las Vegas GP Pole with Late Strategy

George Russell of Mercedes secured pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a standout performance, narrowly beating Ferrari's Carlos Sainz by 0.098 seconds. Russell's strategic decision to be one of the last on track during Q3 paid off, allowing him to post a time of 1m 32.312s on a rapidly improving track. Pierre Gasly impressed with a third-place finish for Alpine, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris are set to start from fifth and sixth positions, respectively. Lewis Hamilton struggled and only managed to qualify tenth after making errors on both Q3 attempts. The challenging schedule due to jet lag saw Russell adopting relaxation techniques, such as listening to the sound of waves, to maintain peak performance. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez's early exit in Q1 raises questions about his future with Red Bull amid ongoing poor form.