Official F1 Journal Friday Round Up - Las Vegas Grand Prix

20/11/2024

George Russell takes Pole Position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix with his third Pole Position of the season. George is followed by Carlos Sainz in P2 and Pierre Gasly in P3.

Charles Leclerc will start ahead of both Red Bulls and McLarens, with the potential for Ferrari to come away with a good number of Constructor Championship points.

In the Drivers Championship points, crucially, Max Verstappen will start P5, with Lando Norris just behind him in P6.

Max Verstappen will take the Drivers Championship win if he finishes above Norris this weekend or if both drivers fail to score a point. Verstappen would also be crowned the 2024 drivers champion if Norris doesn't outscore him by more than two points.

Sergio Perez will start the race in P16 after failing to make it out of Q1, as Zhou and Colapinto both made it through to Q2.

Franco Colapinto had a huge crash on his final flying lap of Q2, causing a delay in Q3 and more damage and repair work for the Williams Team.

Free Practice Three

Top 10 Results
1) George Russell 1:33.570
2) Oscar Piastri +0.215
3) Carlos Sainz +0.348
4) Lando Norris +0.438
5) Max Verstappen +0.567
6) Lewis Hamilton +0.771
7) Alex Albon +0.837
8) Franco Colapinto +1.153
9) Kevin Magnussen +1.313
10) Pierre Gasly +1.355

With slippery and cold conditions, drivers were quick to emerge on the track and get some track running in.

Twenty minutes into the session, only Perez and Verstappen had set times on the medium tyres, but that didn't last long as Norris and Piastri changed onto soft tyres and headed to the top.

With 30 minutes to go, every driver had set times on soft tyres, except Verstappen and Perez, with Magnussen topping the timesheet with a 1:34.883 lap time.

Mercedes went for another soft tyre run to the top of the timesheets with a 1:34.475 for Russell and 1:34.341. Verstappen put on a set of soft tyres and set a lap time of 1:34.137.

With seven minutes to go, Lance Stroll's car stopped on track due to a power issue, bringing out the Red Flag and ending the session early.

Qualifying

Q1

Out in Q1
16) Sergio Perez
17) Fernando Alonso
18) Alex Albon
19) Valtteri Bottas
20) Lance Stroll

Aston Martin was still working on Lance Stroll's car during Q1 after his car stopped at the end of Free Practice Three. He made it out onto the track with less than two minutes to go.

Russell was the first driver out on the track on the medium tyre but only to scrub them, followed by ten other drivers with lots of preparation laps.

The Saubers and Perez were the first to set timed laps. McLaren was the first to set timed laps ahead of Mercedes by 0.180. Verstappen could only manage fifth in his first flying lap three tenths off the pace.

Magnussen and Hulkenberg only joined the other drivers on track with seven and a half minutes to go.

With two minutes to go, Verstappen topped the timesheet. Meanwhile, his teammate was down in the drop zone in P18, along with Bottas, Colapinto, Lawson, and Stroll.

Both Colapinto and Zhou make it through to Q2.

Q2

Out in Q2
11) Esteban Ocon
12) Kevin Magnussen
13) Zhou Guanyu
14) Franco Colapinto
15) Liam Lawson

Verstappen was the first out on track for Q2, followed by the Mercedes drivers.

A fired-up Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet with ten minutes to go, and a lap of 1:33.136 was followed by Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.

With seven minutes to go, Ocon, Lawson, Zhou, Sainz, and Leclerc, with both Ferraris, still needed to set a time.

Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton battle it out of the top of the sheet, with Leclerc going third fastest in his first flying lap.

With two minutes to go, Gasly, Colapinto, Ocon, Lawson, and Zhou were in the bottom five.

Colapinto clipped the wall on the inside and had a huge crash at Turn 16 of his flying lap, ending the session and causing more damage for the Williams Team.

Q3

Starting Top 10
1) George Russell 1:32.312
2) Carlos Sainz +0.098
3) Pierre Gasly +0.352
4) Charles Leclerc +0.471
5) Max Verstappen +0.485
6) Lando Norris +0.696
7) Yuki Tsunoda +0.717
8) Oscar Piastri +0.721
9) Nico Hulkenberg +0.750
10) Lewis Hamilton +15.794

The start of Q3 was delayed after Franco Colapinto crashed at the end of Q2.

Drivers started lining up at the end of the pit lane as the countdown began to the start of the session, with Verstappen leading the drivers out.

Oscar Piastri was the first to set a lap time but was quickly beaten by Norris with a 1:33.237, but doesn't last long with Sainz posting a 1:33.022 lap time. George Russell increased the lead even further with a 1:32.811.

Lewis Hamilton locks up and abandons his first flying lap after locking up and headed back into the garage.

Gasly brushed the wall but his car was checked over and was deemed ok., as George Russell does the same thing and the team changed his front wing.

George Russell takes Pole Position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz in second, Pierre Gasly in third, followed by Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen rounding out the top five.

George Russell takes his third pole of the season in his Mercedes, he said: “Honestly absolutely not [think we would have that pace], it’s incredible to be back on pole, we’ve been so quick all weekend and I just knew coming in to the last Q3 lap it’s going to be the one that counts, it doesn’t matter what has happened before then.

“I had a bit of a moment in my first run and we had to change the front wing so for a moment I didn’t think we were going to make the flag but I’m just so happy. We’ve got to do some deep dive to understand why it’s been so quick so far this weekend because it’s a real surprise.”

Anny Wooldridge
Writer at F1 Journal

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