How did George Russell claim a “surprise” pole position in Las Vegas?

Coming into the Las Vegas weekend, Mercedes didn’t have high expectations for their pace or performance based on the track layout alone. But after Lewis Hamilton or George Russell topped every practice session, Russell solidified their place in the field with a mighty pole position from Carlos Sainz in P2 and Pierre Gasly in P3.

Carlos Sainz, George Russell and Pierre Gasly pose for photos after qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. — George Russell will line up alongside Carlos Sainz on the front row, with Pierre Gasly behind in P3. Credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli.

After a first Q3 run saw him brush the barriers, Russell had just a single lap attempt on a set of fresh soft tyres and said he “knew if [he] did a clean lap it would be enough to secure a front row” and so “put it on the table”.

On the other side of the garage, Lewis Hamilton suffered two mistakes on his final Q3 attempt which cost him a chance at a position higher than 10th but he had also shown a similar level of pace to Russell in Q2, topping the second qualifying segment. Missing out on a chance at the front row was “really disappointing”, he said, but the pace in the W15 has delivered an opportunity for Hamilton to recover to the podium places over the race.

Much of Mercedes’ strength over this weekend has arisen from their ability to switch on the tyres much quicker than their competitors, allowing them to reach the optimal working temperature window after just a single out-lap rather than an additional preparation lap that was required by Sainz, Gasly, and others like a 5th-placed Verstappen.

This meant that as George opened his pole lap his tyres were at their optimal temperature and grip level, giving him an advantage through the corners of the opening sector over Sainz and Gasly. Carrying more speed through turns 3-4, and again through 5 and 6, in this early phase of the lap set Russell up with an advantage that neither of his fellow top 3 runners could catch up with by the line, despite their significantly higher straight line speed.

George Russell corners in Las Vegas on the soft tyre. — George’s pole lap came down to how he tackled sector 1’s corners. Credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli.

Mercedes’ hesitations prior to the weekend were largely down to the known understeer problem their car has this year, which they felt could have limited their ability to tackle the hard braking zones into 90 degree corners around the Vegas lap. But the cooler conditions, and slippery track as a result, worked in their favour in this regard and the issue became “less noticeable” and the car felt “on rails” through sector 1’s corners particularly, according to Russell.

Though Carlos Sainz feels Mercedes will be a genuine threat for the win in the grand prix, tyre wear over a race stint versus a single lap is a different issue leaving Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ team principal, feeling uncertain as to how the race will go.

“We saw on Thursday that graining is a risk; nobody has had a proper look at the hard tyre either, so there are going to be plenty of unknowns,” he said. “Hopefully our single lap speed translates into race pace, and we have a competitive Grand Prix and fight for victory. Let’s see what we can do.”