The streets were glistening in Las Vegas as we went underway beneath the lights in tonights qualifying session. It’s been a disastrous evening for some of the teams tonight, RedBull and Williams included. The Las Vegas circuit, with its high-speed straights and technical corners under the bright lights of the Strip, proved to be a thrilling challenge for the drivers.
Q1: Elimination for RedBull driver Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez is out in Q1 for the second time in the last three races, and has failed to start in the top ten in four of the last five races. We saw George Russel top the time sheet by 0.039s, followed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton, and finally RedBull’s Max Verstappen. Both Colapinto and Lawson make it through to Q2. McLaren take a risky move using a second pair of soft tyres, which could cost them later in this qualifying session.
Speaking to Sky f1, Perez made a statement about the team, saying ”It felt like we were making progress” but the qualifying ”Turned out to be disappointing.” RedBull aren’t going to be happy with this, in a championship fight with McLaren and Ferrari, this is not what they needed.
Q2: Disaster for Williams
Heartbreak at Williams after Colapinto clips the inside wall at turn 15, sending him into the exit wall at turn 16, leaving his car mangled (
see here). Escaping injury, Colapinto and the team have a long night ahead of them with the damage done to the car. This is the 5th crash in 2 races for the team, putting a strain on them for the last few races. Eliminated in Q2 we saw Lawson, Colapinto, Zhou, Magnussen, and Ocon.
Q3: The Fight for Pole
Joy for Mercedes as Russel takes pole position followed by Sainz and Gasly, Hamilton is in tenth however, so we will see how he manages that in the race tomorrow. McLaren were off pace this evening in Q3, could their tyre decisions earlier in qualifying have been the wrong call?
Pierre Gasly takes the third spot on the grid tomorrow, a great qualifying and impressive performance from the Alpine driver. Speaking to Sky F1, Gasly has stated that he “Knew crossing the line it was a good lap, but when they told me it was top 3 I Was so happy.”
The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by a mixture of experience and youth, with Hamilton, Hulkenburg and Piastri some of those drivers.
Will Max Verstappen win the championship tomorrow?
Its very possible, as long as he stays ahead of Lando Norris in tomorrows race, Max has this in the bag. Hopefully we see some good battling out on track, especially as Max is starting 5th and not on pole.
