Russell beats Ferrari's Sainz to Las Vegas Pole in final Lap

Mercedes' George Russell secured pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a decisive final lap, beating Ferrari's Carlos Sainz by 0.147 seconds.

Russell's time of 1:32.312 marked Mercedes' first pole position of the season. The British driver had shown strong pace throughout qualifying, having also led after the initial Q3 runs before improving further in his final attempt.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly qualified third, his best result of the season, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in fourth. Red Bull's Max Verstappen will start fifth, with McLaren's Lando Norris alongside him on the third row.

AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda qualified seventh, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri in eighth and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg in ninth.

Lewis Hamilton, who had shown promising speed in Q2, will start tenth after two compromised runs in the final session.

The session was halted briefly in Q2 following Williams reserve driver Franco Colapinto's crash at Turn 16, which caused significant damage to his car but left the driver unharmed.