Russell stuns under Las Vegas qualifying lights

George Russell claimed pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, beating Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz by a tenth of a second.

Leading off from the second row in Sin City will be Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who has Charles Leclerc alongside. Max Verstappen rounds out the top five.

Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10 in Nevada.

Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso became early casualties under the lights of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, qualifying P16 and P17, respectively.

Williams' crash woes continued, with Franco Colapinto finding the wall in the closing stages of Q2.

Full Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying report below.

Q1

Lance Stroll faced an uphill battle for his Aston Martin to be ready to compete in qualifying in Sin City having an ERS issue in FP3.

Meanwhile, the trio of Leclerc, Piastri and Norris set the early pace in the first part of qualifying, whilst Sainz remained in the bottom five with fewer than seven minutes remaining.

The Spaniard would comfortably put himself into the top three at that point, shortly before Russell went clear atop the standings. With five minutes to go, the only big hitter in relative danger was Perez, sitting in P13.

He slipped into the bottom five as the clock ticked down to two minutes to go, whilst his team-mate set the quickest time so far.

Aston Martin, all the while, achieved the improbable and Stroll emerged from the pits for what would be his sole push lap.

As the chequered flag flew, the Mercedes pair of Russell and Hamilton went fastest, but neither Perez, nor Stroll, could pull themselves clear of the elimination zone.

Alexander Albon had a lap time deleted late on, consigning him to his fate, whilst both McLarens opted for a second set of soft Pirellis to ensure their safety.

Out in Q1: Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Albon, Alonso, Perez.

Q2

With 10 minutes to in Q2, Hamilton, Verstappen and Norris occupied the top three, which was promptly disrupted by Piastri, who went second quickest.

The Haas pair fared well in the early running, whilst Ferrari decided to hold back in the pits.

Sainz immediately found his SF-24 did not want to bite on his push lap, having a moment through Turn 1 and having to back out of the lap and try again. 

Leclerc approached with a slower build-up, employing the use of multiple preparation laps around the cold streets of Las Vegas.

With six minutes to go, they were joined in the bottom five by Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson and Zhou Guanyu. However, both would clear that marker with their first proper timed run.

As the clock hit zero and the final laps came in, Colapinto became the first driver in the wall all weekend, much to the dismay of Williams.

It neutralised the session with a yellow flags in sector 3, meaning those behind him were unable to improve.

Out in Q2: Lawson, Colapinto, Zhou, Kevin Magnussen, Ocon.

Q3

After a considerable delay to the start of Q3 following Colapinto's crash, the final session of qualifying got underway.

As the representative times starting coming through, Sainz would set the initial pace with a 1:33.022, but still some three-tenths off the fastest Q2 effort.

Russell would best him soon after, but still shy of the leading time prior to the Colapinto-induced stoppage prior to Q3 getting going.

Hamilton, meanwhile, made a mess of his first attempt, locking up and having to use the run-off area. He would abandon that run, heading back to the pits to collect fresh rubber.

Likewise, Leclerc going wide at Turn 7 cost him over half a second, leaving him in eighth after the banker attempts.

Piastri crossed the line first as the session came to a close, but could only go third-fastest. As the lap times dropped, Gasly put in a stunning effort to beat the faster cars behind.

Verstappen put one hand on the F1 drivers' championship, beating Norris as the title rivals occupy the third row. However, no one could match Russell and Sainz, who were comfortably clear of the rest.