George Russell will line up on pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as the Briton set the pace in qualifying on a weekend that has so far belonged to Mercedes.

Having secured the practice hat-trick for Mercedes on Friday evening, Russell followed up that P1 in the late-night qualifying session where pole position was decided after 11pm.

P1 for George Russell, P20 for Valtteri Bottas

The two-time Grand Prix winner clocked a 1:32.312 to grab the coveted grid slot by a winning margin of 0.098s over Carlos Sainz while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was third fastest.

The next task is holding them off in the 50-lap Grand Prix, as well as title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris who will line up on the third row of the grid.

“I felt confident in myself,” Russell said. “I knew if I did a clean lap, it would be enough to secure a front row, so to get pole position is incredible. Ultimately, we’ve had a few good qualifyings recently – we need to convert that into a win now.”

Bookending the grid with Russell is Valtteri Bottas. Although the Sauber driver was 19th in qualifying, a five-place grid penalty for taking an Energy Store outside of his season’s allocation means he drops behind Lance Stroll.

“The penalty is imposed in accordance with Article 28.3,” read the FIA statement on Bottas’ penalty.

“The use of each additional element in this case carries a 5 grid place penalty Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.”

To date, Bottas’ penalty is the only one confirmed by the FIA.

The revised grid after penalties

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
11 Esteban Ocon 1:33.221
12 Kevin Magnussen 1:33.297
13 Zhou Guanyu 1:33.566
14 Franco Colapinto 1:33.749
15 Liam Lawson 1:34.257
16 Sergio Perez 1:34.155
17 Fernando Alonso 1:34.258
18 Alex Albon 1:34.425
19 Lance Stroll 1:34.484
20 Valtteri Bottas 1:34.430 *

* five-place ES penalty

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