Russell records his fourth pole of the season, Gasly records a career-best qualifying result and Perez records his sixth Q1 exit of the year. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
RUSSELL ON POLE
For the fourth time in his career – and the third time this season – George Russell secured pole position at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Russell is the 58th driver to record as many as four pole positions in his Formula 1 career.
Russell is the fourth driver this year to record as many as three pole positions, after Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. 2006 is the only other season in which four different drivers secured as many as three pole positions each in a single year.
Having qualified second last time out in Sao Paulo, Russell qualified on the front row at successive races for the first time since the 2022 Mexico City and Sao Paulo Grands Prix.
The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix marks Mercedes’ 140th pole position. They are the third team to reach the milestone, after Ferrari (at the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix) and McLaren (at the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix).
IN THE TOP 10 FOR THE 2024 LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz qualified alongside George Russell on the front row for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. This was Sainz’s second front row qualification in the last three races.
Sainz was the only driver to qualify in the same position for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix as he did in 2023 – though he was demoted ten places on the grid at last year’s race.
Pierre Gasly recorded a career-best qualifying result with third place at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. It will be the second time he has lined up in the top three on the grid, after the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix. In that race, he moved up to the front row as a result of grid penalties for other drivers.
Gasly made the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix the first time since the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix that an Alpine driver qualified in the top three positions.
This was Gasly’s third Q3 appearance in the last four races.
Charles Leclerc qualified fourth for the third time in the last four races. He’s qualified outside of the top six only once in the last ten race weekends.
Ferrari are the only team to reach Q3 with both cars in qualifying for both the 2023 and 2024 Las Vegas Grands Prix.
Max Verstappen qualified fifth for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, qualifying outside of the top four for a second consecutive race. It’s the second time this year that he has qualified outside of the top four at successive races – something which he had not previously done since the 2019 Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.
Max Verstappen, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly are the only drivers who’ve qualified in the top ten at both editions of the Las Vegas Grand Prix to date.
With sixth place, Lando Norris recorded his worst qualifying result since his Q1 exit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was only the fourth time this year that he has qualified outside of the top five.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified seventh for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, recording a second consecutive Q3 appearance. This was the first time Tsunoda qualified in the top ten at consecutive races since the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix, as well as the first time in his career that he has qualified in the top seven at successive races.
Oscar Piastri qualified eighth for the second race in a row. With Norris sixth and Piastri eighth, this was the first time since the Bahrain Grand Prix at the start of the season that neither McLaren driver qualified in the top five positions.
OUT IN Q2
For the first time since the British Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu reached Q2 at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. This was also the first time since the Silverstone race that Zhou out-qualified Sauber team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Zhou qualified in 13th place – his best Grand Prix qualifying result since reaching Q3 at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.
This was the first time since the Hungarian Grand Prix that Zhou did not qualify on the back row of the grid, ending a streak of eight back row qualifications.
Franco Colapinto out-qualified team-mate Alex Albon for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Argentine driver crashed out at the end of Q2. This was the first time he progressed past Q1 since the Baku race.
With Colapinto 14th and Albon 18th, this was the first time in any of F1’s three visits to Las Vegas in which neither Williams driver qualified in the top ten.
With 15th place, Liam Lawson equalled his worst qualifying result of the 2024 season to date. He also qualified 15th for the United States Grand Prix.
OUT IN Q1
Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q1 for the sixth time in the 2024 season.
The United States Grand Prix is the only time in the last five races that Perez has qualified in the top ten, while the Azerbaijan Grand Prix remains his last top nine qualifying result.
With 18th place, Alex Albon recorded his worst qualifying result since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Both Aston Martin drivers were out in Q1 at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. The team recorded their first double Q1 exit since the 2023 United States Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso recorded his first Q1 exit since the Monaco Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll recorded the 71st Q1 exit of his Formula 1 career, equalling Marcus Ericsson for second on the list of most Q1 eliminations.
Stroll completed only one lap in Q1 as a result of his car being repaired between Free Practice 3 and qualifying following an on-track stoppage in the final practice session. This was the first time Stroll set the slowest lap time in qualifying since the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
Qualifying 19th for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas qualified on the back row for the fourth time this year.