Mercedes driver claims pole for Las Vegas Grand Prix — RESULTS, PHOTOS

Mercedes driver George Russell’s chance to win the pole for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix almost didn’t happen.

His car touched the wall during the final round of qualifying, and his team had to change the front wing.

Fortunately for Russell, he had just enough time to make one final lap.

At the end of the final round of qualifying, Russell posted a time of 1 minute, 32.312 seconds to earn the first starting spot for Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. The 50-lap race is at 10 p.m. around the 17-turn, 3.8-mile course.

“We had a bit of a moment on my first run with the change to the front wing, so there’s a moment where I thought we weren’t going to make the flag, but I’m so happy,” Russell said.

Russell was also the fastest in the final practice session earlier Friday (1:33.570).

“We’ve been so quick all weekend and I just knew coming into our last Q3 lap, that’s going to be the one that counts,” Russell said. “It doesn’t matter what happened before. … It’s incredibly satisfying, especially now, the car has been so quick all weekend. It was a super strong lap.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. will start second (1:32.410), and Alpine driver Pierre Gasly will start third (1:32.664).

Russell was the final driver in the last qualifying session to take the checkered flag and post a time, jumping Sainz.

“That was a tight (qualifying), a bit close to pole that I was expecting,” Sainz said. “I’m very happy. I think we’re starting in a good position for tomorrow. Last year, we started 12th because of the famous drain cover. This year I start (second).”

Mercedes has shown speed all weekend. Lewis Hamilton, Russell’s teammate, was the fastest during the first two practices Thursday. During qualifying Friday, Hamilton locked up his tries while overdriving a corner in the final round and qualified 10th.

Even after two days of being the fastest team, Russell said he’s still “scratching his head” as to why Mercedes has been so fast thus far.

“To be honest, it’s been a real surprise for all of us,” Russell said. “There’s something we need to really review because this is an outlier circuit. We haven’t done anything out of the ordinary. For whatever reason, the conditions, the layout, is playing in our favor.”

Points leader Max Verstappen will start fifth (1:32.797), one spot ahead of Lando Norris (1:33.008) in sixth. Norris is in second place in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen.

Norris must finish ahead of Verstappen on Saturday to keep his slim hopes at the championship alive. If Verstappen wins or leaves Las Vegas with at least a 60-point lead, he will win his fourth consecutive world title.

Ferrari is still in the hunt for the constructors championship. McLaren (593 points) holds a 36-point lead over Ferrari (557) for the top spot. Charles Leclerc, Sainz’s Ferrari teammate, qualified fourth (1:32.783).

“I honestly think we need wins to beat McLaren,” Sainz said. “It’s not like we can afford to just be in front of them because they have a big gap in the championship.”

Williams driver Franco Colapinto qualified 14th but crashed at the end of the second qualifying round. Red Bull driver Sergio Perez failed to get out of the first round of qualifying and will start 16th.

Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying results

1. George Russell (Mercedes), 1:32.312

2. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari), 1:32.410

3. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 1:32.664

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 1:32.783

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 1:32.797

6. Lando Norris (McLaren), 1:33.008

7. Yuki Tsunoda (RB), 1:33.029

8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 1:33.033

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), 1:33.062

10. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:48.106

11. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 1:33.221

12. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 1:33.297

13. Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber), 1:33.566

14. Franco Colapinto (Williams), 1:33.749

15. Liam Lawson (RB), 1:34.257

16. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 1:34.155

17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 1:34.258

18. Alex Albon (Williams), 1:34.425

19. Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber), 1:34.430

20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 1:34.484

Practice 3 results

1. George Russell (Mercedes), 1:33.570

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 1:33.785 (+0.215 seconds)

3. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari), 1:33.918 (+0.348)

4. Lando Norris (McLaren), 1:34.008 (+0.438)

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 1:34.137 (+0.567)

6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:34.341 (+0.771)

7. Alex Albon (Williams), 1:34.407 (+0.837)

8. Franco Colapinto (Williams), 1:34.723 (+1.153)

9. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 1:34.883 (+1.313)

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 1:34.905 (+1.335)

11. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), 1:34.908 (+1.338)

12. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 1:34.941 (+1.371)

13. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 1:35.061 (+1.491)

14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 1:35.460 (+1.890)

15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 1:35.938 (+2.368)

16. Yuki Tsunoda (RB), 1:36.412 (+2.645)

17. Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber), 1:36.412 (+2.842)

18. Liam Lawson (RB), 1:36.544 (+2.974)

19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 1:36.950 (+3.380)

20. Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber), 1:36.998 (+3.418)