George Russell’s last podium came back in September when he finished P3 in Baku, but he can bring that drought to an end this Saturday at the Las Vegas GP. Russell can even top it off with a win, given he secured the pole position which he snatched from Carlos Sainz on his last flying lap. Given Mercedes’ poor form, this came as a surprise. Even Russell found it difficult to believe.
Russell did not expect to finish P1 in Q3. When asked about the same, he replied, “Honestly, absolutely not. It feels incredible to be back on pole. We’ve been so quick all weekend, and I just knew coming into that last Q3 lap, that’s going to be the one that counts. It doesn’t matter what’s happened before then.”
Till now, Mercedes has been the team to beat in Vegas. On Friday, it was Lewis Hamilton who finished first in FP1 and FP2, with Russell also in the top three. Saturday saw Russell go one up, as he finished FP3 ahead of everyone else. The pole position later in the night was the cherry on top of the cake and understandably, he wanted to know what started working in his favor.
Pole in Vegas Great job by the whole team all weekend. Bring on the race tomorrow!! pic.twitter.com/o8Ee9C7eC2
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) November 23, 2024
“… just so happy and, you know, we’ve got to do some deep diving to understand why it’s been so quick so far this weekend because it was a real surprise,” the Mercedes driver added.
What seemed to work well for Mercedes was the W15’s ability to extract more grip from under the tires under colder temperatures, which dipped to as low as 50º F. While McLaren, Red Bull, and the others struggled to keep their cars within track limits on the same tires, Mercedes was thriving.
Mercedes miss out on a 1-2 finish opportunity
After an excellent run in Practice, Hamilton failed to keep the momentum going into Qualifying – a familiar pattern in the seven-time World Champion’s 2024 season. One of the favorites for pole, Hamilton will now have to line up 10th on the grid for the Grand Prix.
This diminishes the chances of a 1-2 finish for the Silver Arrows—a result that could have been monumental on a weekend where the conditions seemed tailor-made for their success.
Even Helmut Marko had predicted that Mercedes would score much more than McLaren or Ferrari on Friday—something that now looks difficult to achieve. However, Toto Wolff is not losing hope. The Mercedes boss believes that if the tires do not grain excessively under race trim, Hamilton can scythe through the field and aim for a top-three finish.
