Lewis Hamilton admitted he threw away pole position for the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix as team-mate George Russell stormed to top spot.
Hamilton will start only 10th in Sin City on Saturday night after he made mistakes on each of his flying laps. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz qualified second, with Pierre Gasly a surprise third for Alpine.
British driver Lando Norris must outscore Max Verstappen by three points to extend the title battle to the penultimate race in Qatar, but the McLaren driver will start one place behind the Dutchman in sixth.
Mercedes have looked quick all weekend with the cold conditions suiting their machinery. And while Russell landed a fourth pole of his career, and third of the season, Hamilton – three weeks after the horror show in Brazil which left him close to calling a premature end to his Mercedes career – was unable to deliver.
Hamilton made a mistake at Turn 12 on his first attempt in Q3 and he was forced to abandon the lap. The 39-year-old returned for his final assault but he ran wide and did not trouble the scorers with a competitive time.
“I should have been on pole but I am not,” said a pained Hamilton, who was fastest in two of the three practice sessions, and in the second phase of qualifying.
“C’est la vie. You live to fight another day. But I didn’t do the job. I didn’t put the laps together. It’s not a stinger. I feel great. The good thing is I have pace.”
Unlike his team-mate, Russell was able to extract the best from his Mercedes. Russell whacked the wall at Turn 5 on his opening attempt and had to change his front wing. But the Englishman – who now boasts a 17-5 qualifying record over Hamilton this season – kept his cool with his second run to beat Sainz by 0.098 sec.
Russell took the chequered flag at 11:24pm local time, and the Mercedes man said: “I got 45 minutes sleep before qualifying. The body is all over the place. I sleep when I can and I listen to my body.
“I normally try and meditate as opposed to sleeping. I close my eyes and listen to waves crashing against the sea, or do breathing exercises, box-breathing, it relaxes my mind and takes the pressure off. It is challenging working what is an effective night shift so sleeping when I can is working for me.”
Norris’ championship dream fizzled out in Interlagos and his bid to dethrone Verstappen could be officially over on Saturday.
Verstappen, 62 points clear of Norris with only 86 on the table, will claim his fourth consecutive world crown if he finishes ahead of his McLaren rival. The Dutch driver was two tenths quicker than Norris in qualifying.
“He’s pretty likely to win the title,” said Norris. “I am not expecting anything magical.
“Would I liked to have made it gone a bit further? Sure. But it was lost in the first six races of the year. That’s when Max dominated and got a gap which was too far to pull back.”
Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto is awaiting the all clear to race. The Argentine, who wrecked his Williams when he hit the wall in the closing moments of Q2, will be evaluated by doctors prior to Saturday’s 50-lap race following the 130mph accident which registered at 50G.
