Track Interviews - Conducted by James Hinchcliffe

George Russell, you are pole sitter for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the fourth of your career, third of the season. Tell me, coming into this weekend, did you and the Mercedes team think you guys were going to have that kind of pace?
George Russell: 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. And I had a bit of a moment on my first run, and we had to change the front wing. So there was a moment I thought we weren't going to make the flag. But 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.

Yeah, all the track and then some on that first run, but you got it done on the second. You've got this reputation now for kind of making some calls from inside the cockpit. You said over the radio you wanted to be the last car on the racetrack. Big risk at a street circuit with the track improving, yellow flags possible, red flags possible, but how confident were you that you were going to have what it took?
GR: Yeah, I mean, ultimately, you've got to put it on the table sometimes, and I felt confident in myself. I knew if I did a clean lap it would be enough to secure a front row. So to get pole position, it's incredible, but ultimately, you know, we've had a few good qualifyings recently. We need to convert that into a win now.

OK, real just quick, back in Las Vegas, what's it like being back here racing down the famous Strip?
GR: Yeah, it's great always being in Las Vegas. It's late night, good atmosphere here, and excited for the race now.

Alright, congratulations. Pole position, George Russell. Alongside him, Carlos Sainz. Congratulations. Big cheer from the crowd here in Vegas. You were second in qualifying last year. You had to take that penalty, but you guys got it done today. A lot of talk about tyre temps. It is so cold here. How difficult was it to get those tires into the right operating window for that fast lap?
Carlos Sainz: Yeah, very tricky. Well, thanks for the cheers. That was a tough, tight quali. A bit closer to pole than what I was expecting, actually. I thought I had pole and then George came very, very quick there at the end. But, yeah, very happy. I think we're starting in a good position for tomorrow. P2 last year, but it was P12 on the grid because of the famous drain cover. This year I start P2, so hopefully we can make a better one.

Look at practice, qualifying pace. One lap pace was very close. Race pace, you guys looked very, very strong. How much confidence does that give you that you can convert this into another win on the season?
CS: Yeah, that's why we need to stay confident that tomorrow we could be fighting at the front even more than today. So if today we were close in quali, tomorrow we might have a chance at going for the win. And that will be the target. Obviously, passing and strategy will be a different thing tomorrow. I feel like today, Mercedes were very good at switching those tyres on. If you see, in Sector 1, they were flying. They were three tenths up on us. And then we were coming back as the lap was going on. But tomorrow it's a clean sheet, new start, and see how the cars behave in high field.

And finally, just from the Constructors' Championship standpoint, big opportunity for Ferrari tomorrow. How much is your mindset going into the race, Carlos wants to win versus Ferrari needs as many points as they can to catch McLaren?
CS: I honestly think we need wins also to beat McLaren. It's not like we can afford to just be in front of them because they have a big gap in the championship. And then we're going to Qatar. that it's not going to be a good track for us and we're going to be struggling there. So, yeah, I think we need to win. So it's not like it changes much my approach.

Perfect. Congratulations. Front row start for Carlos Sainz. And Pierre Gasly will line up third on the grid tomorrow. Incredible run. This team's really been on a great run of performance since Austin. You backed it up with an incredible podium position last time out in Brazil. Just talk to me about the emotion of getting a qualifying like this in?
Pierre Gasly: Yeah, it's the first time ever, so no, it's unbelievable. Honestly, we didn't think we'd be able to achieve a top three in the quali, so it was an incredible lap, especially around this track, you know, you're flirting with the walls everywhere through the lap, and a lot of adrenaline, a lot of excitement. I knew crossing the line it was a good lap, but when they came up on the radio telling me we're lining up third tomorrow, it's just amazing, so really happy.

I mean, times are so tight here. So let's just talk a little bit about how tricky it is specifically here. Cold temperatures, dirty racetrack, low downforce configurations, and walls everywhere. In qualifying for the ultimate Lap, how tricky is it here?
PG: Yeah, I mean, I was getting cold in the car. You know, we had to wait so long before that Q3. I just wanted to get going, and yeah, we had a good first run. That last lap was the one that mattered, you know, with a new tyre. And, yeah, I really managed to nail it. So the car felt great. I must say it's an incredible period for the team following the double podium in Brazil. So hopefully we can, you know, stay up there tomorrow.

Press Conference

Very well done, George. It was a brilliant final lap. Just how satisfying is it to put together a lap like that around such a challenging racetrack?
GR: Yeah, incredibly satisfying, and especially knowing the car's been so quick all weekend. You know, as a team, we've topped every single session. And nevertheless, when you get to Q3, you know what's happened beforehand has no influence whatsoever. So the pressure kind of is ramped up. And, you know, it was a little bit touch and go for a moment because we had to change the front wing. I wasn't sure if I was going to get the last lap. But then it was a super strong lap, especially the first two sectors, and just really, really pleased to secure the pole.

You asked to go late. You asked the team to go late. How much did the track ramp up during Q3?
GR: Massively. I think probably between the very first car and the very last car who does their lap, it's probably over a tenth. It's probably the biggest track ramp of the whole season. So I wanted to put it all on the line. And, you know, it's high risk. I knew that if there were no yellow flags, then we would, you know, we had the possibility to be on the front row. But ultimately, as well, I want to say thanks to the guys in the garage to get the front wing change so quick as well, because, as I said, I touched the wall in the first run and we could have missed that last run altogether.

Now, George, this is your third pole position of the season so far, but it goes against the recent run of form. So can we discuss why? Why is the Mercedes so quick this weekend?
GR: I'd love to tell you, to be honest, it's been a real surprise for all of us. And it's something we need to really review because this is an outlier circuit. We haven't done anything out of the ordinary specifically for Vegas, but for whatever reason, the conditions, the layout, is playing in our favour. And I'm kind of scratching my head as to why. You know, we will ride with it for the time being. But as I said, if you're quick in Vegas, it's a bit of a one-off circuit. So we need to understand it. And of course, one of our other poles was in Canada as well, which is very cold, street circuit-esque conditions too, so there's a small trend.

If you were to put it down to one thing, would you say it's temperatures?
GR: No, to be honest. No, I think there's been no secret. We've been struggling with a bit of understeer this season and the track in Vegas, you're sliding around quite a lot, and maybe that's been a small factor that the understeer limitation has been less noticeable here. But there are certain corners where this car is performing so well, and especially in the first sector, the car feels absolutely on rails, especially through the third corner. And as I said, we need to nail down after the weekend and maybe even into the winter why it's been working so good.

Alright, final one. What about the race then? How is the long run pace of the car?
GR: Well, I think the long run for everybody has been very challenging on the Medium and the Soft. There's a lot of graining. We saw the same last year, but I expect the Hard tyre to be very resilient. But not one single driver has run the Hard tyre as yet this whole weekend. So you're going to be learning on the fly. It's going to be probably surviving that first stint and going from there. But, you know, here in Vegas, anything can happen. It's a long race. There was a timely Safety Car for a number of people last year, and we also saw that last race in Brazil. So, you know, right now I'm very happy, very satisfied, but I'm not taking anything for granted going into tomorrow.

Very well done today. Good luck tomorrow. Thank you, George. Carlos, let's come to you now. Great job as well by you. Unlike last year, you get to keep P2 on the grid. Just how good was the lap? How good was the car, first of all?
CS: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it must have been a good lap. My previous best lap time was a 32.7. So I went down three tenths on that lap and it felt good. I was pushing the limits. At one point I thought I had pole position because I thought I was one of the last ones to cross the line. But then suddenly they told me George was coming and I knew that the Mercedes had been quick all weekend. They've been a bit of a step ahead of us, especially on a single lap. And I knew at that point that, yeah, George could take it. They've been particularly quick in Sector 1. We're taking three or four tenths on them every single lap. And even if my lap from Sector 2 and 3 onwards is very good, it just looks like Sector 1, they've been a bit too strong for us. But tomorrow, everything changes. Everyone will be running on grained tyres, on high fuel, and very different conditions. situation as today, and it will be everything open again.

Check out our qualifying gallery from Las Vegas here.