What did the top three qualifiers have to say after the Las Vegas qualifying?

Having displayed strong pace all through the weekend, Mercedes driver George Russell set the benchmark in qualifying at the Las Vegas Grand Prix to secure his fourth career pole position.

Reflecting on his third pole position of the season, Russell reckoned that he is still struggling to understand why his W15 has been so strong all through the weekend.

"I feel it is incredible to be back on pole, we've been so quick all weekend. I knew coming into that last Q3 lap it was the one that would count. Just so happy, we have to do some deep diving to find out why we've been so quick as it is a real surprise.

"Ultimately you have to put it all on the table sometimes, I knew a clean lap would be enough to secure the front row. We've had a few good qualifyings recently but we need to covert that now."

Having displayed encouraging pace all through the weekend, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz emerged as Russell's closest rival in the all-important final qualifying segment, but even his best effort was not enough to beat the Mercedes driver.

"Very tricky - it was a tough quali. A bit closer to pole than what I was expecting, but very happy. I think we are starting in a strong position for tomorrow. We need to stay confident that we can fight at the front, and have a chance at going for the win," noted Sainz.

After his sensational podium finish in Brazil, Pierre Gasly displayed a surprise performance in the qualifying session at the Las Vegas Grand prix to secure third place on the grid for tomorrow's race.

Speaking about the somewhat unexpected result, the Frenchman said: "It's unbelievable, we didn't think we would be able to achieve a top three in quali. It was an incredible lap, a lot of adrenaline, a lot of excitement.

"I knew crossing the line it was a good lap, but when they told me it was top three I was so happy. I must say it is an incredible period for the team, hopefully we can stay up there tomorrow."