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The first day of running in the F1 Las Vegas GP saw Lewis Hamilton's surprise resurgence where he was P1 at the end of both sessions. The drive was brilliant from him but what was also brilliant was his ability to put the car where he wanted, something that we can't say about the driver often in 2024.
The rise of Mercedes, the anonymity of Red Bull, and the ability of McLaren to just always be there at the front gives rise to some interesting possibilities.
With that being said, what are the expectations for the F1 Las Vegas GP qualifying? Let's take a look.
#5 Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg make it to Q3 for their teams
Pierre Gasly has been in impressive shape of late at Alpine with the French driver coming off a podium as well. To add to this, the car does look better all around this weekend which should give Pierre another opportunity to impress as the season comes to an end.
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For Haas as well, the car seems to be there and thereabouts and Hulkenberg has also shown some impressive pace all day. Expect the German to also find himself contending for a top-10 start this weekend.
#4 Sergio Perez struggles to make Q3
Red Bull's biggest worry on Friday was the inability to get the tires in the right window. That hurt the drivers and the team in general as was evident with the lap times. While the long runs are competitive, the one-lap pace is a serious question mark and that could put Sergio Perez in a compromised position.
We might see the Mexican struggle to make it to Q3 in the F1 Las Vegas GP qualifying.
#3 Mercedes would be in contention for pole
Unless Mercedes falls off miraculously and we have McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari making drastic gains overnight, we're going to see a very close battle for pole position and both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell would be in contention.
The ability to fire up the tires as quickly as they do is going to help in the F1 Las Vegas GP and the German team is a live underdog for the weekend.
#2 A top 5 start is a stretch for Max Verstappen
Red Bull has clarified that the team brought a rear wing with a much higher downforce. There were suggestions that the team was already bringing the one with the lower downforce from Britain and that this wing was going to be a better fit. As Helmut Marko has clarified, there's no such wing coming.
While the long-run pace looks decent enough and there would be a question mark over every team on how its long-run pace evolves late in the stint, what's clear is that the pace isn't there for the short runs. Expect Max to struggle to make it to the top 5 in the F1 Las Vegas GP qualifying.
#1 Lando Norris secures pole position for the F1 Las Vegas GP
Let's just get one thing straight, this is not going to be straightforward. One of the biggest factors for success during the F1 Las Vegas GP is the ability to switch on tires as quickly as possible.
Mercedes appears to be the best at it if we go by Friday. With that being said, McLaren didn't look too bad either in the hands of Lando Norris. The car looked alive and his first lap was quicker than what either Lewis Hamilton or George Russell had done.
Ferrari might not be a factor for pole at the F1 Las Vegas GP but it won't be a surprise if Lando is up against the Mercedes duo and nicks it in the end. We're going with Lando Norris as our pick to secure pole on Saturday.
