George Russell of Mercedes took pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday while title-chasing Max Verstappen was fifth as the Dutchman closes in on a fourth successive world championship. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was second ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpine with Red Bull’s Verstappen finishing one spot ahead of title rival Lando Norris of McLaren who was sixth. Verstappen, who won the Las Vegas race in 2023, leads Norris by 62 points with three races remaining and needs simply to finish ahead of him on Saturday night to become only the sixth man to win four world titles. Norris has to beat Verstappen by three points to keep his slim championship hopes alive.“At least we are ahead of the McLarens. I didn’t expect that so it’s good,” said Verstappen, hampered by Red Bull’s error in bring the wrong rear wing to Las Vegas. “We’re just a bit too slow. We have been struggling to get the tires to work over a lap and we’re too slow on the straights.” Charles Leclerc, in the second Ferrari, was fourth fastest in qualifying and will share the second row with Gasly whose impressive performance on the Las Vegas street circuit […]