Verstappen and Red Bull also had a difficult time in Las Vegas. The Dutchman was 0.485 seconds off pole position and said it was “a bit of a surprise” to stay ahead of the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri, who start eighth.
“I don’t think we can fight with Ferrari or Mercedes,” said Verstappen. “They have been too fast and Lewis will start from P10, so he will move forward.”
Hamilton was fast all weekend, being fastest in the second qualifying session and second behind Russell in the first. But mistakes on his two laps in the final session left him 10th on the grid.
“It didn’t work when it mattered,” Hamilton said. “I tried but it didn’t work. I should have been on pole, I have speed and that’s the positive that comes out of it.”
Race victory is expected to be fought out between Russell and the two Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc, who starts fourth but has shown the strongest pace in this weekend’s races.
Russell said Mercedes did not expect their pace this weekend after a difficult series of races.
“It was a real surprise for all of us,” Russell said. “And it’s something that we really have to assess because this is an outlier circuit.
“We didn’t do anything special specifically for Vegas, but for whatever reason the conditions and the layout are in our favor. And I’m kind of thinking about why.”
Russell said the race was difficult to predict because few teams had run many miles on the medium and hard tires that will be used in qualifying, rather than the soft ones.
“You learn on the fly,” he said. “It will probably be a matter of surviving that first stint and going from there.
“But you know, anything can happen here in Vegas. It’s a long race. Last year there was a safety car on time for a number of people, 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 when I’m in the race.”
Sainz said: “We are really fighting for the win tomorrow with Mercedes. When they get it together they are very, very fast and the fastest, as they showed today. So I think we will definitely fight against George.” “
And Leclerc also has confidence in it.
“The pace is there,” he said. “I’m very fast after three laps, but you can’t afford that in qualifying.
“Carlos was much better than me at putting the tires in the window for the first lap. I did my best to improve, but my last run was a nightmare, my front was ice cold and I suffered from understeer all lap.
“We are strong in terms of race pace and we will do our best to come back. I am not just aiming for the podium. I would like to win and if we do everything perfectly, the pace is there.”