The 45-minute nap that powered Russell to pole for F1's Las Vegas GP

George Russell reveals a nap was crucial to him taking pole in Las Vegas

George Russell grabbed 40-winks between final practice and qualifying before taking pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The obscure time schedule has left drivers getting to bed at 4am and the Mercedes driver has struggled to cope with this weekend’s jet lag.

Russell, who took a nap ahead of qualifying, which ran at 10pm local time, revealed he listened to the sound of waves crashing to help him nod-off.

He said: “It is a real challenge for the body, such a big shift from Europe and of course we have to shift back when we got to Qatar next week, so it is difficult to get your eight hours sleep in when it is so offset.

“For me it is trying to sleep when you can so I took a nap before qualifying, woke up a bit drowsy and then made sure I was in peak condition come the end of qualifying. It is really difficult, but we are all in the same boat.

“I went to sleep because the body is just all over the place. I am just trying to sleep when I can and just listen to my body and if I need to sleep, sleep.”

When asked by Autosport for more details on his pre-qualifying nap, Russell added: “I normally try and meditate instead of sleep, close my eyes and listen to waves crashing against the sea!

"Or breathing exercises, like box breathing. It works for me, relaxes my wind and takes the pressure off.

“But today I got probably 45 minutes and it is just about adapting every single weekend and when people ask ‘what is your race weekend routine?’ The routine changes every single weekend depending on how you slept the night before.

“The circumstances you find yourself in and obviously here it is so challenging being so offset, working a night-shift essentially so sleeping when I can is working for me.”

It was Russell’s third pole of the year and came after he asked his team to ensure he was last to set a time in order to benefit from track evolution.

The dirty surface scrubbed up quickly with the increased grip leading to quicker lap times and Russell benefited from the best conditions by beating Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to pole.

“It was incredibly satisfying,” said Russell, whose team-mate Lewis Hamilton qualified 10th. "Especially knowing the car has been so quick all weekend. As a team, we’ve topped every single session.

“Nevertheless when you get to Q3, you know what’s happened beforehand has no influence whatsoever. So the pressure kind of is ramped up.

“But then it was a super strong lap, especially in the first two sectors. I am really pleased to secure the pole.

“It’s probably the biggest track ramp up of the whole season, so I wanted to put it all on the line. It was high risk. I knew that if there were no yellow flags, then we had the possibility to be on the front row.”