Russell looked at times as if he could become an interloper in the fight for the title, and still can be if he makes a good start, but after a difficult session with some errors in his laps, the Briton finished fourth, 0.438 seconds behind the leader.
Leclerc dragged the Ferrari to fifth place after another difficult session for the team.
His lap in second qualifying was rough and he said on the radio that he was “surprised” to pass because he was “driving like in a rally.”
His teammate Hamilton suffered his third consecutive knockout in the first session and said he had “no answer” about his lack of performance. He was 0.231 seconds behind Leclerc in the first session.
He had previously crashed in late practice after losing the car at turn nine. “The car felt really good, it just bottomed out and lost the rear end,” he said.
Alonso finished the Aston Martin season on a relatively high note with sixth place on the grid, and in doing so became the only driver on the grid to complete a clean grand prix qualification over his teammate.
Alonso is 24-0 over Lance Stroll, and the Canadian has only beaten him once in a lap all season, in sprint qualifying in China in the second race of the season.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Tsunoda completed the top 10, with British Haas driver Oliver Bearman in 11th.
