Lando Norris ticked off another box in his bid to win the F1 world championship by mastering a wet qualifying session to secure pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
In treacherous conditions on the Strip, Norris saw off Max Verstappen by 0.323 seconds, while Oscar Piastri – Norris’ closest title challenger – could manage only fifth.
Carlos Sainz took third for Williams, one place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell. Lewis Hamilton’s nightmare debut season for Ferrari took a catastrophic twist after he qualified 20th and last.
Norris leads McLaren team-mate Piastri by 24 points and Verstappen by 49, with 83 points to play for across the concluding three rounds. He will start Saturday’s showbiz race in Nevada in the best position to extend his title advantage, with a view to potentially being crowned champion of the world as early as next weekend in Qatar.
Follow live coverage of the Las Vegas GP with The Independent
F1 LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX - LATEST UPDATES
- The Las Vegas GP starts at 4am (GMT) on Sunday morning
- Lando Norris starts on pole; Verstappen 2nd; Sainz 3rd
- Lewis Hamilton starts dead-last after a disastrous qualifying session
- Norris can take a giant step towards F1 world title
- READ: The cold truth behind Ferrari’s F1 struggles
What is the start time for the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
08:04 , Kieran JacksonThe Vegas street race will start at 4am (GMT) on Sunday morning, which is 10pm local time.
F1 driver standings heading into Vegas:
11:00 , Kieran Jackson1. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 390 points
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 366 points
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 341 points
4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 276 points
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 214 points
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 148 points
7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 122 points
8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 73 points
9. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) - 43 points
10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 43 points
11. Ollie Bearman (Haas) – 40 points
12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 40 points
13. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 38 points
14. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 36 points
15. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 32 points
16. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 30 points
17. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) – 28 points
18. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 22 points
19. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) – 19 points
20. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – 0 points
21. Jack Doohan (Alpine) – 0 points
Oscar Piastri, after qualifying fifth-fastest:
10:00 , Kieran Jackson"Tough end to the session with the Yellow Flag on the final lap. I felt like we had really good pace, so it's disappointing, but at least we can say we were fast.
“There should be a few overtaking opportunities tomorrow and it's Vegas, so anything can happen. Let's see what we can do."
PIECE: The cold truth behind Ferrari’s F1 struggles
09:30 , Kieran JacksonBy Kieran Jackson
For all intents and purposes, a few off-the-cuff comments from John Elkann last week have caused quite the maelstrom in the helter-skelter world that is Scuderia Ferrari. And what is even more concrete, given the backlash triggered, is that the Ferrari chair’s interview very much did not have the intent, nor the purpose, desired.
To recap, off the back of Ferrari’s victory in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Bahrain and, on the same weekend, Ferrari’s double DNF in the Brazilian Grand Prix, Elkann praised the engineers and mechanics at Ferrari F1 for their car improvements and rapid pit-stops in recent months. That, in itself, was questionable. But then came the main soundbite.
Full piece below:
The cold truth behind Ferrari’s struggles – and it’s not Hamilton or Leclerc’s fault
What is the full starting grid in Vegas?
09:00 , Kieran Jackson1. Lando Norris - McLaren
2. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
3. Carlos Sainz - Williams
4. George Russell - Mercedes
5. Oscar Piastri - McLaren
6. Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls
7. Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
8. Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls
9. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
10. Pierre Gasly - Alpine
11. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber
12. Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
13. Esteban Ocon - Haas
14. Ollie Bearman - Haas
15. Franco Colapinto - Alpine
16. Alex Albon - Williams
17. Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes
18. Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber
19. Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull
20. Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari
Hamilton after qualifying in 20th:
08:44 , Kieran Jackson"I don't really have words for it," a deflated Hamilton said in the media pen afterwards. "It's obviously not good enough.
“I just couldn't get temperature into the tyres, had a lot of understeer and I think one of my front brakes was glazed so I was really struggling to stop it in the corners.
"It's very annoying, of course, because in P3 the car was feeling awesome and I thought it was going to be a great day and it turned out to be the worst.
“It can't get much worse than that."
When can Lando Norris win the 2025 F1 world championship?
08:30 , Kieran JacksonThe next race in Las Vegas is a traditional race weekend, with no sprint race, meaning a maximum of 25 points are up for grabs. After Vegas, there will be just 58 points left on the table.
If Norris wins in Sin City and Piastri fails to score, the Briton’s lead would be 49 points, so he can’t claim the world championship in Vegas.
However, by the end of the final sprint race of the year at the penultimate round in Qatar, Piastri would need to be within 50 points of his McLaren teammate in order to stand a mathematical chance of catching him.
Therefore, the earliest Norris can win the title is the sprint race in Qatar on Saturday 29 November.
Lewis Hamilton hits new F1 career low after qualifying dead last for Las Vegas GP
08:20 , Kieran JacksonLewis Hamilton endured a new F1 career low at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as he qualified slowest in the field for the first time in his career on pure pace.
In treacherous wet conditions on the Vegas strip, Hamilton struggled throughout as the whole grid eventually switched to full-wet tyres, rarely used in modern-day F1.
Yet Hamilton – who has recorded some of his best-ever victories in wet conditions – could not optimise his Ferrari car and will start the race in 20th, having ended up 2.3 seconds slower than teammate Charles Leclerc.
Full story and quotes below:
Lewis Hamilton hits new F1 career low after qualifying dead last for Las Vegas GP
Top-10 - F1 Las Vegas GP qualifying
08:13 , Kieran Jackson1. Lando Norris - McLaren
2. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
3. Carlos Sainz - Williams
4. George Russell - Mercedes
5. Oscar Piastri - McLaren
6. Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls
7. Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
8. Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls
9. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
10. Pierre Gasly - Alpine
Lando Norris after 'stressful as hell' qualifying
08:07 , Kieran Jackson“It was stressful as hell,” said Norris. “It is so slippery out there that as soon as you hit the kerb you snap the car but it was good enough for P1.
“I had a nap before qualifying, and I was expecting it to be dry and I woke up and saw it was wet.
“I thought: ‘Oh crap this is not going to well’. It is so easy to crash when it is like this so it is rewarding to be on pole.
“The pace has been good all weekend. I didn’t expect to be as quick as I was in the wet. It is going to be an interesting race with Max up there. Hopefully we can have a good race.”
F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix - qualifying
08:02 , Kieran JacksonLando Norris ticked off another box in his bid to win the F1 world championship by mastering a wet qualifying session to secure pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
In treacherous conditions on the Strip, Norris saw off Max Verstappen by 0.323 seconds, while Oscar Piastri – Norris’ closest title challenger – could manage only fifth.
Carlos Sainz took third for Williams, one place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell. Lewis Hamilton’s nightmare debut season for Ferrari took a catastrophic twist after he qualified 20th and last.
Norris leads McLaren team-mate Piastri by 24 points and Verstappen by 49, with 83 points to play for across the concluding three rounds. He will start Saturday’s showbiz race in Nevada in the best position to extend his title advantage, with a view to potentially being crowned champion of the world as early as next weekend in Qatar.
