Lando Norris claimed pole position for McLaren at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a superb lap in treacherous wet conditions on the street circuit in Nevada, and with it moved one step closer to winning his first Formula One world championship.
The title race leader beat the Red Bull of Max Verstappen into second, but with his closest championship rival – teammate Oscar Piastri – only in fifth, Norris has the opportunity to further extend his advantage at the top of the standings.
Carlos Sainz was in third for Williams and George Russell in fourth for Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton, however, had another very poor performance, finishing plum last in 20th for Ferrari, struggling to make the tyres work in the very wet conditions in Q1, and unlucky with a late yellow flag. The Ferrari has had issues with switching its tyres on in the wet all season but Hamilton’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, did better finishing in ninth and was a full three seconds up on Hamilton in the opening session.
“It [the full-wet tyre] was as bad as it gets,” Hamilton said. “I couldn’t see anything. I think I hit the wall out at one point. I just couldn’t even see the corners.”
Having shown real pace in the final practice session Hamilton was hugely disappointing once more in what has been a trying first season with Ferrari. “Today was amazing,” he said. “I just didn’t get a lap at the end. I felt like we were quickest and then you come out of qualifying 20th. This year is definitely the hardest year.”
For Norris, as he attempts to secure his first F1 title, he did exactly what was required not only in claiming pole but crucially in out-qualifying Piastri on a track where McLaren had expected to struggle.
Norris leads the Australian by 24 points and Verstappen by 49. As things stand, finishing in front of Piastri in the remaining three meetings would be enough to take the title. Indeed, if Norris can extend his lead to 26 points by the end of the next round in Abu Dhabi, it would be enough to take the title there.
He remains very much on a roll, finding his touch with the car at a vital moment in the championship and just as Piastri has floundered. Norris was 34 points behind his teammate after the Dutch GP in August, but since then has returned consistently strong finishes, including pole and wins in the last two races in Mexico and Brazil. Enough to turn the championship battle in his favour.
Norris and McLaren have played down their chances this weekend in Las Vegas, on a circuit which does not suit their car because of the low grip and cool temperatures, and the team have not finished above sixth here in the previous two races. However, they demonstrated excellent form in qualifying in the wet this time.
The sessions opened in steady rain which made what is already a very low-grip surface and in cool temperatures an absolute handful, and the first time qualifying has been held in the wet in Vegas and required the full-wet rubber.
Indeed, on his opening forays Norris expressed his concern as he went wide. “Aqua-planing,” he said. “I can’t keep it on the track.”
However, as the rain eased off the track began to dry swiftly on the racing line and the times came down. Yet the margins were still fine, as Alex Albon discovered as he was caught out on his final lap in Q1, hitting the wall and taking damage that ended his session in 16th.
The rain did stop but the track was still difficult to handle for the remainder of the session and with the wet rubber still being used the drivers stayed out and kept putting in laps as the dry line improved and the times came down. The final laps were vital, with Piastri only just making it through to Q1 in 10th place.
For Q3 the teams switched to the intermediate tyres, once more continuing to stay out and pound out the laps, making timing key for a final lap shootout. The lead changed hands repeatedly as the clock counted down, with Norris setting a sighter with his nose in front before the very last hot laps.
Verstappen then took it as he completed his last run but behind him Norris was on a charge and, despite a big wobble through turns 14, 15 and 16 in the final sector, had already done enough for a mighty pole with a time of 1min 47.934secs. He soon could not be challenged with a yellow flag in his wake as Leclerc went wide and Piastri also had to take evasive action to avoid Isack Hadjar.
