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Laurence Edmondson
Lando Norris’ march toward a first world title continued apace Friday after he took pole position in a wet and perilous qualifying session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix while his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri could manage only fifth.
Norris improved on his final lap in Q3 to set a fastest time of 1:47.934, beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position by 0.323 seconds.
Meanwhile, Piastri, who had briefly held the fastest time during the early exchanges of Q3, came across Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in Turn 12 on his final flying lap and was left in fifth place at the checkered flag.
With 84 points still up for grabs between Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix and the end of the season, Norris currently leads Piastri by 24 points at the top of the standings and has a 49-point lead over Verstappen in third.
If all three title contenders finish the race where they start it, Norris would extend his lead over Piastri by 15 points and increase his gap to Verstappen by another seven, opening up the very real possibility of wrapping up the title at next weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz secured a surprise third place on the grid for Williams with a time just 0.039 seconds off Verstappen. Mercedes’ George Russell, who topped the final practice session, secured fourth on the grid.
Liam Lawson will start sixth for Racing Bulls with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in seventh, Hadjar in eighth, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in ninth and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in 10th.
Rain ahead of qualifying significantly reduced grip levels on the street circuit, with all 20 drivers struggling to keep within track limits.
Only Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman made contact with the barriers, but yellow flags were regularly flown for drivers negotiating their way back out of run-off areas.
Nico Hülkenberg missed out on a place in Q3 by over 0.6 seconds after conditions progressively improved over the course of Q2 and he set his fastest time with a few minutes left to run. The Sauber driver will line up 11th on the grid ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin in 12th, while Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Bearman took 13th and 14th, respectively. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto could manage only the 15th fastest time after catching a huge slide on the exit of Turn 16 on his final flying lap.
Albon will start the race in 16th after damaging his front wing and front right suspension against the barrier on his final flying lap in Q1. Albon was exiting Turn 16 when he lost the rear of his Williams, overcorrected and made contact with the outside barrier.
Kimi Antonelli will start 17th after struggling to put a lap together when conditions were at their best at the end of Q1, leaving him one position ahead of fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in the Sauber. Yuki Tsunoda could manage only the 19th fastest time for Red Bull, while Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing season continued with the slowest time of all — nearly four seconds off the fastest Q1 time set by Russell.
Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, said he struggled to get his full-wet tires to work during Q1, while the result marked his worst qualifying result since joining Ferrari at the start of the year.
