Lando Norris’ march towards a first world title continued apace after he took pole position in a wet and perilous qualifying session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Norris improved on his final lap to set a fastest time of 1:47.934, beating Max Verstappen to pole position by 0.323 seconds.
Meanwhile, Norris’ closest title rival, McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, could only manage fifth on the grid after coming across traffic on his final flying lap in Q3.
With 84 points still up for grabs between Saturday’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 the McLaren teammates finish the race where they start it, Norris would extend his lead over Piastri by another 15 points and open up a very real possibility of wrapping up the title at the penultimate round in Qatar next weekend.
Carlos Sainz secured third place on the grid for Williams with a time just 0.039 seconds off Verstappen.
