Lando Norris claimed pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the McLaren driver and Drivers’ Championship leader mastering wet conditions to finish ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz while title rival Oscar Piastri settled for fifth.
It marks three consecutive pole positions for Norris, whose 1m 47.934s was nearly three-tenths faster than Verstappen during a Qualifying session which remained wet throughout.
Williams’ Sainz put in another strong Qualifying performance and finished ahead of George Russell, the Mercedes driver having topped both Q1 and Q2 sessions in the worst of the conditions.
Piastri was left in fifth having gone into the run-off area at Turn 12 on his final effort after going wheel-to-wheel with Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls.
The second Racing Bulls machine of Liam Lawson finished P6, as the top-10 was completed by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Hadjar, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, which also ran deep at Turn 12 on his final effort, and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg missed the cut for Q3 after finishing P11 in the middle segment of Qualifying, ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), the two Haas’ of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, as well as Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
Alex Albon was eliminated in Q1 after hitting the barrier on the exit of Turn 16 in the final minutes which broke the front-right suspension on his Williams.
He was joined in the drop zone by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished last of the 20 runners, the seven-time World Champion unable to extract performance on the wet tyre.
AS IT HAPPENED
Q1 – Hamilton knocked out in 20th amid wet track conditions
Free Practice 3 earlier in the day had given drivers and teams a glimpse of what running might be like in the wet around the high-speed street circuit, but a damp track surface was replaced by much worse conditions for Qualifying due to persistent rain fall prior to the session.
The majority of drivers immediately headed out at the green light to explore the treacherous conditions, the Aston Martins of Alonso and Stroll fitted with the full wet tyre compared with many on the intermediate rubber.
But the high level of standing water meant those on the intermediate tyre were soon in the pit lane for the full wet compound as drivers started to run deep into the run-off area at Turn 14, which would continue throughout Qualifying.
Lap times tumbled throughout the 18-minute segment as drivers explored the limits and track conditions marginally improved, Russell eventually finishing fastest on a 1m 53.144s – more than 19 seconds slower than his time-topping effort in FP3.
It left the Mercedes driver three-tenths clear of Verstappen, with Alonso, Stroll, Gasly and Piastri completing the top-six as the conditions produced a mixed-up order, with Norris down in P13.
Bearman just made it through to Q2 in P15 despite having run deep at Turn 14 on his final lap and made head-on contact with the barrier in the run-off area before rejoining.
In the drop zone, Albon was unable to progress after clouting the wall on the exit of Turn 16 in the final minutes which broke the front-right suspension on his Williams as he recovered into the pit lane.
Antonelli, Bortoleto and Tsunoda also missed the cut, as did Hamilton, who complained over the radio that he “couldn’t get the tyres to work” as he finished nearly four seconds adrift of Russell’s benchmark.
Knocked out: Albon, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Tsunoda, Hamilton
Q2 – Russell fastest again as tricky conditions persist
All cars remained on the wet tyre at the start of Q2 as Norris, Stroll, Verstappen and Piastri all occupied top spot in the opening minutes, with drivers putting in continuous laps in the tricky conditions.
Russell once again topped another session, lowering the best time to a 1m 50.935 which left him less than two-tenths clear of Hadjar, with Sainz, Norris, Verstappen and Lawson completing the top-six.
Gasly jumped up to P7 with his final effort and led Alonso and Leclerc, with Piastri pivotally just making it through to the final part of Qualifying in P10.
Hulkenberg was the first driver to miss the cut for Q3 by six-tenths and was joined by Stroll, who with three minutes remaining was the only driver to switch to the intermediate tyre.
The Haas duo of Ocon and Bearman were also eliminated, as well as Colapinto, the Argentinian saving a huge moment of oversteer through the left-right-left of Turns 14/15/16.
Knocked out: Hulkenberg, Stroll, Ocon, Bearman, Colapinto
Q3 – Norris delivers to seal impressive pole
Conditions had improved enough in the final 12-minute segment for all 10 drivers to head out on the intermediate tyre, with it becoming clear that the best of the conditions would be at the very end of proceedings.
Sainz led the way initially after the opening fastest laps, with Leclerc running deep at Turn 14 on his second flying effort as Piastri went quickest with a 1m 49.136s.
Norris responded with a faster lap of his own, which was usurped by Sainz and then Verstappen in the final minute as Piastri was the last of the runners to cross the line for their final lap, giving the title protagonist the best of the conditions in theory.
Norris jumped back to the top with a 1m 47.934s, despite nearly dropping it into the barrier on the exit of Turn 16, and that would prove good enough for his third consecutive pole position.
Verstappen was left nearly three-tenths in arrears from Sainz and Russell, with Piastri only P5 after being held up by a yellow flag ahead before running deep at Turn 12 on his final effort, appearing to go wheel-to-wheel with Hadjar’s Racing Bulls.
The second Racing Bulls of Lawson finished P6 as the top-10 was completed by Alonso, Hadjar, Leclerc and Gasly.
Key quote
It was stressful, stressful as hell!,” said polesitter Norris. “I didn’t know no-one else was going to get a lap after me.
“I knew I felt like the first two sectors were good but it’s so slippery out there. As soon as you hit the kerb a little bit wrong like I did, you snap one way, you lose the car the other way, close to hitting the wall but good enough for P1 today. Not the nicest of conditions but I’m happy it stopped raining and we could get a good Qualifying.”
What’s next
The 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix is set to begin at 2000 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
