Las Vegas GP Qualifying: Lando Norris claims stunning wet-weather pole from Max Verstappen as Lewis Hamilton qualifies last
Lando Norris tamed treacherous wet conditions to claim a stunning pole position for a Las Vegas Grand Prix in which he could move one further big step closer towards F1’s world title.
After a downpour ahead of qualifying had left an already-slippery Las Vegas Strip Circuit absolutely sodden, with rain continuing to fall into the first knockout session, the in-form Norris ultimately came to the fore when it mattered most on a drying track on intermediate tyres in Q3.
McLaren team-mate and main title rival Oscar Piastri was only fifth.
Pole position changed hands three times after the chequered flag with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and then Red Bull’s Max Verstappen briefly taking top spot for themselves before the superb Norris beat the latter’s time by 0.323s with a 1:47.934 despite a big slide in his McLaren in the final corners.
“Boy that was stressful, stressful as hell!” a relieved Norris said afterwards.
Verstappen took second ahead of the impressive Sainz – who faced no further action in a post-session investigation for an alleged rules infringement – with Mercedes’ George Russell fourth ahead of Piastri, who was compromised by yellow flags on his final run.
Piastri trails Norris by 24 points in the championship, with Verstappen 49 points back.
Only 58 points will remain up for grabs across the season’s final two events over the next fortnight following the conclusion of Sunday’s race on the Las Vegas Strip.
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Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 of the Las Vegas Grand Prix after finishing last.
Lewis Hamilton qualified 20th and last in a new low for his troubled first season at Ferrari with the seven-time champion struggling for grip during the particularly-treacherous Q1.
It marked the first time in Briton’s 19-year F1 career that he had qualified last on outright pace.
Hamilton was joined in early elimination by Williams’ Alex Albon, who broke his car’s suspension hitting the wall at the end of his final lap, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
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Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman both hit the wall in Q1 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
With Charles Leclerc going on to qualify only ninth in the sole-remaining Ferrari in Q3, Racing Bulls cashed in on the struggles of some of the grids bigger names to take sixth with Liam Lawson and eighth with Isack Hadjar.
Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin, who had run strongly with both cars early on in Q1, while Pierre Gasly continued a fine weekend so far to give Alpine 10th.
Las Vegas GP Qualifying: Top 10
1) 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
Norris finds something special again for third straight pole
Having dominated the previous two weekends in Mexico and Brazil to take control of the world championship fight with only three races left, Norris showed further evidence in Q3 on Saturday that he has found an extra gear in performance in the season’s defining weeks.
The streets of Sin City had not been kind to McLaren in the race’s first two years on the calendar, with neither driver qualifying nor finishing higher than sixth, but Norris suggested they might prove a more competitive proposition this time around when he topped the dry, albeit disrupted, second practice session on Friday.
The heavy rain which arrived ahead of qualifying initially did not appear to play to the team’s favour, with Norris only 13th fastest when conditions were at their worst in Q1.
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Watch the moment that Lando Norris claims his third consecutive pole in Las Vegas.
But he was fourth as the track started to dry in Q2 and then, once on intermediate tyres into the pole shootout, was easily the man to beat.
So much so that Norris was a whopping 0.9s up on Verstappen’s then-benchmark time through the first two sectors of his final lap, although the need for a correction on the steering wheel when the back of his McLaren suddenly snapped away soon after going over the Turn 15 kerb left him wondering whether he had ultimately done enough to head the grid once he crossed the line.
“Oh! No one else got a lap or what?” Norris asked in surprise over team radio when told by his race engineer that pole was his.
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Lando Norris was pleased after securing pole in his McLaren at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Briton then said in his post-session interview: “I knew the first two sectors were good. It’s so slippery out there. As soon as you hit the kerb a bit wrong, like I did, you snap one way, lose the car the other way. Close to hitting the wall!
“Good enough for P1. Not the nicest of conditions but I’m happy it stopped raining and we could get a good qualifying on.”
Piastri finished four places and one second further away, the Australian forced to slow when yellow flags came out for Leclerc ahead of him
What went wrong for 20th-placed Hamilton?
Las Vegas was the scene of Hamilton’s last podium finish in F1, 12 months and 24 races ago, but chances of a repeat are all-but over already after he set the slowest time of Q1.
The Ferrari driver’s weekend had started promisingly in the largely cool and dry conditions of practice, but his pace fell away badly on the extreme wet tyres in Q1.
“The first set of tyres obviously didn’t work for us, and I was just struggling to generate the heat in the tyres for some reason,” he said.
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Anthony Davidson was at the SkyPad to analyse why Lewis Hamilton decided to abort his final qualifying lap before Jenson Button and Bernie Collins debated what happened also.
“It’s a shame because the guys did such a great job. The car was feeling awesome in P3 and I really, really felt like we had good pace, then obviously the rain came. Not a lot to say really from there, to be honest.”
A yellow flag in the final sector forced him to slow down at the end of what proved his final timed lap, with Hamilton then thinking he had run out of time for a further attempt when he crossed the line and saw red lights. However, the official timing screens showed he had, in actual fact, made the line just in time and would have been free to push on instead of heading back to the pits.
Asked what had happened amid apparent confusion, Hamilton said: “Coming into [turn] 17 there was yellow flags so I had a lift and when I came to the line it was red.”
He later added: “I didn’t have the grip anyway so I don’t think it would have made much difference.”
Las Vegas GP Qualifying Timesheet
Driver
Team
Time
1) Lando Norris
McLaren
1:47.934
2) Max Verstappen
Red Bull
+0.323
3) Carlos Sainz
Williams
+0.362
4) George Russell
Mercedes
+0.869
5) Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+1.027
6) Liam Lawson
Racing Bulls
+1.128
7) Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
+1.532
8) Isack Hadjar
Racing Bulls
+1.620
9) Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
+1.938
10) Pierre Gasly
Alpine
+3.606
Knocked out in Q2
11) Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber
1:52.781
12) Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
1:52.850
13) Esteban Ocon
Haas
1:52.987
14) Oliver Bearman
Haas
1:53.094
15) Franco Colapinto
Alpine
1:53.683
Knocked out in Q1
16) Alex Albon
Williams
1:56.220
17) Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
1:56.314
18) Gabriel Bortoleto
Sauber
1:56.674
19) Yuki Tsunoda
Red Bull
1:56.798
20) Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
1:57.115
Sky Sports F1’s Las Vegas GP schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Sunday November 23
12.15am: F1 Academy Race Two
2.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP build-up*
4am: THE LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX*
6am: Chequered Flag: Las Vegas GP reaction*
7am: Ted’s Notebook*
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues with the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
