Lando Norris has beaten Max Verstappen in mixed conditions by three-tenths to take his third consecutive pole at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The world championship leader once again navigated the changeable conditions with the track and took advantage at the end of Q3 to secure pole.
Norris was not especially fast on the extreme wet tyres, but once on to the intermediate tyres in the final session, he was consistently the fastest driver on track. Verstappen, usually so strong in wet conditions, was not quite on the Briton’s level but his second place on the grid makes him a serious threat for the lead into the first corner, given his usually aggressive start to race.
Norris survived a wobble on his final lap when he hit the kerb through the City Centre Plaza (Turn Fourteen to Sixteen) chicane, but was still fast enough for pole as others behind him were affected by a yellow flag. The pole highlighting the steps he has made in changeable conditions since losing his first win in Sochi 2021.
Carlos Sainz was a surprise third, putting his Williams four hundredths behind his two former teammates as in the closing moments of Q3, they traded lap times. Sainz had taken pole before Verstappen pulled out three hundredths, but they were no match for the McLaren as Norris found three tenths despite a slide. But his time was still good enough for pole.
Verstappen and Sainz were both half a second ahead of George Russell, who couldn’t find the same pace as his pole last year and was a second off pole. Sainz was cleared of an impeding incident when he rejoined unsafely during Q1 ahead of Lance Stroll. Norris’s teammate and championship rival, Oscar Piastri, could only manage fifth.
Norris said, “That was stressful, stressful as hell. I didn’t know no-one else would get a lap after me. The first two sectors were good. As soon as you hit the kerb a little bit wrong, it’s tricky, it snapped one way and then the other but good enough for pole. No-one’s driven here in the wet before. After Q1, every corner, you felt like you could crash every corner. One lap at a time. It was a tricky one.”
Verstappen said: “It’s already slippery in the dry, but in the wet it’s not fun. It felt more like driving on ice. I did feel we were a little more competitive on the extreme tyre. We were not quite competitive enough to fight for pole, but second is still good.”
Piastri told Sky Sports: “There was more out there that we didn’t get to use. We’ve got a good car underneath us that seems to be working well in all conditions so we can have a strong race tomorrow and hopefully make up some spots.”
Piastri was left just over a tenth off after going wheel-to-wheel and needing to take avoiding action by Wynn Hotel (Twelve) to avoid a collision on his final run with Isack Hadjar. The Australian going a tenth ahead of Hadjar’s teammate Liam Lawson creating an Oceania third row.
Piastri also nearly found himself knocked out in Q2, when Aston Martin to switched Stroll to intermediate tyres for a final run in Q2, thanks to for progressing into the top ten shootout. But Stroll couldn’t switch on the tyres before the end of the session, despite being fast up until the end of the session.
Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin seventh as he went nearly a tenth ahead of Hadjar. Ferrari’s difficult session saw Charles Leclerc only manage ninth, three tenths behind the Racing Bull and nearly three seconds ahead of Pierre Gasly.
Q3 was covered by two seconds with Gasly’s lap appearing unrepresentative, while in Q1 the field was covered by four seconds, which is the biggest margin of the season, as Russell was four seconds faster than Hamilton. The field was also covered by slightly less during Q2 and Q3, being roughly three and a half seconds.
Nico Hulkenberg put his Sauber eleventh as he missed out on Q3 by eight tenths, the German being knocked out in the final moments by Gasly. Lance Stroll was nine hundredths behind the Sauber, despite showing strong pace until his final run in Q2 where he gambled on inters; he could not get the tyres to work on the drying track.
Esteban Ocon was over a tenth faster than Haas teammate Ollie Bearman, who narrowly avoided a Q1 knockout after avoiding contact with the wall, also at City Centre Plaza. The other potential victim Franco Colapintio, was six-tenths further behind as he nearly slid into the wall
It was another disaster qualifying for Hamilton, the worst qualifying of his career on pure pace, as he qualified last as he struggled for grip. 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.
But the first part of qualifying proved how tricky conditions were, though no incidents saw the red flag come out. Alex Albon looked on course to make it through to Q2 going fastest in sector one, and remained on the pace until being another to be caught out by the City Centre Plaza, breaking his front-right suspension on his Williams as he recovered into the pit lane.
That left him nearly a tenth ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who couldn’t improve on his last run. The Italian over a quarter of a tenth ahead of Bortoleto, with Yuki Tsunoda just over a tenth further behind. Hamilton completed the field.
