Norris beats Verstappen to grab pole for Las Vegas Grand Prix
Championship leader Lando Norris came out on top of a difficult, wet qualifying session to grab pole position for Sunday's Las Vegas Grand Prix. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on the grid-deciding session.
Just before the qualifying session kicked off, it started to rain heavily at Las Vegas, meaning that drivers were forced to master wet conditions on a surface that had provided very little grip even in dry conditions.
The tricky conditions meant that it was not evident who would come out on top as several drivers displayed a great performance on the damp Las Vegas Strip circuit. However, when it mattered the most, championship leader Lando Norris set a 1m 47.934s to claim pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen ended up second, nearly three tenths slower than Norris while Williams driver Carlos Sainz claimed a sensational third place for the Grove-based outfit.
George Russell looked very strong in the opening two phases of qualifying which took place in,the worst of the conditions. The Mercedes driver topped both Q1 and Q2 sessions, but he looked to struggle for rear grip on Pirelli's intermediates and was left in fourth place.
Oscar Piastri struggle to progress through the opening two segments of qualifying, but he came alive in Q3 when conditions started to improve significantly. The McLaren driver looked to have a chance of sealing pole, but he was ultimately 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, followed by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Hadjar.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc did not look particularly quick as Ferrari struggled for pace in the rain again. However, he looked a bit more comfortable in Q3 when the field was able to switch from wet tyre to intermediates, albeit he ran deep at Turn 12 on his final effort, and ended up only ninth on the grid ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
Kick Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg missed the cut for Q3 after finishing P11 in the middle segment of Qualifying. Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was the only driver to venture out onto the Las Vegas Strip on the green-walled intermediates in Q2, but he was unable to fire up his tyres and was eliminated in Q2.
The two Haas' of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman took P13 and P14, respectively, while Alpine's Franco Colapinto took the last spot in the middle segment of qualifying.
Alex Albon looked strong in all conditions, but he hit the barriers on the exit of Turn 16 in the dying second of Q1. Although he managed to bring his car back into the garage, he ended up just outside the top 15.
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli took only 17th despite his impressive speed, having made a mistake on his final lap. Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda ended up P18 and P19, respectively while Ferrari's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished last of the 20 runners.
How it happened?
After Gasly improved to 7th, the chequered flag saw Piastri make it through in 10th. Mercedes' George Russell ended the session fastest, just like he did Q1.
The top 10 shootout got going with Leclerc taking to the track on intermediates with everybody else following the same tyre choice. George Russell was the last man out, 2 minutes into the session.
With these intermediates on the tyres it was crucial to get into the groove and gradually improve lap after lap with the tyres and the track typically improving together. The McLarens and Sainz were immediately hot on the pace and exchanged top spots on the timing sheet. Alonso and Verstappen, running together about 10s apart from each other, trundled around a bit more quietly around 6th and 7th positions in their first couple of laps.
