Lando Norris clinched pole position for McLaren at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a superb lap in treacherous wet conditions on the Nevada street circuit to move one step closer to his first Formula 1 World Championship win.
title race leader overtook Max Verstappen's Red Bull for second, but with his closest championship rival, teammate Oscar Piastri, only fifth, Norris has the opportunity to further extend his lead at the top of the standings.
Carlos Sainz was third for Williams and George Russell was fourth for Mercedes.
However, Lewis Hamilton produced another very poor performance.finishing last in 20th place for Ferrari, struggling to get the tires to work in very wet conditions in Q1 and unlucky with a late yellow flag. Ferrari had problems with their tires turning on in the wet throughout the season, but Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc finished ninth and beat Hamilton by a full three seconds in the first session.
“This [the full-wet tyre] it was as bad as it gets,” Hamilton said. – I have not seen anything. I think at some point I hit a wall. I just couldn't even see the corners.”
Showing real pace in final practice, Hamilton again disappointed in his difficult first season with Ferrari. “Today was amazing,” he said. “I just didn't get a lap at the end. I felt like we were the fastest and then you come out of qualifying 20th. This year is definitely the toughest.”
For Norris, as he tries to secure his first Formula 1 title, he did exactly what was required, not only to take pole but also, crucially, to beat Piastri in qualifying at a circuit where McLaren expected a fight.
Norris leads the Australian by 24 points and Verstappen by 49. As things stand, finishing ahead of Piastri in the remaining three meetings will be enough to clinch the title. Indeed, if Norris can increase his lead to 26 points by the end of the next round in Abu Dhabi, it will be enough to win the title there.
He remains in good form, finding his touch with the car at a crucial moment in the championship when Piastri became confused. Norris was 34 points behind his teammate after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, but has performed consistently well since then, including pole position and wins in the last two Dutch Grand Prix races. Mexico And Brazil. Enough to turn the championship battle in his favor.
Norris and McLaren missed their chances this weekend in Las Vegas, at a track that doesn't suit their car due to poor grip and cold temperatures, and the team has not finished higher than sixth here in the previous two races. However, this time they showed excellent form in qualifying on wet roads.
The sessions began in persistent rain, making the surface already very weak for grip and with very little in the cool temperatures, and qualifying was held in the wet for the first time in Vegas and required completely wet tyres.
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Indeed, on his first forays, Norris expressed concern that he had passed by. “Hydroplaning,” he said. “I can't stay on track.”
However, as the rain subsided, the race track began to dry out quickly and time began to run out. However, the margin was still good, as Alex Albon discovered when he was caught on the final lap of Q1, crashing into the wall and suffering damage that ended his session in 16th place.
The rain did stop, but the track remained difficult to control for the rest of the session, and with wet tires still in use, drivers stayed on the sidelines and continued to put in laps as the dry track improved and times were shortened. The final laps were vital, with Piastri just making it into Q1 in 10th place.
The teams switched to intermediate tires in Q3, once again continuing to stay on the sidelines and lap laps, which was key for the final lap penalty shootout. The lead changed hands multiple times as the clock counted down, with Norris putting his sights in nose first just before the final hot lap.
Verstappen then took the ball to complete his final run, but behind him Norris attacked and, despite a big hesitation at Turns 14, 15 and 16 in the final sector, had already done enough for a strong pole position with a time of 1 minute 47.934 seconds. He soon failed to challenge the yellow flag as Leclerc went wide and Piastri also had to dodge to avoid Isak Hajjar.
