Lando Norris claims F1 Las Vegas GP pole in wet as Oscar Piastri slips to fifth

Norris beat the Red Bull of Max Verstappen into second and, with his closest title rival and teammate Oscar Piastri in fifth, he can further extend his advantage at the top of the standings on Sunday. Indeed, he had been so cool in advance that he took in spot of shut-eye before it began and then weathered the hazardous conditions with insouciance.

“To be honest, I was having a quick nap before qualifying and I was expecting it to be dry but I woke up and saw that it was raining,” he said. “I thought: ‘Oh crap, this isn’t going to go well.’”

Yet he had its measure, although his pleasure at mastering a “nasty” surface in cool temperatures and with a intimidating volume of water thrown in stood in stark contrast to the frustration of Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, for whom it seems the season’s end cannot come soon enough.

Hamilton finished plum last in 20th, the first time he has been at the back of the grid on pace alone in his 19-season career. He struggled to make the tyres work in Q1 and was unlucky with a late yellow flag. “[The full-wet tyre] was as bad as it gets,” Hamilton said. “I couldn’t see anything. I think I hit the wall out at one point.”

Having shown pace in the final practice session, Hamilton, who had been told by the Ferrari chair, John Elkann, to “talk less and focus more on his driving”, was disappointed once more in a trying first season with Ferrari. “Today was amazing. I just didn’t get a lap at the end,” he added. “I felt like we were quickest and then you come out of qualifying 20th. This year is definitely the hardest year.”

Ferrari have had problems with switching tyres on in the wet all season but while Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc did fare better, finishing in ninth, he was equally angry with the his car. “My God, embarrassing, fucking embarrassing, fucking hell,” he told the team on his in-lap. “I don’t get how we can be so off the pace, there’s like zero grip, zero fucking grip.”

For Norris this was exactly what was required, not only in claiming pole but by out-qualifying Piastri on a track where McLaren had expected to struggle. Norris leads the Australian by 24 points and Verstappen by 49. As things stand, just finishing in front of Piastri at the remaining three grands prix would be enough to take the title. Should he extend his lead to 26 points by the end of the next round in Abu Dhabi, that would seal his first title.

The session opened in steady rain, the first time qualifying has been held in the wet in Las Vegas and required the full-wet rubber. On his opening forays Norris expressed his concern, saying: “Aqua-planing. I can’t keep it on the track.”

The rain did stop but the track was still a handful but, with the wet rubber still being used, the drivers stayed out and kept putting in laps. As the dry line improved the final laps were vital, with Piastri making it out of Q2 in 10th place.