Lando Norris secured a crucial pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, edging closer to his first Formula One world championship in a challenging qualifying session held on the wet and slippery Nevada street circuit. The British driver’s impressive performance came despite the difficult conditions, marking a significant achievement for McLaren on a track where the team had historically struggled.
Norris’s pole was especially notable given the treacherous, rain-soaked surface that made tire management and car control exceptionally demanding. He had approached qualifying with a calm and composed mindset, even taking a brief nap beforehand, expecting dry conditions. However, when he woke to find the rain falling, he initially feared the session would be difficult. “I thought: ‘Oh crap, this isn’t going to go well,’” he admitted afterward. Yet, Norris quickly adapted, mastering the “nasty” surface and proving his skill in wet conditions by outpacing the reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who qualified second for Red Bull.
This strong qualifying result puts Norris in a commanding position in the championship race. His closest title rival and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri qualified in fifth place, meaning Norris can extend his lead in the drivers’ standings on race day. Currently, Norris leads Piastri by 24 points and Verstappen by 49, and with just three races remaining in the season, maintaining finishes ahead of Piastri could be enough to secure the championship. Indeed, if Norris increases his lead to 26 points after the next round in Abu Dhabi, he would clinch the title.
The qualifying session itself was the first wet qualifying in Las Vegas history, requiring all drivers to run on full-wet tires initially. The rain created significant challenges, including aquaplaning and limited visibility, which tested the drivers’ skill and nerves. Norris described his initial laps as precarious, saying, “Aqua-planing. I can’t keep it on the track.” Despite the difficult conditions, Norris managed to set the fastest lap of 1 minute 47.934 seconds, narrowly beating Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr., who took an impressive third place for Williams. George Russell secured fourth for Mercedes.
While Norris celebrated his success, the day was far more frustrating for some of the sport’s biggest names, particularly Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. Hamilton endured one of the most difficult qualifying sessions of his long and storied career, finishing a shocking last in 20th place. This marked the first time in his 19-season Formula One career that he had been at the back of the grid purely on pace. Hamilton struggled to get the full-wet tires working effectively in the first qualifying segment (Q1) and was further hampered by a late yellow flag that cut short his final flying lap.
“It was as bad as it gets,” Hamilton said, describing his experience on the full-wet tires. “I couldn’t see anything. I think I hit the wall out at one point.” Despite showing promising pace in the final practice session earlier in the day, Hamilton was left disappointed once again in what has been a difficult debut season with Ferrari. The team’s chairman, John Elkann, had recently urged Hamilton to “talk less and focus more on his driving,” but the British driver’s struggles on Saturday highlighted the ongoing challenges he faces adapting to the car and extracting performance.
Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc fared slightly better by qualifying ninth, but he was equally vocal about his frustration with the Ferrari car’s lack of grip in the wet. After his qualifying run, Leclerc expressed his anger over the team radio, calling the performance “embarrassing” and complaining about the “zero grip” on the track. Ferrari’s difficulties with tire performance in wet conditions have been a recurring issue throughout the season, and the team’s problems once again cast doubt over their competitiveness as the campaign nears its conclusion.
Other notable performances included Oscar Piastri’s fifth-place qualification, which kept him in striking distance of Norris in the championship, and Liam Lawson’s impressive sixth place for Racing Bulls. Fernando Alonso also qualified well in seventh for Aston Martin, while Isack Hadjar, another Racing Bulls driver, secured eighth place. Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten for Alpine.
As the qualifying session progressed, the rain began to ease, but the track remained slippery and demanding. Teams switched to intermediate tires for the final segment (Q3) and pushed hard to set fast laps in a tense shootout. The