Las Vegas (USA), Nov 22: Formula 1’s title contenders mastered the wet and slick Las Vegas Strip in a rainy Friday night qualifying session that saw championship leader Lando Norris take pole.
Norris of McLaren took the top starting spot at the Las Vegas Grand Prix at the line after four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen had jumped to the top of the board. But the Red Bull driver, who won the inaugural Las Vegas race in 2023 and took his fourth straight title last year was only there a few moments before Norris bumped him down a stop.
“Boy it was stressful as hell,” Norris said. “It was pretty nasty, probably some of the worst conditions, if not the worst. It was so slippery, so difficult.”
Carlos Sainz Jr. briefly flirted with giving Williams its first pole since 2014 but was quickly knocked down to third by Norris and Verstappen. Norris has won three consecutive poles since reclaiming control of the championship race.
He takes a 24-point lead over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri into Saturday night’s race, which will be Norris’ 150th career start — a mark that ties him for most in team history with David Coulthard.
Piastri qualified fifth, one spot behind defending race winner George Russell of Mercedes, as the Australian’s second-half of the season struggles continue. Piastri dominated the early part of the season but has not won a race since the final day of August and has just one podium finish in the six races since.
Piastri was in contention for the pole until a yellow flag ended his run.
“We were quick, there was no doubt about that,” Piastri said. “One was or another, things seem to not be going the way I want at the moment. At least I can say the pace was good out there.”
There are three races remaining in the season.
The first group had a shocking result as Alex Albon hit the wall with just seconds remaining, and then Kimi Antonelli, who had been fast through three practice sessions, was eliminated alongside Lewis Hamilton, runner-up in this race a year ago.
Hamilton was slowest in the 20-driver field to continue the struggles he’s faced in his first year driving for Ferrari.
“Couldn’t get the tires to work,” Hamilton said of the wet track.
Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc both failed to finish in Brazil two weeks ago, which drew the ire of Ferrari executive chairman John Elkann, who criticized the duo and said “it’s not up to standards. It’s important that our drivers focus on driving and talk less.”
The rain that has drenched the city almost the entire week is expected to move out before Saturday night’s race, a relief for the drivers who have not experienced the challenges of a wet track at Las Vegas in its previous two runnings.
“It was really slippery out there, it’s not fun,” Verstappen said. “I don’t mind driving in the wet, but this, for me, is a little too much. You have to be super careful and honestly I was surprised that there were not too many incidents. Everyone was behaving, maybe scared?”
Sainz was the surprise qualifier and based on the crowd reaction a thrilling one. He said he was briefly excited when he crossed the line and saw he was fastest.
“I closed the lap, I saw myself in P1 and then I realized I was the first car across the line,” Sainz said. “I knew maybe that wasn’t going to last very long with these two guys coming behind.”
Sainz said the rain and wet track helped him with his qualifying effort but he doesn’t expect Williams to be as competitive if it is indeed dry on Saturday night.
“The wet allowed us to shine a bit more. I don’t think in the dry that would have been possible,” Sainz said. “I don’t expect, if the race is dry, to be able to hold P3.”
Norris said he took a nap after the third practice session and expected the rain would be over in time for qualifying, only to awaken to the persistent poor weather.
“My thoughts were to just keep it in one piece, not so easy in the wet conditions,” Norris said. “It’s very difficult to get that confidence to go fast in qualifying.” (AP)
