LANDO NORRIS TAKES MAGIC POLE IN WET LAS VEGAS
Lando Norris took pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The McLaren driver, who leads the Drivers’ Championship, handled the wet track better than anyone and finished ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, who is the only driver to qualify in the top 3 in every race of the current Las Vegas Grand Prix. His title rival Oscar Piastri ended up in fifth place.
This is Norris’ third pole in a row. His best lap, 1:47.934, was almost three-tenths faster than Verstappen’s. The entire Qualifying session stayed wet.
Williams driver Sainz delivered another strong Qualifying and beat George Russell, even though Russell had been fastest in both Q1 and Q2 when the rain was at its worst.
Piastri had to settle for fifth after he ran wide into the run-off area at Turn 12 on his final lap, following a close fight on track with Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls.
Liam Lawson, in the second Racing Bulls car, took sixth. Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin, followed by Hadjar in eighth. Charles Leclerc was ninth for Ferrari after also going wide at Turn 12, and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten for Alpine.
Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on Q3 and finished 11th for Kick Sauber. Behind him were Lance Stroll, the two Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, and Alpine rookie Franco Colapinto.
Alex Albon was knocked out in Q1 after hitting the wall at the exit of Turn 16, breaking his front-right suspension. Also eliminated were Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda. Lewis Hamilton ended up last; the Ferrari driver couldn’t get any speed out of the wet tyres.
Both Mercedes risk to be disqualified from the Qualy after a representative of the team failed to present the setup sheets to the stewards.
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