Lando Norris will start tomorrow night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix from pole position, having been fastest in a thrilling qualifying session run entirely in the wet, his best Q3 time being a 1’47”934. For the McLaren driver it was his seventh pole of the season, the 16th of his career. The championship leader will have one of his only two title rivals, Max Verstappen, alongside him on the grid, with the Red Bull Racing driver second fastest. In third place was Carlos Sainz for Williams, the Spaniard having qualified second for this race last year with Ferrari. Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri, currently second in the Drivers’ standings could only manage fifth fastest time, caught out by yellow flags.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Norris by Louis Tomlinson, former member of famous British boyband One Direction, today a successful solo artist. On Saturday, before the start of the Grand Prix, he will be entertaining the crowd, singing from the starting grid. His latest single is called Lemonade.

THE DAY ON TRACK
With overnight rain followed by more precipitation in the morning, the track was too wet for slicks at the start of the final free practice session, with all 20 drivers first venturing out on Intermediates. The cold conditions meant the still-green track took a long time to dry. Norris was the first to attempt running the Softs after around half an hour, but it was not until the final 20 minutes that a dry line began to appear and the C5 was finally viable. George Russell was quickest for Mercedes in 1’34”054, still a long way off the fastest FP2 time from yesterday of 1.33.602, set by Norris.

Rain intensified before the start of qualifying, and the Aston Martins were first out of pit lane on Full Wets, also chosen by Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber, while the majority opted for Intermediates, which were soon rejected in favour of the Full Wets.

With around four minutes of Q1 remaining, the rain eased but not enough to make Intermediates viable, although the track condition was improving, which meant no one’s lap time was safe. The most surprising driver not to make the cut was seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton last in the Ferrari, while George Russell topped the time sheet for Mercedes. The rain stopped in time for Q2, but the remaining drivers were all still on Full Wets. With around 5 minutes of this session remaining, Lance Stroll was the first to venture out on Intermediates, but it was clear there was not enough of a dryer line for them to work effectively. Russell was once again quickest. For Q3, the track was finally dry enough for Intermediates.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“One would never have expected to witness a wet qualifying in the middle of a desert, but Las Vegas continues to surprise us. This afternoon’s free practice provided information that would prove useful for the teams, as over 30% of the laps were run on rain tyres, but clearly it was not enough to have an immediate understanding of what would be the best compound with which to start qualifying. After a first run on Intermediates, it soon became clear that conditions required the use of Full Wets. The extreme rain tyres ensured the drivers had good grip for their first flying laps before the track began to dry, allowing for a switch to the Intermediates. The crossover time between these and the Full Wets established in today’s Free Practice is important information if the same conditions are repeated for the start of the Grand Prix. Looking at possible strategies, obviously we have to assume it will be a dry race, basing the options on drastically reduced available data.

“Given the level of graining encountered on the Soft, this compound seems hardly suitable for an effective race strategy tomorrow. On paper, the quickest combination is based on a one-stop: start on the Medium, then switch to the Hard between laps 20 and 26, to then go for a long final stint. Fitting the yellow-banded tyres for the grid also opens up other competitive options. Teams that have kept two sets of Hards could attempt a two-stopper, Medium-Hard-Hard, switching between laps 12 and 18 and again between laps 27 and 33. A similar alternative for the few left with two sets of the yellow-banded tyres would be to run two initial stints on Medium and then Hard, with a final return to the Medium between laps 32 and 38. Use of the Soft would inevitably involve two stops. The way to make the most out of the qualifying compound could be at the start, until a window between laps 8 and 14 to change onto Mediums for a middle stint before returning to the softest compound, fitting it between laps 34 and 40."