Rain normally is the great equalizer in motorsports, but the cream still rose to the top tonight (Nov. 21) as Lando Norris shone in Q3 to take his first pole on the Las Vegas Strip. He outpaced championship rival Max Verstappen, who must score nine points on Saturday to stay within the championship hunt.
Norris took his seventh pole of the season and his 16th of his F1 career.
“It was stressful as hell,” Norris said to Sky Sports’ James Hinchcliffe. “I didn’t know no one else was going to get a lap after me. I knew the first few sectors were good. It’s so slippery out there. As soon as you hit the curb a little bit wrong like I did, you snap one way. You lose the car the other way. Close to hitting the wall, but good enough for P1 today. Not the nicest of conditions, but I’m happy it stopped raining, and we could get a good qualifying up.”
Verstappen soared in his final run to surpass Williams’ Carlos Sainz for pole, but Norris beat the Dutchman in a second flying lap by 0.323 seconds. Even with his rain mastery, conditions still were tough for even the Red Bull driver.
“I like to drive in the wet,” Verstappen said. “This felt more like driving on ice. It took a long time to get the tires to work a little bit. I do feel like we were more competitive on the extreme (wet) tire, but the track was improving. So, you have to move on to the inter. I struggle a lot to have any kind of grip. Final lap, we risked a little bit more, but it was not enough to fight for first. Still, to be on the front row I think is good for us. The lap felt right alright. It’s just super difficult out there to get all the braking zones right and be on the limit of the tires as well, but we did it. So, excited for tomorrow.”
Sainz, who claimed his only podium finish on the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan, after starting near the front, earned his second top-three start of the season to the cheer of a raucous American fan base and shared his happiness by bearing the flag for Williams in an underdog effort.
“I’m always optimistic,” Sainz said. “I always try to think about myself doing well. This track suited our car well in the dry, but in the wet in FP3, we didn’t look very promising. We did a few changes that helped our car that I think helped in the wet. That allowed me from the first lap of Q1 every time I was finishing the lap, I was P1. On the next [set of] wets, I was really, really quick. On inters, I knew the others maybe would catch up a bit, but happy with P3.
“I think the US fans know a thing about an underdog fight. I think they see myself with Williams as an underdog but also as a project. We’ve been becoming stronger every lap we do together. It’s great to see people behind us supporting us. Would’ve loved to give them pole today because that would’ve been a massive cheer, but we weren’t quite there.”
Q3
Green intermediate tires became the standard for all 10 drivers for the final qualifying session of the night, but conditions were still difficult, including for a championship contender.
Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc went wide in turn 12 on their final flying laps. Leclerc spun on his own while Piastri had the Racing Bull of Isaak Hadjar challenging in the preferred dry groove, sending his McLaren off course.
Despite the wet conditions, no red flags were thrown for the incident.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Pole |
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:47.934m |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.323s |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +0.362s |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.869s |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +1.027s |
| 6 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.128s |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1.532s |
| 8 | 6 | Isaak Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +1.620s |
| 9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.938s |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +3.606s |
Q2
Lance Stroll showed pace on the wet tires, but made a gamble to put on the intermediate tires too early, costing him a spot in Q3 with his teammate Alonso and relegating the Canadian to 12th.
Franco Colapinto made an incredible save, cranking left and right in the esses section after running the strip, but the Argentinian was last of the Q2 qualifiers.
Piastri avoided elimination by one position but stayed over seven tenths clear from danger over the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg.
Russell once again classed the field, improving to a 1:50.935 on wet tires as conditions dried for Q3.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | KICK Sauber | +0.655s |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.724s |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +0.841s |
| 14 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +0.968s |
| 15 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +1.557s |
Q1
Alex Albon couldn’t overcome the wet conditions and made contact in his final run as he tried to secure a lap good enough to make it out of the drop zone. The Thai-Brit driver will roll off 16th.
Kimi Antonelli, who finished second last week in Brazil, and Lewis Hamilton were surprise eliminations from the first of three qualifying stages. Both drivers qualified 17th and 20th, respectively.
Sainz spun during the session and pulled ahead of the Aston Martin of Stroll in very low lighting and came close to a collision after avoiding action by Stroll. The stewards investigated the incident and found no issue.
Russell claimed the top time of the session at 1:53.144 as all 20 drivers battled slippery conditions under the lights and were struggling to find grip on both intermediate and wet tires.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +0.204s |
| 17 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.298s |
| 18 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | KICK Sauber | +0.658s |
| 19 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +0.782s |
| 20 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +1.099s |
F1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix Qualifying Results
Lights out in Sin City is set for 11 p.m. ET, and broadcasting for the race will be provided by ESPN in the United States.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
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