Formula 1 News: Norris wins pole in wet for Las Vegas GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris turned a lap of 1m47.934s around the wet Las Vegas Street Circuit to win the pole position for the 2025 Las Vegas GP.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

After rain soaked the very fast Las Vegas Street Circuit, qualifying for the 2025 Las Vegas GP became a display of skill and nerves as the track began to develop a partial dry line and the lap times began to tumble as the drivers struggled for grip all around the circuit in very cold conditions. Getting heat in the tires was critical, and whoever turned their fastest lap last would nail the pole.

And it was Lando Norris last across the line to take the pole.

Max Verstappen was 2nd fastest in the inferior Red Bull, 0.323s behind Norris. How slow is the Red Bull? His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was out in Q1 and will start next to last.

“It was stressful stressful as hell,” joked Norris. “I didn’t know no one was going to get a lap behind me. Not the nicest of conditions, but pleased it stopped raining and we could get Qualifying done.”

He added that the “team did a good job” with the car, admitting he was napping before Quali and woke up to see the rain and immediately thought “this is not going to go well.”

“It was really slippery out there,” added Verstappen. “It is not fun I can tell you, it took a long time to get the tires working. To be on the front row is good for us.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. will start 3rd in the #55 Williams, 0.362s behind Norris.

“I’m always optimistic; this track suited our car in the dry and from the first lap in Q1, I was really, really quick. On the inters I knew the others would catch up a bit,” the Spaniard said.

Last year’s race winner George Russell was 4th quick, 0.869s behind Norris.  Russell was fast in Q2 on the full wet tires, but could not duplicate the fast time when everyone switched to the intermediate tires. Russell lost pace.

Oscar Piastri rounded out the top-5 in the #81 McLaren, 1.027s behind his teammate.

Another moment that feels defining in the championship. Norris starts on pole tomorrow, and his teammate Piastri is down in fifth with two very fast cars in Verstappen and Russell in between.

Liam Lawson, driving for his Racing Bulls ride next year was 6th in the tricky conditions.

Fernando Alonso was 7th for Aston Martin, while Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top-10.

One thing to note is that Sainz does have to visit the stewards for a moment with Stroll, where the Spaniard ran wide and returned to the track seemingly in front of the Aston Martin.

Any potential penalty would be a shame for Williams, but it might be welcome relief for Piastri if he can move forward a place.

• Eliminated in a wet Q1: Albon, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Tsunoda, Hamilton

• Eliminated in a wet Q2: Hulkenberg, Stroll, Ocon, Bearman, Colapinto

2025 Las Vegas GP Qualifying Results