Lando Norris claimed pole position for the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix in a wet qualifying thriller.
Norris finished slowest in FP3 but rebounded in a wet qualifying session to eventually show his pace in Q3 to snatch pole on his final lap, amidst chaos which saw two surprise Q1 scalps as drivers dealt with a rain-soaked session on the streets of Las Vegas for the first time.
FP3
Rain showers in the build-up to the session left the track damp as Oscar Piastri was first to venture out on intermediate tyres and laid 1m 47.162 as the initial benchmark time.
He went on to find 0.586 seconds on his second flier after he had been briefly displaced by his teammate, Norris, who went on to exchange fastest lap times with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton across the opening 21 minutes, of which Hamilton found himself top with 1m 42.809 at the halfway mark.
Norris was the first driver to attempt a soft-tyre qualifying simulation just before the half-hour mark yet he couldn’t improve on his intermediate time due to the dampness of the track.
Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda however were the first drivers shortly afterwards to set the fastest lap on soft tyres which soon led to a series of track evolutions, as Leclerc, Hamilton and Max Verstappen traded fastest lap times as conditions ramped up a gear.
Verstappen however found himself quickest with ten minutes left after he posted 1m 35.646 to head Leclerc and Hamilton.
As the checkered flag fell, Russell emerged fastest with 1m 34.054 from Verstappen and Williams’ Alex Albon, who were the only pair within one second of the Brit as the top three were covered by 0.821s.
McLaren’s Piastri and Norris finished 19th and 20th respectively after they struggled to switch the soft tyres on, although Piastri did suffer a telemetry issue at the end of the session which forced him to abort his final run.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Red Bull | 1m 34.054 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.227 |
| 3 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.821 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 1.115 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 1.215 |
| 6 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 1.331 |
| 7 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.385 |
| 8 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.479 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.486 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.508 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.532 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.608 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1.684 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.763 |
| 15 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.854 |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 2.251 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 2.596 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 2.613 |
| 19 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 2.969 |
| 20 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 3.058 |
Qualifying
Q1
Torrential rainfall shortly before the session meant that drivers faced a first-ever proper wet session on the streets of Las Vegas, as everyone opted for intermediate tyres except for Alonso, Stroll and Piastri who jumped straight onto the wet tyres.
Alonso subsequently set a benchmark 2m 03.249 but times soon tumbled as several drivers exchanged fastest laps once those who began on the intermediates switched to the full wet tyres.
With six minutes left, Tsunoda, Piastri, Verstappen, Sainz and Leclerc found themselves in the bottom five.
Tsunoda however was the only one to not escape elimination at the checkered flag as he only qualified 19th ahead of Hamilton, as the seven-time champion managed the slowest lap time due to tyre warmup struggles.
Albon qualified 16th despite hitting the wall out of Turn 16 in the final minute whilst Antonelli and Bortoleto only managed to qualify 17th and 18th respectively.
Russell meanwhile finished Q1 quickest with 1m 53.144 in the closing moments of the segment.
Q2
Following a six-minute delay due to debris clear-up from a chaotic Q1, Norris led a queue of drivers out on track on full wet tyres and set a benchmark time of 1m 53.302 in the fourth minute.
Once everyone set a first representative lap time, the bottom five comprised of; Piastri, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Bearman and Leclerc.
The second set of fliers saw several drivers improve their lap times as Piastri sat top with 1m 52.680 ahead of Verstappen by 0.013s, only for Lawson to displace the Aussie with 1m 52.119 in the ninth minute.
Stroll meanwhile took a bold mid-session gamble in pitting for intermediate tyres whilst Verstappen then Sainz went quickest in the closing minutes, as the Spaniard sat top on 1m 51.521 just 0.072s ahead of Verstappen.
As the checkered flag fell, Stroll’s gamble failed to hit the jackpot as he didn’t improve his lap time and qualified 12th behind Hulkenberg, but ahead of Ocon, Bearman and Colapinto.
Russell meanwhile topped Q2 with 1m 50.935 ahead of Hadjar and Sainz.
Q3
Leclerc was the first driver out on track as the top ten switched to the intermediate tyres due to improved track conditions after the rain eased up at the end of Q1, and the Monegasque laid 1m 52.060 as a benchmark time ahead of Piastri by 0.225s.
Sainz however lowered the benchmark time to 1m 50.880 ahead of Hadjar by 0.466s as the frontrunners struggled to make an immediate impact on the timesheet.
Piastri however put himself on provisional pole with 1m 49.136 on the second fliers with Sainz 0.120s down in second and splitting the McLaren pair, as Norris found himself third and 0.470s off his teammate.
Verstappen and Lawson however were able to split the trio on their third fliers to go second and fourth respectively to set up a tense finish to Qualifying.
Norris however responded with two minutes left to post 1m 48.384 to put himself on course for a third consecutive pole, and his first on the streets of Las Vegas.
At the checkered flag, Sainz then Verstappen displaced the Brit but Norris rebounded with 1m 47.934 to claim pole ahead of Verstappen and Sainz, whilst Russell, Piastri, Lawson, Alonso, Hadjar, Leclerc and Gasly completed the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 47.934 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.323 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.362 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.869 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.027 |
| 6 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.128 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.532 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 1.620 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.938 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 3.606 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1m 52.781 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.069 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.206 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.313 |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.902 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1m 56.220 |
| 17 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.094 |
| 18 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.454 |
| 19 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.578 |
| 20 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.895 |
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