Rain in the desert, but world championship leader Lando Norris remains unperturbed. With pole position, the Briton puts himself in the best starting position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
22.11.2025, 06:41
22.11.2025, 07:51
SDA
In the third year since its return to Las Vegas, Formula 1 experienced a rather wet premiere in the desert city in Nevada. After a rainy first day of practice, the street circuit also proved slippery and treacherous in the battle for the best grid positions - a real gamble, and in the gambling metropolis of all places.
Qualifying, first in the rain and later on a drying track, demanded everything from the drivers. Lando Norris in the McLaren coped best with the difficult conditions. The world championship leader beat Max Verstappen in the Red Bull to second place by more than three tenths in the decisive part of the qualifying session. Norris' team-mate and rival Oscar Piastri had to settle for fifth place on the grid behind Carlos Sainz in the Williams and last year's winner George Russell in the Mercedes.
Norris goes into the third-to-last race of the season with a 24-point lead over Piastri. Defending champion Verstappen is 49 points behind the Briton. The world champion of the last four years could be dethroned as early as Sunday. A maximum of 83 points are still up for grabs in Las Vegas, at the sprint weekend in Qatar and at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Team Sauber was not represented in the final battle for the top ten grid positions. Nico Hülkenberg retired in the second part of qualifying, Gabriel Bortoleto in the first. The German and the Brazilian will start the floodlit race on Sunday (5.00 a.m. Swiss time) from positions 11 and 18 respectively.
