Formula One championship leader Lando Norris swept to a stunning pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a wet and slippery qualifying on Friday with McLaren teammate and closest title rival Oscar Piastri only fifth.
According to Reuters, Red Bull's reigning world champion Max Verstappen, third in the standings after 21 of 24 races and 49 points off the lead, joined the Briton on the front row but was 0.323 slower.
Norris, who can take another huge stride towards the title in Saturday night's race, leads Australian Piastri by 24 points and will be chasing a third win in a row at a street circuit where McLaren had expected to struggle.
The pole was his seventh of the season, equalling Verstappen's tally, and the 16th of his career, with the last seven races all won from that position.
"Boy, that was stressful. Stressful as hell," said Norris after a cold night session that started in steady rain with the Aston Martins on full wets and the rest on intermediates.
"It's so slippery out there. As soon as you hit the kerb a bit wrong, like I did, you snap one way, lose the car the other way. Close to hitting the wall. No one has driven around here in the rain before, so it was difficult to know what to expect,” he added.
New Zealander Liam Lawson was sixth for Racing Bulls, boosting his hopes of staying with the team next year, with Fernando Alonso seventh for Aston Martin and Isack Hadjar eighth in the other Racing Bulls.
