Lando Norris starts in pole, Oscar Piastri fifth on grid as title hopes fade
Oscar Piastri faces an uphill battle to retain his hopes of claiming a first Formula 1 world championship after his main rival Lando Norris took pole position as he finished fifth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Qualifying on wet roads in Las Vegas on Friday came to a brutal end, with Piastri’s hopes of coming out on top ended when Charles Leclerc overtook him and caused a yellow flag on the final lap.
Las Vegas GP Credit: Getty Images
To make matters worse, Norris set the fastest lap of the day in the other McLaren to move into second place, 0.323 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
Norris was still trying to finish the race ahead of Piastri, but a yellow flag denied the Australian the chance to improve his time and move up to fifth in the standings.
“There were a few things that didn’t go very well operationally at the beginning of the tour,” Piastri told Sky Sports.
“I had to deal with a few things that didn’t go my way.
“I don’t know how much time was there, it’s hard to say. But I can tell you there was a lot out there that we couldn’t use.”
Piastri had spent much of the final session of qualifying leading before Norris tried his best in the final few minutes.
The Australian led the championship by up to 34 points after the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, but has only managed one podium finish since then.
He will enter Saturday’s race 24 points behind Norris in the championship, with a maximum of 83 points remaining in the last three races.
However, if Norris finishes the Grand Prix ahead of Piastri, it means the Briton can mathematically complete his first world title in Qatar next week.
“We have a good car under us, it seems to work well in all conditions,” Piastri said.
“I think we can have a strong race tomorrow and hopefully score some points.”
Red Bull’s Verstappen is still the other title challenger, but if Norris wins and finishes third or lower, his hopes of a fifth consecutive title will be over.
AAP
