Las Vegas Grand Prix: Lando Norris on pole with Oscar Piastri fifth

Conditions were harsh; The session was commencing after heavy rain on a track wet enough for the extremely wet tires used by almost all drivers during the first two sessions.

Norris wasn’t particularly fast on ultra-wet tyres, but when he switched to intermediate tires in the final session he was consistently the fastest driver on track.

Verstappen, usually very strong in the wet, was not on the Briton’s level, but given his aggressive start to the races, his second place on the grid makes him a serious threat to the lead heading into the first corner of the race.

Norris recovered from the wobble when he hit the curb at Turns 14, 15 and 16 on his final lap but was still quick enough for pole position, as Piastri was hit by a yellow flag that forced him to run from behind as he tried to pass Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar on the inside.

“That was very stressful, very stressful,” Norris said. “I didn’t know that no one could lap after me. The first two sectors were good. It’s a difficult situation when you hit the curb a little wrong, it gets stuck one way and then the other, but it’s good enough for pole position.”

“Nobody had ever driven in the wet here before. After the first quarter you felt like you could hit every corner, every corner. One lap at a time. It was a tough race.”

Piastri told Sky Sports: “There were a lot of things there that we couldn’t use. We’ve got a good car under us that works well in all conditions, so we can have a strong race tomorrow and hopefully make up some points.”