Lando Norris will start on pole position for the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, thanks to a supreme qualifying lap in wet conditions that continued his F1 championship charge. He’ll start alongside Max Verstappen at the front of the starting grid.

Norris left it to the last moment to top the timing screens, after a cold and wet qualifying session that initially required full wet tyres.

The chaotic, slippery conditions claimed Lewis Hamilton, who will start last after failing to find any competitive pace in a Ferrari that looked to be a handful; Alex Albon who hit the wall; and Oscar Piastri whose final flying lap was disrupted by yellow flags. He qualified fifth, a second off Norris’s pace.

Carlos Sainz was third-fastest in a Williams that has looked on the pace in Las Vegas, but he faces an investigation after going off Q1 and rejoining the circuit in front of Lance Stroll.

“It was stressful as hell,” said Norris. “It’s so slippery out there. As soon as you hit the kerb a little bit wrong, you snap one way, you lose the car the other way, close to hitting a wall.”

Scroll down or click to see how the grid will look when it lines up for the 22nd round of the season, which is due to start at 4am BST (8pm local time).

Norris said that he was napping ahead of a qualifying session he’d expected to be dry, and woke up to see heavy rain: “I thought, ‘This is not going to go well’. Every corner you felt like you could crash and it could all be over.”

Max Verstappen was also in survival mode: “It was really, really slippery out there — it’s already slippery in the dry. It’s not fun, I can tell you that. It was like driving on ice. I struggled a lot to have any kind of grip. To be on the front row is good for us.”

The rain started falling in Las Vegas from the end of the third practice session and it was still pouring down onto the cold track at the start of qualifying. Full wet tyres were essential, and simply keeping the car on the track was the initial goal.

Sainz was one of several drivers to slide into the run-off areas, while Charles Leclerc recovered an almighty slide, temporarily stalling his Ferrari as he fully backed off while applying opposite lock. Alex Albon couldn’t keep his Williams out of the wall, snapping his front-right steering at the end of the session.

The scene looked set for a surprise early exit for a least one big name, but in truth Lewis Hamilton never looked likely to move into the later stages of qualifying as he tiptoed around the circuit, missing the apex and running over a cone just before his final flying lap, which left him slowest and last on the grid.

He could have had another chance, after crossing the finish line a split second before the lights turned red to indicate the end of Q1, but Hamilton said that he only saw the red lights and hadn’t realised that he could have set another time.

The Ferrari driver was eliminated along with a Red Bull and Mercedes, as Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli also struggled, as well as Gabriel Bortoleto and Albon.

The rain had stopped falling by the start of Q2, but drivers were still on full wet tyres, still power sliding out of corners. Stroll was first to try intermediate tyres, but it was too early, and he was knocked out with Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto.

Topping the timesheet — as he had done in Q1 — was George Russell.

The Q3 top ten shootout brought all drivers out on intermediate tyres and times continued to improve, but grip levels looked little better: the cars were visibly on the ragged edge as drivers pushed as hard as they dared.

In the closing seconds, Leclerc once more headed into a run-off zone at Turn 12, bringing out yellow flags. Norris was already setting fastest sector times on his final lap, despite sliding through the corners at the end of the Strip, but Piastri was behind the Ferrari and had to slow for the yellow flags, ending his hopes of challenging his team-mate.

Russell was compromised too. He described a power steering issue, which affected his pace in Q3. He will start fourth, ahead of Piastri.

Liam LAwson qualified sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso, team-mate Isack Hadjar, Leclerc and Pierre Gasly.

Below is the provisional starting grid. This could change ahead of the race if further penalties are applied or a driver needs to start from the pitlane.

2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix starting grid

1	Lando Norris McLaren 1min 47.934sec Q3		2	Max Verstappen Red Bull 1min 48.257sec Q3
3	Carlos Sainz Williams 1min 48.296sec Q3		4	George Russell Mercedes 1min 48.803sec Q3
5	Oscar Piastri McLaren 1min 48.961sec Q3		6	Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1min 49.062sec Q3
7	Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1min 49.466sec Q3		8	Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1min 49.554sec Q3
9	Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1min 49.872sec Q3		10	Pierre Gasly Alpine 1min 51.540sec Q3
11	Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1min 52.781sec Q2		12	Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1min 52.850sec Q2
13	Esteban Ocon Haas 1min 52.987sec Q2		14	Oliver Bearman Haas 1min 53.094sec Q2
15	Franco Colapinto Alpine 1min 53.683sec Q2		16	Alex Albon Williams 1min 56.220sec Q1
17	Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1min 56.314sec Q1		18	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1min 56.674sec Q1
19	Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1min 56.798sec Q1		20	Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1min 57.115sec Q1