Las Vegas GP: Norris beats Verstappen to pole in wet qualifying - ESPN

Lando Norris' march toward a first world title continued apace after he took pole position in a wet and perilous qualifying session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix while teammate Oscar Piastri could manage only fifth.

Norris improved on his final lap in Q3 to set a fastest time of 1:47.934, beating Max Verstappen to pole position by 0.323 seconds.

Meanwhile, Piastri, who had briefly held the fastest time during the early exchanges of Q3, came across Isack Hadjar's Racing Bull in Turn 12 on his final flying lap and was left in fifth place at the checkered flag.

With 84 points still up for grabs between Saturday night's Las Vegas Grand Prix and the end of the season, Norris currently leads Piastri by 24 points at the top of the standings and has a 49-point lead over Verstappen in third.

If all three title contenders finish the race where they start it, Norris would extend his lead over Piastri by 15 points and increase his gap to Verstappen by another seven, opening up the very real possibility of wrapping up the title at next weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz secured a surprise third place on the grid for Williams with a time just 0.039 seconds off Verstappen. George Russell, who topped the final practice session, secured fourth on the grid ahead of Piastri in fifth.

Liam Lawson will start sixth for Racing Bulls with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in seventh, Hadjar in eighth, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in ninth and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in tenth.

Rain ahead of qualifying significantly reduced grip levels on the street circuit, with all 20 drivers struggling to keep within track limits.

Only Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman made contact with the barriers, but yellow flags were regularly flown for drivers negotiating