Qualifying for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix delivered an extremely intense, rain-affected and incident-packed session, with countless surprises from start to finish. Lando Norris claimed pole position and took a major step toward securing the championship, Carlos Sainz produced something remarkable, and Ferrari collapsed in a difficult afternoon. Oscar Piastri continued to struggle, and Ferrari fell even further with Lewis Hamilton. Below are the full qualifying results and the complete session summary for the Las Vegas GP.
Q1 summary: the rain arrives and two shocking eliminations
Q1 began on a wet track under rainfall, with all drivers heading out on intermediate tyres but also trying full wets. The circuit, however, was heavily soaked, and after several offs at the end of the Strip, every driver switched to full wets. Lap times naturally improved as conditions changed, but the standouts early on were the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, the first to commit to full wets.
Everyone struggled, with frequent lock-ups especially under heavy braking. Among the drivers in the biggest trouble were Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. Leclerc was even forced to perform an incredible engine reset after going off. Multiple yellow flags were shown due to drivers running wide. After numerous changes at the top of the timesheets and especially within the bottom five, the session ended with George Russell fastest ahead of Verstappen. Bearman and Albon — with Albon hitting the wall, breaking a suspension and still returning to the pits — triggered two decisive yellow flags that caused two shocking eliminations: Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli were out of qualifying.
Eliminated in Q1: Albon, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Tsunoda and Hamilton.
Q2 summary: the rain stops
The session started with a few minutes of delay. This time, all drivers went out on full wets. The fastest early on were Norris and Russell, followed by a fantastic Lance Stroll, who briefly moved to the top. Max Verstappen then took over the lead. There were also signs of improvement from Piastri, who moved to P1 after eight minutes.
Meanwhile, the rain stopped over Las Vegas, but the track dried very slowly. Lap times continued to improve constantly, with the timing screens lighting up like a Christmas tree. Leclerc faced some difficulties, setting purple sectors in the first split but failing to match the pace in the remaining two sectors. Stroll was the first to try intermediate tyres, but the gamble did not work. At the end of the session, the fastest time belonged to George Russell, ahead of Hadjar and Sainz. Leclerc and Piastri narrowly made it through.
Eliminated in Q2: Hulkenberg, Stroll, Ocon, Bearman and Colapinto.
Q3 summary: incredible Sainz, sensational Norris
The drivers all started on intermediates, with the track slowly transitioning toward dry conditions. After the first flying laps, Sainz took provisional pole, but times continued to fall. Both McLaren drivers produced excellent laps and moved to the front, but Sainz placed himself between them. It was a fantastic Q3, with unexpected names lighting up the sectors in purple.
No driver returned to the pits for a fresh set of intermediates, choosing instead to complete the session on a single tyre set due to the very low degradation. At the end of qualifying, Norris secured pole position ahead of Verstappen and an outstanding Carlos Sainz. Behind them came George Russell, Oscar Piastri — who made a mistake on his final attempt — Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc — also with an error — and Pierre Gasly.
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