Lando Norris took pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, transporting himself a step closer to the world title, while Lewis Hamilton suffered one of the biggest indignities of his career by qualifying last.
Hamilton’s broken record of despondency is almost too painful to describe, though it must be said that the seven-time world champion’s ever-more tenuous claims to be a driver of the front rank are clearly over.
Ferrari must know they are being short-changed in exchange for £60million a year. We understand they fell this because John Elkann, the Scuderia’s president, said a fortnight ago that Hamilton should talk less and concentrate on his driving more.
The mood at Ferrari is not warm, and Hamilton being 66 points behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc tells its own story of his own travails.
In the wet on the Vegas Strip, in the sort of conditions Hamilton has written some of his greatest chapters of success, he instead provided the latest demonstration of his diminishing talent. It will only get worse.
‘I don’t really have an answer,’ he said of his poor performance. ‘It obviously feels horrible.
Lando Norris took pole position in Las Vegas, edging himself a step closer to the world title
‘Boy, that was stressful, stressful as hell,’ said Norris after he took his third consecutive pole
Lewis Hamilton suffered one of the biggest indignities of his career by qualifying last
‘I have to let it go by and try to come back tomorrow. I have done everything I could possibly do in terms of preparation.
‘I felt like we were quickest after practice, and then you come out in qualifying 20th. This year is definitely the hardest. We have a quick car. But it will be really hard to come back from 20th.’
The race starts at 4am on Sunday in the United Kingdom with Hamilton’s possible successor as a home-grown champion in charge from the start.
Norris is, therefore, hopeful of extending his championship lead over his two surviving rivals for the title with only Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi remaining in the marathon campaign.
‘He is 24 points clear of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who qualified fifth, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is 49 back, sharing the front row – a tasty combination. Watch out, Lando!
Williams’ Carlos Sainz will start third and Mercedes’ George Russell fourth. Leclerc qualified ninth – so another bad day for Ferrari in the round.
There was rain intermittently in qualifying, though to a diminishing degree, on the challenging Vegas road track under lights and some cars ran full wet tyres and others intermediates as Norris took his third consecutive pole.
In the wet on the Strip, Hamilton provided the latest demonstration of his diminishing talent
‘I don’t really have an answer… it obviously feels horrible,’ he said of his poor performance
‘Boy, that was stressful, stressful as hell,’ said Norris. ‘I didn’t know no one else would get a lap in after me.
‘It was so slippery out there. As soon as you hit the kerb a bit wrong, as I did, you snap one way, lose the car the other way. I was close to hitting the wall. I thought let’s keep it in one piece.
‘I was having a little nap before qualifying. I expected it to be dry but I woke up and saw it was raining and thought, “Oh cr** this is not going to go well.”
‘Nobody has driven around here in the rain before, so it was difficult to know what to expect.
‘After Q1, every corner you felt you could crash and it could easily be over.’
