Lando Norris takes pole in rainy Las Vegas qualifying, Verstappen bumped to second

LAS VEGAS AP Formula s title contenders mastered the wet and slick Las Vegas Strip in a rainy Friday night qualifying session that saw championship leader Lando Norris take pole Norris of McLaren took the top starting spot at the Las Vegas Grand Prix at the line after four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen had jumped to the top of the board But the Red Bull driver who won the inaugural Las Vegas race in and took his fourth straight title last year was only there a limited moments before Norris bumped him down a stop Carlos Sainz Jr briefly flirted with giving Williams its first pole since but was fast knocked down to third by Norris and Verstappen Norris has won three consecutive poles since reclaiming control of the championship race He takes a -point lead over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri into Saturday night s race which will be Norris th career start a mark that ties him for most of in gang history with David Coulthard Piastri qualified fifth one spot behind defending race winner George Russell of Mercedes as the Australian s second-half of the season struggles continue Piastri dominated the early part of the season but has not won a race since the final day of August and has just one podium finish in the six races since There are three races remaining in the season The first group had a shocking conclusion as Alex Albon hit the wall with just seconds remaining and then Kimi Antonelli who had been fast through three practice sessions was eliminated alongside Lewis Hamilton runner-up in this race a year ago Hamilton was slowest in the -driver field to continue the struggles he s faced in his first year driving for Ferrari Couldn t get the tires to work Hamilton announced of the wet track Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc both failed to finish in Brazil two weeks ago which drew the ire of Ferrari executive chairman John Elkann who criticized the duo and noted it s not up to standards It s significant that our drivers focus on driving and talk less AP sports https apnews com sports Source