Lando Norris reveals post-nap panic before grabbing Las Vegas pole

Lando Norris has reflected on a “stressful as hell” wet qualifying session after taking pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The F1 world championship leader tamed treacherous wet conditions in Las Vegas to produce a stunning lap to claim his third straight pole and top qualifying for the seventh time this season.

Norris beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole by three-tenths while McLaren teammate and main title rival Oscar Piastri was only fifth as he suffered another blow to his fading championship hopes.

"That was stressful, stressful as hell," Norris said. "I didn't know no-one else would get a lap after me. The first two sectors were good.

“As soon as you hit the kerb a little bit wrong it's tricky, it snapped one way and then the other but good enough for pole.

"No-one's driven here in the wet before. After Q1, every corner you felt like you could crash every corner. One lap at a time. It was a tricky one."

Norris revealed that he had feared the worst after waking up from a pre-qualifying nap to wet conditions in Las Vegas.

"I was having a little nap before qualifying, I expected it to be dry but I woke up and saw it was raining and though 'oh c*** this is not going to go well’,” Norris admitted.

"No one 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!

"More rewarding a day like this because it was a tricky one.”

Norris’s golden chance to boost title hopes

There was little need for Norris to panic, however, as he turned in a performance worthy of a world champion. 

With Piastri down in fifth, Norris knows he has the perfect opportunity to further extend his championship advantage, which currently stands at 24 points with three races to go.

But Norris is focusing on the immediate task at hand, rather than letting thoughts of winning a maiden world title distract him.

"The pace has been good all weekend. I think it was going to be good in the dry, I didn't expect to be as good as I was then in the wet,” he said.

"There are a lot of unknowns tomorrow. No one has done much high fuel running. It will be an interesting race, especially with Max up there. Hopefully we can have a good race tomorrow."