Fury as Piastri impeded and F1 stewards fail to act

• Hamilton will start last in Vegas
• Rain caused havoc on track
• Piastri will start 5th after being compromised

Lando Norris has taken another positive step in his bid to become world champion after securing pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix but fans will be fuming over an incident that devastated Oscar Piastri's hopes.

The Australian, who is second in the title race, will start from 5th on Sunday but a bizarre incident on the final lap of Q3 left experts scratching their heads and criticising the stewards.

Replays show that on the final lap of the session, Piastri was warned of yellow flag conditions and subsequently slowed down.

Isack Hadjar however, despite getting the same warning, failed to reduce his speed and was seen coming up on Piastri's left.

As Piastri slowed he looked to get back into a racing line but was hampered by the Racing Bull therefore scuppering his chances of completing the lap.

Stewards said there was nothing to investigate but experts disagreed.

"I'm very surprised," Jenson Button said on Sky F1. "If it had hit him he would have got a penalty. He didn't lift through a yellow flag zone, I'm amazed he hasn't got a penalty. They have been given out for a lot less."

Piastri could yet be promoted to fourth with Carlos Sainz summoned to the stewards office for an incident involving Lance Stroll earlier in the session.

Left to rue what might have been, Piastri was dejected after the session.

"I don’t know, there was a few things, the starts didn’t go great from an operational point of view.

"Had to mess around with a few things that didn’t go how I wanted them to. There was still 3-4 corners left. There was more out there that we didn’t get to use.

"I think so (we can challenge) we have got a good car underneath, its working well in all kinds of conditions. We can have a strong race and hopefully make up some spots."

While he didn't have the speed for pole, He could have secured third.

"One of the most difficult circuits in wet conditions," Andrea Stella, McLaren teamprincipal said afterwards. "Slippery, cold, well done to everyone for the session being relatively clean compared to what it could have been. A shame with Oscar the yellow in the end as that would have been his fastest lap.

"I think P3 was possible. What’s possible counts up to a point but P5 is good and w have a competitive car this year, traditionally we struggle here."

Rain was pouring on the Las Vegas strip as cars took to the track which "was more like an ice rink than a track", according to Max Verstappen who will start second alongside Norris.

"It was stressful as hell," Norris said. "I didn’t know no one else was gonna get a lap after me. It’s so slippery out there, I came close to hitting the wall. Not the nicest conditions but it stopped raining."

It was a miserable day for Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton set to start 20th on the grid. His teammate Charles Leclerc will be 9th.

Replays of the seven-time world champion's final lap in Q1 showed him hit a safety cone and subsequently run over it, prompting speculation it became wedged under his car and he was force to abandon his lap.

Norris is 24 points clear of teammate Piastri in the standings but the British driver cannot mathematically win the championship in Nevada this weekend.

LANDO NORRIS ON POLE IN LAS VEGAS

Such a shame for Piastri his final flying lap hindered by a yellow flag for Leclerc and the Aussie spun at turn 12.

So Norris on pole, who says Vegas is bad for McLaren? Verstappen starts on the front row alongside him. Carlos Sainz starts third but this could change when he has seen the stewards.

Russell is fourth on the grid and Piastri will start fifth.

"He will be looking at that and wondering 'what do I have to do'," Jenson Button said about Piastri after the chequered flag.

Top 10

1 - Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:47.934
2 - Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.323
3 - Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.362
4 - George Russell (Mercedes) +0.869
5 - Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.027
6 - Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.128
7 - Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.532
8 - Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +1.620
9 - Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +1.938
10 - Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +3.606

Q3 under way in Vegas

10 minute shootout, Piastri needs to find something big. Drivers are switching to the inters now.

Hadjar is having a glorious time across qualifying. He's topped the time sheets, seven tenths ahead of Leclerc, just imagine if he pulled this off. Given the conditions in Vegas, pole is literally anyone's.

I don't want to jinx this but Piastri is on pole with four minutes to go.

Jinxed it. Norris comes through six tenths faster.

OUT IN Q2: Hulkenberg, Stroll, Ocon, Bearman, Colapinto

Cars sliding all over the place, it's insane how they're controlling these machines. Piastri only 10th fastest and he is fortunate that the Stroll experiment with inters didn't come off because he'd be out.

Russell fastest through this session with Hadjar second, Sainz third but the Spaniard is under investigation with the stewards so he may be moving down the grid.

Q2 is under way

The rain has stopped but conditions on track remain treacherous.

Piastri is struggling compared with Norris. He usually takes a little longer to find his feet, so to speak, but he's lingering in a danger zone.

And no sooner do I write that, Piastri tops the time sheets 1:52:6 with 6 mins left on the clock.

A risk from Aston Martin, Stroll going out on inters with not a huge amount of time remaining, be lucky if he gets them up to temp. A strange decision, Stroll was doing fine on the wets, thought he would wait until Q3.

Check out this replay from the end of Q1, vision shows why Hamilton abandoned his lap. It appears he hit a safety cone, then drove over it and it seems it stayed under his car.

So a memento for someone in the garage.

The start of Q2 will be delayed!

Barrier repair from Albon’s accident has to be completed before drivers are allowed back on.

"That was horrific I’m surprised there wasn’t more incidents," McLAren boss Zac Brown said. "No temp in the tyres it literally looked like an ice rink. Given how cold it is, it will be a miserable Q2 and Q3."

"Fair play to everyone out there that was a terrible session," Button said.

Lewis Hamilton is the slowest in qualifying, he had the chance to go for a final attempt but appears to have abandoned his bid. He was told to push on radio but the Ferrari driver said he couldn't get the tyres going.

Extraordinary turn of events.

CRASH

Alex Albon has gone into the wall and his car is hanging together by a thread. He's headed to pitlane and it happened just moments after Ollie Bearman veered off and into a wall. Both drivers fine but the carnage is all over the track.

Q1

OUT IN Q1: Tsunoda, Albon, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Hamilton

Everyone loves a gamble in Vegas right? That’s precisely what some teams have done form a tyre choice POV today. Rain is expected to stop in 14 minutes so just before the end of Q1. Astons on the wets, most others on inters. Piastri late to the track but wise decision because he's come out on the full wets.

"Can't keep it on the track"

Norris complaining over the radio about the lack of grip – he’s on the inters – and he is heading straight back to the pits for a change.

Alonso first to clock a time and it’s 2:03:2, that’s 30 seconds off the pace.

Cars sliding all over the joint I'm amazed they're all still in this. There is little to no visibility.

Was getting a little panicked for a moment there, five minutes left on the clock and Piastri was in the elimination zone. He has now clocked a half decent time and should make it through.

Stewards are deleting plenty of lap times because of what the conditions have done to driver approach to the track. Leclerc is having a nightmare outing, steering is non existent and he is facing the chop.

"This is utterly treacherous," Button has said on commentary.

"McLaren cannot take risks"

Norris and Piastri are first and second in the title race standings with just three races and a sprint remaining on the calendar. But Vegas has not been a happy hunting ground for the papaya team, so with rain expected and others chasing them, they cannot afford to take risks.

“It is horrible for both of them, it really is,” Button said on Sky Sports F1.

“Whether you’re the hunter, or the one being hunted, you know how important every single point is, and every single position in qualifying is. There’s an unbelievable amount of stress.

“So it’s how you deal with that stress, how comfortable you feel with the car out there on a circuit on which you can’t generate any temperature, so it’s tricky.

"The inters are too soft, you can see them sliding around with it, and obviously the dry tyres are too dry for the wet conditions.

“Everyone’s going to be up for taking a risk — apart from the McLaren drivers.

“It could either go their way or be the complete opposite. It’s never going to be in the middle for them."

2:45pm "Vegas is a terrible track"

He might be a rookie but he's not afraid to have an opinion.

Ollie Bearman tore the Vegas track to shreds after the first day of practice.

"Honestly, those first few laps I did in FP1... Of course, it's a new track for me, (but) I was shocked by how low the grip was. It's sketchy out there.

"I don't know even how to describe the low level of grip that we experienced, but, in turn, that means that the evo is incredibly high.

"So, you know, even in that session, we were quite early to get onto the soft tyre.

"This is the least enjoyable street track I've driven. Normally, they're really, really fun and great.

"This one, really, really low grip, which is not a great combination when you have the walls very close. It's incredibly high speed, which is dangerous.

"I mean, the track itself — it's cool to be racing on the strip in Las Vegas. But aside from that, there's not much good stuff."

2:15pm It's pouring in Vegas

Qualifying is going to be chaos. A very wet track awaits the drivers but the forecasts suggests that by Q3 conditions will be drying and similar to the end of FP3, which of course both mcLarens missed withg car issues.

That is assuming they both make it to Q3, no guarantees in Vegas.

"This is going to be sketchy, really sketchy," David Croft said from the pitlane. "I don’t think it’s raining enough to delay the session.

"These are public roads with no made to measure drainage. The surface is going to be like driving on ice."

FP3 results

1. George Russell (Mercedes) 1:34.054

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.227

3. Alex Albon (Williams) +0.821

4. Isack Hadjar (RB) +1.115

5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +1.215

6. Kimi Antontelli (Mercedes) +1.331

7. Liam Lawson (RB) +1.385

8. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.479

9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.486

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.506

11. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

12. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

14. Esteban Ocon (Has)

15. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

16. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

17. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

18. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

19. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

20. Lando Norris (McLaren)