Liam Lawson landed in the third row of the starting grid at Las Vegas. Photo: AFP
Kiwi Liam Lawson will start from sixth on the grid for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, after a gutsy drive in qualifying.
In a frenetic final lap, Lawson went from the fifth-fastest lap time to third, before dropping back to sixth, as Brit Lando Norris stormed to his first Las Vegas pole with a brilliant final lap.
Norris timed 1m 47.934s, with 0.323secs back to Dutchman Max Verstappen. Spaniard Carlos Sainz was third fastest, ahead of Brit George Russell and Aussie Oscar Piastri. Lawson was next in 1m 49.062s, 1.128sec behind Norris' time.
Fernando Alonso, Lawson's Racing Bulls team-mate Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.
Lawson's best qualifying position was third in the Azerbaijan GP in September.
"Pretty happy," he reflected. "It's been a tough qualifying session.
"It's crazy for us to be using the extreme wet - we never really use this tyre - and it just shows how slippery it was today.
"We did miss the last lap by one or two seconds, and we maybe had an opportunity to be even higher up, but very happy with the performance today."
The three qualifying sessions on the Las Vegas Strip were chaotic, with rain causing a slippery surface, although it dried out in the closing stages.
Lawson finished 10th fastest in the first qualifying stage and then sixth in the final two sessions.
He had an eventful final practice session, his Racing Bulls car almost being hit by Brit Lewis Hamilton, while earlier, pieces of carbon fibre could be seen flying from his car onto the track.
Lawson, who is fighting for a place in the Racing Bulls team next year, is 14th in the championship standings heading in to Las Vegas, with teammate Hadjar 10th.
Norris leads Piastri by 24 points in the championship, while defending champion Verstappen is 49 points off the lead.
"Boy, that was stressful, stressful as hell," said Norris. "It's so slippery out there.
"As soon as you hit the kerb a bit wrong, like I did, you snap one way, lose the car the other way. Close to hitting the wall.
"No-one has driven around here in the rain before, so it was difficult to know what to expect."
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who normally excels in wet conditions, will start last at a street circuit his team had hoped would favour them.
Television footage showed him hitting a bollard, which may have become stuck under the car, before the seven-time world champion failed to beat the chequered flag for a final flying lap that he aborted.
"Couldn't get the tyres to work," the Briton said over the radio.
Leclerc also had his hands full, his Ferrari stalling on track and then re-starting in that phase.
Alex Albon smashed his Williams' suspension, when he hit the wall at the end of an opening phase that also left Mercedes' Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli in 17th and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda 19th.
"It was very strange, like ice," said Tsunoda. "I don't know what has happened specifically, but clearly something isn't working."
Norris made it through Q1 in 13th, with Piastri a safer sixth, while Russell set the pace, ahead of Verstappen, on the treacherous surface.
The second phase was delayed slightly for repairs to the bollard at turn 14 and to clear debris from the track, as the rain eased off and a dry line emerged.
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