Lawson excelled in the wet conditions, advancing through all three qualifying sessions and securing a top-ten finish in each.
Q1:
With heavy rain falling just before the session began, Q1 got underway on a thoroughly soaked track.
Only a handful of drivers initially ventured out on full wets, while most took a gamble on intermediates, hoping they would offer enough grip. Sector yellows appeared frequently as drivers slid into run-off areas, and many of those who had started on intermediates quickly returned to the pits to switch to wets.
The Aston Martins were the first to set representative times on the wet tyres, with Fernando Alonso posting a 2:03.249 and Lance Stroll following closely behind—though his initial lap was deleted. Stroll then jumped to the top of the timesheets on his next attempt, clocking a 2:00.097.
Liam Lawson was caught out at the start of Q1 after going out on intermediates and aquaplaning off the track. Once he switched to wets, he immediately delivered, posting the third-fastest time on his first flying lap and setting the quickest sector three.
Ollie Bearman and Pierre Gasly were the first drivers to dip under the two-minute mark, setting their laps back-to-back. The Aston Martins had been the earliest to bank times on the full wets, with Fernando Alonso opening with a 2:03.249 and Lance Stroll following closely—though his initial lap was deleted. Stroll then moved to the top with a 2:00.097, before Alonso demonstrated the advantage of getting heat into the wets early, reclaiming P1 with a 1:57.669.
With 5 minutes left, many top drivers were struggling with aquaplaning and their times being deleted. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen both had no times as their laps were deleted, and both Red Bulls sat in the elimination zone.
Coming up to the end of Q1, the rain stopped, and track conditions started improving as Leclerc got to the top with a 1:54.856.
Alex Albon hit the wall and destroyed the left side of his car, stopping him from getting any more flying laps in. He finished in 16th and didn’t qualify for Q2, which he wouldn’t have made with his damage.
George Russell took the top spot right at the end of the session with a 1:53.144, over half a second ahead of Alonso in 2nd.
Lawson made it through to Q2 after finishing up in 8th, just 1.684 seconds behind Russell in a close mid-pack. His Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar also just made it in after finishing in 13th.
Along with Albon, Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto were eliminated in Q1, while top drivers Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda shockingly finished 19th and 20th.
Q2:
After a break between sessions, the track dried further for Q2, but all the drivers started on wet tyres.
Lando Norris earned the first benchmark time of 1:53.302, with Russell just behind him after taking the fastest first and third sectors.
Lawson had a promising start, getting into fourth with his fast lap time, just 0.46 seconds behind Norris in the lead. Hadjar made it up just behind him in 6th, putting both drivers into the top 10.
On the next set of laps, Oscar Piastri took the lead before Lawson stormed through and took the lead with a 1:52.119, over half a second ahead of Gasly.
In the last 5 minutes of the qualifying, Stroll was the only driver to come out with intermediate tyres, while the other drivers stuck to wets.
Provisional pole started changing hands as Hadjar was the first driver to pip Lawson’s time, before Verstappen got half a second ahead of them. He didn’t hold the lead for long, though, as Carlos Sainz took it from him just after.
Russell finished in the top spot in Q2 as well, earning a 1:50.935 right at the end. Hadjar finished just behind him in second, with Lawson earning 6th, making Racing Bulls and McLaren the only teams to have both drivers qualify for Q2.
The intermediate tyres didn’t work for Stroll, who finished 12th and was eliminated, along with Hulkenberg, Colapinto, and both Haas drivers.
Q3:
The drivers all went out on intermediate tyres for Q3 as the track had dried up and they had enough time to warm them up.
Carlos Sainz had the fastest first lap, earning a 1:5.880 to put him just ahead of Hadjar. Lawson also showed great pace, sitting in fourth after the first laps.
Lawson continued to hold fourth while improving his times, as Piastri took the lead with a 1.49:136. Hadjar dropped back to 9th before making it back to the top 5 on his 3rd lap.
Continuing to improve his lap times, Lawson earned a time just 0.2 seconds behind the leaders, and the fastest third sector, putting him right in contention for a top spot going into the last laps of the session.
Verstappen finished his lap at the top, while Norris perfectly timed his laps to get one more in before the time hit zero. He earned two fastest sectors, setting a pole-winning time of 1:47.934 in Las Vegas.
Lawson finished in 6th, just 1.128s behind Norris, to line up in 3rd row alongside Piastri at the start of tomorrow’s Grand Prix, starting at 5 pm NZST.
