Norris confident of fighting for pole in Las Vegas after topping FP2

Lando Norris has set out his expectation of fighting for pole position in Las Vegas after topping the timesheets during a disrupted Free Practice 2, with the Briton noting that McLaren “have a better feeling in the car” following their struggles at the venue last year.

After ending Thursday’s first practice hour in sixth place, Norris went on to set the pace via a lap of 1m 33.602s in the day’s second session, despite limited running amid two red flags owing to track maintenance.

Given that the Las Vegas Strip Circuit proved to be one of McLaren’s most difficult tracks in 2024, Norris was pleased by how the MCL39 performed this time around on the opening day of action.

“[It’s] always tricky here,” the Drivers’ Championship leader said. “I think we have a better feeling in the car than what we had last year, so that’s a positive, and that was felt I would say already from Lap 1 today.

“Some good feeling, of course not a lot of running in the end, not really any high-fuel running, but the pace clearly is there.”

However, Norris also acknowledged the fine margins at play between the team and their rivals in Las Vegas, adding: “I think it’s pretty tight between a lot of people, and many people didn’t even get their laps in.

“Apart from that, yeah, I think we made some steps forward from FP1 to FP2, and hopefully we can just do some more from FP2 to FP3.”

Pushed on what his expectations are for the rest of the weekend, the 26-year-old stated: “I mean, we’re fighting for pole.”

Norris heads into the remainder of the event with a 24-point lead over McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is still in contention but further adrift by 49 points from Norris.