Lando Norris topped the times in Las Vegas, but he wasn’t buying the headline.
McLaren’s title leader ended FP2 on a 1:33.602, half a second clear of Max Verstappen and almost nine‑tenths up on Oscar Piastri. On paper, that looks like a statement. In reality, two late red flags — including a manhole cover drama — left a jumble of unfinished soft‑tyre runs and a grid that didn’t quite show its hand.
“Always tricky,” Norris said afterwards, sounding more relieved than triumphant. He reckoned the MCL39 felt better “from lap one” than it did here a year ago, but admitted there wasn’t much high‑fuel work and that “not many people got their laps in.” The pace, he added, “is clearly there,” and the target is obvious: “We are fighting for pole.”
It’s been a sharp swing of momentum since Mexico. Norris arrived in Las Vegas having stretched a slender one‑point edge into a 24‑point lead over Piastri thanks to a commanding Interlagos — pole, sprint win, grand prix win — that looked every inch like a driver and team in rhythm at the sharp end. Verstappen, third in the standings, still lurks. The permutations are messy, but the rough shape is this: if the Red Bull driver can land P2 or better, he keeps his title shot alive regardless of what McLaren’s pair manage on Sunday. If he doesn’t, Verstappen’s bid could be blunted here — even if Norris can’t quite wrap it all up in Sin City.
That line carries a little sting. Twelve months ago, Verstappen had the upper hand on Norris after a near‑perfect Brazil and sealed the crown in Las Vegas. Norris can’t do the same on Saturday night, but he can make Verstappen’s route to a comeback impossibly narrow.
The McLarens, for their part, came out of Thursday night quietly satisfied. Piastri, who missed out on a proper soft‑tyre attack lap in FP2, was upbeat nonetheless. FP1 had been “pretty good,” he said, and set‑up tweaks into FP2 “seemed to feel pretty good” as well. “Would I have loved some more laps? Yes. But the track will continue to change quite a bit for the rest of the weekend. We’ll see what weather we have and take it from there.”
That was the story of the session: potential without clarity. The headline time flatters Norris, because Verstappen didn’t string together a real qualifying sim and Piastri barely got going before the stoppages. Yet the Briton’s comfort level was obvious. The car looked planted on turn‑in, and the team’s read on the circuit — always a moving target as grip arrives — appeared logical from FP1 to FP2. That’s the kind of foundation you want when the title picture is this tight and the calendar is running out of places to fix a bad Saturday.
There was also a little subtext to Norris’s calm. The last time he shared the spotlight with Verstappen and Piastri at the start, it ended in bruises — that Singapore squabble that set paddock tongues wagging. Las Vegas didn’t offer the same early elbows (practice rarely does), but you could sense the edges of that rivalry still in play. No need to poke the bear. Just keep banking laps and let the weekend come to you.
Where does that leave the pecking order? McLaren look sharp, yes. Red Bull didn’t show the cards. Others were scattered by the interruptions. In other words, exactly what you expect when a session dissolves under red flags.
If you’re Norris, the job now is to turn confidence into clean execution. Pole would be nice. Front row would do. Anything that keeps Piastri behind and Verstappen boxed into scenarios, that’s gold at this stage. And if you’re Piastri, the target is clear too: hit the reset in FP3, get the softs switched on for qualifying, and make Norris sweat into Qatar.
As ever, the stopwatch on Thursday night is only half the story. The other half starts when everyone finally gets a lap in.
