Lando Norris is confident of securing his seventh pole position of the season after a strong start during practice for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Norris, who leads the drivers' championship from team-mate Oscar Piastri by 24 points, topped the timesheets in Sin City to further boost his hopes of a maiden world title.

The Briton finished 0.029 seconds ahead of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third, 0.161 off the pace in what was an interrupted second session. 

Piastri, Max Verstappen, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were just some of the drivers unable to register a lap on the soft tyres due to a loose manhole cover at Turn 17, a similar issue to one that occurred at the track in 2023. 

And while Norris fancies his chances of starting at the front of the grid for Sunday's race, he acknowledged qualifying would be decided by fine margins.

"I think it's pretty tight between a lot of people, and many people didn't even get their laps in," Norris said. 

"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."

Practice #McLaren | #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/PtWjduJKR5

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 21, 2025

Norris knows a positive weekend in Las Vegas will inch him closer to the Formula One title, having finished ahead of Piastri in every race since the Italian Grand Prix. 

The McLaren driver has been on the podium 17 times in 2025, more than any other driver, while only Verstappen in 2021 (18) and 2023 (21) has finished in the top three more times in a single campaign. 

He has also taken pole position in each of his last two races. The last driver to take three consecutive poles was Verstappen, who managed eight in a row between November 2023 and May 2024. 

Norris will also compete in his 150th grand prix, all of which have come with McLaren, equalling David Coulthard's record with the British team.

But the 25-year-old and McLaren have struggled in Las Vegas, with Norris retiring from the 2023 edition and crossing the chequered flag in sixth last year. 

Piastri, meanwhile, has finished 10th and eighth, respectively, over the last two years, though Norris was optimistic of turning those fortunes around in 2025. 

"[It's] always tricky here," the championship leader added. 

"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 feelings, of course, not a lot of running in the end, not really any high-fuel running, but the pace clearly is there."