Lando Norris is prepared for a "battle" with Max Verstappen in the Las Vegas Grand Prix after claiming a third consecutive pole position.
Norris mastered wet conditions to secure pole in Sin City, while Verstappen secured a front row start alongside the championship leader.
McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri could only salvage fifth, opening the door for Norris to take a huge step towards becoming world champion on Saturday night.
If the drivers finish where they are starting, Piastri will fall 39 points behind Norris in the F1 drivers' title and Verstappen's deficit will increase to 56.
It will put Verstappen almost out of mathematical title contention, with him simply needing to beat Norris in Las Vegas.
The championship leader knows he will have to fight Verstappen opn Saturday night to claim victory, something he insists he is ready for.
Discussing Verstappen often being aggressive into the first corner, Norris said: "Yeah, but I look forward to it. I'm excited for it.
"He’s been quick and if you expect anything less, then you don’t know what he’s capable of. So yeah, I expect a battle. I expect a battle through the whole race.
"But at the same time, I’m here to win. I’m not here to not take risks. I still want to go out and win tomorrow. So I’ll be making sure I can do everything that I can.
"But it’s still one step at a time—get a good start, good opening lap, that kind of thing—and just go from there."
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Las Vegas tyre performance unknown
Despite Norris expecting a scrap with Verstappen, there is actually a huge amount unknown heading into the grand prix.
No long run data in the dry has been gathered by any team due to the mixed conditions across the practice sessions, adding an additional challenge to the race.
Asked if the race is an unknown given the minimal dry running, Norris replied: "Yeah, quite a bit. I don't think I've done more than four laps in a row. So I've got no idea on stints and things like that.
"Many questions, probably for everyone. I'm sure not many people have run the hard tyre, that kind of thing. I don't really know. The pace has been strong—has been better than it was last year, that's for sure.
"So I expect to be fighting up there, but with Max, with Carlos—you know, they could both be pushing as good opportunities for them. So yeah, it's going to be a long race.
"Many things can happen. Obviously, if it's dry, a bit more simple for everyone, I think. But I'm in the best position I can be, so happy for now."
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