Lewis Hamilton believes he should have been starting in pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday despite qualifying 10th.

The Mercedes driver had finished top in both of Friday’s practice sessions before laying down the fastest time in Q2 as well.

Hamilton locked up during his first run in Q3 before a track limits violation in his second run saw his lap time deleted.

The British driver rued his drop-off in form that saw his team-mate and compatriot George Russell take pole position.

"I should have been on pole but I'm not, so it is what it is. C'est la vie, you live to fight another day," he told Sky Sports.

"It is what it is. It's been a good weekend so far, so I'll give it my best shot tomorrow. Congrats to George.

"The car felt different in Q3, and the stability was not there for some reason. But I had it in all the other sessions.

"But ultimately I didn't put the laps together. I'm really quite far back so I'll just see what I can do from there.”

When in Vegas...#LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/5ICpO9iWss

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 23, 2024

Elsewhere in the paddock, McLaren’s Lando Norris will start in sixth position on the grid, one place behind his title rival Max Verstappen.

Norris needs to beat the Red Bull driver by at least three points to keep his title aspirations alive and take the championship race to the Qatar Grand Prix next week.

He does not, however, favour his chances against the serial winner.

"I will do everything I can. That's what I'm here to do. I'm not going to give up 'til the end even if chances are extremely thin," Norris said.

 "I'm here to do the best in every race I can whether I'm fighting for a championship or not. We have [Verstappen] just ahead of us. We have a chance to beat him.

 "Whether he wins or not tomorrow, for me it is not going to change anything, he is pretty likely to win the championship.”

Norris currently sits 62 points short of Verstappen who leads the Driver’s Championship on 393 points, though McLaren lead Ferrari by 36 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

"Do I wish it could have gone a bit further? Sure. But the race was lost in the first races of the year, when Max got too far ahead. I am proud and happy with what we’ve done,” Norris added.

"Be optimistic and look ahead to what we can achieve. I don’t expect anything much, for sure."