Lando Norris significantly boosted his championship prospects with a commanding performance in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. He claimed pole position, finishing a substantial 0.521 seconds ahead of Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc.
Norris`s McLaren teammate and title rival, Oscar Piastri, will start third. His final attempt in the third qualifying session (Q3) was compromised right at the start when Pierre Gasly spun off the track at the final corner, triggering yellow flags that forced Piastri to slow down.
This result follows an incident at the previous race in Canada, where a collision between the two McLaren drivers led to Norris`s retirement and left him 22 points behind Piastri in the championship standings.
“Nice to see the old me back every now and then,” Norris remarked on the team radio. Speaking later in parc ferme, he added, “It was a good lap, that`s for sure. I guess it was little by little. My Q1 was good, but I knew there were a few places where I could gain a bit more time, and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do, so very happy.”
He continued, “It`s a long season. I still savour this moment, particularly because some of my tougher moments this year have been in quali, but I`m excited. I`m happy with today, but I want to prove it to myself over and over again, and hopefully, this is just the beginning of it.”
Sunday`s Austrian Grand Prix presents Norris with an opportunity to reduce the points gap before the season reaches its halfway point at Silverstone next weekend. However, with McLaren appearing to be the strongest team at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, he might still face a challenge from his teammate during the 71-lap race.
Piastri`s initial run in Q3 was only 0.062 seconds slower than Leclerc, who secured his best qualifying position since the Monaco Grand Prix.
“It was the fact I didn`t get to start it properly, that was the problem,” Piastri commented on his final lap issue. “Lando has been very quick all weekend, so it would have been a tough challenge, but I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to get on the front row. It`s always a shame when you don`t get the chance. Sometimes, it`s just not your day.” Regarding the race outlook, he added, “I`m not planning on finishing third, that`s for sure.”
Leclerc`s Ferrari teammate, Lewis Hamilton, qualified fourth, his best Saturday result of the season. This highlights the performance improvement Ferrari seems to have gained from an upgraded floor introduced this weekend.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing finished seventh on the grid. He had to abandon his final Q3 attempt due to the yellow flags caused by Gasly`s spin in the final sector. He will start behind Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) in sixth and Canada race winner George Russell (Mercedes) in fifth place.
Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying: Top 10
| Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:03.971 |
| 2. Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.521 |
| 3. Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.582 |
| 4. Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.611 |
| 5. George Russell | Mercedes | +0.792 |
| 6. Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +0.955 |
| 7. Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.958 |
| 8. Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | +1.161 |
| 9. Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +1.305 |
| 10. Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.678 |
Gabriel Bortoleto reached Q3 for the first time in his Formula 1 career, qualifying eighth for Sauber. He finished ahead of Mercedes` Kimi Antonelli and Alpine`s Pierre Gasly in the final session.
Fernando Alonso will start 11th for Aston Martin, missing out on a place in the top ten by a narrow 0.086 seconds. He lines up ahead of Alex Albon in 12th, marking only the second occasion this year that a Williams driver did not feature in Q3. Isack Hadjar qualified 13th for Racing Bulls, followed by Franco Colapinto for Alpine in 14th, and Haas driver Oliver Bearman in 15th.
Lance Stroll narrowly missed a spot in Q2 by just 0.051 seconds and will start the race from 16th for Aston Martin. Esteban Ocon qualified 17th for Haas, just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in 18th. Tsunoda, driving for Racing Bulls, reported a lack of front grip and recorded his third Q1 exit as a driver within the Red Bull program, although he was only 0.263 seconds slower than Max Verstappen in the same session.
Carlos Sainz qualified 19th after his Williams car sustained damage during the session. Nico Hülkenberg will start 20th for Sauber.
