Norris Dominates Austrian GP Qualifying, Takes Pole Ahead of Leclerc

Lando Norris significantly boosted his championship hopes with a commanding performance in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver secured pole position, finishing a remarkable 0.521 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc from Ferrari.

Norris`s McLaren teammate and title contender, Oscar Piastri, will start the race from third place on the grid. His final lap attempt in Q3 was compromised just as it began when Pierre Gasly spun out of the final corner, bringing out yellow flags and forcing Piastri to slow down before he could complete his flying lap.

This qualifying result follows an incident between the two McLaren drivers at the previous event in Canada, where Norris retired from the race, dropping 22 points behind Piastri in the championship standings.

“Nice to see the old me back every now and then,” Norris commented over the team radio immediately after his pole lap.

Speaking later in parc ferme, Norris added: “It was definitely a good lap, that`s for sure. I guess it was little by little improvements. 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 I`m very happy.”

He continued: “It`s a long season. I`m still going to 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 a crucial opportunity for Norris to close the gap to Piastri ahead of the midpoint of the season at Silverstone next weekend. However, with McLaren looking like the strongest team around the Red Bull Ring circuit, Norris may still need to fend off a challenge from his teammate during the 71-lap race.

Piastri`s initial run in Q3 was just 0.062 seconds shy of Leclerc`s time for second place. Leclerc`s result marks his best qualifying performance since the Monaco Grand Prix.

Regarding the yellow flags, Piastri said: “The problem was I didn`t even get to start it [the final lap]. 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, just not your day.”

He added a defiant note for the race: “I think there will be some opportunities tomorrow. I`m not planning on finishing third, that`s for sure.”

Charles Leclerc`s Ferrari teammate, Lewis Hamilton, secured fourth place on the grid – his best qualifying result of the season so far. This performance underscores the significant step forward Ferrari appears to have made with an upgraded floor package introduced this weekend.

Max Verstappen, driving for Red Bull, had to abandon his final Q3 lap attempt due to the yellow flags caused by Gasly in the final sector. As a consequence, the championship leader will start the race from seventh position. He lines up one place behind Liam Lawson in sixth for Racing Bulls and two places behind the Canada race winner, George Russell, who qualified fifth for Mercedes.

Gabriel Bortoleto reached Q3 for the first time in his career and will start the race in eighth place for Sauber. He finished ahead of Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) and Pierre Gasly in the final part of qualifying.

Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying Top 10

Drivers who did not make it into the top ten included Fernando Alonso, who will start 11th for Aston Martin, missing Q3 by a narrow margin of 0.086 seconds. He is joined on the sixth row by Alex Albon in 12th, in only the second instance this season that a Williams driver hasn`t reached Q3. Isack Hadjar qualified 13th for Racing Bulls, ahead of Franco Colapinto in 14th for Alpine and Oliver Bearman in 15th for Haas.

Lance Stroll missed out on a place in Q2 by just 0.051 seconds and will start the race from 16th for Aston Martin. Esteban Ocon qualified 17th for Alpine, just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in 18th. Tsunoda reported a lack of front grip in his Racing Bulls car (Correction: Text says Red Bull, table says Racing Bulls for Lawson. Assuming Racing Bulls for Tsunoda based on context, but will follow provided text team where clear inconsistencies aren`t resolved by the table). Let`s stick to the original team name provided where possible. Yuki Tsunoda, driving for Red Bull, who complained about a lack of front grip and qualified 18th. This marks Tsunoda`s third Q1 exit as a Red Bull driver, although he was only 0.263 seconds slower than his teammate Verstappen in the same session.

Carlos Sainz suffered damage to his Williams car during the session and had to settle for 19th place, starting just ahead of Nico Hülkenberg in 20th for Sauber.