Norris takes comfortable Austrian GP pole ahead of Leclerc

Lando Norris dominated qualifying to take pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc after a badly timed yellow flag hampered championship leader Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.

Norris topped all three qualifying segments, following session-topping times in the only two practice sessions in which he took part, to set two laps fast enough for pole in Q3. The Briton powered to a best time of 1m 3.971s with his final lap, improving by 0.297s on his provisional pole time, to take P1 by 0.521s, the season’s largest pole margin.

“It was a good lap, that’s for sure,” he said. “I feel like my Q3, run 1, was good, but I knew there were a few places where if I could get it right, I could still find a bit more time, and I did exactly that.

“I did what I planned to do, and when I plan to do something and it goes right, it normally goes very, very well. My tougher moments have been the qualis, so to put in a lap like today, to have the performance throughout this weekend like I’ve had, is pleasing.”

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Norris’s way was eased slightly by both Piastri and Verstappen having their final laps spoiled by Pierre Gasly spinning his car out of the final corner. The Frenchman sailed wide and onto the gravel as he attempted to complete his final lap, causing double waved yellow flags at the beginning of the front straight.

Piastri had been immediately behind him on a warm-up lap and couldn’t start his final lap. Verstappen was further back on the road on a flying lap that was spoiled by him having to lift.

Leclerc was the chief beneficiary, slotting into second for Ferrari, albeit more than half a second off the pace. But with the Scuderia having shown strong race pace on Friday, the Monegasque was optimistic about his second front-row start of the year.

“We brought some new parts this weekend, which for sure have made a difference, because if you look at the gaps, everyone is super close,” he said. “We know we have a better car in the race than we do in qualifying, so hopefully we can put a bit more pressure on the McLaren tomorrow.”

Piastri secured third on the grid despite not getting in his second lap, but the Australian targeted progress on Sunday.

“Lando’s been very quick all weekend, so it would’ve been a tough challenge [to take pole], but I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to be on the front row,” he said. “But we can still have a good race from there. I think our pace this weekend has looked very strong.

“I still think we’ve got some opportunities tomorrow. I’m not planning on finishing third, that’s for sure.”

Lewis Hamilton will line up fourth after qualifying 0.09s behind teammate Leclerc.

George Russell qualified fifth for Mercedes ahead of Liam Lawson, the Kiwi in his second Q3 appearance of the season, and Verstappen, who slumped to seventh after having his lap spoiled.

Gabriel Bortoleto made the first Q3 appearance of his career to qualify eighth, up from a previous best of 12th on the grid, and 1.161s off the pace in a validating result for his upgraded Sauber.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was also caught out by the yellow flags, which held him up such that he failed to start his final lap before the session ended, leaving him ninth and 1.3s off pole.

The spun-out Gasly will start 10th after escaping from his accident without damage.

Fernando Alonso will line up 11th ahead of Alex Albon, who had no new tires for his final Q2 run.

Isack Hadjar was a surprise elimination in 13th after failing to match his Q1 time, which would have had him 11th.

Franco Colapinto made his second consecutive Q2 appearance and third of the season in 14th ahead of Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who will head Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon on the grid.

Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out in Q1 for the second time in three grands prix when he failed to lift with his final flying lap, leaving him locked into 18th. The Red Bull Racing driver was 0.263s slower than Verstappen – comfortably his smallest deficit of the season – and just 0.091s short of safety, having complained of a lack of front grip upon returning to pit lane.

Carlos Sainz was frustrated to be knocked out 19th with what he suspected was a damaged Williams.

“The car is undrivable,” he radioed his team. “It’s pulling under braking, no load in high speed – undriveable.”

Nico Hulkenberg completed the order for Sauber in 20th.

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