Lando Norris secured a commanding pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix. Late yellow flags caused by Pierre Gasly`s spin impacted championship leader Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, leaving them frustrated.
Norris demonstrated exceptional form throughout the weekend, topping all sessions after second practice. His dominance continued into qualifying, where he beat Charles Leclerc to pole by over half a second, marking the largest pole margin of the 2025 F1 season to date.
Piastri, currently 22 points ahead of Norris in the championship, and Verstappen were unable to complete their final qualifying runs due to the yellow flags. Despite the disruption, it`s suggested they would have struggled to match Norris`s pace anyway.
Lewis Hamilton achieved his best qualifying result of the year, finishing fourth, ahead of teammate George Russell in fifth. Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson qualified in sixth place.
Max Verstappen, trailing Piastri by 43 points, had to settle for seventh place. He was on track for a front-row start but had to abandon his lap just before the penultimate corner due to Gasly`s incident.
Sauber`s Gabriel Bortoleto reached Q3 for the first time and qualified eighth, followed by Mercedes` Kimi Antonelli in ninth, and Pierre Gasly in tenth.
On the other end of the grid, Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull suffered his third consecutive Q1 elimination, placing him 18th for Sunday`s race in Spielberg. Williams` Carlos Sainz also faced another Q1 exit and will start from the back row alongside Sauber`s Nico Hulkenberg.
Norris`s Outstanding Performance
Following a challenging race in Canada, Norris quickly found his stride in Austria. After sitting out the first practice session, he topped FP2 and FP3, setting the stage for a strong qualifying.
He comfortably led Q1. Although Piastri was close in Q2, Norris elevated his performance in Q3. He initially took provisional pole and then improved significantly on his final attempt with a blistering lap time.
Sky Sports F1`s Naomi Schiff commented on Norris`s performance: “We`ll never really know how close they would have got to him, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, but you`ve got to say hats off to Lando. He put it together, he didn`t mess up the lap, and it`s been outstanding from him so far this weekend.”
Speaking about his final lap, Norris said, “My Q3 run one was good but I knew there were a few places where, if I just got it right, I could still get quite 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. So very happy. A good day and it has been a good weekend for me so far, so hopefully we can keep it up.”
He added, “It`s a long season and I still savour this moment, especially as some of my tougher moments have been in qualy. So to put in the lap like today, to put in the performance like I had, was pleasing for myself. I`m excited. I want to prove to myself over and over again and hopefully this is the beginning of it.”
Piastri was close after the first Q3 runs, but the yellow flag from Gasly`s spin prevented him and Verstappen from completing their final attempts properly. DRS was briefly disabled, hindering Piastri`s final lap start.
Piastri commented on the situation: “Lando has been very quick all weekend and it would have been a tough challenge, but I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to be on the front row. So always a shame when you don`t even get the chance but we can still have a good race from there. It`s sometimes just not your day.”
Verstappen faces a challenge from seventh place, despite potentially being able to qualify second or third without the yellow flag. He reported issues with his car`s balance but showed strong race pace in earlier sessions and will aim to make up positions against the Mercedes and Ferraris.
Charles Leclerc`s second place capitalised on the late drama, securing his third front row start of the year. Lewis Hamilton`s fourth place also provides encouragement for Ferrari, especially after introducing a new floor in Austria.
In other results, Liam Lawson`s sixth place was his best qualifying performance, while his teammate Isack Hadjar was eliminated in Q2, finishing 13th.
Austrian GP Qualifying: Top 10
- 1) Lando Norris, McLaren
- 2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- 3) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
- 4) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
- 5) George Russell, Mercedes
- 6) Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
- 7) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- 8) Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
- 9) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
- 10) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Notable Eliminations
- Knocked out in Q2: Fernando Alonso (11th), Alex Albon (12th), Isack Hadjar (13th), Franco Colapinto (14th), Oliver Bearman (15th)
- Knocked out in Q1: Lance Stroll (16th), Esteban Ocon (17th), Yuki Tsunoda (18th), Carlos Sainz (19th), Nico Hulkenberg (20th)
Gilbert Pendleton 
Wesley Dunham