After delivering an absolutely dominating performance in Qualifying, Lando Norris put his McLaren on pole for the F1 Austrian GP race. Leading all three stages of qualifying, the Brit converted his promising results in the FP sessions into a great starting position for tomorrow. The clean air will benefit Norris, who will be sharing the front row with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The British driver is currently chasing another victory to advance in the standings. While his teammate, Oscar Piastri, is leading the championship, Norris will attempt to retake that lead. Needing to make up for the unfortunate incident during the Canadian GP, the McLaren driver is a strong contender for the win. However, the Red Bull Ring is a tricky circuit, where a P1 start does not equal an easy race.
First thoughts in Parc Fermé
The F1 Austrian GP is known for its hard-to-break DRS trains and close times, yet Norris managed to put half a second between himself and Leclerc. This result made the Brit quite happy, as everything seemed to come together for that last lap. Lando Norris explained more of his thought process during the last stint in Q3:
“Oh, it was a good lap, that’s for sure. I guess just little bit by little bit. I feel even like my Q3 run one was good, but I knew there’s a few places where if I just got it right, I could get still quite a bit more time. And I did exactly that. So, 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 yeah, very happy. A good day. It’s been a good weekend for me so far, so hopefully we can keep it up.”
Qualifying from his point of view
Meanwhile, Norris did not even take part in FP1. Driving the MCL39 in his place was F2 driver and championship contender Alex Dunne. However, the Brit finished on top for all the other sessions. Seemingly more calm than usual, Lando Norris is taking a more cautious approach this weekend. Not fully celebrating his achievement yet, Norris shared his qualifying overview:
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m still very happy. It’s just a long season. I still savour with this moment, especially because this has been some of my tougher moments in qualifying. So, to put in a lap like today, to have the performance throughout this weekend like I had, was pleasing for myself.
“But I’m excited. It’s a long race tomorrow. I’m very happy with today, but I want to prove it to myself over and over again, and hopefully, this is just the beginning of it.”
Incredible gap to P2
With a great final lap time of 1:03.971, the Brit shocked quite a few people with the gap he managed to create. Calling this F1 Austrian GP qualifying “fun“, Lando Norris reflected on the seemingly “perfect” lap which put him on pole:
“Always impossible to say, but as close [to perfect] as I would probably ask for. You know, in all the places I could be close to being in the gravel or over the limit, I feel like I was. So, it was a very good lap. I think I improved in every corner and, especially around here, with the high speed in Turn 6, Turn 7, 9, and 10.
“Especially in quali, you’ve got to commit, and it’s exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. So, yeah, again, rewarding when things go right like they did today. And to put the laps in that I did today, I was very happy with. So, yeah, it was a fun qualifying.”
Performing well when under threat
The pressure is always high went the time in Q3 is running out. For the McLaren driver, his worries did not diminish after his first flying lap around the Red Bull Ring. Instead, admitted Norris, the other drivers seemed quite close for his liking at the beginning of the F1 Austrian GP weekend. Nevertheless, he knew exactly which turns needed to be improved, and he turned his focus on that. He also talked about his teammate being a possible threat when it comes to great laps.
“Not really. No. I mean, the others were not far behind. Even the Ferraris and Charles [Leclerc] was a bit closer. I think all the way through quali, actually, the gap to some of the others was bigger than I was expecting. They were not miles away in FP3.
“But then, as soon as we went out for quali, we seemed like a good step ahead. So, I wasn’t too worried, but there’s this guy here on the left [Piastri], he’s also pretty quick, and the expectation is for him to go out and put some good laps in too, especially in Q3s normally. I think the pressure was still there, and I still knew there were places to improve. So, again, just try to do Turn 1, 3, 4 correctly and then push it a little bit more in the high speed, and that’s what I did.”
Growing confidence
Lando Norris struggled quite a bit this season with finding the right balance in qualifying. After some disappointing results in past races, he made sure to emphasise the need for consistency. Recognising that one pole position for the F1 Austrian GP does not make up for the other lost ones, Norris is looking to continue this journey of improvements:
“I mean, it’s very satisfying, but, again, it’s about consistency. Everyone can be a hero in one weekend. It’s progress. It’s steps forward. I’m very happy with today, but it’s still a long journey. It’s a long season. The job I needed to do today, I did. And it doesn’t make up for the last few weekends or anything, but I did it today, and that’s what mattered. So, yeah, very satisfied and happy for putting it together when I needed to.”
Furthermore, the McLaren driver brought up the team’s first big upgrades of the 2025 season. Norris talked about how comfortable he feels in his car, especially after seeing it perform during these sessions. So far, he believes these upgrades are a step in the right direction. But he is aware that a good car is not the only thing necessary in order to win Sunday’s race:
“I think a good amount. I’m starting in the best position. But we’ve been good since the first laps I did in FP2. We’ve been competitive, and I’ve been feeling confident and comfortable in the car. We’ve had some upgrades on the car this weekend, which is our first proper set of upgrades for the whole season. So, we’ve waited a good amount of time to apply them. And from what I see today, it looks like it’s definitely moved us in the right direction, especially on a circuit where there’s only eight corners, really. So, yeah, I’m confident we can still have a good race tomorrow, but it’s a long one and plenty of things can happen.”
The MCL39 throughout 2025
Following his previous statements from Thursday, Norris definitely showed just how powerful the McLaren car actually is. While he was hesitant to attribute the upgrades to this great performance, the Brit is incredibly satisfied with the MCL39. As the car defied their expectations in terms of pace in the high-speed sections, Lando Norris thinks this qualifying was one of his best:
“I think it’s been clear-ish from the outside, and the feelings have correlated to inside, in terms of the car has just felt very strong. It clearly is very strong here, and very quick. I think where we expect it to be a little bit weak, or not as strong as some of the others in the high speed, seems to have been our strength all weekend so far. It’s still trickier in some places, but on the whole, it was easily my best qualifying of the year from a delivery point of view, from every single lap I did. I still made a couple of mistakes here and there, but none that cost me a lap or anything, just maybe a tenth here or half a tenth there.”
Best qualifying, better than in Monte Carlo
Moreover, Norris doubled down on calling the F1 Austrian GP his best qualifying. Comparing the more flashy aspects with his Monaco flying lap that earned him that pole, the McLaren driver considers the Austrian one the overall better lap.
“So, I think on deliveries, consistency and of course putting it in when it counts in Q3 was easily the best lap I’ve done for this whole season, probably even better than Monaco, honestly. Maybe not as exciting a lap as Monaco, but definitely a better put-together lap than I did there. Some of that is small things that have allowed me to get that out of the car, from the changes within the car.”
Norris went on to further his explanation. The driver pointed out how his heightened confidence when stepping into the MCL39 for this session helped immensely:
“Whether that’s the upgrades or not, it’s always very difficult to tell still. But it was definitely, like you said, the most confident and comfortable I’ve been in terms of getting lap time out of the car and understanding that. I think it showed today that when I have those feelings, well, it’s still not all there, but more there than before, I can have a day like today.
“So it shows that the feelings I’ve been requiring, the feelings that I’ve not been getting as easily, when they are more my way and more where I want them to be, I can put in better performances and have days like today. So, I think that’s reassuring for myself, which is a very nice feeling. But it’s still about consistency. This is one weekend, I’ve got to do it for another, what, 12 or 13 or something.”
The results of hard work or a great car
As mentioned above, qualifying has not been Lando Norris’ strong suit. While he talked about needing to improve his performance for Saturdays, the F1 Austrian GP saw the first impressions of this change. Norris could not help but also credit the upgrades made to the MCL39 for this achievement. Yet, he shared an honest perspective on the relationship between the upgrades and his personal growth:
“I mean, it’s a bit of both. Hard to put a percentage on it. But I said at the beginning of the weekend, when we all sat down, I still expect more from myself at times. No matter what car I get given, I still expect to do a good job in whatever car that is, whether I struggle with some of the feelings or not. But, you know, when you’re fighting against the best, you want everything to feel the best possible.
“This weekend, I feel like I’ve had a little bit more of that. It could also be a bit track-specific rather than just car-specific, because there have been some tracks this season I felt more comfortable than others. But it is a small element from the team, and it’s also down to myself quite often. I was quick in Canada for the most part, and made mistakes there and misjudged many things there. And didn’t put the laps together when I needed to.
“But the pace was there, and that wasn’t through a lack of feeling. That was through not doing a good enough job for myself. So, I’m never going to just blame the car, and I’m never going to say I blame anything, but there are reasons for different things. What’s most reassuring for me is when I’ve got some other feelings that I need, I do do a better job. That’s the best news that comes out of some of these things.”
Not counting out Verstappen
Lando Norris’ biggest contender for the world championship title last year was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. In a round like the F1 Austrian GP, where Verstappen is a favourite for pole and victories, Norris is not ignoring the Dutch threat. While the Red Bull driver struggled in qualifying, the Brit will not count Verstappen out:
“I mean, Max [Verstappen] has been our main contender for every race this season. I think just because he’s had a slightly worse qualifying today, definitely not going to count him out of the race tomorrow and definitely not going to count him out for the rest of the season. They brought upgrades. Maybe they’ve not worked as well as they wanted, or maybe they have. I don’t know. But I think we expected them to be quicker here this weekend.”
Pointing out that besides the Dutchman, Norris claimed that his rivalry with Piastri is his other biggest challenge for the 2025 season:
“They’ve still looked pretty good for the most part this weekend, but I don’t know what happened to Max [Verstappen] in Q3. So, no. I think, of course, we as teammates are probably the main rivals of each other at the moment. But at the same time, I don’t think we’re ever – until he’s out of the race – I don’t think we’re ever going to take Max [Verstappen] out of the equation. It’s still a very long season. So, I think people just need to chill out a little bit. And we’ll see tomorrow.”
