McLaren driver Lando Norris returned to the top of the field following FP2 at the F1 Austrian GP. He was followed closely by teammate Oscar Piastri who finished a tenth behind in P2. There continues to be upgrade differences between the cars, with Norris using his suspension upgrade from Canada.
Norris predicts closeknit battle for pole position at F1 Austrian GP
After a difficult race in Canada, Norris returned to form during FP2 at the Austrian GP. The McLaren driver showed strong pace in the car despite missing FP1. Norris admitted that the battle for pole position will likely be close on Saturday.
“I think as a team we seemed a bit more competitive. We definitely didn’t look that good this morning, so I think we did move things in the right direction.
“I think as always we are very quick in FP2 at times [and] we’ve shown a bit more pace than some of the others. I certainly think they’re going to catch up, Max [Verstappen] is not far behind, and they [Red Bull] normally improve a lot into Saturday.
“I expect a good day tomorrow and I’m sure we’ll improve on some things, but it’s not as easy as maybe it looked today. It’s still going to be tight tomorrow, it always is, there’s no reason for it not to be, but we’ll work hard to make it as big of a gap as possible.”
Piastri: “All the parts that we think will make the car faster are on both cars”
Championship leader Oscar Piastri put in strong performances during FP1 and FP2 at the Austrian GP, finishing P3 and P2, respectively. Notably, Piastri chose not to use the suspension upgrade brought for Norris’ car in Canada.
“There’s some other bits and pieces . . . I’m not using the bits that came in Canada, because they’re not an upgrade, they’re just different.
“All the parts that we think will make the car faster are on both cars.”
Piastri shared Norris’ sentiments about qualifying, citing Red Bull driver Max Verstappen as a potential challenger for pole position. Verstappen currently holds the record for the most pole positions (5) and wins (5) at this track.
“Max [Verstappen] is still close, so I think he’ll be definitely a threat this weekend. But no, the car’s feeling good, I think the pace is quite good, so a positive first day.”
F2 driver Alex Dunne impresses during first FP1 session with McLaren
McLaren development driver Alex Dunne participated in his first F1 practice session this weekend, replacing Norris for FP1 at the Austrian GP. The Irish driver finished P4, merely seven hundredths behind Piastri in P3. Dunne currently leads the F2 championship as a rookie, having scored two feature race wins.
Dunne expressed gratitude to the team for his FP1 opportunity.
“I don’t even know where to start. Super happy, I think it’s safe to say it went pretty well.
“I think we knew going through the session that the goal wasn’t necessarily for performance it was more to help out with the car, help Lando [Norris] and just help the team improve as much as they can for FP2, FP3 and then onwards into the weekend.
“So, to have the pace that I had and show what I’m capable of on the F1 stage is something pretty special, so massive thank you to McLaren and everyone for the opportunity. I’m extremely grateful.”
