Lando Norris continued his dominant weekend at the Red Bull Ring, fending off team-mate Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri to score pole position for Sunday’s race. The British racer has had the measure of his McLaren colleague throughout every stage of the Austrian Grand Prix so far.
Norris laid down the early markers in Q1 with a fastest lap over three tenths faster than team-mate Piastri, while Verstappen continued the trend of 2025, popping up in third. Gabriel Bortoleto and Alex Albon both produced exceptional times, putting their Sauber and Williams cars in the top seven spots.
George Russell nearly suffered a shock early elimination after a scruffy final run. The Brit eventually climbed to P11 in Q1, but there was no such luck for Yuki Tsunoda, who was taken out of qualifying at the earliest opportunity once again.
McLaren posted some daunting times early in the second part of qualifying, with Norris going nearly seven tenths faster than Max Verstappen, who was complaining that his car was “undriveable”. Both Ferraris sandwiched themselves between the three championship contenders, while Mercedes’ struggles continued.
The red flag made a brief appearance halfway through the session as the marshals diffused a small grass fire. When Q2 resumed, there were a couple of surprises in store. Kimi Antonelli narrowly avoided the bottom five, while Bortoleto’s dazzling run continued as he ended the stint in P5.
