Lando Norris put in a sensational performance to take pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix by more than 0.5 seconds on one of the shortest laps of the year.
Norris beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.521 seconds, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, the championship leader, a further 0.062secs behind.
Lewis Hamilton put the second Ferrari fourth, 0.090secs slower than his team-mate, and Mercedes’ George Russell fifth.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could manage only seventh place – he was caught out by yellow flags on his final run, but had been only sixth on his first lap anyway.
Norris said: “It was a good lap, that’s for sure. My Q3 run one was good but I knew there were a few places where if I just got it right I could make up quite a bit more time and I did that.”
This outstanding lap was exactly what Norris needed as he arrived in Austria 22 points behind Piastri in the championship after crashing out of the previous race in Canada as a result of running into the back of his team-mate.
Norris said: “Qualifying has been some of my tough moments so to put in a lap like this is pleasing for myself.
“It’s a long race tomorrow and a long season. I want to prove it myself over and over again and this is just the beginning of it.”
