Norris claims pole at Red Bull ring ahead of P2 Leclerc, teammate Piastri in P3

Looking to rebound from the clash with his teammate that ended his race in Canada prematurely two weeks ago, McLaren’s Lando Norris blistered the field to earn pole during Saturday Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Norris mastered the short and tricky Red Bull ring to the tune of a record-setting 1:03.971 fast lap, half a second ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and a few tenths more than that versus McLaren stablemate and current points leader Oscar Piastri. After the the Papaya duo collided late in the race in Quebec a fortnight ago, costing Norris any points at all and nearly taking out Piastri as well in the process, Lando will be desperate to get away and stay away from all of the other contenders, run a clean race and take home maximum points to reignite his championship aspirations. With Leclerc’s Prancing Horse slotting in at P2 and teammate Lewis Hamilton pulling one out of the bag good enough for the fourth fastest time, Piastri could well have his hands full just trying to fend off the Ferraris, let alone getting  back on terms with Norris, who frankly looks like he has the edge here in Spielberg.

Mercedes suffered by comparison when measured against McLaren and the Scuderia, perhaps due to the extremely hot conditions here at the circuit, with George Russell only good enough for P5 and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli scuffling his way to a lowly P9 spot on the grid. Racing Bulls Liam Lawson, who has really come on after a very rough start to the year in the senior Red Bull team, shocked his old teammate Max Verstappen by out-qualifying the Flying Dutchman, P7 to P8. Verstappen may have gotten a taste of what his wingmen usually have to deal with, as the four–time champ complained that his car was literally un-drivable. He struggled with snap oversteer repeatedly over the course of these short but demanding laps, and teammate Yuki Tsunoda fared even worse, coming home a shocking P18 and rueing his lack of front grip. On the other side of the coin, Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto achieved his best-ever qualifying result with a very impressive time good enough for P8. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the Top 10 in P10, unable to improve his time when he spun on his final quali effort.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Norris can keep his quali momentum going and get his championship campaign back on track with a victory, or if Lady Luck — and his teammate Piastri and the two charging Ferraris — have other plans in store.