Lando Norris says he is “reassured” after the “old me” returned in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix where he took a dominant pole position.
After a series of disappointing qualifying results, Norris beat Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri to pole position by over half a second on one of F1’s shortest tracks – the biggest margin of the season so far.
An ecstatic Norris said on the radio after his third pole of the season: “Nice to see the old me back every now and then, huh!”
Norris retired last time out in Canada after running into the back of Piastri but has the perfect opportunity to make inroads into his 22-point deficit in the Drivers’ Championship.
“The feeling I had today was the feeling I have missed for quite a long time,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“The feeing I had behind the wheel, with the car, the understanding of where the grip is and how to exploit it.
“That showed in performance and in lap time, which is a very good combination to have. That when you feel like ‘yeah, I can go quicker here and I can do that’ and you go out and do it, that’s the best feeling a driver can ask for really.”
A late yellow flag caused by Pierre Gasly saw Max Verstappen bail on final lap and Lando Norris take pole in Austria
McLaren have brought a revised floor to Austria which appears to be suiting Norris, who has been open about not enjoying this year’s car as much as last season’s.
He continued: “The team have been working very hard. I have been working a lot in the simulator, with my team with my engineers, with many people to try and understand these things and we think it is in the right direction.
“So come to this weekend and at least move in the right direction is very positive and very reassuring for myself most of all, but probably for us as a team as well, so thanks to them.”
Lando Norris says he’s been working hard to move in the right direction, and felt reassured after taking pole in Austria
Stella ‘proud’ of Norris performance
Coming into Austria, Norris had the worst jump in pace from Q2 to Q3. He gained an average of just 0.249s this year compared to Piastri, Max Verstappen and George Russell who have progressed by over four tenths and Charles Leclerc by nearly three tenths.
Norris visibly overdrove in qualifying for the Bahrain, Spanish and Canadian Grand Prix but put everything together on Saturday in Austria, which made team principal Andrea Stella “really proud”.
“Even in Canada, after reviewing the weekend with Lando and his engineers, we always said the speed was there,” said Stella.
Watch from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s 360-degree onboard camera as Norris crashed into his McLaren team-mate during the Canada Grand Prix
“When he had the little contact with the wall in qualifying, he was on track for a pole position. And in the race, he was one of the fastest, if not the fastest car, in the race. The speed was always there. We needed to polish the execution. We made little adjustments here and there.
“Not only did he score a pole position, but it’s a dominant pole position, a pretty remarkable lap time. It’s a bit of a shame that we couldn’t see Oscar contending the pole position because of the yellow flag that prevented him from having a final attempt.”
McLaren failed to qualify on the front row and did not have a driver on the podium for the first time of the season in Canada.
Martin Brundle believes Lando Norris still has a great chance to win the Drivers’ Championship, but must perform every weekend
Stella credited the way the team bounced back from their worst weekend in 2025, which ended with Norris and Piastri colliding.
“We have a very strong point at McLaren that we are very prepared from a cultural, attitudinal point of view, to use every opportunity to become stronger and even more united,” he said.
“This was the tone, the content of the conversations. I think this has been realised, you can see from what our drivers said.
“Let me praise the work of everyone at McLaren for the upgrades. This has made the car faster. We are very encouraged by the data that we saw. A lot of positives to take away, and we need to capitalise in the race.”
Lando Norris was in full praise of Irish rookie Alex Dunne for his helpful feedback during P1
Piastri: I’m not planning on finishing third
Piastri would likely have been on the front row had he been able to complete his last Q3 run. The Austrian and Max Verstappen both had to abort their final efforts due to Pierre Gasly causing yellow flags for a spin.
Should Piastri get past Leclerc early on, he will set about looking to fight Norris for the win on a track which offers up plenty of opportunities to overtake.
“I think our pace this weekend has looked very strong. I think the Ferrari pace looked good as well, which was a bit of a surprise, but I think we still got some opportunities,” he said.
“I’m not planning on finishing third, that’s for sure.”
Oscar Piastri revealed ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix that everything is all good with Lando Norris after his team-mate apologised after colliding in Canada
McLaren’s race pace in practice has only been matched by Verstappen this weekend, but the Red Bull driver is starting down in seventh, so will unlikely be a threat.
Norris said: I’m starting in the best position. 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.
“I’m confident we can still have a good race, but it’s a long one and plenty of things can happen.”
Sky Sports F1’s Austrian GP schedule
Sunday June 29
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP build-up*
2pm: THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP reaction*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
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