Austrian GP: the driver of McLaren Lando Norris “ reassured ” after “Old me” returns in qualification to Red Bull Ring

Lando Norris says he is “reassured” after the “old” has returned to qualification at the Austrian Grand Prix where he took a dominant pole.

After a series of disappointing qualification results, Norris beat Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri with pole position of more than half a second on one of the shortest tracks of F1 – the biggest margin of the season so far.

An ecstatic Norris said on the radio after his third post of the season: “Delighted to see the old self from time to time, huh!”

Norris retired the last time in Canada after meeting Piastri’s back, but an ideal occasion to break through in his 22 -point deficit in the pilot championship.

“The feeling that I had today was the feeling that I have missed for a long time,” he said Sky Sports F1.

“The costs I had driving, with the car, understanding the place where the handle is and how to use it.

“It was shown in performance and in turn, which is a very good combination to have. That when you feel like” yeah, I can go faster here and I can do it “and you go out and do it, it’s the best feeling that a driver can really ask.”

McLaren brought a revised floor to Austria which seems to be suitable in Norris, which was opened not to take advantage of this year’s car as much as that of last season.

He continued: “The team worked very hard. I worked a lot in the simulator, with my team with my engineers, with many people to try to understand these things and we think it is in the right direction.

“So come this weekend and at least moving to the right direction is very positive and very reassuring for me, but probably for us as a team too, so thanks to them.”

Stella “proud” of Norris’s performance

Coming to Austria, Norris had the worst rhythm jump from T2 to the third quarter. He won an average of only 0.249s this year compared to Piastri, Max Verstappen and George Russell who increased by more than four tenths and Charles Leclerc by almost three tenths.

Norris visibly the qualifications for the Grand Prix of Bahrain, Spanish and Canadian, but gathered everything in Austria on Saturday, which made the director of the Andrea Stella “really proud” team.

“Even in Canada, after examining the weekend with Lando and its engineers, we have always said that the speed was there,” said Stella.

“When he had the small contact with the wall in qualifying, he was on the right track for a pole position. And in the race, he was one of the fastest cars, if not the fastest, in the race. The speed was still there. We had to polish the execution. We made little adjustments here and there.

“Not only did he mark a pole position, but it is a dominant pole position, a fairly remarkable tour time. It is a bit of a shame that we could not see Oscar supporting pole position because of the yellow flag that prevented him from having a last attempt.”

McLaren failed to qualify in the front row and had no driver on the podium for the first time in the season in Canada.

Stella credited the way the team rebounded on its worst weekend in 2025, which ended with Norris and Piastri collision.

“We have a very strong point on McLaren that we are very prepared from a cultural and attitudinal point of view, to use all occasions to become stronger and even more united,” he said.

“It was the tone, the content of the conversations. I think it was done, you can see from what our drivers said.

“Let me rent everyone’s work at McLaren for upgrades.

Piastri: I don’t plan to finish third

Piastri would probably have been in the front row if he had been able to finish his last race in the third quarter. The Austrian and Verstappen Max both had to interrupt their final efforts due to Pierre Gasly causing yellow flags for a tour.

If Piastri exceeds the Leclerc very early, he will start to try to fight Norris for the victory on a track which offers many opportunities to exceed.

“I think that our rhythm this weekend seemed very strong. I think that Ferrari’s rhythm also seemed good, which was a little surprised, but I think we still had opportunities,” he said.

“I don’t plan to finish third, that’s for sure.”

McLaren’s racing pace in training was only equaled by Verstappen this weekend, but the Red Bull driver begins in seventh, so it will take a threat.

Norris said: I start in the best position. We have been good since the first laps that I made in FP2. We were competitive and I felt confident and comfortable in the car.

“We had some upgrades on the car this weekend, which is our first set of appropriate upgrades for the whole season.

“So, we waited a lot of time to apply them, and from what I see today, it seems that it has definitely moved us in the right direction – especially on a circuit where there is only eight corners.

“I am convinced that we can always have a good race, but it’s long and a lot can happen.”

Austrian GP schedule of Sky Sports F1

Sunday June 29
7:25 am: F3 functionalities race
8:55 am: F2 functionality breed
10:40 am: Porsche Supercup
12:30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: Austria GP Build-Up *
2 p.m.: The Austrian Grand Prix *
4 p.m.: Checkered flag: Austrian GP reaction *
5 p.m.: Ted’s notebook

* Also on the main event of Sky Sports

The next step for the Formula 1 2025 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 at any time.

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