A stunning lap from Lando Norris left the McLaren driver fastest from team-mate Oscar Piastri at the end of final practice for the Austrian GP.

Norris ended the practice hour more than a tenth clear of Piastri with Max Verstappen third, a further tenth down heading in to qualifying.

Lando Norris leaves McLaren in control ahead of Austrian GP qualifying

The circuit remained silent for the opening five minutes before Lance Stroll became the first driver out on track, followed by his Aston Martin team-mate, Fernando Alonso.

A host of drivers weren’t even in their cars; Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, and Alex Albon all in conversation with their engineers as Verstappen became the first driver to begin a time lap.

Stroll and Alonso had cycled back to the pit lane, while Verstappen carried on to begin the first timed lap of the session after six minutes. The Dutchman was on the hard compound tyre, the least favoured of the three options available.

He remained on track for a comparatively lengthy early stint, doing so with the circuit almost entirely to himself – only the Alpines emerging from the lane until 15 minutes had elapsed in the 60-minute session.

Norris recorded his first timed with 43 minutes to run, going fastest on a 1:05.412s before running long at Turn 1 at the end of his flying lap.

The Brit was on the soft compound tyres, as was his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri who was almost four tenths slower with his initial effort.

Norris’ effort was a 1:05.412s, a time only 0.156s quicker than Verstappen had managed earlier despite the difference in tyre compounds.

The Red Bull pace was further highlighted when Yuki Tsunoda rose to second best, just 0.087s away from the lead McLaren – his effort on a set of soft tyres.

Braking for Turn 1 was proving troublesome, with a number of drivers following Norris into the run-off, Lewis Hamilton among them.

With 20 minutes elapsed, only the two Mercedes and two Williams drivers had not set a lap – indeed, neither team had been on track.

McLaren moved the goalposts as Norris logged a 1:04.888s to sit well clear of the chasing pack, inching out to 0.4s clear of Hamilton who’d improved to second best. Another lap from the seven-time champion saw him move a tenth closer.

There were similarly eyebrow raising laps from the Sauber pairing of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, who found themselves sixth and seventh respectively.

There was a significant discrepancy in lap times, Hulkenberg was seven-tenths away from the top of the timesheets around a short that that traditionally brings with it small gaps.

While Norris sat clear at the top of the standings, the gaps among those behind were significantly closer.

Russell was only half a tenth quicker than Piastri, the Australian in turn just 0.002s quicker than Charles Leclerc, before the Ferrari driver improved to second best.

His 1:05.157s saw him still 0.269s away from the ultimate pace.

A mistake from Piastri saw him run wide exiting Turn 9, dropping a wheel into the gravel as his McLaren slewed sideways, kicking up the kitty litter as he did so.

It wasn’t the first moment of the session, having sprayed it wide at the first corner earlier in the session.

As Piastri recovered from his moment, instructing McLaren to check his floor for damage, Russell went second fastest, 0.035s faster than his Mercedes team-mate who slotted in third, bumping Leclerc to fourth.

Meanwhile, at Red Bull, there was attention being paid to the left-hand-side of Verstappen’s car, specifically the underside of the RB21.

With 15 minutes remaining, Norris delivered a statement lap with a time 0.694s quicker than anyone else had managed to that point.

A neat spin from Isack Hadjar saw the Racing Bulls driver run wide exiting the final corner.

It pitched the Frenchman around, though he was able to recover it with the car pointing in the correct direction following his quick trip through the gravel.

Five minutes after his team-mate had stretched his legs at the top of the timesheets, Piastri recorded a personal best to log a 1:04.442s, leaving him 0.118s.

His time had been on par with Norris’ through the first two thirds of the lap before dropping a tenth in the final sector.

The championship leader’s lap was demonstrative of the change in tempo for the session, teams beginning to complete qualifying simulations heading into the final 10 minutes.

Norris was among their number, but a mistake at Turn 3 saw him climb the sausage kerb on exit, prompting him to abort the effort.

Verstappen improved to third best on his quali sim, his best a 1:04.534s, an effort that left him 0.04s better than Leclerc.

The final moments proved eventful; Tsunoda spun exiting Turn 1 while Antonelli ran a wheel wide at Turn 9 and did well to hold on to the Mercedes.

There was a near-miss for Verstappen too, the Dutchman pulling to the inside approaching the final corner sharply as Pierre Gasly approached him.

He also had a spin soon after, clouting the inside kerb at the final corner which saw the rear end swing around on him.

Like Hadjar, he performed a perfect pirouette and was quickly back underway.

He ended the session third as the chequered flag fell, Norris heading affairs from Piastri.

Fourth best was Leclerc from Hamilton, then cam Russell, Antonelli, Stroll, Tsunoda, and Bortoleto in the top 10.

Hadjar meanwhile propped up the standings, his best 1.7s off the pace and half a second away from Franco Colapinto who was 19th best.