Austrian GP: Norris on pole as Max Verstappen blasts ‘naughty’ Lewis Hamilton

Lando Norris stormed his way to pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, delivering a dominant display.

Charles Leclerc will join him on the front row, while Max Verstappen is P7 only, having called the Red Bull “undriveable”, clashed with a “naughty” Lewis Hamilton in an impeding incident noted by the stewards, before a yellow flag wrecked his final Q3 lap, topping off a frustrating afternoon.

Austrian GP: Lando Norris on pole, Max Verstappen blow

There was a slight delay to qualifying getting underway following a dramatic Formula 2 crash, Arvid Lindblad, Luke Browning and Sami Meguetounif thankfully all okay after an incident which saw Meguetounif’s Trident roll over both Lindblad’s Campos and Browning’s Hitech before coming to a stop upside down, triggering a length red flag delay.

We only had an extra five minutes to wait before the light went green, getting Q1 underway as the 20 drivers battled to avoid the bottom five and elimination.

Norris was on a mission in the final practice session and quickly set a daunting Q1 benchmark, clocking a 1:04.672, Verstappen over four-tenths adrift, while Piastri kicked up the gravel at Turn 4.

Piastri made it stick the next time around, but with north of three-tenths to find on Norris, the Championship leader had work to do.

At the other end of the timings, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto needed a better time to reach Q2, Sainz staring at a third consecutive Q1 exit.

Norris topped the session, and Sainz did indeed fall at the Q1 hurdle in his “undriveable” Williams, as did Nico Hulkemberg, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll. Ironically for Tsunoda, despite his Q1 exit, a gap of a quarter of a second to Red Bull team-mate Verstappen was a big improvement.

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Onto Q2 where the slowest five would once more be eliminated, leaving a top 10 to battle for Austrian Grand Prix pole.

Ferrari bolted on some used softs to establish an early one-two, Leclerc two-tenths up on Hamilton, but the retaliation soon began.

A 1:05.103 took Verstappen top, but McLaren smashed that, Piastri going half a second clear before Norris found an extra tenth-and-a-half on that.

“The car is completely undrivable,” Verstappen lamented. “I don’t even know what to say.”

The track was soon undriveable as the red flags came out. The grass fire had returned for another ride in F1 2025, leaving Suzuka and setting up camp at the final corner of the Red Bull Ring.

The marshals quickly set about removing that unwanted guest and Q2 resumed with five minutes and 42 seconds left on the clock.

Bortoleto rightly got a round of applause from the Sauber crew as he shot up to P3, the final flurry of laps underway.

It was P1 for Norris from Piastri, while out in Q2 were Oliver Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Isack Hadjar, Albon and Fernando Alonso.

Verstappen was left unhappy with a “naughty” Hamilton, feeling he was impeded out of Turn 3 by the Ferrari driver, an incident noted by the stewards, the same true for a case of impeding involving Norris and Leclerc.

As the light went green to begin Q3 and the battle for pole, nobody was in a rush to get out there.

And when the scramble did ensue, Russell only just avoided being released straight into the side of the Ferraris, with Verstappen also in the firing line. The stewards noted that one too.

Norris’ ability to hold his nerve under pressure had been called out in Canada, but he hushed the critics by uncorking a 1:04.268, provisional pole, while Leclerc got within a quarter of a second to slot into provisional P2.

Verstappen was only P6, as he chased a sixth consecutive pole at the Red Bull Ring.

But a brief yellow flag, triggered by Gasly spinning at the final corner, saw Verstappen abort, with Piastri hamstrung too, all while Norris found another three-tenths to rubber-stamp pole, Leclerc joining him on the front row. Verstappen lines-up P7 only.

Q3 times

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:03.971
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.521
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.583
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.611
5 George Russell Mercedes +0.792
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.955
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.958
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.161
9 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1.305
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.678

Q2 times

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:04.410
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.146
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.324
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.426
5 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.436
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.436
7 George Russell Mercedes +0.450
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.486
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.631
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.642
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.718
12 Alexander Albon Williams +0.795
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.816
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.878
15 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.902

Q1 times

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:04.672
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.294
3 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.345
4 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.382
5 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.391
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.434
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.443
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.451
9 Alexander Albon Williams +0.471
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.506
11 George Russell Mercedes +0.517
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.525
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.525
14 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.546
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.606
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.657
17 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +0.692
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.697
19 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.910
20 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.934