Norris charges to Pole as yellow flags break hearts in Austria

Lando Norris was untouchable as he charged to pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, claiming the lead gridbox by the largest margin of the season while late yellow flags ruined his rivals’ chances of contending in Spielberg. 

Qualifying 1:

The start of Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix was slightly delayed due to a late incident during the Formula 2 Sprint, with the green light switching on five minutes after the session’s original start time as the Spielberg sun beamed down on the circuit. 

When the circuit finally burst to life, it was Alex Albon who led the stream of cars out onto the Red Bull Ring, commencing a busy opening stage of Qualifying. 

With the pressure to secure pole position well and truly mounting on the championship leader’s shoulders, Oscar Piastri exited the pitlane after five minutes of watching and waiting for the perfect track conditions, however, his initial lap came undone at Turn 4 when he dipped a wheel into the gravel. 

Recovering on his second attempt, Piastri was already a tenth down on his teammate through the first sector, with that deficit only growing through Sectors 2 and 3 resulting in the Australian finishing the lap in P2, over three-tenths behind Lando Norris.

The Australian marginally closed the gap to 0.294s on his final Q1 run, advancing to the second stage of qualifying with a fastest time of 1:04.966s.

Coming into Q1 as one of only six drivers with the buffer of having an additional set of fresh soft compound tyres at his disposal, Liam Lawson increased his odds of securing a place in Q2 through his strategically cautious approach this weekend. 

Despite having the upper hand in terms of tyres, Racing Bulls were the last team to release its drivers into the session.

When Lawson finally graced Red Bull’s home track, he recorded a time worthy of a top-ten position, however, his time of 1:05.400s wasn’t a certain ticket into the second stage.

As a result, the Kiwi launched yet again, skyrocketing his VCARB 02 into the top three was a lap just half a tenth behind the leading McLaren duo.

As for the rest of the field, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris traded purple sectors on their opening runs, though it was the McLaren driver who came out on top to record the early Q1 benchmark of 1:04.672s.

At the other end of the spectrum, both Williams drivers found themselves in the bottom five, struggling to make the most of their Austrian package as they were joined by Gabriel Bortoleto, Ollie Bearman and Fernando Alonso. 

The Aston Martin driver’s experience didn’t pay many dividends when he had to counter a dip into one of the many unforgiving gravel traps — an experience he wasn’t alone in as the likes of Albon and Sainz wrestled their Williams challengers out of danger. 

As the final minutes ticked down, the intensity picked up and the Williams duo set off to clear the elimination zone. 

That mission was only half successful when Albon boosted his car into the top ten, while Sainz was forced to settle for yet another Q1 knockout as he labelled the FW47 “undriveable”.

George Russell tumbled down the order and found himself in the discomfort of the bottom five alongside Yuki Tsunoda, however, differing run plans would see the Mercedes driver able to right that error — despite a subpar middle sector— while Tsunoda’s lack of grip and lack of time left the Red Bull driver doomed to start tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix from eighteenth. 

Joining Tsunoda and Sainz in a Q1 exit were Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg, with their teammates continuing their charge into Q2. 

Qualifying 2:

Only three drivers reacted to the green light at the start of the second stage of Qualifying, with the Ferrari duo and Albon maximising their odds of advancing to the top ten shootout by utilising the clear track.

Of the trio, Charles Leclerc set the first benchmark of the 15-minute session, recording a time of 1:05.446s which was composed of two purple sectors. 

The rest of the field soon joined them on track, with Lawson just one of a few drivers hoping to replicate his Q1 result come the chequered flag. 

Opening his first run with a personal best sector, Lawson then secured a purple middle sector on his way to the top of the timesheets, with his time of 1:05.248s earning him P1 — albeit slower than his Q1 lap.

Bunkering down in the RB garage during the short-lived Red Flag, Lawson drifted down the order into P6, notably holding at least a tenths-worth of an advantage over both Mercedes drivers who were struggling with the hot conditions.

On his final run, Lawson armed himself with a fresh set of soft compound tyres, but despite his improvements across the lap, the Kiwi opted to abandon his steady final run when it became clear that he would progress through to Q3 regardless of his final lap.

The McLaren duo were the last to leave the pitlane in Q2, instantly engaging in a two-way tussle for the fastest time where Piastri put his best foot forward by securing two purple sectors on his way to the line, however, it wasn’t enough to best Norris.

On his second run, the Australian further improved on his time but maintained his position in P2, ultimately advancing with the silver medal when he aborted his final run out of contentment.

In the broader sense of the session, Max Verstappen was the first driver to best his own fastest lap from Q1, momentarily claiming the top time before reporting that his RB21 was “completely undriveable”.

Norris picked up from where he left off in the opening session, demoting the Dutchman and his teammate to reinstate his position as the lead driver in Q2, doing so just in time as a Red Flag soon fell over the circuit. 

The session was brought to a brief halt due to a small grass fire on the main straight, sparked by Lewis Hamilton who ran wide from the exit of the final turn, kicking up dirt and spraying sparks onto the dry grass — a similar occurrence to the recent events seen in both Shanghai and Suzuka.  

Despite his dusty error, Hamilton trailed his teammate as the Ferrari drivers slotted into P3 and P4 after their first attempts.

The track marshals worked quickly to extinguish the flames, with the session resuming shortly after where Albon — carrying damage from Turn 8 and being the only driver without a fresh set of tyres  — Bearman, Alonso, Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto were all tasked with escaping the bottom five.  

The light went green confirming the fire was no longer an issue, however, the field was hesitant to react, instead counting down the minutes until there was just enough time remaining for one final out-lap and push-lap.

The at-risk rookies made personal improvements across the short lap, with Bearman slightly improving while Bortoleto stunned by setting the then-third fastest time of Q2.

The Haas driver slipped to the back of the order, bathed in disappointment as he watched his fellow rookies of Colapinto and Hadjar fall in line ahead of him. 

Two Mercedes-powered cars looked set to fill in the remaining places in the bottom five — at one point that looked to be both Russell and Antonelli whose challengers continued to struggle with the hot conditions — but it was ultimately Alonso and Albon who met the unfortunate Q2 fate.

Making it through to Q3 for the very first time in his Formula 1 career, Bortoleto moved through to the top ten shootout as the fifth fastest driver of the 15-minute session, guiding Pierre Gasly through to Q3.

Qualifying 3:

Having cut half of the field, the remaining ten drivers were in no rush to exit the pitlane for the final shootout for pole position. 

Almost finding himself caught up in the pitlane chaos that was a near-collision between George Russell and Max Verstappen, Lawson was forced to watch and wait as his competitors filed through the fast-lane. 

Running last on track, the Kiwi further delayed setting a lap in Q3 when he aborted his initial attempt and returned to the pitlane.

That proved to be a risky decision when the worst-case scenario struck at the final corner, with Pierre Gasly bringing out a costly set of yellow flags that impacted the majority of the field, however, much to Lawson’s delight, he was unaffected by the disruption.

Three personal best sectors guided Lawson around the lap, seeing him ultimately recording a time of 1:04.926s which rewarded him with an impressive sixth-place start for the Austrian Grand Prix — the highest qualifying result for any Red Bull-backed challenger at the team’s home track. 

Hunting down his teammate who was in flying form, Piastri started Q3 on the back foot when he got on the kerb at Turn 1, putting together a scruffy first sector which resulted in a time of 1:04.554s — two-tenths slower than his teammate and 0.062s slower than the Ferrari who demoted Piastri to third.

The #81 then spent a short stint back in the comfort of the McLaren, joining the rest of the pack as they exited the pitlane with three minutes on the clock. 

Focusing on perfecting his out-lap, Piastri’s final attempt came undone through no fault of his own when he was forced to let off the throttle as dust and gravel sprayed at the final turn.

Piastri was the first to be impacted by Pierre Gasly’s Turn 10 spin, not being able to complete his last-ditch attempt and instead heading straight back to the pitlane, conceding P3 was all he could achieve on Saturday. 

As for Sunday’s race, however, today’s misfortune has only fuelled the Australian’s desire for more, with Piastri ending his post-qualifying interview by saying he’s “not planning on finishing third”.

When the rest of the field finally made their way out to start Q3, all eyes were on Norris who has been on his A-game since he first jumped into the cockpit this weekend — and the timesheets didn’t disappoint the McLaren pit wall.

Setting three flawless purple sectors on his first push-lap, the #4 secured provisional pole with a time of 1:04.268s, with his race engineer offering him words of encouragement as he returned to the garage.

Joining the Brit in the provisional top three was Leclerc, who managed to split the papaya duo by just 62 milliseconds, while his Ferrari teammate wasn’t too far behind in fourth.

The field returned to the pitlane for a brief pause before bolting when the clock reached the three-minute mark, however, any plans of a smooth final run were brought to a close when Pierre Gasly spun at the final corner, bringing out yellow flags that caught out the likes of Leclerc, Piastri and Verstappen. 

The Ferrari driver was unable to improve through the final sector, impacting his entire run which meant his former attempt was his quickest of Q3.

Counting his blessings, the yellow flags also impacted his closest rivals, with Piastri unable to start his run while Verstappen had to back out as he rounded Turn 9, meaning the Ferrari driver held onto his front-row start for Sunday’s main event. 

Not facing any interference, Norris was undeniable as he charged through all 10 corners, setting purple sector after purple sector to record an out-of-reach pole time of 1:03.971s and earning himself the largest pole margin of the season at 0.521s. 

Crossing the line, Norris voiced over team radio that it was “good to see the old me back” as he claimed his third pole position of the season.

The Brit will strive to convert his front-row start into his second victory of the season — all with the mission of reducing the championship margin to his teammate come the chequered flag on Sunday.

Order reversed, Row 2 will also sport a Ferrari and McLaren when the five lights go out, with Hamilton set to share the second row with Piastri.

George Russell settled in behind his former Mercedes teammate, claiming P5 alongside Lawson.

Rubbing salt in Red Bull’s yellow flag-inflicted wounds, the Racing Bulls driver out-qualified Verstappen at the team’s home circuit, with the Dutchman sharing Row 4 with Bortoleto who achieved a career-best qualifying result in P8.

The youngest man on the grid will line up from P9, with Antonelli lining up beside the root cause of all the Q3 drama, Gasly, who rounded out the Q3 order in P10.

Lights out for the 71-lap race will take place at 23:00 AEST, with the heat emanating from the competition and the Spielberg sun leaning towards an exciting showdown at the Red Bull Ring.  

Image: Formula 1

Austrian GP Qualifying Results:

2025 Austrian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, June 27:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, June 28:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, June 29:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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