McLaren’s Lando Norris secured the pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix by a significant margin over rival cars. Setting a blisteringly fast lap time of 1:03.971, Norris proved he was untouchable on the Red Bull Ring. Charles Leclerc, who secured second place on the grid, set a time of 1:04.492.
Norris got one step closer to winning the Austrian GP, given the superior pace of his MCL39 F1 car, which will help create a significant gap if he starts the race perfectly tomorrow.
The Briton revealed after the qualifying session that he felt good about his Q3 run and praised the positive weekend so far. While Norris’ qualifying performances have often set him back, he emphasized that today’s run in Spielberg was something he will ‘savor’ for a long time. He told the media:
“It was a good lap, that’s for sure. My Q3 run one was good, but I knew there were a few places where, if I just got it right, I could still get quite a bit more time, and I did exactly that.
“I did what I planned to do, and when I plan to do something, and it goes right, it normally goes very, very well. So very happy. A good day, and it has been a good weekend for me so far, so hopefully we can keep it up.
“It’s a long season and I still savour this moment, especially as some of my tougher moments have been in qualy. So to put in the lap like today, to put in the performance like I had, was pleasing for myself. I’m excited. I want to prove to myself over and over again, and hopefully this is the beginning of it.”
Norris showcased top form on Friday during the second Free Practice session, where he set an impressive lap time of 1:04.580. McLaren’s front suspension upgrade seems to be working well for Norris so far, who said the car was set up in the right direction. He said after FP2:
“The car felt good from the off. Alex gave good feedback this morning after FP1 and he was on the pace straightaway, so it was good to see.
“I think they moved the car in the right direction for FP2, and we just need to understand whether we want more of that [on Saturday], or a little bit less, or somewhere in the middle. So good steps in the right direction, but still a little bit more to come hopefully.
“We’ve shown a bit more pace than some of the others. I certainly think they’re going to catch up. Max is not far behind and they usually improve a lot into Saturday.”
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