Norris savours finding ‘the old me’ in taking pole at Austrian GP

Lando Norris celebrated a personal moment to savour on Saturday by claiming a dominant pole position for McLaren at the Austrian Grand Prix, ending a fortnight of self-recrimination since colliding with team-mate Oscar Piastri in Canada.

The 25-year-old Briton, who ended Max Verstappen’s run of five consecutive poles at the Red Bull Ring circuit owned by his team, delivered a stunning late lap in one minute and 3.971 seconds to outpace Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by half-a-second.

Verstappen, frustrated by a yellow flag when Pierre Gasly spun in his Alpine, qualified seventh. 

“I did what I planned to do and when I plan to do something and it goes right, it normally goes very, very well,” said Norris who told the team on radio that it was “nice to see the old me back now and then!”

“I am very happy—a good day and it’s been a good weekend for me so far. So, hopefully we can keep it up.

“It’s a long season. So, I savour this moment, especially because some of my tougher moments have been in qualifying and to put a lap in like today and performance like this weekend, like I have, is pleasing for myself. 

He added that he had enjoyed a feeling “that I have missed for quite a long time in terms of performance and lap time and it is the best feeling that a driver can ask for”.

Norris said the team had been working hard to support and guide him and he’s “been working hard in the simulator so to get there and to move in the right direction is reassuring for myself and for the rest of the team”. 

Norris had arrived in Spielberg under pressure to atone for his error in Montreal and reboot his challenge for the drivers’ championship in which he is 22 points behind leader and team-mate Piastri, who was third in qualifying on Saturday. 

The 24-year-old Australian was frustrated at being unable to complete a second flying lap in Q3 but determined to improve and challenge at the front.

“For me, it’s the fact that I didn’t get to start (the lap), that was the problem. I had Gasly’s spin at the last corner, so I didn’t even open my second lap,” he said. 

“Lando has been very quick all weekend, and it would’ve been a tough challenge, but I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to be on the front row. 

“It’s always a shame when you don’t even get the chance, but we can still have a good race from there. Sometimes it’s just not your day.”

However, the Melbourne-native still has his eye on claiming his sixth Grand Prix win of the season on Sunday.

“Our pace this weekend has looked very strong. The Ferrari pace looked good as well, which was a bit of a surprise,” he said.

“But I think we’ve still got some opportunities tomorrow. I’m not planning on finishing third, that’s for sure.”