Live Austrian Grand Prix: Build-up and latest race updates as Norris starts from pole
Who will take victory in the Styrian Hills?
Lando Norris starts on pole for today's Austrian Grand Prix after a stunning qualifying session yesterday. Norris has been in imperious form all weekend and claimed pole by more than half a second ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc whilst championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third. The Australian was nearly three tenths off Norris after the first runs in Q3 but was not able to set a final flying lap as he was affected by a spin from Pierre Gasly, which brought out a temporary yellow flag. It was a difficult weekend for Norris last time out as he crashed into his teammate Piastri in Canada two weeks ago and had to retire from the race. Norris will be aiming to reduce Piastri's 22-point lead at the top of the drivers' standings and, speaking after qualifying, said he was delighted with his pole position.
'It was a good lap, that is 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 is a long season and I still savour this moment, especially as some of my tougher moments have been in qualifying. So to put in the lap like today, to put in the performance like I had, was pleasing for myself. I am excited. I want to prove to myself over and over again and hopefully this is the beginning of it.'
Piastri meanwhile was frustrated that he was not able to set a final flying lap.
'It was the fact I did not get to start it [his final lap], that was the problem I had. [Pierre] Gasly spun at the last corner so I did not even open my second lap. Lando has been very quick all weekend and it would have been a tough challenge, but I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to be on the front row. So always a shame when you do not even get the chance but we can still have a good race from there. It is sometimes just not your day. Our pace this weekend has looked very strong. The Ferrari pace looked good as well, which was a bit of a surprise, but we still have some opportunities tomorrow. I am not planning on finishing third, that is for sure.'
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton will start fourth, with Mercedes' George Russell in fifth and RB's Liam Lawson in sixth. Max Verstappen was also impacted by the late yellow flag in Q3 that affected Piastri after Gasly's spin and starts down in seventh. The four-time world champion was fairly negative about his car after qualifying.
'In qualifying basically everything felt bad. Every corner was a struggle, I just did not have the balance. It was either understeer or oversteer. Even every single lap that I did I had a little bit different behaviour with the car. So yeah, that is not ideal. I did not expect it to be this bad in qualifying, but I think no one did in the team. So, that is something that we have to analyse.'
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) round out the top ten. The race begins at 2pm BST.
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