F1 2025 Austrian GP qualifying: Oscar Piastri to start third on grid
Deeply frustrated after his final qualifying lap was completely ruined by a yellow flag for another rival's mistake, Australia's Oscar Piastri faces a huge challenge winning Sunday night's Austrian Grand Prix after qualifying third.
Prevented from showing what he could really do, Piastri was helpless to prevent his McLaren teammate and main championship rival Lando Norris from taking pole position by more than half a second from Charles Leclerc.
Norris claimed his third pole of 2025 after stopping the clock at 1:03.971 but was lucky that Piastri was denied his shot at potentially bettering his time after he put on a fresh set of soft tyres for his final flying lap only to abort when Pierre Gasly spun out of control in his Alpine.
'A frustrating end to what was otherwise a positive session,' Piastri said.
'Gasly spun in front of me at the last corner and brought out the yellow flags, which meant I didn't get to open my second lap in Q3.
'I think we easily had the pace to be on the front row, especially as Lando was so quick, but we can have a good race from P3.
'I think there will be opportunities tomorrow and I'm not planning on finishing third.'
Piastri currently leads the championship standings by 22 points, with Norris in second spot, after he crashed out of the last race in Canada attempting a crazy overtake. The winner of each race earns 25 points with 18 for second and 15 for third.
In the 10 races held so far this season, the driver on pole has gone on to win six times. The only man to win in 2025 from outside the front row was Piastri at Miami.
'It is 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,' Piastri said.
'Lando was pretty quick all weekend, so it would have been difficult, definitely, but not impossible (to get pole).
'Obviously I'm disappointed to not have that opportunity, but I think there are opportunities tomorrow to try and go forward a bit more, so try and take them.
'I'd definitely rather be starting where Lando is, but I think there's still opportunities. It's a long race. It's going to be hot. It's tyre degradation here, so there's plenty of ways I can work myself back into the race.'
Despite being in the fastest car, Norris has struggled to consistently produce his best in qualifying this season but was right on song at the high-speed Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
'Nice to see the old me back every now and again,' the Englishman told his engineers over the team radio. 'That was pretty damn beautiful.'
After climbing out of the cockpit for his trackside interview, he added: 'Qualifying has been some of my tough moments so to put in a lap like this is pleasing for myself.
'It's a long race tomorrow and a long season. I want to prove it myself over and over again and this is just the beginning of it. '
Leclerc split the McLarens to stick his Ferrari on the front row for only the second time this season, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth, his best qualifying result of 2025, to join Piastri on the second row.
'I am very pleased. Monaco was the last time we started on the front row and it has been a difficult season,' Leclerc said.
'We brought some new parts this weekend, which for sure have made a difference. I am very happy with the lap.
'We know we have a better car in the normal race than in qualifying so I hope we can put a bit more pressure on the McLarens in the race.'
The four-time defending world champion Max Verstappen qualified seventh in his Red Bull after his final flying lap was also compromised by Gasly's untimely spin.
Currently third in the drivers' standings, 43 points behind Piastri, the Dutchman said he didn't have the pace to match the McLarens but could still have been much higher.
'It depends how those last two corners would have gone. We would have been closer,' Verstappen said.
'It just didn't work in qualifying for whatever reason, there was not one single corner where I felt we had a nice balance. We were not McLaren level but we were still OK but in qualifying it just disappeared.'
There was one big win for Australia already at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday when Aussie teenager James Wharton claimed victory in the F3 sprint.
Benefiting from a reverse grid, the 18-year-old led the 21-lap race from pole to chequered flag to become the first Australian to win any F3 race since Jack Doohan in 2021.
'We finally got the result we've been working for all season. It's been a tough start, but we've worked hard with the team and behind the scenes to get here,' Wharton said.
'Yes, it's a Sprint Race, but we take it one step at a time. Now we've ticked this box, and we'll focus on winning a feature race too.'
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