Formula 1 - Best lap of the season! Lando Norris destroys Formula 1 opponents in Austrian qualifying

On the shortest track on the Formula 1 calendar, measured in terms of time, one would expect rather small gaps. Some of them are the smallest of the season. But at the Red Bull Ring, which is just ten turns long, this expectation was once again shattered. Last year, it was Max Verstappen who pulled away by a wide margin. In 2025, it was Lando Norris who pulled away from the F1 competition even further.

Norris was separated from his closest rival, Charles Leclerc, by 0.521 seconds, making it the largest lead in a Formula 1 qualifying session this season. But how did Norris manage to pull away from his pursuers by such a large margin? This was due, among other things, to the track's characteristics, which play into the MCL39's hands, and also to the Woking squad's recent upgrades, as team principal Andrea Stelle explained.

But not only that, as Oscar Piastri's extraordinary gap proves. The yellow flag that prevented Piastri's final run can only partially explain this , because even apart from that, Norris was always a touch faster in every session and at virtually every point. Apart from FP1, where Norris was not on the grid, he has secured the fastest time in every session so far this weekend – including every qualifying segment.

Norris expressed surprise after qualifying at how far ahead of the field he was. The McLaren driver said: "Throughout qualifying, the gap to the others was bigger than I expected. They weren't miles away in FP3, but when qualifying started, we were a good step ahead."

Everything came together in Q3. "It's always difficult to say [if it was a perfect lap], but it was as close as possible. Anywhere where I could be close to the gravel or the track limit, I feel like I was," Norris explained his best time. "It was a good lap, I improved in every corner." The result: 1:03.971.

This is precisely what he's struggled with in the past, and especially in recent months: translating qualifying pace into a clean Q3. Most recently, in Canada, when he touched the wall on his way to pole. That's precisely why a flawless qualifying from start to finish was a balm for his soul: "It was by far my best qualifying of the year, considering the execution of all the laps I drove."

"If you look at Q3, it was easily the best lap I've done this season. Probably even better than Monaco, if I'm honest," Norris said happily. The new components on the front suspension may be a big help, giving him a better feel there – a key weak point of the Formula 1 season so far. "Whether it's due to the upgrades is hard to say, but I definitely felt most comfortable and at ease here when it came to getting the lap time out of the car."

Lando Norris ended Max Verstappen's pole streak at the Red Bull Ring today. The Dutchman was far from in contention for pole position. Read more here:

The Red Bull Ring generally seems to suit Norris, as past statistics demonstrate. He has only had to wait for a second place against a teammate once in nine qualifying sessions. He earned his first Formula 1 podium in Austria in 2020, narrowly missed pole a year later in the underdog McLaren, and delivered a foretaste of McLaren's subsequent assault on the Formula 1 summit with a fourth-place finish out of nowhere in 2023.