Leclerc on the front row at the Austrian GP: pole for Norris, Hamilton 4th

Spielberg bei Knittelfeld (Austria) - Lando Norris in the McLaren will start from pole position in the Austrian Grand Prix , the eleventh round of the Formula 1 World Championship. Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari will be on the front row alongside him . The second row is a carbon copy, with third place for Oscar Piastri in the McLaren and fourth for Lewis Hamilton . Third row for George Russell in the Mercedes and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. The sixth fastest time, and the third row alongside Russell, was set by Liam Lawson, who preceded Verstappen by three thousandths. Gabriel Bortoleto in the Sauber will start in the fourth row alongside the Dutch reigning world champion. Ninth fastest time for Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes, who will share the fifth row with Pierre Gasly (Alpine).

McLaren dominated all three qualifying sessions , with Norris consistently setting the fastest time and finishing in 1:03.971, over half a second faster than anyone else. Leclerc was able to snatch the front row from Piastri, who was held up by a yellow flag at the last minute for a spin by Gasly . Among the top five to be eliminated in Q1 was Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, with the Austrian team achieving its worst qualifying result ever on its circuit. In addition to the Japanese driver, Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin, Carlos Sainz in the Williams and also Esteban Ocon (Haas) and Nico Hulkenberg (Kick Sauber) were all out immediately. In Q2 - interrupted by the red flag due to a grass fire at the side of the track and to clear some gravel that had ended up on the asphalt - Fernando Alonso, in the second Aston Martin, Alexander Albon (Williams), Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and Oliver Bearman (Haas) stopped. Antonelli grabbed Q3 by 76 thousandths, to the detriment of the Spaniard.

" It was a good lap, I probably built it piece by piece . The first attempt in Q3 was good, but I knew I could do better and I did it. I had a plan and I managed to execute it. I'm very happy, it's a good day for me . I hope I can continue like this. The season is long, I want to savour this moment because I'm coming from a difficult period in qualifying. I'm happy with today, but I want to prove my worth again . Today is just the beginning ", said McLaren driver Lando Norris.

" Unfortunately I couldn't even start my second lap, because Gasly spun . Lando has been fast all weekend and it would have been difficult to beat him, but I had enough pace to be on the front row. Our pace has been quite strong this weekend, we will have our opportunities tomorrow. My plan is definitely not to finish third ," said fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.

" I am very satisfied . The only time we started on the front row was in Monaco. The team is continuing to push and I thank them. I am happy with my lap, it has been a good weekend so far. We know we have a better car in the race, hopefully we can put pressure on McLaren tomorrow. Norris did an incredible lap , tomorrow we will try to give him a hard time ", said Charles Leclerc.

" It was a good session , we started well from FP3. In the first lap of Q1 we did well and we prepared ourselves in the best way for Q3. Norris was flying , putting us in the middle of the McLarens is a good result. There were a few occasions where we arrived with only one set of tyres in Q3, in this sense it is very important what you can do in Q1. We needed a clean weekend. We suffered a bit in FP1 , but we recovered well. The most important thing is to have a clean weekend and start well from the beginning. The execution makes the difference. For the race, tyre management will be fundamental, especially in the heat. The pace we had yesterday was good, let's focus on having a good race. It will be important to be in the right train ." This was said by Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur to Sky Sport microphones.