Austrian GP qualifying: Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Charles Leclerc

Lando Norris lifted his championship hopes with a dominant performance in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, beating Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc to pole position by 0.521 seconds.

Norris’ McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri had to settle for third on the grid after his final lap in Q3 appeared to be compromised when Pierre Gasly spun out of the final corner and brought out yellow flags.

The championship leader was 0.062 seconds off Leclerc in second place, who secured his best qualifying result since the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton secured fourth on the grid, underlining the performance step the Italian team appears to have made with an upgraded floor this weekend.

“It was a good lap, that’s for sure,” Norris said. “I guess it was little bit, by little bit. My Q1 was good but I knew there was a few places where I could get a bit more time, and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do, so very happy.

“It’s been a good weekend so far, so hopefully we can keep it up.

“It’s a long season. I still savour this moment, particularly because some of my tougher moments this year have been in quali, but I’m excited. I’m happy with today but I want to prove it to myself over and over again, and hopefully this is just the beginning of it.”

Source: espn.com