Norris says Austria pole lap ‘close to perfection’

Austrian Grand Prix

Date: 29 June Race start time: 14:00 BST

After taking the stunning pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris said he felt like he was back in the form he had been lacking for the majority of the season.

The McLaren driver’s season has been hindered by repeated mistakes in qualifying, but he won by more than a second on one of the Red Bull Ring’s shortest laps of the year.

Briton Norris described his pole lap as “as close as I would probably ask for” in a statement.

Norris will start alongside Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, while Oscar Piastri, the championship leader, and team-mate and McLaren champion, will take the starting spot.

Norris remarked, “It’s nice to occasionally see the old me back.”

“It’s more of a feeling than the feeling I’ve missed for a while, the understanding of where the grip is and how to exploit it,” I said.

When he attempts to push the car’s maximum qualifying limit, Norris has come to the conclusion that a lack of emotion from the front axle has been making mistakes.

McLaren changed the front suspension at the most recent Canadian race to lessen what the team called “numbness.” Although Piastri believes he doesn’t need it, Norris has continued with that in Austria.

The car’s front wing and suspension were upgraded to the highest possible margin in all-season thanks to aerodynamic improvements, which included the largest percentage increase any pole winner has ever had.

A big thanks to them, Norris said, “To come into this weekend and at least move in the right direction was very positive and very comforting for me most of all but probably for our as a team as well,” so it was that.

When they are more my way and more where I want them to be, I can put on better performances and have days like today, as I’ve been requesting.

Therefore, he needs a convincing result on Sunday in Austria to take Piastri’s lead.

From a delivery perspective, Norris said his Saturday session was “easily my best qualifying of the year.”

Max Verstappen, the McLaren drivers’ closest rival, is in third place, 21 points adrift of Norris.

The Dutchman, however, finished seventh overall, had a difficult qualifying day.

Verstappen was unable to complete his final lap because Pierre Gasly had to turn his Alpine through 720 degrees in front of him, despite posting the sixth-fastest time on that first turn.

The Dutchman claimed that Red Bull’s lack of grip had taken them by surprise.

Verstappen remarked, “Basically everything felt bad in qualifying.” I simply didn’t have the balance because every corner was a struggle. It either slowed down or increased. Every lap I completed, I behaved slightly differently around the car. That’s not ideal, then, so yeah.

No one on the team, in my opinion, did it so badly in qualifying. Therefore, we must consider that.

However, Verstappen and Norris both stated that they would not prevent him from competing.