Qualifying summary: Chares Leclerc secures front row for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton P4 | F1 Austrian GP. Lando Norris dominates Austrian GP qualifying to take pole position.

Lando Norris secured pole position for the F1 Austrian Grand Prix with a dominant performance in qualifying, setting a time half a second quicker than his nearest rival, Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.

The qualifying session at Spielberg started five minutes late due to delays in the F2 Sprint Race caused by a red flag.

Q1
In the opening ten minutes, Norris topped the timesheets with a 1:04.672, comfortably ahead of the field. Piastri, after an early error, moved into second, with Verstappen third and Hamilton fourth, both four-tenths behind. Further back were Antonelli, Gasly, Hadjar, Leclerc, and Russell. Tsunoda closed out the top 10, while Stroll, Albon, Bearman, Alonso, and Sainz were in danger.

Williams drivers were the first to improve. Albon jumped to fifth and Bortoleto also impressed, while Sainz remained in 15th. As drivers returned to the track for final runs, Norris and Piastri remained on top. Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, and Isack Hadjar completed the top 5. Max Verstappen and  LewisHamilton did not improve, finishing sixth and seventh. Russell and Leclerc narrowly escaped elimination in 11th and 12th. Alonso, Bearman, and Colapinto advanced, while Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda, Sainz, and Hulkenberg were knocked out.

Q2
Norris continued to lead with a 1:04.410, followed closely by Piastri at just 0.146s behind. Leclerc was third, four-tenths off the pace, with Hamilton just 0.018s behind him. Verstappen, complaining of zero grip, was fifth, ahead of Lawson, Russell, Hadjar, Antonelli, and Gasly. Albon, Bearman, Alonso, Bortoleto, and Colapinto were eliminated. A short red flag was triggered by a fire near the track.

As in Q1, Norris and Piastri did not improve on their final attempts. Leclerc held onto third using older tires. Verstappen was fourth, three-tenths down. Bortoleto impressed again in fifth, ahead of Gasly, Russell, and Hamilton. Lawson and Antonelli also made it into Q3. Alonso, Albon, Hadjar, Colapinto, and Bearman were out.

Q3
Norris was untouchable again in Q3, clocking a 1:04.268. Leclerc followed at two-tenths, Piastri third (just 0.062s behind Leclerc), and Hamilton fourth, narrowly behind the McLaren. George Russell took fifth, Max Verstappen sixth with a six-tenths gap, and Antonelli seventh, a full second off the pace. Bortoleto, Gasly, and Lawson rounded out the top ten after the first runs, with only McLaren and Ferrari using new tires.

On his final run, Norris broke into the 1:03s with an astonishing 1:03.971, cementing pole by a full half second. Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri did not improve, the latter hindered by yellow flags. Lewis Hamilton improved but remained fourth. Russell was fifth, followed by Lawson and Verstappen, who was also affected by the yellow flag caused by Pierre Gasly. Gabriel Bortoleto placed eighth, edging out Kimi Antonelli, who missed starting his lap before the chequered flag.

Austrian GP F1 Qualifying Results