Lando Norris takes a dominant pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix
SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — Lando Norris said he felt back to his old self after taking pole position by more than half a second in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Norris is seeking a strong result in Austria after colliding with his teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri at the last race — in Canada. Norris crashed out and Piastri extended his standings lead.
Norris set the pace throughout the final part of qualifying and his final lap increased his advantage over second-place Charles Leclerc of Ferrari to 0.521 of a second.
'Nice to see the old me back every now and then,' Norris quipped to his team over the radio.
It's the third pole position of the season for Norris and the first since last month's Monaco Grand Prix, which he also won.
That ends a streak of five pole positions at the Red Bull Ring for defending champion Max Verstappen, going back to the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix.
Piastri was .062 further back in third and said he had to abandon his final run of qualifying when Pierre Gasly's Alpine spun in front of him.
Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari and Verstappen seventh for Red Bull.
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