Lando Norris has now voiced his honest verdict on the McLaren driver being able to beat Red Bull star Max Verstappen after qualifying for the Sprint at the Austrian GP.
The 24-year-old briefly topped the timesheet during SQ3 at the Red Bull Ring this Friday. But a last-gasp flying lap from Verstappen saw the Red Bull racer snatch pole position away from Norris. Just a mere 0.093 seconds split the Dutchman and the Briton to lock in the front row.
A flurry of late flying laps saw the benchmark for pole consistently drop as drivers traded the quickest time. Lewis Hamilton briefly led the way with a 1:05.270, but will start the Sprint at the Austrian GP from just P6. Oscar Piastri of McLaren also fleetingly sat atop the timesheet.
Lando Norris has mixed feelings about beating Max Verstappen in the F1 Sprint at the Austrian GP
Norris was consistently down on Verstappen with the Bristol-born talent’s best times during the Sprint qualifying session. But he found heaps of time in SQ3 to threaten the 26-year-old at Red Bull’s home race. Norris improved on his quickest time from SQ2 by a massive 0.782s.
Verstappen also improved by exactly half a second between the intermediate and final part of Sprint qualifying on Friday. Yet Norris’ gains saw him usurp his McLaren teammate Piastri for P2 with the Australian taking third. Piastri had led the Woking team’s efforts during SQ2.
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Ending qualifying for the Sprint at the Austrian GP within a tenth of a second of Verstappen encourages Norris that he can deliver McLaren the win. But, ‘in general’, he is not optimistic about the Briton’s chances having struggling to feel at home with his MCL38 during practice.
“Based on the impression at this moment after the Sprint qualifying, yes,” Norris said about his chances of beating Verstappen in the Sprint, via quotes by Speedweek-McLaren-kann-Verstappen-schlagen.html).
“In general, I’m less sure. I’m in good spirits. Even though it took until the last lap in practice, only then was I completely satisfied with the handling of the car.”
Lando Norris will desperately want a good start in the F1 Sprint at the Austrian GP
Norris will desperately hope the set-up McLaren stuck with after practice that sealed P2 and P3 on the Sprint grid is also enough for him to at least get a good start. He rued a poor start at the Spanish GP last Sunday when Norris’ wheelspin allowed Verstappen to move in front.
A double slipstream from Norris and Verstappen also allowed George Russell to launch into the lead of the Spanish GP. If he does not get away smoothly in the Sprint on Saturday, then Norris’ mixed feelings about beating Verstappen will only darken going into the Austrian GP.
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