Norris says Austria pole lap 'close to perfection'

Lando Norris has previously converted two pole positions in Australia and Monaco to race wins earlier this season

Austrian Grand Prix

Venue: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg Date: 29 June Race start: 14:00 BST

Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

Lando Norris said he felt like he was back to the form he had missing for much of this season after taking a stunning pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver's season has been hampered by repeated mistakes in qualifying, but he headed the field by more than half a second on one of the shortest laps of the year at the Red Bull Ring.

Briton Norris said his pole lap was "as close to perfection as I would probably ask for".

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start alongside Norris with McLaren team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri in third.

"It's nice to see the old me back every now and then," Norris said.

"It's more just the feeling I had today was a feeling I've missed for quite a long time, the feeling I have behind the wheel with the car, the understanding where the grip is and how to exploit it.

"That showed in performance and then lap time is a very good combination to have. That when you feel like you can go quicker here and you go out and do it, that's the best feeling a driver can ask for, really."

Norris has felt this year that a lack of feeling from the front axle of the car has been provoking mistakes when he has tried to push to the absolute limit in qualifying.

At the last race in Canada, McLaren introduced a revision to the front suspension to reduce what the team have described as a "numbness". Norris has continued with that part in Austria but Piastri feels he does not need it.

That added to aerodynamics upgrades to the car to the front wing and suspension introduced in Austria led to the largest margin any pole winner has had in percentage terms all season.

Norris said: "To come into this weekend and at least move in the right direction was very positive and very reassuring for myself most of all but probably for us as a team as well, so a big thanks to them.

"The feelings I've been requiring, the feelings that I've not been getting as easily, when they are more my way and more where I want them to be, I can put in better performances and have days like today."

Team principal Andrea Stella said McLaren's margin over the field was also down to the track characteristics suiting their car, and the fact that Norris is "a little bit of a specialist in Austria".

Norris is 22 points behind Piastri in the championship, a margin partially created by him crashing out of the race in Canada after running into the back of the Australian.

As a result, he needs a strong result in Austria on Sunday to reduce Piastri's lead.

Norris said that his session on Saturday was "easily my best qualifying of the year from a delivery point of view".

But he added: "It's very satisfying, but, again, it's about consistency. Everyone can be a hero in one weekend. It's progress. It's steps forward. I'm very happy with today, but it's still a long journey. It's a long season. The job I needed to do today, I did. And it doesn't make up for the last few weekends or anything, but I did it today, and that's what mattered."

'Basically everything felt bad' - Verstappen

Max Verstappen had taken the previous five poles at the Red Bull Ring

Red Bull's Max Verstappen is the McLaren drivers' closest challenger in the championship, in third place, 21 points behind Norris.

But the Dutchman had a difficult day, qualifying only seventh.

Verstappen was unable to complete his final lap as Pierre Gasly spun his Alpine through 720 degrees at the final corner in front of him, but had managed only sixth fastest time on his first lap.

The Dutchman said Red Bull had been caught by surprise by the lack of grip in their car

"In qualifying basically everything felt bad," Verstappen said. "Every corner was a struggle, I just didn't have the balance. It was either understeer or oversteer. Even every single lap that I did I had a little bit different behaviour with the car. So yeah, that's not ideal.

"I didn't expect it to be this bad in qualifying, but I think no one did in the team. So, that's something that we have to analyse."

But Norris and Piastri both said they would not rule out Verstappen coming into contention in the race.

"Until he's out of the race, I don't think we're ever going to take Max out of the equation," Norris said.