Data, revealed: How Lando Norris secured F1 2025’s most dominant pole

Lando Norris delivered a sensational qualifying lap at the Red Bull Ring, creating the largest gap between P1 and P2 that we’ve seen so far during the F1 2025 season — and on the shortest circuit in terms of lap time, no less!

It was a truly outstanding effort from the Briton, who looked a class above the rest. Let’s take a look at the telemetry data to uncover how Lando Norris put together the incredible lap that secured him pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris scores the most dominant pole of 2025

Lando Norris looked like the clear favourite for pole position at the Red Bull Ring all weekend long. Despite sitting out FP1 — during which time young Irish driver Alex Dunne got behind the wheel of his car — Norris immediately showed his pace from the start of FP2.

The pace of McLaren was clear to see. A graph tracking lap time progression highlights just how strong the papaya team was from the outset of FP2, and it’s striking how much they managed to improve from Saturday morning into qualifying.

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In FP2 and FP3, Norris’s main rival was his own teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri, with just tiny gaps between them.

Heading into qualifying, most expected a close battle between the pair. But in Q3, Piastri was unlucky — yellow flags caused by Pierre Gasly’s late-session spin prevented him from getting in a second flying lap.

In the end, Piastri settled for P3 on the grid, just behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, marking Ferrari’s and Leclerc’s second front-row start of the season.

But what does the data show us? Where exactly did Norris gain so much time?

Norris’s biggest advantage came through Turns 3 and 4 — the slowest corners on the circuit — where the remarkable stability of the MCL39 shone through, in stark contrast to the rear-end struggles of the Ferrari.

If we look at the speed traces, you can see that Leclerc lost small amounts of time at almost every corner. The gap was smallest in Turn 1 and the final corner.

The first major difference came at Turn 3, where Leclerc’s onboard showed how unstable the Ferrari’s rear end was. He needed a sizable steering correction on corner exit to control the oversteer. Norris, by comparison, had no such issues and gained roughly a tenth of a second in that single corner.

A similar picture emerged at Turn 4. The apex speed data clearly shows Norris carrying more speed here too.

McLaren’s stability continued to pay off through the high-speed Turns 6 and 7, where Norris was able to maintain higher speeds and keep building his advantage.

Interestingly, in these very corners, Leclerc was actually applying more throttle — a reminder that using more throttle doesn’t always mean you’re going faster. McLaren’s greater downforce allowed Norris to keep the rear planted, while Leclerc’s Ferrari needed more aggressive inputs in an effort to compensate for the lack of grip and rear-end stability.

In the end, to gain over half a second on such a short lap is quite a margin. That said, it’s fair to point out that Norris had a touch of luck. Piastri, his main rival, didn’t get the chance for a second flying lap, so the gap between them in Q3 is not truly representative.

The ideal lap times tell the story: Piastri could have been within 0.3 seconds of Norris, and Leclerc’s potential was around 0.4 seconds off.

None of that, though, takes anything away from Norris’s brilliant lap — his third pole of the season, and one that came at the perfect time. The pressure had been building on the Briton, with Piastri consistently out-performing him in recent races. At times, that pressure has clearly weighed on Norris’s performances.

This pole will give him a welcome boost of confidence, but as always, the job isn’t done yet. The big question now is: what can Norris deliver in the race?

As has often been the case this season, so much will hinge on the run to Turn 1. If Piastri can’t pass Leclerc at the start, it will make Norris’s life that much easier, allowing him to build an advantage in clean air. This clean air could be even more crucial at the Red Bull Ring, where the altitude means thinner air, making cooling of tyres, brakes and the power unit more challenging.

Once again, we’re set for the prospect of another thrilling McLaren intra-team battle — and as ever, that can only mean more excitement for all of us watching.

Read next: Austrian GP: Norris on pole as Max Verstappen blasts ‘naughty’ Lewis Hamilton