Lando Norris has rarely looked as impressive in Formula 1 as in piecing together an Austrian Grand Prix pole with a performance like that of prime Max Verstappen.
There are times when drivers punch in mighty final laps in Q3 to grab pole from nowhere, or edge a tense qualifying fight by the narrowest of margins.
But to control a weekend as Norris has done since reclaiming his car for second practice, having sat out FP1, happens rarely. It was in the same sphere as some of Verstappen’s most impressive, dominant days.
There are a couple of caveats to mention. One indirectly came from Norris’s team boss Andrea Stella, who pointed out Norris is something of a Red Bull Ring specialist. Another is that the job is not yet finished and Norris must close it out in the race.
But in the context of his recent nightmare Canada weekend, a trend of overpromising then underdelivering in crunch qualifying moments, and a seasonal narrative that has Norris slipping away in the title fight, this was a big performance - one that revealed three things about Norris himself.
He's found a new 2025 peak
Norris took pole by such a margin that it goes without saying he felt good in the car. But this was a level hitherto unseen from him, at least in 2025.
He has battled a feeling in the McLaren that, along with unforced errors of his own, has left him frustratingly inconsistent this year.
It would be wrong to say he’s not been quick, though. So for him to be fast at a track he loves is not a surprise - it’s the effortless speed, flawless execution and the extent of the margin that have stood out.
“On the whole, it was easily my best qualifying of the year from a delivery point of view, from every single lap I did,” said Norris.
“I still made a couple of mistakes here and there, but none that cost me a lap or anything, just maybe a tenth here, or half a tenth there. So I think on deliveries, consistency, and of course, putting it in when it comes in Q3, it was easily the best lap I’ve done for this whole season.
“[It was] probably even better than Monaco, honestly. Not maybe as exciting a lap as Monaco [where he also took pole], but definitely a better put together than I did there.”
Given Norris has had three separate weekends this year where he has been quicker than Piastri in every session then fumbled Q3, it was not a given he would convert the obvious advantage that existed through practice. So convincing did Norris look in the car, though, there was never any real risk of him slipping up this time.
This is a very high bar to set, so it will be tough to replicate, but he does not need to dominate to such a degree every single time.
He has a mental safety net
Right from the start of this event, Norris has seemed absolutely unencumbered by his double disappointment across qualifying and the race in Canada two weekends ago.
He looked and sounded very relaxed on Thursday, breezing his way through various questions about the fallout from that race, his own errors, the feeling he’s been searching for in the car.
It is interesting, and impressive, that Norris seems so comfortable in his own skin during a season of errors when he has previously fought a lot of self-doubt and took a while to come to terms with his place in F1 and feel worthy of being on the grid.
At the risk of dabbling in some armchair psychology, that seems to speak to a strong mental state that allows him to cope with his mistakes. And his speed might be a safety net in that regard. Because Norris can be so fast - and he has been that fast this year several times - that he knows a bad qualifying or bad weekend can immediately be followed up by something as crushing as Saturday in Austria.
“We are in a period in which we definitely see that Lando is very resilient,” said Stella.
“So even if we had some little issues, definitely we have always bounced back stronger, and even more convincing. So credit to the work that Lando has done from a technical point of view, but also from a personal development point of view.
“This is typical of all the athletes, all the champions. They never stay in the same place. It's a constant evolution from a technical, professional point of view and a personal one.
“And from a speed point of view, I think that's been there.”
That could be part of what facilitates the self-criticism and honesty when he errs. Several times this year, when Norris has lamented a mistake, it has been because he has been faster than Piastri and therefore knows he cost himself a better result than his title rival. But, by the same token, within that is the knowledge that he was faster than Piastri.
As he said in the press conference: “It was definitely the most confident I’ve been and comfortable I’ve been in terms of getting laptime out of the car and understanding that.
“It showed that when I have those feelings - it’s still not all there, but more there than before - I can have a day like today.”
And that is a level Piastri could not match, and would not have matched even if he had got the second lap in Q3 he was denied by yellow flags.
He is crucially self-aware
To add to the earlier caveats: this is just one performance. Just like Monaco was just one weekend. And Australia back at the start of the season.
‘Norris can be on pole’ is nothing new, and it means nothing to be this strong in Austria if he slips up in qualifying at Silverstone, or continues with too high a rate of incidents over the remainder of the season.
Crucially, though, this was raised quickly by Norris himself.
“It’s very satisfying, but it’s about consistency,” Norris said of his pole. “Everyone can be a hero in one weekend.
“But it’s progress. It’s steps forward. I’m very happy with today, but it’s still a long journey, long season.
“The job I needed to do today, I did - it doesn’t make up for the last few weekends or anything, but I did it today, and that’s what mattered.”
That self-awareness stands him in good stead because it should help avoid getting carried away - as there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and one can be a lot more damaging than the other.
Norris sounded like a driver who would take what he needed from this result, without reading too much into it that it leaves him blind to past mistakes or vulnerable to new ones.
“It shows that 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 to be, I can put in better performances and have days like today,” Norris said.
“That’s reassuring for myself, which is a very nice feeling. But it’s still about consistency.
“This is one weekend, I’ve got to do it for another 12 or 13.”
