A host of disappointed drivers further down the order than they should've been and some clear standouts including an utterly dominant polesitter - here's our pick of the winners and losers in the Formula 1 field from Austrian Grand Prix qualifying.
Winner: Lando Norris (1st)
The threat to championship leader McLaren and its two drivers has been essentially non-existent all weekend. But maybe that appraisal should just apply to Lando Norris.
He had a decisive advantage over team-mate Oscar Piastri from the moment he took his car back from FP1 stand-in Alex Dunne - whose own performance might well have forewarned just how dialled in McLaren had its car from the very start here.
As Red Bull got a little lost in qualifying, so McLaren's gap opened up, but it was Norris who took full advantage as Piastri missed his final lap thanks to catching a yellow for Pierre Gasly's spun Alpine.
Piastri admitted Norris has been very strong, though. There was a small error from Norris in Q2 but he was still fastest, never looked like losing his grip on this pole - and that final lap was absolutely crushing.
Loser: Red Bull (7th and 18th)
Red Bull's solid enough weekend as McLaren's nearest challenger turned to dust as its car seemed to suddenly become a nightmare in qualifying.
Max Verstappen was clearly unhappy from Q1 but looked like he might perform his usual magic and claw a good result from the car anyway.
Instead, though, it all fell apart in Q3 and Verstappen fell to seventh - a result set by him aborting a lap being cautious for some yellow flags that might have been removed in time for him, but he didn't want to take the risk.
But at least he got that far, as it's a mystery how Yuki Tsunoda ended up being knocked out of Q1 on a weekend he's looked at his best for Red Bull since his crash at Imola in May.
While still too slow compared to Verstappen in practice, Tsunoda was at least looking like he would contend for a Q3 place in qualifying. And while Tsunoda was 'only' 0.26s slower than his team-mate in Q1, he was 12 places behind - and eliminated.
It looked like it could be the basis for a much-needed breakthrough. Instead it'll be another long slog just to try to salvage a point or two.
Winner: Ferrari (2nd and 4th)
Instant evidence that Ferrari's Austria upgrades have worked? Charles Leclerc splitting the McLarens could be put down to the kind of occasional qualifying miracle he so often produces, but team-mate Lewis Hamilton being in the mix too hints this is something more.
The yellow for Gasly's spin definitely had an effect on the Q3 outcome, and even Leclerc is still half a second off Norris.
But considering this is the first meaningful day of Ferrari running an upgrade designed to remedy its key 2025 problem, it's a great start.
Loser: Kimi Antonelli (9th)
Back down to earth for Canada winner Mercedes, which looked very vulnerable to early exits in both Q1 and Q2 before last-gasp laps.
While George Russell at least made it to fifth in the end, ninth place - just over half a second slower - was disappointing from Kimi Antonelli when his Canada podium had been billed as the breakthrough he needed to really launch his rookie season.
Winner: Gabriel Bortoleto (8th)
It's only qualifying but Gabriel Bortoleto now has the eye-catching result that his quietly strong rookie season has deserved.
He has been rapid from the start at the Red Bull Ring, quicker than Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in every session - and in the top 10 every single time too, from FP1 to FP3 and then all parts of qualifying.
After banking his first Q3 appearance here, Sunday is easily Bortoleto's best chance to score his first F1 points as well.
Loser: Lance Stroll (16th)
Lance Stroll had been rapid in practice, setting the fourth-fastest time in FP2 and going eighth in FP3.
He and Aston Martin looked like strong Q3 candidates and Stroll seemed in with a chance of outqualifying Fernando Alonso for the first time in a year.
Instead, he's out in Q1 again, while Alonso got into Q2. It's not like Stroll suddenly went missing - he was 0.13s slower than Alonso - but once again found himself on the wrong side of the margin and now faces a tough grand prix.
"Maybe [it was] the difference in track temperature, it got quite a bit hotter," Stroll said.
"The car felt pretty dead, just no grip and [I was] struggling with the balance."
Winner: Liam Lawson (6th)
Who had any money on Liam Lawson being the highest-qualifying 'Red Bull family' F1 driver at the Red Bull Ring? Probably not even Lawson himself.
Third in Q1 looked like it might be another flash of performance that never developed when it counted. But this time it did.
Even though it's probably too late to change any narratives around Lawson in Red Bull or outside it, he could've chosen worse places for the second-best qualifying result of his F1 career so far.
Loser: Carlos Sainz (19th)
Verstappen wasn't the only driver to label his car "undriveable" in qualifying - former team-mate Carlos Sainz got there first after being eliminated in Q1.
This hasn't been a great weekend for Williams but Sainz at least looked to be right on team-mate Alex Albon's tail throughout.
In Q1, though, Albon always seemed to have an edge that Sainz couldn't match. And a horrible lap battling the car under braking and at high speed left Sainz four tenths slower than Albon and out in Q1 for the third consecutive race.
Albon made a better go of it, qualifying 12th, but was still a couple of tenths from making Q3 himself.
Loser: Nico Hulkenberg (20th)
Sauber's lead driver and sole point-scorer this year has been slower than his rookie team-mate all weekend.
Nico Hulkenberg should at least have got into Q2, though - but a big lock-up that cost him a big chunk of time instead consigned him to 20th and last.
Winner: Pierre Gasly (10th)
Alpine seemed to be on for one of its less competitive weekends in the midfield until Gasly pulled out an almighty effort in qualifying to launch himself into the top 10.
He was an impressive sixth in Q2, more than four tenths quicker than team-mate Franco Colapinto, who was only 14th.
The spin at the final corner that ensured Gasly couldn't do better than 10th on the grid (and disrupted Q3 for everyone else too) suggested he was asking more of the car than it could give.
