At the end of Friday’s free practice sessions, despite dominating the second session, Lando Norris, with a barely concealed smile, warned that opponents could close the gap ahead of qualifying. However, the results speak for themselves: the Briton pulled out a full half-second lead over his closest rival, Charles Leclerc, confirming overwhelming superiority.
Such dominance is striking, especially on a circuit like the Red Bull Ring, one of the shortest in the world championship and the shortest in terms of lap time. On paper, such a compact track should keep the gaps small, but the half-second Norris gained proved just how well McLaren capitalized on its strengths.
As always, no single explanation exists for such a complex combination of factors, but several elements aligned perfectly to create the ideal conditions for the McLaren-Norris duo to shine—while causing trouble for rivals, starting with Max Verstappen, the only driver Woking had truly feared as a party crasher.
From Friday to Saturday, the track changed more than it seemed—beyond rubber buildup and wind direction, temperatures played a crucial role. Between the start of FP2 and the qualifying session, asphalt temperatures rose by as much as 10°C, creating issues for several teams, most notably Red Bull.
With a sensitive compound like the C5, especially on a track that combines traction zones and long high-speed corners that stress the tyres thermally, such a sharp temperature rise had a significant impact on car balance—hurting some teams more than others.
The hotter it gets, the more Red Bull struggles. When tyre grip drops, there’s little that can be done to recover. Max Verstappen had already experienced annoying understeer in FP3, which then turned into oversteer as track temps rose—a clear sign of a shifting balance.
By the time the asphalt hit nearly 50°C in qualifying, those issues became much more visible, pushing the car into a performance window where it kept losing grip. The problems were so severe they even knocked Yuki Tsunoda out in Q1, despite him being well inside the top 10 on Friday.
Realistically, if it weren’t for the yellow flag triggered by Pierre Gasly’s spin during his final Q3 attempt, Verstappen might have reached the second row—but certainly wouldn’t have challenged Leclerc for P2. Ultimately, the man expected to be the most dangerous rival wasn’t, and Ferrari claimed the second-best status.
“Based on the information I have, without revealing anything confidential, it seems that the teams that made setup changes performed better than those who stuck to Friday’s configurations,” explained Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola, when asked about Red Bull’s struggles.
This factor, however, didn’t affect McLaren in the same way. Throughout the season, the MCL39 has proven versatile, with a wide operating window—two key strengths. Already in practice, the car had shown gains almost everywhere except on the straights, where Red Bull’s DRS effect still made the difference. So it’s no surprise that the same trend continued in qualifying—amplified by the temperature increase.
Generally, higher temperatures lead to bigger gaps, because tyres exit their optimal working range faster, putting some teams under pressure. For teams like McLaren, which didn’t suffer from balance shifts, it was easier to capitalize on their aerodynamic load—highlighting the best qualities of the MCL39.
Data shows that Lando Norris started gaining time from Turn 1, increasing his lead at every braking zone or corner—whether slow ones like Turns 3 and 4, which require rotation (a McLaren strength), or fast corners. The second sector is where the Woking team really made a difference, combining drivability and downforce.
There are two more aspects to consider—one human and one technical. It’s no secret Norris has a special relationship with this circuit, where he also produced a stunning qualifying in his rookie F1 season. While the Brit has made mistakes during qualifying this year, when he feels confident and calm, he’s among the most effective drivers on the grid.
This ties into a double technical motivation. In Canada, McLaren introduced a revised suspension meant to help Norris reconnect with the feeling he had lost with the MCL39—Oscar Piastri opted not to use it. In Austria, the team brought further updates, both aerodynamic and mechanical, to improve corner-entry stability.
“We’ve made some aerodynamic improvements to the front suspension, as part of a wider update package that includes the front wing, brakes, and suspension. There are also some chassis changes, which allowed us to gain more aerodynamic efficiency—meaning more grip without increasing drag,” explained Team Principal Andrea Stella. All these elements came together to allow McLaren to make the most of its tools in conditions that caused problems for others.
Leave a Reply