Lando Norris continued to outpace team-mate Oscar Piastri as McLaren maintained their dominance in final practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Norris further lowered the benchmark time he set to top Friday’s second practice, with a 1:04.324 putting him 0.118s clear of Piastri.

Having sat out first practice yesterday as McLaren fulfilled one of their obligated rookie sessions, Norris has so far offered the perfect response to causing a collision with world championship leader Piastri last time out in Canada that caused him to retire from the race, and saw his deficit to his team-mate grow to 22 points.

The order of the top three was unchanged from the previous session with Max Verstappen third for Red Bull, but his two-tenth deficit to Norris – along with some handling issues that led to a late spin – suggested the battle for pole may be limited to the McLarens.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took fourth and fifth, respectively, for Ferrari, representing an improvement from a dismal Friday for the Italian team as they look to reap the benefits of a fully upgraded car floor.

George Russell appears unlikely to follow up his pole and victory last time out in Canada, with the Brit almost seven tenths back from Norris in sixth, just ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

While Norris’ speed has been impressive, an error on his first attempt at a flying lap on his final set of soft tyres offered a reminder of the challenge he will face to execute in qualifying.

The Brit has on multiple occasions this season looked to be level or ahead of Piastri going into qualifying, but then made errors that have resulted in him qualifying well beneath his car’s potential.

The usually steady Piastri has also appeared vulnerable, with a run over the gravel midway through the session causing floor damage that briefly kept him off track while repairs were carried out with a glue gun.

While Verstappen doesn’t appear to have the raw pace to match the McLarens, the reigning world champion’s ability to bring his best when it matters most will ensure qualifying remains a fascinating spectacle.

Further back, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto both continued their strong weekends to finish in the top 10, and can enter qualifying with realistic hopes of reaching Q3.

Sky Sports F1’s Austrian GP schedule

Saturday June 28
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: AUSTRIAN GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday June 29
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP build-up*
2pm: THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP reaction*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.