Verstappen in 'a league of his own' in Austrian qualifying - Norris

Lando Norris believes Max Verstappen was "in a league of his own" as the Red Bull stormed to pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Norris qualified second for the second time in the weekend after doing so for the sprint, where he briefly led but ultimately finished third behind Verstappen and team-mate Oscar Piastri. 

Verstappen pumped in a 1:04.314s in Q3, claiming a 40th career pole as he continued his domination of the weekend of topping practice, sprint qualifying and the sprint. 

Norris got closest in qualifying, putting up a 1:04.718, but lost out by 0.404s to the Dutchman. 

Reflecting, Norris felt Verstappen was out of reach. 

"It was a good qualifying, I think it was as much as we could do today, Max was in a league of his own and much clearly quicker than what we had," he explained.

"I am happy, the conditions felt a bit more difficult than yesterday to get the laps in and perfect them, but it was good enough and I will take it."

Norris bullish over Austrian chances

Norris was bullish about his chances of taking the race to Verstappen in the 71 laps to come on Sunday, believing the better McLaren race pace over qualifying speed could prove handy. 

"It is tough when you see the pace today, it is clear that we are going to have to give it a lot," he said.

'We're going to need something extra to kind of go our way in order to beat the pace of the Red Bulls, so I will try and do a better job than [in the sprint].

"I am excited and looking forward to it. It is a long race and many things can happen and normally we are better in the races than we are in qualifying, so let's see."