Lando Norris says he is “excited” to see if McLaren can mount a challenge against Max Verstappen in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix by maintaining their strong recent race pace.

As had been the case in Sprint Qualifying on Friday, Norris qualified second behind Red Bull’s Verstappen on Saturday, but the 0.4s margin between the top two was far greater than it had been 24 hours earlier.

Setup changes made by Red Bull, after Verstappen had held off a strong challenge from Norris and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the 23-lap Sprint race, appeared to have a hugely positive impact as the Dutchman dominated.

Despite admitting Verstappen’s performance was somewhat ominous, Norris held on to the hope that McLaren can maintain their recent trend of being stronger on Sunday than Saturday.

“It’s another day,” Norris said. “Things can change and conditions are going to be very warm again.

“The races have been very good to us lately, one of our strengths relative to qualifying, so I’m excited to see what we can do.”

Norris displayed promising early pace in the Sprint as he overtook Verstappen for the lead, but lost concentration to allow the Red Bull straight back through along with Piastri.

Asked what his plan is for the start of Sunday’s race, Norris said: “Kind of the same, but not.

“Just tidying up a few things from before. I know what I did wrong, it was obviously very clear.

“From the pace advantage Max had today, that’s probably going to carry into something tomorrow as well.”

Verstappen hopes ‘improved balance’ translates to race

Having ended a streak of three races without a pole position, Verstappen was hopeful that the clear improvements Red Bull made after the Sprint will carry over into the race.

“That’s of course something that I hope is going to be good as well,” he said.

“I will find out tomorrow. I felt like the car just improved a bit balance-wise, which hopefully will help the tyres tomorrow as well because it’s still going to be a hot and long race.

“So you really have to look after the tyres, and that’s what we’ll try to do.”

Having helped him dominate the sport for much of the last two years, Verstappen has been uncomfortable in the RB20 in recent weeks despite battling his way to some impressive results.

Asked how the team have been able to optimise the car at the Red Bull Ring, he added: “Just a more stable balance, a bit more connected front to rear. And that worked out well.

“I think we made the right changes. And then you can see that it’s little things that sometimes can actually make quite a bit of a difference in lap time.

So I’m, of course, very happy with that because, like I said before, we haven’t had the easiest of runs, and I think pure pace has been a bit harder for us compared to the last two years. So this is definitely very positive for everyone.”

Russell confident of podium chance

While the front row is reverse from last week’s starting order in Barcelona, third place remains the same, with Mercedes’ George Russell having benefitted from Piastri being demoted due to a track limits violation.

Russell produced a stunning start in Spain to take the lead around the outside of the first corner, but admits that he is more likely to be focused on the cars behind him this time around.

The second and third rows will both be Mercedes-Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc starting alongside Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton, respectively.

Despite his lack of expectation in terms of troubling Verstappen and Norris, Russell is confident of holding off the Ferraris and a potentially charging Piastri from seventh for the final podium spot.

“Lando and Oscar seem a little bit quicker than us,” Russell said. “Obviously Max is down the road at the moment.

“I’m confident Lewis and I can probably beat the Ferraris tomorrow and probably hold up Oscar’s progress, but it’s a long race, high degradation, anything could happen.

“I think it’s a bit more challenging here. These guys always get their elbows out. So maybe this time sit back and watch it all take place. Last week I lost a lot time battling with Lando and probably focused too much on the guys ahead of me and ultimately that cost me a position to Lewis. I think the race is behind tomorrow.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Austrian GP schedule

Sunday June 30
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
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 live on Sky Sports Main Event

F1’s triple-header continues with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s big race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime