Lando Norris enjoyed the stirring satisfaction of proving he still has skin in the game in the most emphatic fashion, taking pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix by more than half a second here on Saturday. His show of reinvigorated strength could not have sat in starker contrast than with the frustration and disappointment of Max Verstappen, whose seventh place in what he called an “undriveable” car will only have fuelled speculation about the defending world champion leaving Red Bull.
That was addressed by the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, after qualifying. “It’s a lot of noise, I think Max gets quite annoyed by it,” he said. “We’re very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028. Anything is entirely speculative that is being said. We tend not to pay too much attention to it.”
