A dominant Lando Norris delivered the perfect response to his Montreal horror show by securing an emphatic pole position for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris’ world championship bid was dealt a major setback a fortnight ago when he ran into the back of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
But the British driver has been in excellent form at the Red Bull Ring, topping all of the practice sessions he has competed in, before landing the 12th pole of his career.
Norris’ margin over second-placed Charles Leclerc was a huge 0.521 seconds – the biggest of the year so far at the shortest track on the calendar.
Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title standings, could manage only third, 0.583 secs behind his teammate with Lewis Hamilton fourth. Piastri was unable to complete his final lap in Q3 after Alpine’s Pierre Gasly spun ahead of him.
After landing his first win of the season last time out in Canada, George Russell ended up in fifth, but Max Verstappen could manage only seventh after he complained that his Red Bull was “undriveable”.
Norris admitted he made a fool of himself when he collided with Piastri in Montreal, and was warned of “tough conversations” by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
However, the 25-year-old has been in a class of one so far here, and he will start the 11th round of this 24-race season as the favourite to claim a win which could serve as a springboard to get his title charge back on track a week out from his home event at Silverstone.
Norris’ first lap in Q3 placed him two tenths faster than anyone else, and he then pulled out more than half-a-second with his next lap.
“It was a good lap, that’s for sure,” said Norris. “I feel like my first lap in Q3 was good but I knew I could get more time and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do and when I do that and it goes right it is usually very good.
“Some of my tough moments have been in qualifying, so to have a performance like that is exciting. I am very happy with today but I want to prove it to myself over and over again and I hope this is just the beginning.”
Verstappen is 43 points off the championship pace and he faces the prospect of losing further ground following a disappointing qualifying session at a venue he has so often ruled.
Verstappen has won five times in the Styrian mountains, and taken the last four pole positions here, but he has looked out of sorts in his unruly Red Bull machine.
“The car is completely undriveable,” he said over the radio after finishing nearly a second behind Norris. “It is even worse than before. I don’t even know what to say.”
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda qualified only 18th.
Ollie Bearman out-qualified Haas teammate Esteban Ocon for the fourth time of his rookie campaign, progressing to Q2 and finishing 15th. One of the grid’s other rookies, Gabriel Bortoleto, impressed to haul his Sauber into Q3 for the first occasion in his career. He will start eighth on Sunday.
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
FIXTURES
UAE’s remaining fixtures in World Cup qualification R2
Oct 8: Malaysia (h)
Oct 13: Indonesia (a)
Nov 12: Thailand (h)
Nov 17: Vietnam (h)
LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
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