Marko singles out Norris as favourite for qualifying despite great progress

Helmut Marko is still expecting McLaren to have the best chances for their drivers landing in P1 and taking pole position. In addition, there are significant concerns about qualifying for Liam Lawson.

''It will be very close,'' Marko informed ORF after FP3. ''If you add up the best sector times, Lando Norris still has a lead of a tenth. Behind that, the rest are within hundredths of each other.''

The third free practice session showed the same. Oscar Piastri was the fastest, ahead of George Russell and Max Verstappen. The three were within a tenth of each other. Lando Norris finished tenth, but he broke his fastest lap after a moment of oversteer in the final sector.

Qualifying will be quite a challenge for Liam Lawson. According to Helmut Marko, Lawson had a problem with the turbocharger. The cause has been found and the problem is almost solved, but Lawson will go into qualifying without having driven a third practice session on a track where he has never raced before.

On top of that, Red Bull made a lot of changes to the car from Friday to Saturday. These changes allowed Max Verstappen to go much faster around the track, but Lawson has not been able to test with them. So, it's a big challenge for Lawson.

This article was written in collaboration with Tim Kraaij

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