Lando Norris feels back to his old self with pole position for the Austrian GP

SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — Lando Norris said he felt back to his old self after taking pole position by more than half a second in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Norris is seeking a strong result in Austria after colliding with his McLaren teammate and Formula 1 title rival Oscar Piastri at the last race in Canada. Norris crashed out and immediately apologized, while Piastri extended his standings lead.

Piastri rued his bad luck in third place on Saturday after a yellow flag meant he had to abandon his final lap.

Norris set the pace throughout the final part of qualifying and his final lap increased his advantage over second-placed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari to 0.521 of a second.

"Nice to see the old me back every now and then,” Norris quipped to his team over the radio.

It’s the third pole position of the season for Norris and the first since last month’s Monaco GP, which he also won. Norris has been less consistent than Piastri in qualifying this season, even when he's later shown he can match the Australian's pace in the race.

“Some of my tougher moments have been the qualis, so to put in a lap like today, to have the performance throughout this weekend like I had, was pleasing for myself,” Norris said.

"I’m very happy with today but I want to prove it to myself over and over again and hopefully this is just the beginning of it."

Norris ended a streak of five pole positions at the Red Bull Ring for defending champion Max Verstappen, going back to the 2021 Styrian GP.

Piastri was .062 further back in third and said he had to abandon his final run of qualifying when Pierre Gasly's Alpine spun in front of him, causing a yellow flag which meant drivers behind had to slow down.

“Lando’s been very quick all weekend so it would have been a tough challenge, but I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to be on the front row,” Piastri said.

"Always a shame when you don’t even get the chance, but we can still have a good race from there. Sometimes it’s just not your day."

Lewis Hamilton was fourth as Ferrari had one of its best qualifying performances of the season and Verstappen seventh for Red Bull after his final lap was also spoiled by the yellow flag.

It was a difficult day for Red Bull at its home track. Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda hasn’t scored a point in three races and continued to struggle. He was 18th. “I didn’t have any front grip, bro,” he told the team.

There was a delay for a red flag in the second part of qualifying when grass at the side of the track caught fire. The same problem caused repeated disruptions in qualifying at the Japanese GP in April.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Frome the left, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco, second place, McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain, first place, and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia stand on the podium after the qualifying at the Red Bull Ring racetrack, ahead of the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain reacts after winning the pole positio at the qualifying at the Red Bull Ring racetrack, ahead of the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during the qualifying at the Red Bull Ring racetrack, ahead of the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during the qualifying at the Red Bull Ring racetrack, ahead of the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)