Formula 1 - Discussion Thread

[BouncerGuy]

Norris on Vegas pole with title rival Piastri fifth

McLaren's Lando Norris took pole position in a wet qualifying session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri only fifth.

Norris beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen, the only other driver still vaguely in title contention, by 0.323secs.

Williams' Carlos Sainz was third ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Piastri.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, whose team-mate Charles Leclerc was ninth, was 20th, the seven-time champion knocked out in the first session and complaining he could not get his tyres to work.

Norris, who leads Piastri by 24 points with three races to go, took his third consecutive pole position as he continues to look like a world champion in waiting.

Treacherous conditions 'like driving on ice'

The conditions were treacherous, the session starting after heavy rain on a track wet enough for the extreme wet tyres, which nearly all drivers used throughout the first two sessions.

Norris was not especially fast on the extreme wet tyres, but once on to the intermediate tyres in the final session was consistently the fastest driver on track.

Verstappen, usually so strong in wet conditions, was not quite on the Briton's level but his second place on the grid makes him a serious threat for the lead into the first corner of the race given his usually aggressive start to races.

Norris survived a wobble on his final lap when he hit the kerb through the Turns 14-15-16 chicane but was still fast enough for pole as others behind him were affected by a yellow flag.

Among those were Piastri, who had to back off on his last lap.

"That was stressful, stressful as hell," Norris said. "I didn't know no-one else would get a lap after me. The first two sectors were good. As soon as you hit the kerb a little bit wrong it's tricky, it snapped one way and then the other but good enough for pole.

"No-one's driven here in the wet before. After Q1, every corner you felt like you could crash every corner. One lap at a time. It was a tricky one."

Piastri told Sky Sports: "There was more out there that we didn't get to use. We've got a good car underneath us that seems to be working well in all conditions so we can have a strong race tomorrow and hopefully make up some spots."

Verstappen said: "It's already slippery in the dry but in the wet it's not fun. It felt more like driving on ice.

"I did feel we were a little more competitive on the extreme tyre, we were not quite competitive enough to fight for pole but second is still good.

"Excited for tomorrow, I hope the inside (of the grid) is OK in terms of grip but we will see."

Sainz's run to third was a strong performance in a car not expected to be quick in the wet but he faces an investigation for rejoining unsafely in the first session.

Behind Piastri, the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Hadjar were sixth and eighth, split by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

Leclerc and Alpine's Pierre Gasly were ninth and 10th.

Piastri had a decision from Aston Martin to switch Lance Stroll to intermediate tyres for a final run in Q2 to thank for progressing into the top 10 shootout.

Stroll had been quick until then but could not switch the tyres on in time before the end of the session to improve his earlier time.

Hamilton struggled throughout the first session and qualified last on outright pace for the first time in his career.

"It was very slippery and the first set of tyres didn't work for us and I just struggled to generate the heat in the tyres for some reason," he said.

"It's a shame because the guys have done such a great job and the car was feeling awesome in FP3 and I really felt like we had good pace, but then the rain came. There's not a lot to say, to be honest."

Top 10

1. Lando Norris (McLaren)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

6. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

8. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

9. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

Norris moves closer to title as Verstappen wins

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Norris leads team-mate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend.

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen.

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races.

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris.

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull."

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December.

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite losing the win to Verstappen
• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes wane
• A superb win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight
• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after starting at the back

Verstappen stays in title contention

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen.

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner.

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also lost second place to Russell.

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race.

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out.

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10.

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres.

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34.

Norris asked his engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack.

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined.

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him.

"It's still a big gap, we always try and maximise everything we've got," Verstappen said.

"In upcoming weekends we will try and win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone."

'Frustrating race' for Piastri

Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing.

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period.

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays.

Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It was a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways."

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens."

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet.

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton.

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards.

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career.

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1992530457737728119

 

[Obaidd]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1992530457737728119

No way!! This is too good to be true for Verstappen who’s now back in business out of nowhere.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Schumacher to race in IndyCar in 2026

Former Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher will race in the 2026 IndyCar Series with the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) team.

The 26-year-old, son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, left his role as Mercedes reserve driver at the end of the 2024 season.

The German joined Mercedes after being dropped by Haas in 2022 - having made 43 F1 starts - and had hoped for a return to the grid next season, but was rejected by the Sauber/Audi and Alpine teams.

In 2024 and 2025 he raced for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship, achieving three podium finishes in 16 starts.

"Having both an F1 and an endurance background, and having competed in various racing series over the years, I have insights and knowledge that I am sure will contribute to a great partnership," Schumacher said.

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal said: "His test with us on the IMS road course was exceptional, he impressed every single team member.

"Everyone walked away from that event determined to do what we could to bring Mick into our programme. We're thrilled he's chosen to join us, and we can't wait to get to work."

Schumacher will drive the number 47 Honda alongside RLL team-mates Graham Rahal and 2025 Rookie of the Year Louis Foster.

The 17-race 2026 season begins with the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, Florida, on 1 March.

Mick Schumacher to race IndyCar in 2026

Former Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher will race in the 2026 IndyCar Series with the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) team.

www.bbc.com

 

[hassan918]

Kimi Antonelli confused by F1 Las Vegas GP jump-start penalty​

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has explained he “didn’t really feel” the forward movement that constituted his jump start at Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

After qualifying down in 17th on a poor Friday, Antonelli got a penalty for that jump start. Five seconds were added to his race time as his only pitstop occurred on lap two, before the stewards were able to adjudicate.

Asked what happened at the start given it looked marginal on the broadcast, the rookie commented: “It was very tricky, I think. My suggestion is that I rolled a little bit, but I didn't really feel it in the car, so I just need to review the onboard and understand what was the issue.”

The penalty initially dropped Antonelli from fourth to fifth, behind Oscar Piastri, and meant he was just 0.190s ahead of Charles Leclerc in the final classification. But the McLarens’ disqualification promoted him to the final podium spot – though he didn’t get to stand on it.

The Mercedes racer’s drive earned plaudits as he completed a mammoth 50-lap stint on hard tyres, in a 52-lap race; he was 14th when he pitted under the virtual safety car on lap 2, but the mitigated time loss and his excellent subsequent pace meant he undercut everyone but the top three. Antonelli then successfully held off Oscar Piastri and Leclerc before his penalty was applied.

Asked by Motorsport if he was surprised that the hards held on that well, the Italian youngster admitted: “I was talking to the tyres the last 20 laps, every lap on the straight. I was just asking them to please hold on until the end.

“I was a bit concerned with the graining halfway through the race, but eventually, once I was in free air, especially the last 10 laps – also thanks to some advice that I got from the team on driving – the graining started to clean up a little bit and we were able to just hold on.

“Actually, the time kept getting faster and faster, so I'm really happy with that. It was just a shame we started so far back, but that's part of the learning.”

Antonelli also keenly denied a suggestion that he may have been backing up Piastri and Leclerc to prevent them from catching Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

“No, no, no,” he replied. “To be fair, I was trying to do my race, and if I have to be really honest, I was trying to catch him as well. I was doing my race, I was just trying to maximise the result, because it was important to get good points for the team.

“Obviously, I don't know whether it helped George, the fact that I kept those two behind, but I was just thinking about myself. I’m happy with the result, and I just need to keep going like this.”

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kimi-antonelli-didnt-really-feel-las-vegas-gp-jump-start-that-nearly-cost-him-f1-podium/10779519/

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Newey to become Aston Martin team principal in 2026

Formula 1 design legend Adrian Newey is to become Aston Martin's team principal next year.

The move is part of a major restructure of Aston Martin that sees Andy Cowell removed from his current position as team principal and chief executive officer just 13 months after joining the team.

Cowell is to become chief strategy officer, with particular focus on the team's engine partnership with Honda and their fuel suppliers.

Adrian Newey to become Aston Martin team principal in 2026

Formula 1 design legend Adrian Newey is to become Aston Martin's team principal next year.

www.bbc.com

 

[hassan918]

Norris 'relaxed' before maiden title bid in Qatar​

Lando Norris says he is "relaxed" heading into the Qatar Grand Prix, the race in which he could become world champion for the first time.

The McLaren driver heads team-mate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 24 points.

The Briton will become champion on Sunday if he can score two more points than both his rivals over the course of this weekend in Doha.

Norris said: "I feel as relaxed as I was before when I was 35 points behind the lead and I feel the same when I'm 24 points ahead. That's my strength for now."

Norris has turned the tables on Piastri with a strong run of form since the Australian won the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, switching what had been a 34-point deficit on the Australian into his current lead.

At the same time, Verstappen has mounted an impressive fightback from being 104 points off the lead after the Dutch Grand Prix, the race before Italy.

Norris said: "How I am now feels the same as before Mexico when I wasn't leading. It feels the same as Austin when I still felt good in the car, but Max still won the race.

"I really don't feel any different in the car from before I was leading to now when I'm leading."

Piastri has not won a race since Zandvoort at the end of August. Since then, Verstappen has won four and Norris two.

Both McLaren drivers suffered a blow when they were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend after the skid blocks on their cars were found to have worn too much.

Without that, Norris would have been coming into Qatar with a 30-point lead over Piastri, but the 26-year-old said it had not been hard to get over the disappointment of losing second place in Vegas.

"Of course it hurts," he said. "There's a lot of effort that goes into every weekend from everyone, including myself. All that effort just felt like it disappeared very quickly.

"But it's the same feeling for all of us. The mechanics, the engineers, myself, everyone in McLaren, feels let down by what we had as a result. And we're all disappointed.

"But actually I found it quite easy just to move on and have a few days off and come to this weekend. Yeah, disappointed, of course. But I was fine otherwise."

Norris said the team would try to treat this race the same as any other.

"We treat it very normally," he said. "There's no point trying to treat it any differently because we've been doing a good job and I'm very happy with the job we've all been doing.

"We know what areas we need to do better, we know what things we need to improve on this year, all the standard stuff. I really try and not treat it any differently because there's no point. Nothing needs to be treated any differently."

Source: BBC

 

[hassan918]

Piastri edges Norris in Qatar practice on crucial weekend​

McLaren's Oscar Piastri outpaced title rival and team-mate Lando Norris in practice at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Australian, who trails Norris by 24 points in the championship with two races to go, edged the Briton by 0.058 seconds in the only session before sprint qualifying, which starts at 17:30 GMT.

Norris, who will win the championship on Sunday if he outscores both Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen by two points over the weekend, was on a faster lap but ran wide out of the final corner.

Verstappen was down in sixth place, 0.580secs off the pace after complaining of a number of problems with his car through the session.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who often performs strongly early in sprint weekends before the natural order coalesces later on, was third fastest, 0.386secs off the pace.

Williams' Carlos Sainz was fourth ahead of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar.

Behind Verstappen, Williams' Alex Albon, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli completed the top 10.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was 12th as both he and Leclerc looked uncomfortable in their cars through the session on the demanding Lusail circuit.

Leclerc was complaining of a lack of feel through his power steering system.

Verstappen's problems included gearchanges, damping and clipping - running out of electrical energy.

Source: BBC

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Norris third as title rival Piastri takes Qatar sprint pole

Lando Norris could qualify only third for the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix - on the weekend the McLaren driver could clinch the world title for the first time.

Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri, one of his two championship rivals, took pole, with Mercedes' George Russell second.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen - tied with Piastri in the title race, 24 points behind Norris - had a difficult session and will line-up sixth for the sprint.

Norris cannot win the title after the sprint on Saturday, but can in the grand prix on Sunday if he can gain two points on both Piastri and Verstappen.

Piastri had a smooth qualifying for the sprint, fastest on both his flying laps.

Norris, just hundredths behind Piastri on his first lap, ran wide out of the final corner on his second lap and was pipped by Russell.

Piastri, who has seen Norris make up 50 points on him since he won the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August said: "It's been a good day, which is nice for a change.

"The car has felt good all day. We made some good adjustments into qualifying. The pace was there all day."

Norris said: "The pace was there, I just made a mistake in the last corner on my first lap and didn't put it together. I'm stupid to not try and win. See what I can find overnight.

"It's impossible to overtake, so I think I am probably going to finish P3 but if I can at least get George off the line, that's probably the most I can hope for."

There are eight points for a win in the sprint, seven for second and so on, down to eighth place.

Qatar GP 2025: Oscar Piastri takes Qatar sprint pole ahead of Lando Norris

Lando Norris qualifies only third for the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix - on the weekend the McLaren driver could clinch his first world title.

www.bbc.com

 

[BouncerGuy]

Norris 'will try everything' to win title in Qatar

Qualifying did not go how Lando Norris wanted it to on the weekend on which he can clinch the Formula 1 drivers' title for the first time.

The Briton said he went into the final session that set the grid for the Qatar Grand Prix feeling "convinced I would have been on pole".

From there, the McLaren driver's chances of winning the race - the result he needs to be absolutely sure of becoming world champion on Sunday - would have been high.

Instead, Norris was beaten into second place by his team-mate Oscar Piastri. If the Australian wins the race - as he did the sprint before grand prix qualifying on Saturday - the title battle goes to the final race in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

There is also Max Verstappen to take into account, a driver who instils such fear in his rivals that McLaren's chief executive officer Zak Brown described the Dutchman as like the villain in a horror movie.

The Red Bull driver starts third, the three title protagonists all together at the front of the grid. The race, which starts at 16:00 GMT and is live across BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website, is indeed set up well.

Norris heads into the penultimate grand prix of the season on the fast and demanding Lusail circuit outside Doha with a 22-point lead over Piastri, and 25 over Verstappen.

The potential scenarios are many, but the basic maths are simple - if Norris wins, he becomes champion; if Piastri or Verstappen do, the race goes on.

Which is why starting second, on the dirty side of the track, from which he is likely to make a less-good start than Piastri and Verstappen, is not exactly what Norris needed.

How does Norris rate his title chances?

Norris, who qualified and finished third in the sprint, said: "Yesterday, I didn't really feel like I had the pace for pole. Today, I felt a lot more comfortable and convinced I would have been on pole. But I'm not now. I'm pretty disappointed with myself because of that."

Norris was on provisional pole after the first runs in the final session of qualifying, having edged Piastri by just 0.035 seconds.

Through Turn One on their final runs, Norris believed he had already gained 0.1secs on his previous best, and was feeling good. But the lap went awry at the next corner.

The front of the car lost grip, and kept losing grip, and Norris had to abort to prevent going off the track.

That opened the door for Piastri, who ran thorough it with gusto to take pole by 0.108secs.

"Turn Two, I'm not sure," Norris said. "I don't know if the wind changed a touch or something. I just pushed into a small understeer and that cost me, basically.

"I had to abort. I was going to go off the track. The understeer got worse as I went through the corner. And I damaged a floor yesterday. I didn't want to damage another one today.

"I was confident today that I could have been on pole, but I'm not. That of course makes it a worse feeling.

"But Oscar did a good job, so I can't take anything away from the fact that he's driven well all weekend.

"I paid the price for my mistakes. It's still not a bad day. I'm still second. I still felt a lot happier with the car, so I'm definitely feeling better about things. I missed my opportunity to make my life a lot easier (for the race)."

Why was Norris so perturbed? After all, he was just a place behind one of his title rivals, and one ahead of the other.

It's because overtaking is so difficult at Qatar, which means that if Piastri gets into the first corner first, he is likely to win the race.

Norris pretty much said as much.

"Probably just the start (is my opportunity), yes," Norris said. "Just the run down to Turn One, but I'm on the dirty side of the grid. So I don't have the highest expectations, but we'll see what we can do.

"I probably can't take risks from the dirty side of the grid. I'll make the decision when I arrive into Turn One."

What Piastri and Verstappen have to do

There are few strategy options as well, because of a unique aspect of this race.

Lusail's plethora of long-duration, medium- and high-speed corners place heavy demands on the tyres, and the sharp kerbs make matters worse.

Tyre supplier Pirelli, fearing punctures, has imposed a mandatory maximum of 25 laps usage on any set of tyres, which makes the race a two pit-stop strategy at least.

There is plenty of jeopardy, though. Both Piastri and Mercedes' George Russell - who was second in the sprint and has qualified fourth for the grand prix - suffered tears in their front tyres before the end of the 19-lap sprint.

For Piastri, this race marked a timely return to form after a difficult run of races through the autumn.

He looked like a champion elect when his victory in the Dutch Grand Prix, in addition to Norris' retirement with a fuel-line failure, gave Piastri a 34-point lead in the championship. He had until then been the more convincing McLaren driver this season.

But Piastri has been on the podium only once since then, at the very next race, and a run of grands prix in which he has made mistakes and lacked pace have seen Norris wrest control of the title race from him.

For Piastri - as for Verstappen - really only a win will do tomorrow. Or at the very least they need to beat Norris.

Piastri said: "I've been kind of in that same situation the whole weekend and it's gone well so far.

"So I think I've gained you know a lot of confidence back that when things are in the right place and when I'm in the rhythm that things can happen without needing to do anything special.

"So I'm confident we can try and do the same tomorrow. And (I'm) ready for the fight."

As all three pointed out, though, a lot can happen in the 200 miles of a grand prix.

Other cars can cause problems. There can be safety cars, incidents, retirements.

The tyre restrictions mean the race will likely be flat out from start to finish, or as close as it gets. So mistakes are more likely.

For all that the occasional grand prix can be soporific, and for all many drivers expect this one to be, a race can go awry in many more ways than it can go well.

Verstappen, who is competing for his fifth world title while the McLaren drivers seek their first, knows this all too well.

"You never know what happens in a race," he said. "We have a two-stop and also some things are not in your control, right?

"There might be some crazy things that also happen behind you, so you just need to keep everything open.

"We'll try everything we can, try to have a good start, then try to look after our tyres a little bit better because the understeer that we have in the car is normally also not good on race pace for that, but we'll try to minimise the damage."

As for how to wind down before the day on which he achieves his lifetime ambition, Norris said he was going to try to relax in his hotel room on Saturday night.

"Play some basketball in my room. Actual basketball. I'm going to go home, get a spaghetti bolognese in, play some Counter-Strike, probably lose some Elo (ratings) and then go to bed."

Other than that, he said, he would try to stay away from the media, "go and see my engineers, do some work, prepare the best I can. See what opportunities may arise."

The biggest prize in motorsport is waiting there for someone. Who will grasp it?

BBC

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Verstappen Qatar win takes title fight to final race

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri will contest a final-race championship showdown in Abu Dhabi after the Red Bull driver won a gripping Qatar Grand Prix.

Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from McLaren that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car.

It was a costly decision that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the final stages and in hindsight threw away the race win for Piastri.

Verstappen won to take his seventh win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the Briton fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz.

Norris won himself an extra two points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the penultimate lap.

Norris has been left with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on 5-7 December.

To win the title, Norris must finish second at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday.

Qatar GP 2025: Verstappen win takes title fight to final race

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri will contest a final-race championship showdown in Abu Dhabi after the Red Bull driver won a gripping Qatar Grand Prix.

www.bbc.com

 

[pakistani pride]

Max Factor!