McLaren boss says F1 is a ‘healthier' place sans Horner
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Qatar Tribune
18 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
McLaren boss anticipates Norris and Piastri ‘swapping paint again'
PA Media/DPA London McLaren boss Zak Brown said he is 'fully anticipating' that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will collide again this season as the intra-team tension intensifies to be crowned champion of the world. Norris heads into Formula One's summer break just nine points behind Piastri in the standings following his third win from his last four appearances at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. Piastri came close to taking Norris out on the penultimate lap as they duelled for the win. There was a similar narrow escape between the McLaren drivers at the Red Bull Ring in June, a fortnight after Norris ran into the back of Piastri in Canada. 'There is competitiveness brewing but we are not feeling any tension,' insisted Brown. 'As the championship builds, I am sure that tension will grow. We are fully anticipating them swapping paint again at some point but I am very confident it wouldn't be deliberate, which is when you get into problems and get bad blood. 'I don't think they will fall out because of the communication, trust and respect we all have and they have for each other. We are very fortunate to have the two personalities that we have and I am looking forward to them racing each other. They are free to race. And if something bubbles up we will deal with it. 'It is not the elephant in the room because we talk about it. We meet every Sunday morning, they know each other's strategy, and we are totally transparent. 'I have said to both of them individually: 'Has your team-mate done anything to p*** you off?' Never. And that's what they have both said. Fundamentally you've got two great, respectful guys and their relationship today is the best it has ever been.' Norris drove well at the Hungaroring but could count himself somewhat fortunate to win after he qualified behind Piastri and then dropped two places to fifth on the first lap. A one-stop strategy reversed his fortunes but Norris admitted afterwards that he is 'not making life easy for myself' and there have been doubts as to the 25-year-old's title credentials. Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion, said recently that 'the championship is going to be decided in Lando's head'. But Brown responded: 'Lando is in a great place. There was also a time Lando couldn't win from pole position, according to the world, and he has won four of his last five races from pole, so I think this kind of narrative around Lando is not accurate. 'He is open, he kind of wears his emotions on his sleeve, everyone is different, and Lando of a year ago could maybe be more critical on himself but he is in a great place, I've never seen him in a better place and he is doing an awesome job.'
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
McLaren boss says F1 is a ‘healthier' place sans Horner
McLaren boss Zak Brown has claimed Formula One is a 'healthier' place without Christian Horner after accusing the former Red Bull team principal of 'crossing the line'. Horner was released from his position on July 9. The last 18 months of his reign were overshadowed by an accusation from a female colleague of 'coercive behaviour'. Horner always denied the claim and was twice exonerated. The 51-year-old has been replaced by Laurent Mekies and Brown revealed he had met with the Frenchman ahead of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. 'I'm happy Laurent's in the role he is in,' said Brown. 'I like Laurent, that'll be healthy, and maybe we can get back to focusing on competition on the track. 'There's always going to be some political aspects to the sport, but I think it is going to be healthier with Laurent. I'm a fan of Laurent, I have known him for a long time, and it'll be good to go racing against him.' Brown and Horner did not get along and aimed a number of slights at each other over the years - both on and off the track. Brown continued: 'It went too far. There's always going to be politicking in F1; let's try and shut down their flexi-wings and that stuff, but when you start getting into frivolous allegations, that's just going too far. 'If I look up and down pit lane now, I see us fighting each other hard politically, but the line is not being crossed, and that line got crossed before. So I think that we'll see a little bit of a change for the better.' (PA Media/DPA)
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Strategy the key as Norris closes in on Piastri with Hungary GP win
DPA Budapest Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday with the help of a one-stop strategy to close in on championship leader and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. Norris enters a four-week summer break nine points behind Piastri, promising a thrilling final 10 races of the season. The Briton got his fifth season and ninth career victory - and a 200th for McLaren - ahead of the charging Piastri, who tried to pass entering the penultimate lap and almost hit him after locking up, and Mercedes driver George Russell. Surprise pole-sitter Charles Leclerc of Ferrari faded to fourth, while Norris won from third place on the grid and after slipping to fifth in lap one thanks to the strategy and good tyre management. World champion Max Verstappen had to settle for ninth in his Red Bull and is now 97 points off the top. Record champion Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari was unable to improve from his 12th place on the grid in a weekend to forget. The vast majority of drivers pitted twice while Norris said he and the team changed to one stop after the opening phase did not go well. 'I'm dead. It was tough,' Norris said. 'We weren't really planning on the one-stop but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things. 'I didn't think it would get us the win, I thought it would get us maybe into second,' he added. 'The final stint with Oscar catching I was pushing flat out. 'It always is a bit of a gamble these kind of things. It also requires no mistakes, good laps, good strategy and that's what we had today.' Norris spoke of 'a perfect result' but added there was still a long way to go in the title race. 'We're so tightly fought it's hard to say if momentum is on anyone's side,' he said. Piastri said: 'I pushed as hard as I could. After I saw Lando going for a one-stop, I knew I was going to have to overtake on track, which is much easier said than done around here.' Looking at his late passing attempt, he said: 'I think I needed to be at least a couple of tenths closer which was going to take a mistake from Lando to achieve that. 'I felt that was going to be my best chance. You never want to try and save it for the next lap, then it never comes, so I thought I would at least try.' Leclerc won the start from Piastri while Norris dropped from third to fifth after initially trying to challenge Piastri - falling behind Russell and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. Norris soon got past Alonso again but found no way to get ahead of Russell while Piastri had no chance to pass the leading Lecelerc. Norris was swept into first place once the others pitted, and got his fresh rubbers much later in lap 32 as the strategy became clear. Further back, Verstappen and Hamilton found themselves in a tussle for 11th place which Verstappen won as Hamilton ran wide after they almost made contact. The incident was to be reviewed post-race. After the second round of pit stops Piastri soon swept past Leclerc and then started to hunt down Norris. He came within striking distance but his attempt entering the penultimate lap but fell short as Norris held on with his old tryres. Russell meanwhile dipped past Leclerc with eight laps left but was lucky when Leclerc almost drove into him. The Monegasque was hit with a five-second penalty over the incident. 'It was a bit dicey with Charles at some points,' Russell said. 'I think we made contact the second time. Just glad to get through it and a nice way to go into the break.' Alonso held on to fifth, ahead of impressive Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, Verstappen and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda managed no bethher than 17th.
