Race-day riches, classroom crumbs: School on GP track pleads for help
South Melbourne Park Primary School sits inside Albert Park, and is trackside to the race each March.
Since the school opened in 2019, parents say they've pleaded in vain for the state government to fund fixes to basic problems – chief among them, a safe school crossing on a busy road.
The school council says the families of its 390 students are aghast at recent news that the state will spend $350 million on a new pit lane and on expanding the exclusive Paddock Club for wealthy race-goers.
The school council described the government's move as adding 'insult to injury'.
The government says it's already helping South Melbourne Park Primary manage the unique disruptions the race brings each year and that it is working on new solutions.
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Being on the Grand Prix circuit brings major issues, the school says, including a procession of semi-trailers from January to April to set up and pack down for the major event that pose serious safety risks for children.
The pedestrian crossing on one of the main access roads to the school, which is used by the big trucks, is not clearly marked and has no permanent crossing supervisor. Race-day crowds also churn up the school's adjacent play area, creating what parents says is dust bowl in summer and a mud pit in winter.
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News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
F1 great dunks on Daniel Ricciardo with damning truth
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'You see some drivers who evolve well,' he said. 'You see others who get affected by the success, and that affects their trajectory. 'I think Daniel Ricciardo would be an example of that. 'One of the bright young talents that arrived in Formula 1, one of the best overtakers of his generation, always exciting to watch. 'And then just suddenly, as he left Red Bull, Renault was OK, McLaren, Lando outperformed him in both years, even though Daniel won a race. 'And then it never really worked out again at AlphaTauri (now known as Racing Bulls). 'Now he's happily retired, I assume wealthy individual. But it all felt like it was condensed into too short a period.' Even more brutally, Coulthard said attitude was part of the reason the 36-year-old failed to find a way to tame his F1 cars. 'Life, you gain baggage as you go through life,' said the Scot. 'If you're poor, that's a Tesco bag with a few clothes inside. If you're rich, it's a Louis Vuitton, but it all has to be carried. 'So, whether it's a baggage of wealth or whether it's baggage of success, or whether it's the baggage of poverty and difficulty, it's got to be carried to try and get to the next opportunity. 'And for some people, maybe they're not able to let go and actually take themselves back to the moment that was the freest point, that saw their performances at the highest level.' Coulthard is far from the only F1 great to criticise Ricciardo for his failures at Alpine, McLaren and Racing Bulls. A pathway to earning the prized second seat alongside Max Verstappen inside the Red Bull garage was there for him to take during the team's struggles and eventual axing of Mexican driver Sergio Perez. The fairy tale return was clearly Red Bull boss Christian Horner's preferred solution to his second seat headache, but Ricciardo instead proved he was unworthy of the job as Kiwi Liam Lawson was promoted before eventually being replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. It was a sad end to a career that showed such promise. 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After saying Ricciardo needed to have thicker skin, Villieneve said bluntly: 'The truth hurts'. The sad career denouement really doesn't appear to be troubling the Netflix Drive To Survive breakout star and he has been seen living his best life with brand promotions and major event appearances, including at Wimbledon this year. Fans are continuing to hold out hope he will return to driving in a different motorsport category, but the recent images of Ricciardo enjoying life away from the track suggest the dream return isn't on the cards.
7NEWS
6 days ago
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Oscar Piastri rebuked by McLaren engineer as Lando Norris clings to Hungarian Grand Prix victory
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The Advertiser
7 days ago
- The Advertiser
Norris closes gap on Piastri in Hungary thriller
Oscar Piastri tried everything to overtake Lando Norris in a tense finish but his McLaren teammate held on to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and boost his F1 title chances heading into the mid-season break. Norris clung on with worn tyres as Piastri loomed behind him in the final laps. He celebrated on Sunday with a double fist pump on top of his car after claiming McLaren's 200th F1 win by less than a second to cut Piastri's lead to nine points from 16. "I'm dead. It was tough, it was tough," Norris said. "The final stint, with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out." It was a race shaped as much by smart strategy as gritty driving. Norris briefly dropped to fifth on the first lap but made his tyres last to stop only once, while Piastri changed twice. When race engineer Will Joseph asked Norris on the radio, "Lando, 40 laps on the hard tyre, you up for it?" Norris replied: "Yeah, why not?" 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." Piastri steadily cut into Norris' lead in the latter stages of the race but the British driver held on with old tyres to take the win. Piastri nearly collided with his teammate when he locked up a wheel while trying to pass on the second-to-last lap, earning a mild rebuke from his team. "Remember how we go racing, Oscar," came the warning from his race engineer, Tom Stallard. Norris held on to have the last word in their title fight as F1 heads into a four-week break. "Good racing. Good strategy. Good call," was how Norris summed it up on the radio. For the dominant McLaren drivers, it was their seventh 1-2 finish on the season and the team's 11th victory in 14 races in 2025. George Russell took third for Mercedes after fighting his way past Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a contest that earned Leclerc a time penalty for nearly colliding with Russell. Defending champion Max Verstappen was only ninth. He stays third in the standings, but drops to 97 points behind Piastri. Leclerc started on pole position with hopes of landing Ferrari its first Grand Prix win of the year, but ended up fourth. "This is so incredibly frustrating. We've lost all competitiveness," he told the team over the radio. Leclerc dropped so far off the pace in his final stint that the two McLaren drivers and Russell questioned what happened to him as they chatted after the race. A day after calling himself "useless" and questioning whether Ferrari might need to replace him, Lewis Hamilton ended up 12th, exactly where he started. Hamilton said he's facing issues "in the background". "When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There's a lot going on in the background that is not great," Hamilton said. But asked if he'd lost his love of racing, he said no. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: "Lewis is wearing his heart on his sleeve. "It was very raw what he said. He was hard on himself. We have seen it before when he felt he had not met his own expectations." Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin's best result of the season with fifth on a slow track that suited his car, with Gabriel Bortoleto a surprise sixth for Sauber and Lance Stroll seventh in the other Aston Martin. The season resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 31. With agencies Oscar Piastri tried everything to overtake Lando Norris in a tense finish but his McLaren teammate held on to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and boost his F1 title chances heading into the mid-season break. Norris clung on with worn tyres as Piastri loomed behind him in the final laps. He celebrated on Sunday with a double fist pump on top of his car after claiming McLaren's 200th F1 win by less than a second to cut Piastri's lead to nine points from 16. "I'm dead. It was tough, it was tough," Norris said. "The final stint, with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out." It was a race shaped as much by smart strategy as gritty driving. Norris briefly dropped to fifth on the first lap but made his tyres last to stop only once, while Piastri changed twice. When race engineer Will Joseph asked Norris on the radio, "Lando, 40 laps on the hard tyre, you up for it?" Norris replied: "Yeah, why not?" 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." Piastri steadily cut into Norris' lead in the latter stages of the race but the British driver held on with old tyres to take the win. Piastri nearly collided with his teammate when he locked up a wheel while trying to pass on the second-to-last lap, earning a mild rebuke from his team. "Remember how we go racing, Oscar," came the warning from his race engineer, Tom Stallard. Norris held on to have the last word in their title fight as F1 heads into a four-week break. "Good racing. Good strategy. Good call," was how Norris summed it up on the radio. For the dominant McLaren drivers, it was their seventh 1-2 finish on the season and the team's 11th victory in 14 races in 2025. George Russell took third for Mercedes after fighting his way past Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a contest that earned Leclerc a time penalty for nearly colliding with Russell. Defending champion Max Verstappen was only ninth. He stays third in the standings, but drops to 97 points behind Piastri. Leclerc started on pole position with hopes of landing Ferrari its first Grand Prix win of the year, but ended up fourth. "This is so incredibly frustrating. We've lost all competitiveness," he told the team over the radio. Leclerc dropped so far off the pace in his final stint that the two McLaren drivers and Russell questioned what happened to him as they chatted after the race. A day after calling himself "useless" and questioning whether Ferrari might need to replace him, Lewis Hamilton ended up 12th, exactly where he started. Hamilton said he's facing issues "in the background". "When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There's a lot going on in the background that is not great," Hamilton said. But asked if he'd lost his love of racing, he said no. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: "Lewis is wearing his heart on his sleeve. "It was very raw what he said. He was hard on himself. We have seen it before when he felt he had not met his own expectations." Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin's best result of the season with fifth on a slow track that suited his car, with Gabriel Bortoleto a surprise sixth for Sauber and Lance Stroll seventh in the other Aston Martin. The season resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 31. With agencies Oscar Piastri tried everything to overtake Lando Norris in a tense finish but his McLaren teammate held on to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and boost his F1 title chances heading into the mid-season break. Norris clung on with worn tyres as Piastri loomed behind him in the final laps. He celebrated on Sunday with a double fist pump on top of his car after claiming McLaren's 200th F1 win by less than a second to cut Piastri's lead to nine points from 16. "I'm dead. It was tough, it was tough," Norris said. "The final stint, with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out." It was a race shaped as much by smart strategy as gritty driving. Norris briefly dropped to fifth on the first lap but made his tyres last to stop only once, while Piastri changed twice. When race engineer Will Joseph asked Norris on the radio, "Lando, 40 laps on the hard tyre, you up for it?" Norris replied: "Yeah, why not?" 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." Piastri steadily cut into Norris' lead in the latter stages of the race but the British driver held on with old tyres to take the win. Piastri nearly collided with his teammate when he locked up a wheel while trying to pass on the second-to-last lap, earning a mild rebuke from his team. "Remember how we go racing, Oscar," came the warning from his race engineer, Tom Stallard. Norris held on to have the last word in their title fight as F1 heads into a four-week break. "Good racing. Good strategy. Good call," was how Norris summed it up on the radio. For the dominant McLaren drivers, it was their seventh 1-2 finish on the season and the team's 11th victory in 14 races in 2025. George Russell took third for Mercedes after fighting his way past Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a contest that earned Leclerc a time penalty for nearly colliding with Russell. Defending champion Max Verstappen was only ninth. He stays third in the standings, but drops to 97 points behind Piastri. Leclerc started on pole position with hopes of landing Ferrari its first Grand Prix win of the year, but ended up fourth. "This is so incredibly frustrating. We've lost all competitiveness," he told the team over the radio. Leclerc dropped so far off the pace in his final stint that the two McLaren drivers and Russell questioned what happened to him as they chatted after the race. A day after calling himself "useless" and questioning whether Ferrari might need to replace him, Lewis Hamilton ended up 12th, exactly where he started. Hamilton said he's facing issues "in the background". "When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There's a lot going on in the background that is not great," Hamilton said. But asked if he'd lost his love of racing, he said no. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: "Lewis is wearing his heart on his sleeve. "It was very raw what he said. He was hard on himself. We have seen it before when he felt he had not met his own expectations." Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin's best result of the season with fifth on a slow track that suited his car, with Gabriel Bortoleto a surprise sixth for Sauber and Lance Stroll seventh in the other Aston Martin. The season resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 31. With agencies Oscar Piastri tried everything to overtake Lando Norris in a tense finish but his McLaren teammate held on to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and boost his F1 title chances heading into the mid-season break. Norris clung on with worn tyres as Piastri loomed behind him in the final laps. He celebrated on Sunday with a double fist pump on top of his car after claiming McLaren's 200th F1 win by less than a second to cut Piastri's lead to nine points from 16. "I'm dead. It was tough, it was tough," Norris said. "The final stint, with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out." It was a race shaped as much by smart strategy as gritty driving. Norris briefly dropped to fifth on the first lap but made his tyres last to stop only once, while Piastri changed twice. When race engineer Will Joseph asked Norris on the radio, "Lando, 40 laps on the hard tyre, you up for it?" Norris replied: "Yeah, why not?" 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." Piastri steadily cut into Norris' lead in the latter stages of the race but the British driver held on with old tyres to take the win. Piastri nearly collided with his teammate when he locked up a wheel while trying to pass on the second-to-last lap, earning a mild rebuke from his team. "Remember how we go racing, Oscar," came the warning from his race engineer, Tom Stallard. Norris held on to have the last word in their title fight as F1 heads into a four-week break. "Good racing. Good strategy. Good call," was how Norris summed it up on the radio. For the dominant McLaren drivers, it was their seventh 1-2 finish on the season and the team's 11th victory in 14 races in 2025. George Russell took third for Mercedes after fighting his way past Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a contest that earned Leclerc a time penalty for nearly colliding with Russell. Defending champion Max Verstappen was only ninth. He stays third in the standings, but drops to 97 points behind Piastri. Leclerc started on pole position with hopes of landing Ferrari its first Grand Prix win of the year, but ended up fourth. "This is so incredibly frustrating. We've lost all competitiveness," he told the team over the radio. Leclerc dropped so far off the pace in his final stint that the two McLaren drivers and Russell questioned what happened to him as they chatted after the race. A day after calling himself "useless" and questioning whether Ferrari might need to replace him, Lewis Hamilton ended up 12th, exactly where he started. Hamilton said he's facing issues "in the background". "When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There's a lot going on in the background that is not great," Hamilton said. But asked if he'd lost his love of racing, he said no. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: "Lewis is wearing his heart on his sleeve. "It was very raw what he said. He was hard on himself. We have seen it before when he felt he had not met his own expectations." Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin's best result of the season with fifth on a slow track that suited his car, with Gabriel Bortoleto a surprise sixth for Sauber and Lance Stroll seventh in the other Aston Martin. The season resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 31. With agencies
