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27 minutes ago
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McLaren's surprising admission about Lando Norris' Hungarian GP strategy
It is a long-standing matter of humour in the Formula 1 paddock that the 'possible race strategies' infographic Pirelli circulates on Sunday mornings often bears no relationship at all to the way the race pans out. So it proved at the Hungaroring as Lando Norris ended up being effectively forced onto an u favourable one-stop strategy after a poor start, only for it to work in his favour. And he wasn't the only one – Max Verstappen could have finished fifth or six rather than ninth, reckoned Red Bull driver advisor Helmut Marko, if he had stopped once rather than twice. On Saturday the mood music from Pirelli was unequivocal about a two-stop being superior, despite the possibility of overnight rain effecting a reset on the new track surface. 'At the moment a one-stop is more or less 10 seconds slower,' said Pirelli motorsport manager Mario Isola on Saturday evening. 'With the level of degradation that we measured yesterday [Friday]. So if it is cooler and you are able to manage better the tyre, these 10 seconds could be less. That's why I believe that two-stop is still the preferred choice.' Conditions were indeed cooler although the shape of the race was dictated by the events on the opening lap, when Norris – from third on the grid – moved over to the inside on the approach to Turn 1 with a view to passing team-mate Oscar Piastri, who had qualified second to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. The move wasn't on and, in backing out, Norris lost track position to George Russell and then to Fernando Alonso. While he quickly passed Alonso back for fourth place, Norris was then unable to escape the 'dirty air' of Russell's Mercedes. As Alonso fell back from this battle, bottling up the cars behind, the window for a one-stop race begin to creak open. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari leads at the start Indeed, this quickly became Norris's only option, while McLaren's strategy for Piastri was dictated by the need to get past Leclerc somehow. 'Our baseline strategy today was a two-stop strategy,' said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella in his post-race briefing. 'We didn't think necessarily that the one-stop was possible. So with Oscar we tried to go on a good, deterministic, two-stop strategy, trying to pass Leclerc in the first stop, then we tried to extend in the second stop to have a tyre delta in order to have those few tenths of a second to be able to pass Leclerc, and this did work.' But it is between these two Piastri pit visits that the momentum swung towards a one-stop. When he stopped for his first set of hard-compound Pirellis at the end of lap 18 he forced Ferrari to respond, but Leclerc emerged ahead and they both filtered out of the pits behind Alonso – who had begun to pick up his pace three laps earlier, moving into the gap McLaren and Ferrari thought they had. Although both Leclerc and Piastri got by Alonso as the lap count entered the 20s, it became increasingly clear the Aston Martin driver was aiming to extend his first stint and that this would be problematic for Russell and Norris, should they pit. Russell proved this by taking four laps to pass the two-time F1 world champion. By this point doing anything other than a one-stop was looking unfavourable for Norris, and Piastri was already alert to the possibility that his strategy was sub-optimal. While his earlier responses to race engineer Tom Stallard asking about stopping once were in the negative, he began to pitch questions about whether it would be possible to stay out for the remainder of the race. The tone suggested that in trying to undercut Leclerc, he had given Norris an opening to pass them both. So even as they homed in on Norris before he stopped at the end of lap 31, the die was cast. Lando Norris, McLaren 'When it comes to Lando and the one-stop strategy, when we extended, leaving Lando out, we didn't think that the one-stop would have been possible still,' Stella revealed. 'But credit to Lando, he managed to put together some very strong sectors and lap times with tyres that were relatively used. So we somehow convinced ourselves that the one-stop was starting to get in the game as we progressed with the first stint. 'It wasn't like entering the race with a one- or a two-stop and we would have picked them being equivalent. We thought that the two-stop would be the dominant strategy today.' Read Also: F1 Hungarian GP: Lando Norris wins over Oscar Piastri as Charles Leclerc collapses Norris set several fastest laps in his early phase on the hards and it was at this point that the tenor of the conversations between Stallard and Piastri changed: the Australian driver was given a choice between 'undercut on Leclerc or tyre delta to Lando'. McLaren then attempted some subterfuge, telling Piastri to 'box this lap' and deploying its mechanics onto the pit apron on lap 39. Ferrari responded by pre-emptively bringing in Leclerc to block the undercut – but instead Piastri extended his stint for another six laps. Norris had some assistance when Russell pitted out of his way at the end of lap 42, by which point he was 9.5s off Piastri and inherited the lead when his team-mate pitted. Crucially, Piastri had lost ground hand over fist while extending – on lap 44 alone he lost 2s relative to Norris. Piastri then had to use the best of his tyre delta to pass Leclerc on the road. Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren Naturally, given how the race transpired, Stella was asked if the team had consciously favoured Norris over Piastri, but he decisively ruled this out. 'We wanted to give Oscar enough of a tyre delta to pass Leclerc, but also to have a fair chance on Lando, because that would have meant being on an optimal two-stop,' he said. 'So we wanted to make sure that, thinking about Leclerc, we were not deviating too much from an optimal two-stop, because that would have been unfair to Oscar in relation to his competition with Lando. And we also checked with Oscar what his preference was, and certainly he wanted to have an opportunity to win the race. 'And we thought that with enough tyre delta to Leclerc, Oscar would have had a chance in the end.' Read Also: Lewis Hamilton's cryptic response to his 'Ferrari needs to change driver' comments Red Bull reveals cause of Hungarian GP meltdown Charles Leclerc explains how 'undriveable' Ferrari cost him Hungary F1 win To read more articles visit our website.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
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Chelsea sign Dutch defender Hato from Ajax
Chelsea signed teenage Netherlands defender Jorrel Hato from Ajax in a deal worth a reported £37 million ($49 million) on Sunday. Hato, who has been capped six times, agreed a seven-year contract with the Premier League club. The 19-year-old is Chelsea's eighth signing since the end of last season as boss Enzo Maresca strengths his squad to cope with the duel demands of the Premier League and Champions League this term. "I'm very excited, I'm so happy to be here," said Hato, who can operate in central defence or at left-back. "I thought a lot about my future and wanted to take the next step in my career. Chelsea is the best place for me to do that so I'm very happy." Hato joined Ajax's academy from hometown club Sparta Rotterdam in 2018 and signed his first professional contract aged 16 four years later. He scored four goals in 111 appearances for the Eredivisie giants, with his international debut coming as a substitute against Gibraltar in 2023. Club World Cup champions Chelsea begin their Premier League campaign at home to Crystal Palace on August 17. The Blues had signed Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Mamadou Sarr, Dario Essugo, Estevao Willian and Kendry Paez prior to landing Hato. smg/nf
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
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Report – Atalanta ‘Annoyed But Not Surprised' By Public Transfer Request From Inter Milan Target
Atalanta are reportedly 'annoyed but not surprised' after Inter Milan target Ademola Lookman publicly demanded a transfer. This according to They report that La Dea are still aiming to sell the 27-year-old on their own terms. In another bombshell in what has become a full-blown transfer soap opera, Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman made a public statement in which he handed in a transfer request. The 27-year-old accused his club of breaking a promise to sell him. He further described 'poor treatment' due to La Dea's refusals to sanction a transfer. This after Atalanta had rejected two offers from Inter to sign Lookman. The second of which reached €45 million including add-ons. Atalanta 'Annoyed But Not Surprised' By Ademola Lookman Transfer Request BERGAMO, ITALY – JANUARY 18: Ademola Lookman of Atalanta BC looks on during the Serie A match between Atalanta BC and SSC Napoli at Gewiss Stadium on January 18, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by) Now, the ball is back in Atalanta's court. And according to the Gazzetta dello Sport, the Bergamo club are not overly surprised that it's come to this. It's not as though Lookman's previous gesture was exactly subtle. The Nigerian international removed all traces of his current employers from his social media accounts. Moreover, Lookman has been pushing for a move away behind the scenes for weeks, and in fact months. Everything stems from the former Fulham and Leicester City forward's desire to leave already last summer. Atalanta are aware of Lookman's frustration. However, they still consider him making it so extremely public to be out of line. In any event, the Gazzetta report, Atalanta are still determine to sell Lookman on their own terms. They do not want to be bully into accepting what they see as a low-ball offer.
