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The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lando Norris ready to go all the way in championship battle with Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris believes his championship battle with Oscar Piastri will go to the wire following his victory at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. Norris started third and dropped to fifth after a poor first corner at the Hungaroring before he rolled the strategy dice – stopping one less time than his rivals – to take the lead and then held off Piastri's late charge in a brilliant finale. Piastri came within centimetres of colliding with Norris on the penultimate lap when he momentarily lost control of his McLaren as he attempted a banzai move for the win. But Norris survived and held his nerve to keep the fast-charging Australian at bay to land his fifth win of the season – his third in his last four appearances – taking the chequered flag just six tenths clear and reducing the championship deficit to nine points with 10 rounds remaining. Max Verstappen, who finished ninth on Sunday, remains in third in the standings but 97 points off the championship pace. 'I'm dead,' said Norris. 'In the final stint Oscar was catching and I was pushing flat out. My voice has gone a little bit. 'It has been a tough battle so far with Oscar and it is going to continue to be tough. The margins between us are pretty small. There are things I can do better and improve on, and I am sure he will probably say the same thing. So, it is going to be a good and tough fight, probably until the end. 'Even though the results have looked great, I'm not making my life very easy at the minute. If I can work on those things, then I'll be in a better place.' Norris' win in the concluding round before the summer break reignites his bid to land a maiden world crown. But the Bristolian can count himself somewhat fortunate to be standing on the top step of the podium. At the start, Norris got away well from his marks, but an attempt to pass Piastri on the inside of the opening corner backfired. Norris did not commit to the overtake and that left him in no-man's land, allowing George Russell and then Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso to breeze through. On lap three, Norris fought his way clear of Alonso but was then tucked up behind Russell and making little progress. Piastri and Charles Leclerc, who controlled the first stint of the race from pole position, stopped for new tyres on laps 18 and 19 respectively. Russell also peeled into the pits on lap 19 promoting Norris to the front. McLaren were now considering a one-stop strategy. Norris' race engineer, Will Joseph, was on the radio: 'Lando, 40 laps on the hard tyre, you up for it?' Norris replied: 'Yeah, why not?' On lap 31 of 70, the Englishman came in for his sole change of tyres before lighting up the timesheets with the fastest laps of the race so far. In his haste to catch up, Norris then dropped two wheels through the gravel on the exit of the chicane, which irked Joseph. 'Lando, just keep the focus, we don't want these mistakes,' he said. Leclerc, Piastri and Russell were all forced to stop again. When it all shuffled out, Norris led Leclerc by seven seconds, with Piastri five seconds further back. But Piastri was on the move, swatting Leclerc aside on lap 51 and then set about reducing Norris' nine-second advantage. With five laps to go, Piastri was just a second behind his team-mate, and on the penultimate lap, the Australian went for glory at the first bend. However, Norris retained his composure and remained ahead to land what could be a pivotal win in his championship charge. Russell took the final place on the podium with Leclerc a disappointed fourth. The next race takes place in the Netherlands on August 31.
BBC News
28 minutes ago
- BBC News
Norwich sign Serbia midfielder Topic
Norwich City have signed Serbia international midfielder Mirko Topic on a four-year deal, with a further year's 24-year-old has played for Familicao in the Portuguese Primeira Liga for the past two seasons, after spending his first four years as a senior player with his hometown club won the Serbian Cup in his first season with Vojvodina and has won four caps for his country."I'm very proud to now be a part of this club and this city," he told the club website., external"I spoke to [Canaries goalkeeper] Vladan Kovacevic a couple of weeks ago, and also the coach and sporting director. They convinced me to come when they showed me the goals and ambitions for this season."Topic becomes the third midfielder to join the Canaries in a squad overhaul following last season's disappointing campaign, with Jacob Wright arriving from Manchester City and Jeffrey Schlupp from Crystal Palace.
BBC News
28 minutes ago
- BBC News
I'm not making easy for myself
Lando Norris admitted after his victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix that he was "not making life very easy" for himself in his title battle with team-mate Oscar win closes the gap to his McLaren team-mate in the championship to nine points going into Formula 1's summer break and was his third win in the last four it came after he dropped to fifth place on the first lap after compromising himself trying to pass Piastri at the first said: "It's already tough, and it's going to continue to be tough. It's pretty small margins between us. I'm sure there's some things I can do better on and improve on, and I'm sure he'll probably say a similar thing."It's going be a long second half of the season, I'm sure, but at the same time, I'm looking forward to a nice break, a bit of time to rest and try and come back even better because there are those things I need to improve on and want to improve on."I'm not giving myself the best opportunities. Even though the results have looked great, I'm not making my life very easy for myself at the minute. So if I can work on those things, then I'll be in a better place."Hungary was the latest in a series of races in which Norris has had small issues that have cost him in the championship so far this qualified third at the Hungaroring, behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Piastri, and lost positions to Mercedes' George Russell and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso after Piastri held him tight to the inside on the run to the first had to switch to a one-stop tyre strategy to try to recover ground, and it paid off, even though McLaren did not know when they made the decision whether he would be able to make it work."It's one of the first ones I've won in probably this manner," Norris said. "I've not won many races, so most circumstances are still new, but I think it's the first one where doing a completely alternate strategy to most, giving myself that opportunity, worked out."It's a tough strategy to do, but it worked out. That's the most important thing. And, honestly, I didn't really think it was going to work for the majority of that second stint. But with every lap, I kind of gained more confidence that it was going to be closer and closer. So, yeah, definitely a rewarding one."It was Norris' fifth win of the season, compared to Piastri's six, and the two drivers expect a close fight to the end of the season when the championship resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on 29-31 said: "It's going to be a tough second half of the year. It has been tough already, and the margins are very fine. So, I think it's going to be great watching."McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team would continue to allow them to race fairly between themselves."We are McLaren Racing," Stella said. "We bring the value of racing into Formula 1. So we want to give great racing for Formula 1."We want to give our two drivers the possibility to utilise, express their talent, pursue their aspirations, their personal success, and this needs to happen within the boundaries of the team interest, and the fairness, the sportsmanship, and the respect for one another. For me, this is what I see."These are the values of McLaren, and it's going to be, hopefully, a matter between the two McLaren drivers, even if we saw Ferrari today was in the competition for the victory for two thirds of the race."I think we have a very entertaining and interesting final part of the season."
