Lando Norris' claim about Oscar Piastri is rubbish - and F1 history proves it
Lando Norris reckons he and Oscar Piastri will be able to fight for Formula 1 glory while remaining on each other's Christmas card lists. But the Brit is dreaming – and decades of F1 history proves it.
Whenever both drivers in the same team have the chance of personal glory, it always gets tense. We just haven't had any recent examples. McLaren are top dogs now but Red Bull have been the most recent kings of F1, except no-one is allowed to challenge Max Verstappen's supremacy there.
Before the Dutchman dominated the grid, it was Mercedes at the top of the pile and, though Valtteri Bottas is a fine driver, he wasn't ever in the same league as Lewis Hamilton. So the most recent example of a closer fight was Hamilton against Nico Rosberg, and look how that turned out. They had been friends since childhood but the prize of becoming World champion was enough to destroy that relationship.
Before that, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were taking chunks out of each other at Red Bull and, back in 2007, a rookie Hamilton feuding with Fernando Alonso almost tore McLaren apart. And that's just the last 20 years or so. I'd list off a lot more examples but this column isn't nearly long enough for that.
Up to now, Norris and Piastri have had a common enemy to work together against in Verstappen. But the Dutchman's challenge is now fading and both will soon realise that the only thing in the way of their first career F1 title is their team-mate.
Just 10 points separate them heading into Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix and, if it stays this close for the next couple of months, it's hard to imagine any other outcome than an increasingly bitter and brilliant duel to the end. It's a team sport to a point but, when McLaren make sure of the teams' title, personal ambition will inevitably take over.
British former F1 driver Derek Warwick is one of the stewards on duty in Montreal this weekend. In the same week he said Lewis Hamilton "deserves an eighth title" and that people are "probably right" to suggest Max Verstappen should have been banned for ramming George Russell in Barcelona two weeks ago.
With F1 fandom more tribal than ever and accusations of bias increasingly common, how can a serving FIA steward be allowed to share such opinions in public? There'll be uproar if Warwick is on the stewarding panel which hands Verstappen the penalty point he needs for a race ban after his comments.
Robert Kubica took his first and only F1 win at the 2008 Canadian GP and would probably have scored many more had he not suffered 42 broken bones and lost three-quarters of his blood in a 2011 rally crash which scuppered a move to Ferrari.
The Montreal Circuit's final corner has been known as the 'Wall of Champions' since the 1999 race in which three of the four previous champions – Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve – crashed there.
Isack Hadjar said this week he's not yet ready for the top Red Bull team but, with Yuki Tsunoda the latest to flounder next to Max Verstappen, the Frenchman is next in line for a promotion.
Formula 1 fans can watch every practice, qualifying and race live with Sky's new Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in a new deal that saves £192.
As well as Sky Sports access, this includes more than 100 TV channels and free subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+.
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Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
F1 veteran di Resta on unique race
Over 300,000 expected at endurance racing's blue ribband event Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There is nothing on earth like it. No other sporting event that quite captures the glamour, the madness and the full-throated excitement of the Le Mans 24-Hour Race. If Scotland's own Paul di Resta is quick to play down his team's chances of rising to the top of the elite class once the mayhem begins at 3 pm UK time this afternoon, the ex-Formula One driver remains excited by the possibilities ahead. Trusted by his Peugeot Total Energies team to navigate a start that ALWAYS produces drama, the former winner – he finished first in the LMP2 class in the Covid-affected 2020 race – is as energised as ever. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Di Resta, harking back to his debut with United Autosports in 2018, confessed: 'People always talked about Le Mans before I arrived here, saying it is one of the best races you'll ever do. And I underestimated it when I was in F1 and DTM. 'I thought to myself: 'Why would I ever want to share a car with somebody? Why would you ever want to have that experience?' 'Because you're selfish. Competition as an athlete is where it is. 'But somehow that sense of sharing the experience with two other drivers, and certainly getting a team spirit behind it, that's the bit that drew me in. That's the bit I loved, the responsibility side of it, and working collectively with every individual in the team to do it.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A nine-hour shift BEFORE race begins at Circuit de la Sarthe Explaining just how gruelling the weekend can be not just for drivers working in rotating shifts but the pit crews, engineers, strategy experts and assorted collections of support workers who go into making any team tick, Di Resta – one of NINETEEN former F1 drivers taking part in endurance racing's blue ribband event – said: 'They say it's a 24-hour race. It's not, because you're here at the track from seven on Saturday morning, race starts at four, so you're already nine hours into the day before you leave, and the green lights go out. 'Then you've got 24 hours. And the real heroes are the people that are obviously working their asses off all week and awake for the 24 hours. 'We get the easy bit as drivers. But the emotions are just incredible, from the ups and downs, to switching off, to recycling yourself back into it six hours later, from what you've picked up. 'There's just nothing quite like it, and I wish I'd done it sooner. I honestly do.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Anyone who has ever stood on the podium at Le Mans talks about the unique nature of the experience, with three-time winner Alan McNish describing those victory celebrations as a real rock star experience. Huge crowds are an integral part of an event that marries an entire season's worth of racing with a Glastonbury feel; don't be surprised if attendances break the 300,000 barrier again this year. The one regret Di Resta harbours from his 2020 victory, then, was that it was behind closed doors because of the global Covid pandemic. Not that it detracts from his achievement, of course. 'It will always rank very high up in anything I've done,' he said, when asked to rate his triumph at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the 39-year-old adding: 'It's kind of the start of what I would say was the transition into this. 'For a race to win in that year, given how low everybody's spirit was, I think it's sweet. The only thing is the picture on the podium's with a mask, but I think you can look through the eyes and see I'm there. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'When it hits you is the grid walk. I don't think you can quite appreciate how many people are on that grid, how open the access is. First corner mayhem to be navigated by Peugeot's trusted driver 'Then when all the teams line up, silence for the French national anthem. Those are pinch-yourself moments. Then the adrenaline goes. 'I've started the last couple. I'm going to start again on Saturday. That's why you work so hard to do these things. You can see everybody's behind it. Everybody's motivated for it. 'One of the weird things about endurance racing is, while you take that picture, you're never collectively all together. Because somebody's always doing the work or somebody's always in the car and you're never there as a group. I guess that's where the whole part of the jigsaw comes together at the end if you're successful, with the true emotion of those other people.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Le Mans has become much more of a full-throttle race over the past couple of decades, with drivers and manufacturers going flat-out for position from the first corner. By the time the cars at the front of the grid reach the famous Dunlop Bridge, anything might have happened. 'It can be quite risky,' admitted di Resta. 'The biggest thing is you can never win Le Mans in the first corner or the first lap - but you can certainly lose it. 'That's always the thinking. But at the same time, you're not out there to go into it easy. 'Of course, you want to be strong, and you want to do it, but you need to be in the fight. I think I'm experienced enough to understand. You try your best but listen, you put your trust in everything. You can't avoid it all - and sometimes it's going to trip you up. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'But overall, it's such a good event, and it just gets bigger and bigger with the more manufacturers. It's been a tough week for us. I mean, we're not in the game. We're far out of it.' Restricted by rules that prevented them from making necessary changes to their 9X8 car, Peugeot struggled in qualifying earlier this week. Di Resta will start from 19th place in the Hypercar class – and isn't getting carried away with his chances of slaloming through the field. 'Just with the way it's all playing out in terms of the rules, the competition is just so far up the road, and it makes it hard, obviously,' he said, adding: 'I mean, you've done all the same preparation and put in all the same efforts going in, and not to be even close to being in the fight so far. 'We will go out there punching. 'We will go out there swinging as best as we can, but up until now it's not been straightforward. 'It's still great to see the momentum building, the fact that more and more new manufacturers are coming in. It would just be nice if we're more into the race and further up the front.'
Wales Online
an hour ago
- Wales Online
Emma Raducanu new boyfriend speculation emerges as familiar tennis face spotted
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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Not meant to do that' – Emma Raducanu breaks tennis rule as boos rain down during delay at Queen's
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