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Rhyl Journal
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Rhyl Journal
Lando Norris insists McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri is not his only title rival
Norris reignited his stuttering bid to land a first championship by winning from pole position in Monaco to reduce the deficit to Piastri to just three points. Piastri has four victories to Norris' two, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen the only driver outside of McLaren to win a grand prix this season. All eyes on Barcelona #McLaren | #M7AReborn | #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 — McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 29, 2025 Verstappen is now 25 points behind Piastri – with fourth-placed Mercedes driver George Russell 62 points adrift – but speaking ahead of the ninth round of the season in Spain, Norris said: 'Mathematically I feel like probably the whole grid can win the championship at the minute so if you think it is just out of me and Oscar then you are a bit silly. 'There are plenty of opportunities. I expect Ferrari will get better as the season goes on. 'And Max can still win. Come on! We are racing Max every weekend. He's been on the podium several times, he has won races, he beat us in Imola fair and square because he was quicker. 'I don't know what possibly makes you think that it's only between the McLaren drivers.' Norris, 25, will regain the lead of the championship he lost after last month's Saudi Arabia Grand Prix if he follows up his win in Monte Carlo with another triumph on Sunday. 'It's a great feeling to be in the lead of the championship, and to have more points than everyone, but again it is not something I look at and it is not something that changes anything I do day to day,' he continued. 'It doesn't change how hard I work or what I try to achieve. I will try to win this weekend and I'll try and win in Montreal, and I'll try and win in Austria. And it's got nothing to do with what position I am (in the championship).' A new technical directive will be introduced at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya to clamp down on flexible front wings which some believe has contributed towards McLaren's dramatic rise. The British team won the constructors' championship last season and have claimed six out of the eight wins so far in 2025. However, when asked if he was concerned McLaren will be affected by the rule change, Norris said: 'No, not at all. There are tweaks here and there, but nothing that will change how we have to do it.' Williams' Carlos Sainz continued: 'There has been a lot of talk regarding this technical directive but I don't think it will affect teams as much as people think. I wouldn't expect more than a one-tenth swing up and down the field.'
Leader Live
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Leader Live
Lando Norris insists McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri is not his only title rival
Norris reignited his stuttering bid to land a first championship by winning from pole position in Monaco to reduce the deficit to Piastri to just three points. Piastri has four victories to Norris' two, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen the only driver outside of McLaren to win a grand prix this season. All eyes on Barcelona #McLaren | #M7AReborn | #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 — McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 29, 2025 Verstappen is now 25 points behind Piastri – with fourth-placed Mercedes driver George Russell 62 points adrift – but speaking ahead of the ninth round of the season in Spain, Norris said: 'Mathematically I feel like probably the whole grid can win the championship at the minute so if you think it is just out of me and Oscar then you are a bit silly. 'There are plenty of opportunities. I expect Ferrari will get better as the season goes on. 'And Max can still win. Come on! We are racing Max every weekend. He's been on the podium several times, he has won races, he beat us in Imola fair and square because he was quicker. 'I don't know what possibly makes you think that it's only between the McLaren drivers.' Norris, 25, will regain the lead of the championship he lost after last month's Saudi Arabia Grand Prix if he follows up his win in Monte Carlo with another triumph on Sunday. 'It's a great feeling to be in the lead of the championship, and to have more points than everyone, but again it is not something I look at and it is not something that changes anything I do day to day,' he continued. 'It doesn't change how hard I work or what I try to achieve. I will try to win this weekend and I'll try and win in Montreal, and I'll try and win in Austria. And it's got nothing to do with what position I am (in the championship).' A new technical directive will be introduced at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya to clamp down on flexible front wings which some believe has contributed towards McLaren's dramatic rise. The British team won the constructors' championship last season and have claimed six out of the eight wins so far in 2025. However, when asked if he was concerned McLaren will be affected by the rule change, Norris said: 'No, not at all. There are tweaks here and there, but nothing that will change how we have to do it.' Williams' Carlos Sainz continued: 'There has been a lot of talk regarding this technical directive but I don't think it will affect teams as much as people think. I wouldn't expect more than a one-tenth swing up and down the field.'
North Wales Chronicle
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- North Wales Chronicle
Lando Norris insists McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri is not his only title rival
Norris reignited his stuttering bid to land a first championship by winning from pole position in Monaco to reduce the deficit to Piastri to just three points. Piastri has four victories to Norris' two, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen the only driver outside of McLaren to win a grand prix this season. All eyes on Barcelona #McLaren | #M7AReborn | #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 — McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 29, 2025 Verstappen is now 25 points behind Piastri – with fourth-placed Mercedes driver George Russell 62 points adrift – but speaking ahead of the ninth round of the season in Spain, Norris said: 'Mathematically I feel like probably the whole grid can win the championship at the minute so if you think it is just out of me and Oscar then you are a bit silly. 'There are plenty of opportunities. I expect Ferrari will get better as the season goes on. 'And Max can still win. Come on! We are racing Max every weekend. He's been on the podium several times, he has won races, he beat us in Imola fair and square because he was quicker. 'I don't know what possibly makes you think that it's only between the McLaren drivers.' Norris, 25, will regain the lead of the championship he lost after last month's Saudi Arabia Grand Prix if he follows up his win in Monte Carlo with another triumph on Sunday. 'It's a great feeling to be in the lead of the championship, and to have more points than everyone, but again it is not something I look at and it is not something that changes anything I do day to day,' he continued. 'It doesn't change how hard I work or what I try to achieve. I will try to win this weekend and I'll try and win in Montreal, and I'll try and win in Austria. And it's got nothing to do with what position I am (in the championship).' A new technical directive will be introduced at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya to clamp down on flexible front wings which some believe has contributed towards McLaren's dramatic rise. The British team won the constructors' championship last season and have claimed six out of the eight wins so far in 2025. However, when asked if he was concerned McLaren will be affected by the rule change, Norris said: 'No, not at all. There are tweaks here and there, but nothing that will change how we have to do it.' Williams' Carlos Sainz continued: 'There has been a lot of talk regarding this technical directive but I don't think it will affect teams as much as people think. I wouldn't expect more than a one-tenth swing up and down the field.'
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Both RB21 Pole-Winning Laps Have Set New Track Records as Max Verstappen Pulls Out Performance
While the worries for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing are far from over, his two pole positions through the first five rounds of the 2025 season show that when others' misfortune, the track, and the driver combine, Verstappen knows how to get the most out of the RB21. Ahead of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, Verstappen took pole for the second time this season and for the second time, set the track record for qualifying speed. Two weeks ago at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, Verstappen shocked the McLaren drivers by taking pole with a Q3 second lap of 1:26.983, obliterating Sebastian Vettel's track record of 1:27.06 set in 2019 with Ferrari. Both Lando Norris' and Oscar Piastri's laps were good enough to break the standing record. But at the end of the day, they were just a tick or two off in the best machinery on the track this year. Verstappen would go on to win the Japanese Grand Prix from pole, providing Honda with a final home win in the Red Bull Honda era. Verstappen was taken on a harsh pentelum swing the next week as his initial woes about the RB21 came back into view in Bahrain, where he qualified seventh and finished sixth for a season low of eight points. Verstappen left Bahrain feeling like just a participant in the title fight instead of a favorite or a challenger, a feeling he hasn't had since 2019. "If you look at the entire season, I don't think we ever really had a chance," Verstappen said. "If others make mistakes, like in Suzuka qualifying, then we can be ahead. In Suzuka, passing was impossible, but that's not always the case." With 27 corners and three DRS zones, the Saudi Arabian circuit is a far cry from Bahrain, a track that exposed Red Bull's weakness further. "Naturally, when you have tracks where you need a lot of rotation mid-corner, and long-duration corners, which you have in Bahrain, that's a big problem for us," Verstappen said in the post-qualifying press conference, comparing Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. "Here, it just seems to be a little bit more competitive. I'm not saying that it's solved, but at least it gave me an opportunity to push a bit better and deal with the limitations that we have a bit better." At the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Verstappen was able to hop on a McLaren qualifying mistake again, this time bigger. When Norris crashed in the opening minutes of Q3, he left a front-row starting position open. Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase decided on a two-lap run before the red flag, sending Verstappen out on used tires with enough fuel for two laps and then having the driver pit for new tires for the second lap. Verstappen's first lap was a thousandth faster than Piastri's first one. The Mercedes of George Russell momentarily sat on pole before the trio set their second lap times. Like Suzuka, Verstappen set a new track record with his qualifying time of 1:27.294, taking the title from himself last year, improving almost 2 tenths of a second from his pole last year in the RB20. His performance this year came as a surprise after trailing the McLarens by half a second across Free Practices. "I felt immediately more confident when I headed into qualifying," Verstappen said in the post-qualifying press conference. "We made some minor changes to the car, but they were clearly big enough to feel, and I think that's a bit, the story of our car. It can be really hit and miss. When we get it right, I think it's competitive, of course. But, yeah, when we don't get it right, it's a lot more difficult. But all of qualifying went well. Around here, I think it's always important to have quite a bit of rhythm. So, naturally, you do quite a lot of laps. Also, the tires, luckily, they hold on to do that. Of course, then the red flag in Q3 is not ideal, but everyone has to deal with that. So we opted for that two-lap strategy, and I'm happy that we did that. Just kept me on top of things, and it felt good." You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car Sign in to access your portfolio
