Latest news with #AustriaGP
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'Making love to his exhaust' – Christian Horner baffled by McLaren's Austrian GP stamina
Christian Horner admits he is baffled by the way McLaren is mastering F1's technical regulations this season to prevent extreme tyre wear at hot tracks like Austria. The Red Bull boss watched as his team's 77-race point-scoring streak was ended after Max Verstappen crashed out and Yuki Tsunoda finished last in the Austrian Grand Prix. The race was won by McLaren's Lando Norris, who was pushed to the line by his team-mate Oscar Piastri, who now as a 15-point lead in the drivers' standings. Advertisement After the race, Horner admitted that he could not get his head around how McLaren was able to produce a car that can run so close behind another without suffering damage to its tyres. 'What's truly impressive, and for me I can't see any other team being able to do it, is when you look at how close Oscar is able to run behind Lando with a car fat on fuel at the beginning of the race,' Horner said. 'He's basically making love to his fucking exhaust pipe for lap after lap after lap, and the tyres are not dying. I mean, that to me is, you know, that is their advantage. Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing 'They've managed to create a car that really protects its tyres very well and obviously has a good balance. I can't see any other car that would be able to follow that closely and not grain the front tyres or the rear tyres. I don't really understand.' Advertisement Horner was left reflecting on a miserable weekend at the Red Bull Ring after watching on as Verstappen was wiped out by Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the opening lap of the race. 'Well, that was a home race to forget,' he added. 'We got unlucky [in qualifying], that then puts us in a position where you're in the crash zone, and Kimi just lost it in spectacular fashion up at Turn 3. 'Max was basically through the corner and getting back on the power, and just got wiped out, so, an unfortunate mistake by Kimi, he's apologised to Max, but, you know, for us it killed our afternoon.' Read Also: F1 Austrian GP: Lando Norris leads Oscar Piastri in dominant McLaren 1-2 Kimi Antonelli handed British GP grid drop for crash with Max Verstappen in Austria To read more articles visit our website.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Automotive
- News.com.au
Lando Norris pips Oscar Piastri in Austria F1 practice as pair renew rivalry after Canadian GP clash
Lando Norris bounced back from his Canadian catastrophe with his customary smile on Friday after topping the times ahead of teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri as McLaren reeled off a solid 1-2 in practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. As the paddock digested news that Mercedes had held talks about possibly signing Max Verstappen from Red Bull alongside George Russell in 2026 Norris clocked a best lap in one minute and 4.580 seconds to beat Piastri by 0.157 seconds. Four-time champion Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, adrift by 0.318 seconds. For Norris, who sat out the first session at the Red Bull Ring, it was a relief to move on from his collision with teammate Piastri in Montreal where he retired pointless, admitting he had 'made a fool of myself'. 'I didn't mind sitting on the pit wall,' he said, with a grin, referring to missing the morning session. 'I actually felt a lot more relaxed there than in the car, especially here. 'I've always enjoyed this track. The car felt good right from the start. Alex (Dunne, reserve driver) gave solid feedback this morning after FP1 and was on pace straight away, which was encouraging to see.' Norris added that he was pleased with the development of the car with McLaren's latest upgrades. 'They definitely moved the car in the right direction for FP2,' he said. 'Now, we just need to figure out if we want more of that tomorrow, less, or somewhere in between. 'So, it's a good step forward, but hopefully there's still a bit more to come.' McLaren came to the Styrian Alps with three performance-based updates including aerodynamic revisions of the front and rear of the car and suspension. Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title race, said he was satisfied with his first day in the car. 'It looked pretty good,' he said. 'Max is still close, so I think he'll definitely be a threat this weekend, but the car's feeling good. I think the pace is quite good, so a positive first day.' He added that both he and Norris had 'all the parts that we think will make the car faster' on their cars. Verstappen, who took his time to improve through the sessions, said: 'We didn't have any big issues. 'We lack a bit of pace and had too much understeer, both on the short and the long run. So that is something we have to try to get rid of.' Lance Stroll was fourth for Aston Martin ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, George Russell of Mercedes, who won last year and two weeks ago in Canada, and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull. Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth for Sauber ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, struggling in his updated Ferrari. Norris added: 'We've shown a bit more pace than some others, so I certainly think they're going to catch up. Max is not far behind and they normally improve a lot on Saturday. 'So I expect a good day tomorrow (Saturday) and I'm sure we'll improve on some things, but it's not as easy as maybe it looked. 'I think it's still going to be tight tomorrow – it always is. There's no reason for it not to be, but we'll work hard to make it as big of a gap as possible.' Hamilton struggles again Lewis Hamilton's difficult start to life at Ferrari continued on Friday as he was handed a warning by the race stewards after winding up 10th in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps. Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line. Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him. After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning – the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice. It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned. 'The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action,' said the stewards in a statement.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
F1 Austrian Grand Prix, FP1: latest practice updates
It would be an exaggeration to say that Lando Norris's season hinges on the result in Austria this weekend. Whatever happens, we will still be less than halfway through this marathon, 24-race campaign. And as things stand he only trails his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by 22 points in the championship. Less than a race win. But if ever Norris needed a morale-boosting weekend, it is now. The British driver joked on Thursday that he had 'almost forgotten' about his calamitous, race-ending crash into the back of Piastri in Montreal last time out until reminded of it by journalists on his arrival in Spielberg. But he was fooling no one. Nor in fairness did he attempt to. Truthful as ever, Norris went on to confess that it had been 'a tough couple of days' for him in the wake of that race.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Max Verstappen heads into Red Bull's home race with upgrades and growing uncertainty
Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring is usually a recipe for success. The defending Formula 1 champion has an upgraded car for his team's home race in Austria — where he's won five times — on the back of an encouraging second place in Canada, where his two McLaren rivals collided. Zoom out, though, and the situation is much more uncertain. Verstappen remains at risk of a one-race ban for too many penalty points, Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda is usually too far adrift to help him, and Verstappen's own future is far from clear. 'I don't think we need to talk about that,' Verstappen said Thursday when asked to confirm whether he'll stay with the team for 2026. 'It's not really in my mind. It's just driving and trying to push the performance, you know. And then we focus on next year.' What are Verstappen's options? Verstappen has a long-term contract through 2028, so in theory his Red Bull seat should be one of the safest on the grid. However, the deal has performance-related clauses which could reportedly allow a move. In that case, the most obvious option could be Mercedes, which has yet to confirm either driver for 2026. That would mean Verstappen teaming up with an old foe in Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who'd also have to choose to drop either George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Dramatic changes to how F1 cars look and perform are coming in 2026, and Red Bull has to adapt more than most. For the first time in nearly two decades, it heads into a new era of F1 rules without design guru Adrian Newey, who left last year and is now at Aston Martin. The other leading teams are sticking with their current engine arrangements, but not Red Bull. The team has an in-house engine developer, Red Bull Powertrains, but it's switching partners for 2026 from Honda to newcomer Ford. The second seat No team in F1 depends as much on one driver as Red Bull does on Verstappen. He's scored 155 of the team's 162 points this season. His teammates — first Liam Lawson, then Yuki Tsunoda — have struggled all season. That's helped to restore the reputation of Sergio Perez, who was dropped by Red Bull after scoring barely one-third of Verstappen's points last season. 'I know, deep down, they really regret it,' Perez said on a podcast this week. 'And I know that from a very reliable source. It's tough. I have very good friends there, and people might think I take pleasure in what happened, but no.' Red Bull's car seems to favor Verstappen's driving style over anyone else's, but the Dutch driver says he can't diagnose the issue because he's been with the team since 2016 and has nothing else to compare it with. 'The thing is that I don't know any better, right?' he said Thursday. 'I mean, I've basically started with Red bull, so I only know one car and that's how I drive. I adapt to it. Is it the best? Is it the fastest? Is it not? I don't know.' ___ AP Sports Writer Tales Azzoni in Madrid contributed to this report. ___ AP auto racing:
