Verstappen: It's really p***ing me off!
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News.com.au
18 hours ago
- News.com.au
Lando Norris contradicts Oscar Piastri over Max Verstappen call
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have had one of the cleanest and most cordial world title scraps in a long time, but there are some things where the F1 championship contenders are divided. Heading into this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, Piastri made the blunt statement all fans have thought for a long time — that the 2025 drivers' championship is now a head-to-head battle between the McLaren pair. However, Norris on Thursday voiced his disagreement to the idea that four-time world champ Max Verstappen is out of contention. The Red Bull ace, who on Friday morning announced he will stay with the energy drink operation through to the end of the 2026 series, has also all-but waived the white flag. Verstappen has fallen 81 points behind series leader Piastri. Red Bull are in a state of flux, after sacking their team principal Christian Horner this month and replacing the Briton with Laurent Mekies, the boss of their 'B' team Racing Bulls. Despite this, Norris says a line can't be put through the Dutch driver's name yet. As reported by Racing News 365, Norris said he wouldn't rule Verstappen out. 'It's never impossible,' Norris said. 'We proved that last year, but he's quite a long way back.' The British racer went on to say: 'We have a team that's a lot more stable and performing a lot better than Red Bull is, but Max is still, quite easily, one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1. 'So, as a driver, I wouldn't rule him out, but we have a better car, we have a better team, so I have my confidence in them that we can, we can stay ahead.' Piastri earlier called it like he saw it. 'I suppose so,' he said when asked if it was a 'two-horse' race for the title, per 'I think every weekend now, or the last few weekends anyway, it's been Lando and I. 'I expect our competition to still be strong and put up a good fight, especially at certain tracks through the rest of the year, but whether that comes from Max or Ferrari or Mercedes or someone else, maybe, we never really know. 'So, I'm not too concerned about what happens in that. I'm just trying to win each race and extend the lead. 'But I think clearly Lando and I are in the same car, which is the best, and he's naturally going to be the closest competition.' McLaren boss Zak Brown this week insisted the team won't be playing favourites and that the championship race will be a 'coin toss' between his two drivers. Piastri has had the upper hand on Norris for the majority of the season, having won six of the first 13 races. The 24-year-old from Melbourne holds a 16-point advantage over his 25-year-old teammate. With McLaren on track to secure their first drivers' championship since 2008, Brown is leaving the championship door open and refusing to back just one of the two. 'I think Oscar was a little disappointed with qualifying in Belgium. Lando was very happy. I'm sure he'll be a little bummed that he didn't win today, but it's coming off two wins. I think it's going to be a coin toss every weekend,' he told Sky Sport following the Belgian Grand Prix. 'Oscar is a machine. And what's impressive is how aggressive he is, and yet he always brings the car home. That's quite a talent.' Brown also said Verstappen could not be ruled out yet. Red Bull is reportedly running an upgraded package this weekend. 'I think it's too early. It's looking good, but Max … there's a lot of racing left to go. We've got a nice gap, but I wouldn't say we're there,' he said. 'We've all been around this sport too long. To start dancing before you're in the end zone is a very dangerous thing to do.'
Herald Sun
18 hours ago
- Herald Sun
First drive: New Lamborghini Temerario hybrid supercar stuns
It's a big deal, 300km/h. The trees and grandstands lining Portugal's ultra-fast Estoril Grand Prix circuit are a colourful blur, and my Lamborghini Temerario's dash is displaying silly numbers. Really? 10,000rpm? That's race car revs. And my triple-ton speed matches what Senna, Schumacher and Mansell saw when F1 last came to Estoril in the Nineties. These are lunatic levels, and my brain's fizzing. In Italian, Temerario means 'fearless'. This baby supercar may be, but its driver absolutely is not: a tight second-gear corner looms and we're at plane crash speeds. Fortunately, mercifully, somebody's fitted carbon brake rotors the size of Tasmania. The launch of a new Lamborghini is special news in car enthusiast world. Not the unobtanium 'Limited Series' models (only 20 from the mega yacht set enjoy them), but the proper production ones you'll find in every Lambo showroom. MORE: Wild new Lambo arrives in Australia Enter Temerario – the pricier, more powerful and faster replacement for the much- loved V10 Huracan, bowing out as Lamborghini's best ever selling supercar. Prepare yourself, all 'Rario numbers are big. Its 4.0L twin-turbo V8 alone packs 588kW and 730Nm, then three electric motors boast a total system output of 676kW. Yep, this thing's a self-charging or plug-in hybrid, with amusing all-electric range of 9km. Sexier, it'll reach 343km/h, with the first hundred popping up in 2.7 seconds – hypercar territory, despite weighing a not svelte 1690kg dry. Dropping anchor awakens ten (count 'em) piston calipers gripping heat-resistant 410mm discs. Rear wheels are ludicrously large at 21-inches, wrapped in grip-giving 325/30 (that's fat) tyres, with semi-slicks a cost option. I asked the man at Bridgestone – who'd helped bespoke develop these tyres for the Temerario – the cost of a replacement set, since we'd be smoking some in drift mode later. A friendly Italian shrug and 'confidential for now,' was his smiling response. If you have to ask the price …. Ah. As for that. A basic Temerario costs $613,885 before on-roads. For track fans, a lightweight Alleggerita Package adds $85,000 – think carbon interior, body and underside bits, larger rear wing, and much improved aero efficiency and downforce. But why stop there? Carbon wheels are yours for $48,650, and rest assured, myriad further options will quickly lighten your crypto wallet. Perhaps it was the Portuguese sun or last night's vinho tinto, but after track driving the Temerario for a day, the price never felt outrageous, despite being some $150k above the outgoing Huracan. MORE: '25 years jail': warning over parking hack Basically, for the price of a crappy unit in Paramatta or Collingwood, you could have what is unequivocally a styling and engineering masterclass. Deep diving the mechanicals, electricals and clever tech is mind-bending, so I'll report on how it translates to driving at one of Europe's fastest tracks. The hypersonic launch control, corner sucking and mad braking g-force feels like someone's trying to harvest your internal organs. But you're enjoying it. The V8's maximum power is found at 9000rpm, so you must leave the gorgeous carbon fibre paddle shifters alone – just let it sing to the redline. A solo electric motor integrated in the mid-mounted V8's housing instantly gets the acceleration party started while the turbos awaken, so there's zero break in performance delivery. It's blindingly, furiously, addictively fast. Two e-motors on the front axle handle torque vectoring and traction, which in plain English means this all-wheel-drive Lambo tucks you into a corner apex with supernatural, Verstappen-like precision. Sport mode brings a playful rear-wheel-drive feel, and easy-in, fast-out cornering allows grin-bringing skids. Overcook things and a billion electric brains and the wizard-like front end tidies up the driver's talent gaps. MORE: Musk signs $25bn AI deal with tech giant But Temerario's greatest trick, despite the complexity, it how easy and approachable it is to drive mega fast. In Corsa (race) mode it's ever sharper, pointier, and ready for lap records with an indicated 300km/h chaser. You can option GT racing-like telemetry (through an app) to nerd out on performance graphs, while three cameras film your exploits, including an 'emotion' one recording occupants' reactions. Great to show the rellies after Christmas lunch. MORE: 'Like Tinder': Huge problem with Aussie cars But wait. This all comes at a cost, and it's raw, emotional noise. The lack of. Our Temerario doesn't sound in any way bad, giving race car and race bike flavours when tickling 10,000rpm. Lambo's problem is what came before – the soul-tingling non-turbo V10 in the retiring Huracan. But the change had to come. We're adrift in fantasy land thinking the V10 could survive with modern emissions regulations. We lament its passing, but must soldier on. Now, Lamborghini's used electrification to its performance advantage and delivered superbly and supremely. Ferrari and McLaren may do some head scratching. And if it's your bag, you can silently, electrically pootle through town or off your driveway with a simple 'EV' button twist. Saving the planet one supercar at a time … The fighter jet-inspired cockpit doesn't even feel too cramped, seats are comfy and screen size shows constraint over ostentatious. But boy, even an F1 driver would get lost in the sea of steering wheel buttons and dials. After track heroics, the final ace is enjoying the part-beauty, part-beefcake but unmistakenly Lamborghini styling. Hints of classic Countach coat its shark nose, as does leaving the rear tyres' girth on full display from behind. A masterstroke. VERDICT 4.5/5 Breathtaking to behold, bewildering mega performance on track. Endlessly thrilling, despite death of the soulful V10. LAMBORGHINI TEMERARIO VITALS PRICE: About $670,000 drive-away ENGINE: 4.0L V8 twin-turbo petrol (588kW/730Nm) with three electric motors (220kW). EV RANGE: Approx. 9km WARRANTY/SERVICE: 3yrs/u'ltd kms, five years free servicing SAFETY: Driver and passenger front and side airbags, active lane departure warning, front and rear sensors and cameras, auto emergency braking ECONOMY: 14L/100km (with discharged battery) SPARE: Repair kit CARGO: 112L Originally published as Review: Lamborghini's Temerario hybrid supercar
News.com.au
21 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘F***': Teen star furious after winning gold medal
Summer McIntosh's furious reaction to winning gold at the World Aquatics Championships on Thursday night has dropped the jaws of swimming commentators around the globe. The 18-year-old sensation set a personal best on her way to recording the second-quickest time in the history of the 200m butterfly to take another gold medal, but it wasn't enough to satisfy her. It was the Canadian's third gold medal at the Singapore meet. McIntosh touched the wall in 2min 01.99sec, just failing to beat the world mark of 2:01.81 set by China's Liu Zige in 2009. As soon as Mcintosh saw the time next to her name appear on the big screen, she looked ready to throttle someone. The three-time Olympic gold medallist was visibly fuming and said 'f***' four times before finally exiting the pool. You can watch her furious reaction in the video player above Despite her best ever swim in the 200m butterfly, McIntosh looked devastated as she hung her head in her hands leaning on the side ropes. It was only when she heard fans in the crowd cheering for her that a smile finally appeared. The dominant win kept McIntosh on course to join retired great Michael Phelps as the only swimmers to win five individual titles at a single world championships. It's why her angry reaction on Friday stunned many. 'That's the biggest reaction we've ever seen from Summer McIntosh,' Aussie icon Ian Thorpe said in commentary on Channel 9 before McIntosh dropped another F-bomb. 'And that was as well. We can see the disappointment.' Aussie legend Ariarne Titmus said: 'I think she was absolutely going for that record. 'She should be stoked. She's the only other swimmer other than the world record holder to go under that 2mins 2sec mark. She was oh so close. I think she's forgetting that she's still won three from three world championship gold medals'. Swimming GOAT Phelps was also watching on and posted on Instagram: 'It'll come Summer McIntosh. Love the reaction after'. Leading Canadian sport journalist Devin Heroux posted on X from pool deck: 'Summer McIntosh is fuming. 'She just told me she's never felt that good in a final in her career. And she was so close to the WR. 'She told me she took one extra breath in the last metres and that was the difference. She is hungry for more. And told me she wants the 800m badly. 'I've never seen Summer McIntosh so disappointed and at the same time motivated after a race. 'My goodness she wanted that world record badly. That. Close. She'll be thinking about it for a while.' Sports broadcaster Ben Seiner posted: 'There aren't many athletes out there who would be pissed to win a World Championships gold, but Summer McIntosh was today'. Swimming commentator Bromine Zaddy posted: '2:01.99 is INSANE. Summer McIntosh is such a superstar it's almost dumbfounding. Just missed the WR… I'd be swearing too'. She still has two more individual events to add to her medal haul, including an 800m showdown with swimming GOAT Katie Ledecky in one of the blockbuster events of the entire meet. Ledecky is a four-time Olympic gold medallist and the world record holder in the 800m freestyle, but McIntosh clocked the third-fastest time ever last month. American Regan Smith was second in 2:04.99, with Australia's Elizabeth Dekkers third in 2:06.12. Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi was narrowly fourth in 2:06.43. McIntosh, the 200m butterfly Olympic champion, has already won the 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley in Singapore. 'My coach and I, our big goal was to break that world record and that was what we were training for,' said McIntosh. 'To see that I missed it by that little — overall really happy with the time and PB (personal best), but I did not reach my goal tonight.' The Canadian said her 200m butterfly performance 'gives me a lot of confidence'. 'Happy with the gold, happy with the win and just going to keep pushing for it,' she said. Aussie phenom shows her class Aussie marvel Mollie O'Callaghan on Thursday night joined Ian Thorpe as Australia's most successful swimmers at world championship-level when she anchored the Aussie team to gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay. It was O'Callaghan's 11th gold medal. Thorpe (11 gold) and Grant Hackett (10) are the only other Aussies to win more than nine world championship gold medals. O'Callaghan has done it at the age of 21. Channel 9 commentators noticed O'Callaghan could barely keep her feet after exiting the pool and celebrating with teammates Lani Pallister, Jamie Perkins and Brittany Castelluzzo as they finished with a time of 7:39.35, ahead of USA in 7:40.01 and China (7:42.99) in third. Pallister gave Australia a narrow lead off the first leg before the US team accelerated through the middle sector and with 250m of the race to go it looked like they would hand Ledecky a decent buffer. But Castelluzzo stormed home to give O'Callaghan a small lead in her final battle with Ledecky. O'Callaghan's gutsy final swim came just 90 minutes after she secured her spot in the 100m freestyle final in winning her semi-final. 'It was pretty rough backing it up after the 100 free … You can't really take it easy in the 100 free,' O'Callaghan said. 'I do it for the team, for the country. I know these girls put their whole work into this. It's a dream to be part of this team and I did it for these girls.' She will start favourite in the 100m freestyle final on Friday night and will likely surpass Thorpe in doing so. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that the Queenslander only turned 21 in April. 'I think she will go far beyond 11,' Thorpe said on Channel 9. He also said of O'Callaghan's 100m freestyle final: 'I look at her and I see the gold medal'. King Kyle stunned in bonkers final David Popovici on Thursday night pulled off the sprint double as he roared to gold in the men's 100m freestyle in a record-breaking time. The Romanian won with a time of 46.51sec, with Jack Alexy of the United States taking silver (46.92) and Australia's Kyle Chalmers bronze (47.17). Popovici also won the 200m free two days earlier. The race was billed as a showdown between Popovici, Alexy and Chalmers, with all three qualifying for the final in fast times. But Popovici took control over the second half of the race, streaking clear of his rivals to surge home in the second-fastest time ever. The final was missing Olympic 100m freestyle champion and world record holder Pan Zhanle, who was eliminated after finishing 10th in the semi-finals. Chalmers, 27, has never broken the 47-second mark and told Channel Nine after the event that he had been 'training hard' and 'desperately wanted to get a 46 out'. 'But to get on the podium is so special,' he added. Chalmers had recorded a time of 47.36 in his semi-final, which was quicker than his 2016 Olympic gold medal effort and silver medal swim at last year's Olympics. He did even better on Thursday night, but it wasn't enough after what Ariarne Titmus described in commentary as an 'unbelievable' swim from Popovici — and Chalmers echoed those sentiments. 'It's incredible. It was the fastest race in history to make it through that final, and I really believe that anyone could have won that race,' he said. 'We obviously didn't even have the world's record holder in that race, so it was amazing. 46.5 is insane. Crazy.' Popovici's time was the second-fastest ever. As pointed out by X profile @InsightLane, Chalmers has now raced in the 100m freestyle six times in global events and has never missed a spot on the podium. Kyle Chalmers has raced the 100m freestyle final in 6 global events (Olympic Games/World Championships) over 9 years. He has never missed the podium. 🥇 2016 OG 🥈2019 WC 🥈2021 OG 🥇 2023 WC 🥈2024 OG 🥉2025 WC #AQUASingapore2025 — InsightLane (@insightlane) July 31, 2025 Dating back to the Rio Olympics in 2016, King Kyle has collected six medals in the event with two gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal That insane medal haul includes the 2021 Games in Tokyo where he was bested by just 0.06 seconds by American Caleb Dressel. Elsewhere, French superstar Leon Marchand was unable to repeat his semi-final world record heroics in the men's 200m medley final but still took home gold with a time of 1:53.68. The 23-year-old Paris Olympics hero wiped more than a second off Ryan Lochte's 2011 mark in Wednesday's semi-finals, setting a new best of 1min 52.69sec. He did not reach the same level in the final but his title-winning time of 1:53.68sec was still the second-fastest of all time. Marchand said he struggled to come down from the adrenaline rush of breaking the record in Singapore.
