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New York Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- New York Times
Oscar Piastri is chasing a Lewis Hamilton record. Plus: F1 rain debates
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're wondering if it's possible to write a Formula One newsletter with a head cold and not get sidetracked by nostalgic summer memories of a children's backyard toy. I guess we'll see. Achoo. I'm Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let's get to it. A stat snuck up on me this weekend. Oscar Piastri won the Belgian GP. That's not the stat — the stat is that he's finished every grand prix since the 2023 Mexico City GP. That's 41 in a row — the third longest race-finishing streak in F1 history. The only drivers with longer runs of finishing a race are Max Verstappen (43 races in a row, from the 2022 Emilia-Romagna GP to the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP) and Lewis Hamilton (48 races in a row, from the 2018 British GP to the 2020 Bahrain GP). You know, the last two guys to win the F1 drivers' title. Hey, wait a minute. Piastri leads the drivers' championship right now. Over the last 10 years, how many drivers' champions were in the middle of a 30-plus race-finishing streak when they won the title? Seven of the last 10 champions (70 percent!) had a live 30‑plus finishing streak during their title‑winning year. Some takeaways from this: Not required, but increasingly common. Before the current super‑reliable hybrid era, even 20 straight finishes was impressive. Now, modern tech means front‑running cars can stay untouchable for seasons at a time — as long as they have a talented driver behind the wheel. Advertisement Correlation, not causation. Long streaks tend to appear when a driver-and-car combination is dominant (Hamilton/Rosberg at Mercedes, Verstappen and Red Bull). Still room for exceptions. Verstappen's streak ended at Australia in 2024 due to a brake failure. He won the title by 63 points. Hamilton's run ended in 2020 because he contracted Covid-19 and missed the following race and won the title by 124 points. If you have outright speed, you can survive the odd zero. So what does this mean for Piastri? A mega‑streak isn't strictly necessary to become an F1 champion, but in the current era, it's becoming a very common hallmark of a championship campaign. Let's treat it as an early warning sign that Piastri is on his way to something. By the way, if you're wondering: Lando Norris' longest streak of race finishes in F1 is 34 — ended a month ago in Canada, when he (as we put it) self-destructed. Now let's head down to the paddock, where Madeline has discovered a miserable mistake from Haas… A few different things went wrong for Haas on race day. Ollie Bearman had to manage an engine issue for the entire grand prix, losing three positions from it, the rookie said. The problem left him struggling to overtake, despite the car having competitive pace throughout the weekend to that point. On top of that, his setup did impact his race as well. 'He had lots of pace with the downforce level he had, he was really happy with the car, and he had so much confidence,' team principal Ayao Komatsu said in the team's post-race recap. 'We knew, however, if you have that setup and you're in traffic, you're not going to overtake, which is unfortunately exactly what happened.' The team also pitted both Bearman and Esteban Ocon a bit late, a lap too late for the rookie and two laps late for the Frenchman, Ocon said. And this is where matters got worse for Ocon. He pitted on Lap 13 out of 44, and the team fitted him with a used set of tires despite a fresh set waiting. Advertisement 'On Esteban's side, we had an operational error and the pit stop timing wasn't right,' Komatsu said in the team's post-race recap. 'The speed is there, though; I think we may have the fifth-fastest car out there, which is amazing and hats off to the team who delivered it, but we just failed to execute. 'We have one more race before the shutdown, so we need to focus on the basics, and if we do that extremely well, I honestly have no doubt that we can score with both cars.' Sunday's race at Spa dragged out for about an hour as intermittent downpours turned Eau Rouge into a Slip 'N Slide. (Side-note: The Slip 'N Slide folks were geniuses. Take two items most American families have — a tarp, a hose — and just… sell it back to them.) (Side-note to the side-note: I just read that the inventor of Slip 'N Slide made it when he saw his son sliding on concrete. So add Slip 'N Slide to the long list of inventions created to save kids from themselves. Outlet covers, kids' scissors and Slip 'N Slides… I forgot what I was talking about. Oh, right —) The delay inconvenienced a few teams (such as Red Bull) who thought we'd get more wet-weather racing than we did, and tailored their setups accordingly. Verstappen was among those who lamented the lost chances for genuine wet-weather wheel-to-wheel action in exchange for cautious procession laps. But, as Madeline reminds us, safety's no joke at a venue with Spa's dark legacy: Changes made over the years prompted F1's return in the 1980s, but in recent years, the Eau Rouge and Raidillon section (Turns 2 through 4) has become a topic of concern. Anthoine Hubert died in 2019 following a multi-car crash that started at Raidillon during a F2 race. In a Formula Regional European Championship race that took place in wet conditions in 2023, Dilano van 't Hoff died after an accident between Raidillon and the Kemmel Straight. So it shouldn't be too surprising that race control took great care with the start of the race. But, as Verstappen suggests, are we losing something essential by limiting the wet-weather racing? Check out Madeline's piece for more on the post-Spa debate. No Outside the Points today because I'm sick and would like a nap. But I will leave you with a final thought on Spa. Piastri's first lap (OK, it was the fifth lap because of the rain delay), race-winning pass on Norris was terrific. Another one of those 'Looks Easier on TV' moments — especially because he set it up by following one car length back through Eau Rouge, one of the most iconic (and deadliest) turns in F1. He and Norris are going at least 174 mph (280 km/h) there. On a wet track. Here's another angle of Eau Rouge, taken from an onboard camera on Charles Leclerc's car. That's rocket-ship stuff. We take what these guys do for granted. No wonder Piastri said he was trying to 'be as brave as I dared' through Eau Rouge on that winning move. I loved what Luke Smith said about Piastri on Sunday: that 'these are the moments that will prove decisive' in the title fight. (Read his full story here!) They're also the moments that truly set us apart from the drivers who make them — and why we tune in every weekend. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters. Top photo:
Daily Mirror
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Lando Norris made feelings clear at British GP as Lewis Hamilton questioned him
Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris will be doing battle at Silverstone yet again, one year after the now Ferrari driver questioned the McLaren ace following his victory for Mercedes Much has changed since Lewis Hamilton questioned Lando Norris' decision-making at last year's British Grand Prix. July 2024 was a historic occasion for Hamilton, as he shocked the F1 world by roaring to victory at Silverstone for the ninth time. It was Hamilton's first GP triumph since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. While the story of the wet and rainy weekend was centred around the seven-time F1 world champion, Norris' decision to turn down new medium ties and persist with his soft tires was also a huge talking point. While Hamilton held onto his lead to win the GP, Max Verstappen managed to overtake the McLaren ace and take P2. After the race, Norris held his hands up and said that he made the wrong decision. To make matters worse, Hamilton approached his fellow Brit and told him to his face that he made the wrong choice. While in the cooldown room, Hamilton asked: "[Were] you on soft as well?" When Norris confirmed that he was, Hamilton replied: "But you had two new mediums," before adding: "Yeah, you could have gone to the medium. A new medium would have been faster probably.' In the final stint of the race when the track was getting drier, Verstappen chose to use hard tires. At the time, Hamilton and Norris were both using softs, except the McLaren ace could have moved onto mediums. While Hamilton was able to persevere and hold onto first position, Norris' tires were no match for Verstappen's extra pace and acceleration, something the McLaren ace publicly admitted at the end of the GP. He said: "That crucial decision at the end he just did a better job. Hats off to him and Mercedes so they deserve it. It was tough. It was enjoyable, it was fun battling these guys. "These tricky conditions are always on a knife edge and you're risking a lot. So many things good, but a few too many let-downs today and as a team I don't think we quite did the job we should have done, or good enough, but still lovely to be on the podium here at Silverstone. "I'm not making the right decisions. I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it, I hate ending in this position and ever having excuses for not doing a good enough job. We'll come back stronger here next year and try again." Norris will have the opportunity to avenge this disappointment at Silverstone. He will be one of the favourites heading into the British GP. At present, the Bristolian is close on the coat tails of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who has a 15-point lead. With Verstappen trailing the Brit by 46-points, this year's battle appears to be a two-horse race. However, a confident Hamilton may be eyeing his favourite GP as an opportunity to not only get onto the podium on a Sunday GP for the first time at Ferrari, but to also win it. At the Austrian GP, Hamilton finished fourth, his joint-best GP finish with the Scuderia. Hamilton was confident speaking to reporters on the eve of the action at Silverstone. The 40-year-old said: "I'm just hoping for a strong weekend. I've not had a podium yet, this would be a really special place in order to have that so I'm really counting on the amazing support we have here to hopefully make the difference."
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The Verstappen problem that F1 fails to acknowledge
For years, the Formula 1 paddock has been praising Max Verstappen – and rightfully so. Everyone is aware of his glorious achievements and his remarkable record. The Red Bull driver keeps amazing crowds with his talent – utterly dominating seasons, grabbing pole positions when his car shouldn't be in contention, winning races as a dark horse, or making unlikely overtaking moves stick. Verstappen's racecraft is exceptional. Just look at the way he snatched the lead from Oscar Piastri at the start of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – few drivers actually are able to achieve such a masterful move. It was audacious, confident, precise, clever – exactly the skills the Dutchman can use to get what he wants. Advertisement The thing is, there's a dark side to Verstappen. He doesn't even really conceal it, but many in the media, his team and his fanbase pretend not to be aware of it – or just ignore it. This dark side emerged again on Sunday under intense pressure. After his team asked him to let George Russell through in the Spanish GP, Verstappen slowed down until the Mercedes driver was alongside him, then reaccelerated to hit the Silver Arrow. No honest person can truthfully believe this was anything but deliberate; there is no doubt about it, no possible nuance. Yet, the stewards handled it by handing Verstappen a similar penalty to those given to good-faith racers accidentally causing collisions. A single occurrence of such a foul move is already a problem but could be forgiven; after all, Sebastian Vettel did cross a line when he intentionally collided with Lewis Hamilton in Baku in 2017, which led to a 10-second stop-go penalty. But this isn't the first time we've witnessed Verstappen's unsportsmanlike driving. Verstappen brake-tested Hamilton in a tense Saudi Arabian GP in 2021 – an uncouth attempt at taking his title rival out of the race – and repeatedly runs his rivals off the track, like Hamilton in the 2021 Brazilian GP or Lando Norris in the 2024 Mexico race. He doesn't mind losing places in the process, as long as his opponent loses more. Advertisement The governing bodies have undeniably failed to address how frequent and intentional Verstappen's behavior is, and they won't even connect the dots to call a spade 'a spade' – to call a deliberate move 'a deliberate move'. Whether they're ignoring it on purpose or through thoughtlessness, nobody knows. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images The stewards' decision regarding the clash with Russell at Barcelona left much unsaid: 'The driver of Car 1 was clearly unhappy with his team's request to give the position back. At the approach to Turn 5, Car 1 significantly reduced its speed thereby appearing to allow Car 63 to overtake. However, after Car 63 got ahead of Car 1 at the entry of Turn 5, Car 1 suddenly accelerated and collided with Car 63. Advertisement 'The collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of Car 1.' It is standard terminology – though somewhat comical in this context – for stewards to refer to the 'car' instead of the driver, but that's besides the point: they decided not to draw the logical conclusion from their reasoning. Everything in Verstappen's driving shows he intended to hit Russell, so he should have been disciplined taking into account how serious such an act is in racing. One week prior, in Monaco, stewards established that Russell had 'deliberately' cut the chicane – which is unsportsmanlike but much less dangerous – and they had no qualms about cracking down on the Mercedes driver with a drive-through penalty instead of the usual five or 10 seconds. At Barcelona, the situation was crystal-clear, yet Verstappen got a standard penalty, more lenient than Russell's in Monaco. Well, not completely standard as he got three penalty points on his licence instead of two. Go figure. Advertisement Verstappen has always been an extremely polarizing character, ever since his high-profile F1 debut at just 17 years of age. Many believe – or pretend to – that's just due to his elbows-out racing style, viewed as a logical symptom of his hunger for victory. However, his actions often go far beyond 'hard but fair', and he obviously stands by them given the way he usually speaks post-race. Some will be keen to deem the Spanish GP incident a mere instance of briefly losing composure, yet it just adds to all previous episodes, when Verstappen didn't get the penalties he deserved. Surely the four-time world champion, who naturally is an extremely confident athlete, is aware – more or less consciously – that when he acts this way, he never loses out. Read Also: Why is it so difficult for F1 drivers to say they're sorry? When anger and desperation take over: F1's most controversial clashes Advertisement Penalties on a case-by-case basis have never solved the problem, as his senseless Barcelona move shows. Verstappen brilliantly makes the most of the system's grey areas when he deems it necessary or feels disrespected, taking things way beyond the limits. This is not about whether a move was completed with four wheels off the track, if a driver moved under braking or who was ahead at the apex. This is about colliding on purpose – unsportsmanlike behavior onboard 800kg cars reaching 200mph. The Verstappen problem is a serious one, and the governing bodies must now diligently address it. To read more articles visit our website.
IOL News
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- IOL News
Pressure mounts for Ferrari's Hamilton and Leclerc to deliver at Imola
Lewis Hamilton British driver Lewis Hamilton has battled at Ferrari. Photo: AFP Image: AFP While 18-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli is excited about experiencing his first home race, Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc must be dreading the fear of disappointing their home crowd. Imola is one of two home races on the calendar for Ferrari, next to Monza, and obviously attracts a sea of red supporters and with it, added pressure to deliver. A level of pressure that's already been brewing to the surface since the start of the season, especially for Hamilton, who was touted as the Tifosi's next messiah. But its been a shaky start for Hamilton, with a Sprint win in China the highest accolade he's earned at Ferrari this season. Leclerc, on the other hand, pulled off a decent drive at the Saudi Arabian GP to take the first podium for Ferrari this season in P3. Points and performance have been sorely lacking under Fred Vasseur's reign this season, with no hope in sight. Besides the performance aspects of Ferrari, their strategies and communication on the track this season have been questionable, at the very least. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ With the European segment of the F1 calendar kicking off this Sunday at Imola, Hamilton doesn't know what to expect out of the SF-25 but hoping to get a podium finish. 'I have no idea; I don't know what to expect. That's obviously what we're working towards, but it's not something I expect this weekend. 'If you've seen our past races, the positions we've been in, we start the weekend really optimistic and then (there's) the realisation of our true pace. I don't know what the pace is going to be like this weekend. 'I'm hoping we're able to extract more from the car, and that's what we've been working towards these past two weeks. To get a good result, to get finally on the podium for Ferrari, that would be a first for me,' the seven-time world champion said. Hamilton said he's trying to treat this race like any other, but suspects the overwhelming crowds of red will change things as the weekend progresses. 'Of course, when I see the Tifosi, when I see people in the crowds, it probably will become more of a realisation that they're actually looking at me this time as opposed to me out in a different car,' he added. Leclerc, on the other hand, is under the weather for the home race, and missed his media duties on Thursday, but Ferrari confirmed he will be back in the paddock on Friday. 'Charles is feeling unwell and will not be coming to the track today. He will rest and focus on recovering and we expect him to be in the car tomorrow,' Ferrari told a F1 publication. Ferrari find themselves competing with Max Verstappen for fourth place on the constructor standings, given the fact that Red Bull do not have a second driver that is able to keep up. Ferrari are just 11 points behind Red Bull on the Constructors' standings, and depending on how both teams' cars act up this weekend, there is likely to be a shift within the lower top order. Mercedes are comfortable in second place, while McLaren are lightyears ahead of the rest of the pack when it comes to the Constructors. Leclerc has put up a decent fight with the SF-25, and is fifth with 55 championship points, while Hamilton still finds his feet on 41 points.
Daily Mail
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Oscar Piastri improves to a big odds-on favourite to win the Drivers' Championship following his Miami GP victory - while his teammate Lando Norris is next at 15/8
Oscar Piastri strengthened his lead atop the Formula One driver standings with a win at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday. It marked Piastri's fourth win of the season in six starts - with the Australian also securing victories at the Chinese GP, Bahrain GP and Saudi Arabian GP. As a result, at the time of writing - Piastri leads the standings on 131 points, while his McLaren teammate Lando Norris is in second on 115 points. With the above in mind - it shouldn't come as a surprise that Piastri and Norris are the best-backed to be crowned champion this season, with the pair priced at 8/13 and 15/8 respectively. Meanwhile, four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen is third in the market at a boosted price of 10/1. Verstappen is currently third in the standings on 99 points with a win and three podium finishes to date this season. Lastly, for those after an outsider - George Russell and Kimi Antonelli round out the five favourites in the market at 33/1 and 50/1 respectively. Sky Bet favourites to win the 2025 Drivers' Championship: Oscar Piastri 8/13 Lando Norris 15/8 Max Verstappen WAS 8/1 NOW 10/1 George Russell 33/1 Kimi Antonelli 50/1
