Category: Motor Sports

• Session marred by driver mishaps, rain and six red flags

• McLaren drivers make big errors in marathon session

Misjudgment and error left Formula One’s leading lights flailing on the streets of Baku, but Max Verstappen delivered pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the control and precision execution that was a salutary reminder of the mental strength that backs his undoubted talent.

Verstappen took the top spot after a dramatic and chaotic session on the testing street circuit, interrupted by a record six red-flag stoppages due to crashes. It concluded with a grid turned upside down and the two world championship rivals, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, left languishing in seventh and ninth.

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In his first interview since replacing Christian Horner, the Frenchman says his aim is simply to give Max Verstappen the fastest car on the F1 grid

Reaching the pinnacle of any sport might be considered a moment to savour and reflect. To luxuriate even, in the contentment so sparingly yielded at the highest level. None of which, strikingly, is the case for Laurent Mekies, the new team principal of Red Bull, who concedes only to an overwhelming, almost Sisyphean, commitment to moving ever forward, ever upward.

“There is no such thing as having made it, you always feel you are surviving,” he says. “You always feel that you should have done more yesterday, more a week ago. To step up next week, next month. You never feel you made it – never, never, never.”

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• Piastri says drivers not team will decide outcome of title

• Comments follow controversial swap by McLaren

Oscar Piastri has insisted that he and his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, are in control of their own destiny as they fight for the Formula One world championship after the pair were involved in a highly controversial swap imposed by the team at the Italian Grand Prix.

Given the pair are in a two-horse race for the title, the question of team orders playing a potentially decisive role loomed large after Monza. Max Verstappen won the race but McLaren’s decision to have Piastri return second place to Norris, after the British driver lost the position due to a slow pit stop caused by a faulty wheel gun, was contentious.

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Returning from the summer break and with 10 races to go, there are plenty of targets remaining across the paddock besides McLaren’s shootout

Revitalised after the summer break, 10 races remain between this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix and the finale in Abu Dhabi in December – and it will be Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris going head to head for the title.

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Forty years ago, the 25-year-old Brazilian produced possibly the finest drive of his career, and it’s still vivid in the mind of his mechanic Chris Dinnage

As debut victories in Formula One go, few come close to the masterclass delivered by Ayrton Senna for Lotus at the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1985. A drive which still stands 40 years later as one of the defining moments of the Brazilian’s extraordinary career, not least when witnessed first-hand by No 1 mechanic in Estoril, Chris Dinnage.

“It was an exceptional performance by a gifted racing driver who had one mission and that was to win, to be the best,” says Dinnage. “I think there’s very few races since where you could say someone had such a command of what they were doing.”

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Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have set up a potentially thrilling title race, Gabriel Bortoleto is one to watch, and Lewis Hamilton needs time off

Oscar Piastri Leading the world championship and has earned his place at the top. He has not only been quick in the best car on the grid, but consistent and calm. This has not been the stuff of fireworks, but relentless precision. His execution and attitude have no little of the Alain Prost about them and he is shaping up to be a similarly formidable opponent as The Professor.

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• Dutch driver had been linked with move away

• George Russell said to have received Mercedes contract

Max Verstappen has acted to stop speculation about his future by stating he will be driving for Red Bull in 2026, ending rumours that have swirled around the world champion for several months concerning a switch to Mercedes next season.

However, he did not confirm he would then see out the rest of his contract with Red Bull that extends until 2028.

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• ‘A shame for everyone,’ Red Bull driver insists

• George Russell says FIA ‘made the right call’

Max Verstappen condemned as unne­ces­sary the FIA decision to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix because of adverse weather conditions, but his view was countered by George ­Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, who insisted any other call from the ­governing body would have been “stupidity” given the conditions and the dan­gerous nature of the Spa‑Francorchamps circuit.

The start was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes after rain swept into Spa just before the race. The FIA opted not to proceed after one formation lap because the visibility given the spray from the cars was so poor. The circuit is enormously fast and challenging and can be dangerous even in good conditions. There have been two fatalities in recent years, Anthoine Hubert in 2019 and Dilano van ’t Hoff in 2023.

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A daring, decisive move by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri saw him overtake pole-sitter Lando Norris on the first lap of racing

“I loved days like this,” Brundle tells Jenson Button when asked if he would like to be out there racing in the rain. “It was a chance of nicking a few points.”

Lando Norris has always maintained confidence in his abilities even as the season has ebbed and flowed, a point he felt he made definitively in claiming pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix. While Norris soared Lewis Hamilton was left bereft, offering only apologies to his team for an “unacceptable” error that left him languishing in 16th place here.

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Bringing in a new team principal when developing a car for 2026 regulations might not be to world champion’s liking

Even as the reverberations from the shock sacking of Christian Horner as team principal of Red Bull are still being felt across Formula One and their thunderous echo remains, whether all this sound and fury will have been quite enough to keep Max Verstappen at the team remains a moot point.

When it was announced on Wednesday that Horner had been released from his post as team principal and chief executive of Red Bull after 20 years in charge and enormous success, pivotal to the decision was seemingly the desire to prevent the four-time world champion from being tempted away. Horner’s removal a price the parent company was willing to pay.

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• Leaked clip shows team principal announcing departure

• Horner marks ‘incredible journey’ with Instagram post

Christian Horner was reduced to tears when he announced to his Red Bull staff that his two-decade spell as team principal had been terminated.

The 51-year-old was removed from his role by the British-based Formula One team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, on Tuesday. Horner travelled to the team’s Milton Keynes campus on Wednesday to deliver the bombshell news to a stunned 1,500-strong workforce at 10am.

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