Son is not happy, he wanted Piastri to win over Norris but acknowledges that McLaren stuffed that up for him. He would have preferred Verstappen to win over Norris but his girlfriend is a Norris fan so she’s happy.
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So happy for Lando - 2 points was a little close for comfort though!
Looking forward to seeing what the new regs bring next season.
It was an F1 marketing dream yesterday - 3 drivers within striking distance of the championship, Norris in the end winning out ahead of the Verstappen and Piastri.
But I would understand if Oscar feels some bitterness towards McClaren. Although lauding their Papaya rules, there was clear favourtism for Norris, and very unsporting snubbing from the team when he outperformed the UK native.
Will be looking forward to next year when he hopefully drives for a team that will truly have his back…so much potential.
No need for a new thread.
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Ah apologies, feel freel to move it / delete it.
Moved
Clear? Exactly when? Conspiracy theory nonsense by Piastri fans. They nearly handed the title to Max because they refused to favour either driver.
Oscar had a better first half of the season, Lando had a better second half of the season. Swings and roundabouts. In fact last season, McLaren should have favoured Lando, because he was the only one with a chance of catching Max and they refused to do so.
The problem at McLaren is that they have no clear lead driver, most of the other teams have a number 1 and number 2 driver. Piastri and Norris are pretty much equal in terms of driving ability which makes it difficult for the team to manage unless they make a decision over who is lead driver which they haven’t done.
I do think that they were envisioning a Norris win at the start of the season based on last season and were a bit surprised by Piastri’s early results.
There have been a couple of times when I’ve thought they’ve favoured Norris in the later races but it was a risk as they almost handed the championship to Verstappen.
I can see why Piastri would be disappointed but Norris won fair and square.
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I never doubt that Norris won fairly, but their is evidence the crew/team did not openly cheer or support Piastri in some of his later successes. I don’t blame the drivers, I blame McClaren.
Even Oscar’s Dad doesn’t believe McLaren are biased
What evidence? You mean speculation, from people who were not there, drawing conclusions from snippets or candid shots deliberately taken out of context.
There was just one bit in that race that bordered on dodgy, IMO, when Lando was lining up to pass Tsunoda, who weaved (and was judged to have done so and penalised for it) on the straight and forced Lando over the white line. Had that resulted in penalties, or worse, for Lando I think lots of people would have been suggesting it was Yuki’s last attempt to curry favour with his now-ex team.
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A couple of RedBull rumours; word is that (thankfully) Helmut Marko will be leaving. There is also a belief the GP will not be Max’s race engineer next season, which means Max would lose all 4 of his main engineers next season as 3 had already said they were leaving the team (although GP will apparently stay with RedBull in a different role).
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I think this is a really lovely post-championship interview with Lando. Don’t know how some people can hate the guy, he’s a sweetie.
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When I grow up I want to be able to write press releases like this.
He approached me with the wish to end his role. I deeply regret HIS decision…
Mintzlaff added: “Helmut approached me with the wish to end his role as motorsport advisor at the end of the year. I deeply regret his decision, as he has been an influential figure for more than two decades, and his departure marks the end of an extraordinary era.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/helmut-marko-leaving-red-bull-f1-team/10783634/
Haha.
Apparently Marko signed Alex Dunne to the young driver programme against he wishes of Red Bull.
Marko knew that it had already been decided by shareholders, team boss Laurent Mekies and sporting director Mintzlaff that Dunne would not be an option for the junior program. Without anyone knowing it, Marko signed him anyway.
Marko was immediately instructed to terminate the contract and the team reportedly had to fork out a significant fee to get out of the contract.
Stupid really. No one should be paid that much for what they do. It’s obscene.
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I don’t believe that. This website estimates totally different Verstappen edges out Hamilton... in terms of 2025 earnings - Pitpass.com
And, F1 is back for 2026.
Not much happened in Barcelona testing 1st round. 2nd round is happening now in Bahrain. F1 doesn’t allow videos embedded on websites which are not youtube, so click here for test day 1 in Bahrain
I’m just curious at what Audi will do with the lessons learned from developing a F1 engine. We’re on 2026, EVs are cool.
Over the next 2 weeks more info of the new cars will come up. So far, the controversy about engine displacement is awesome. Who cares if this is cheating. Rules are 101% social construct, but the creativity and technology behind is… 
After three days of pre-season testing in the Bahrain desert, there were those who were pleased with their efforts and others left itching to get to the second test to make up for lost ground. Lawrence Barretto picks out his winners and losers from test one…