Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nOscar Piastri speaks with journalists in the paddock. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n
Norris, who needs only to out-score Piastri and defending four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull by two points to win the title this weekend, made light of the pressures of expectation and the Dutchman\u2019s fightback.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve treated him as a threat the whole year even when he was a few more points behind,\u201d he said of Verstappen, who was 104 points behind in the title race at the end of August, but is now level with Piastri — 24 behind Norris.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe treat him as a threat because we know what he\u2019s capable of, we know what Red Bull is capable of — so therefore nothing changes now because he\u2019s still the threat he\u2019s always been through the whole year.\u201d <\/p>\n
Norris conceded that his disqualification in Las Vegas had hurt, but said he and the team had dealt with it and moved on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all felt let down by the result and we were all disappointed, but actually I found it was quite easy to move on and have a few days off — and then come into this weekend,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Norris is favourite to win the drivers\u2019 championship. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)Source: AP<\/p>\n
MERCEDES STAR CALLS OUT F1\u2019S \u2018MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR\u2019 PROBLEM<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Mercedes driver George Russell called on the \u201cmulti-billion-dollar\u201d F1 to stop relying on volunteer stewards, suggesting in an ideal world they would be replaced by full-time paid officials. <\/p>\n
Russell\u2019s comments came after Carlos Sainz said on Friday that TV broadcasters Jolyon Palmer, Anthony Davidson and Karun Chandhok were correct in their assessment on controversial incidents \u201c90 per cent\u201d of the time.<\/p>\n
While Sainz was not necessarily singling out those three for the role, he was broadly arguing that if full-time stewards were installed it would make sense for them to also be former drivers who can draw on their experience when making decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I see the analysis that they do and the verdict that they give from racing drivers that have been racing recently, I think they do very good analysis, and they put the blame correctly most of the time on who actually has the blame, or if it\u2019s actually just a racing incident,\u201d Sainz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy future ideal is no guidelines and people that are able to judge these sort of incidents as well as these three people that I just mentioned do, after the races.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell, on the other hand, while agreeing that the F1 could benefit from having paid stewards, provided a different perspective when told Sainz\u2019s opinion on the matter.<\/p>\n
Oscar on start: “Barged out of the way” | 01:56<\/p>\n
\u201cI respect those three that he (Sainz) mentioned from an analysis perspective and I think they do get things absolutely spot on,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe benefit they have versus the stewards is they\u2019ve got: one, no pressure; two, they\u2019ve got time on their hands not to make a decision there in the moment; and three, they\u2019re not following guidelines. They\u2019re following their own view of racing experience and knowledge, which, for what it\u2019s worth, I think the stewards have, but their job isn\u2019t to make a decision based upon their view.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the guidelines aren\u2019t correct, the decisions wouldn\u2019t be correct, but you can\u2019t have a guideline for every circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you can\u2019t have a guideline for every circumstance. So it goes back to this point where I think consistent stewarding from individuals who\u2019ve got that racing experience, who can see an incident for what it is, is where we will get the most consistent penalties for a given incident. And that\u2019s where the likes of Anthony, Jolyon and Karun have that benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of who is making the calls, Russell argued that for a \u201cmulti-billion-dollar sport\u201d, the F1 should be doing better than putting so much pressure on volunteers to make such big decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s a job. (The F1) is a multi-billion-dollar sport. We shouldn\u2019t be having volunteers having such great power in certain roles,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo somebody\u2019s got to pay for these people, in my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
George Russell gave his take. Clive Rose\/Getty Images\/AFPSource: AFP<\/p>\n
\u2018I WON\u2019T GET INTO THAT\u2019: HAMILTON SHOOTS DOWN MERCEDES QUESTION<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton declared he had no regrets about joining Ferrari this year and dismissed his earlier comments, in which he said he was not looking forward to next year, as having been said in the \u201cheat of frustration\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters at the Lusail International Circuit ahead of this weekend\u2019s Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate event of the year, the 40-year-old seven-time champion admitted it would take him time \u201cto build and grow\u201d at Ferrari.<\/p>\n
He distanced himself from his impetuous comments of recent weeks, when he described his season with Ferrari as \u201ca nightmare\u201d and said he was not looking forward to 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be surprised if the other drivers are excited about next year at the end of a season,\u201d he said. \u201cUsually, you don\u2019t have a lot of energy at the end of the season…<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was in the heat of frustration and often there is a lot of frustration at the end of a race, when it doesn\u2019t go well. I am excited to see what the team does next year.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hamilton had been particularly glum in Las Vegas where, for the first time in his career, he was last in qualifying on pure pace but recovered to finish 10th, promoted to eighth following the disqualification of both McLarens.<\/p>\n
It extended his run of poor form throughout 2025 with Ferrari as he failed to break his unwanted record of going 22 races with the team without scoring a podium finish. He has never completed a season without a podium.<\/p>\n
Verstappen wins Vegas Grand Prix | 01:21<\/p>\n
Asked if he had any regrets about leaving Mercedes, where he won six of his drivers\u2019 titles, to join Ferrari, Hamilton replied: \u201cFirstly, that is a hypothetical question and I won\u2019t really get into that, but I don\u2019t regret the decision I made in joining this team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it takes time to build and grow, within an organisation, and I expected that.\u201d <\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe have a lot of work to do over the winter. We\u2019ll analyse the season and there are lots of improvements we need to make collectively, but no-one is under any illusions in the team.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hamilton is 74 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the drivers\u2019 standings after being out-qualified by the Monegasque 17 times in 22 Grands Prix. Leclerc has also accumulated seven podium finishes.<\/p>\n
Hamilton said he was not concerned by those results.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles has done a great job. He has been here for seven years and he has a team around him who he has worked with for many years so it is a well-oiled machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn my side, it is a new group of people. It is a new environment that I am still getting used to. We are working as hard as we can to get it to work as well as we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo compare it to someone who has had it for seven years, you don\u2019t just do it like that. It takes a bit of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton speaks to media. (Photo by Clive Rose\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
VETERAN\u2019S WARNING OVER SHOCK APPOINTMENT <\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso celebrated the surprise news that technical guru Adrian Newey will be Aston Martin\u2019s team chief next year, and admitted he was just as surprised as the rest of the Formula One paddock by the announcement.<\/p>\n
The two-time world champion said he was given no prior notification of the team\u2019s decision to make Newey team principal in a reshuffle that will see current boss Andy Cowell become chief strategy officer.<\/p>\n
Newey has designed title-winning racing cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull across a career in which he has become widely regarded as the sport\u2019s greatest and most innovative designer.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Qatar ahead of this weekend\u2019s Qatar Grand Prix, Alonso described the move as \u201cgood news\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is great for the team to have Adrian, with all his expertise and knowledge about everything that a team should need to compete at the highest level,\u201d the Spaniard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndy is taking different responsibilities in the area he knows best so it seems like it\u2019s a logical change and I\u2019m happy with that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Alonso spoke to reporters about Newey\u2019s appointment. Alex Bierens de Haan\/Getty Images\/AFPSource: AFP<\/p>\n
The veteran Alonso warned, however, that being team principal meant other demands too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Adrian has all the skills, to be honest, to make a fast car. The role of team principal is a bit different nowadays and you have to deal with other things — media, commitments, sponsors,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope Adrian doesn\u2019t have to do all of those and can concentrate on the more important stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n
For Alonso, Newey\u2019s new role could also act as a magnet for attracting even more talent to Aston Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows how to operate a team and how everyone should focus in one direction so he\u2019s a great leader,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone would like to work with Newey and learn from him. Being our team principal, I\u2019m sure we will have even more people dreaming of joining the team, so that\u2019s good news for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen welcomed McLaren\u2019s decision not to implement team orders in support of Lando Norris ahead of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-312967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/content.foxsports.com.au\/fs\/electrode\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n