Lando Norris insists nothing has changed in title fight after Vegas shambles
Lando Norris has insisted nothing has changed in terms of his focus on sealing his first Formula One world championship after both he and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a result that catapulted Red Bull’s Max Verstappen back into contention for the title.McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, has denied the team took “excessive risks” with their car in Las Vegas.The race in Nevada last weekend was won by Verstappen but Norris took a strong second and Piastri fourth.However, four hours afterwards, following an investigation by the FIA, both were disqualified after the skid blocks on the floor of their cars were found to have been worn down below the 9mm limit defined in the rules.Verstappen had been 49 points behind Norris going into the meeting but with Norris and Piastri stripped of their points he is now only 24 behind, the same deficit as Piastri, as the season enters its penultimate round in Qatar.
Norris can still close out the title here but maintained he felt no extra pressure from Verstappen’s proximity in the title race.“We’ve treated him as a threat the whole year even when he was a few more points behind,” he said.“We treat him as a threat because we know what he’s capable of, we know what Red Bull is capable of, so therefore nothing changes now because he’s still the threat he’s always been through the whole year.“There’s no point in trying to treat it any differently because we’ve been doing a good job and I’m very happy with the job we’ve all been doing.We know what areas we need to do better, we know what things we need to improve on.
I don’t feel like I had a bad weekend last weekend or we had a bad result, so that’s a good thing.”Norris’s chances did take a blow in Las Vegas, however.But for the miscalculation, he would have come to Qatar with a 30-point lead over Piastri and 42 over Verstappen, giving him a much greater chance to seal the title and he admitted it had been a blow.“Of course it hurts,” he said.“There’s a lot of effort that goes into every weekend from everyone, including myself, and it certainly made all that effort feel like it disappeared very quickly.
But it’s the same feeling for all of us, the mechanics, the engineers, myself, everyone in McLaren feels let down by what we had as a result,“We’re all disappointed but actually I found it quite easy just to move on and have a few days off and come to this weekend,”Piastri expressed similar feelings but was unequivocal that as things stood he would not make any sacrifices to help Norris in a fight with Verstappen, when asked if he would be prepared to help his teammate,“We’ve had a very brief discussion on it and the answer is no,” he said,“I’m still equal on points with Max and I’ve got a decent shot of still winning it if things go my way, so that’s how we’ll play it.
”Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionWith a 24-point lead over his two rivals and 58 on the table with a sprint race this weekend, to clinch it here Norris must outscore them both by two points regardless of where he finishes or by one point if he wins the race on Sunday.Reacting at length for the first time since Las Vegas, Stella said he did not believe the team had pushed too close to the limit with the ride height of the cars – a factor in improving performance but at the risk of excessive wear to the skid blocks – but that the unexpected bouncing, known as porpoising, of the cars had taken the team by surprise from the very start of the race.“Based on the data we had acquired in practice, we do not believe we took excessive risks in terms of ride height and we also added a safety margin for qualifying and the race, compared to practice, in terms of clearance to the ground,” he said.“The specific cause that led to the situation was the unexpected occurrence of extensive porpoising, inducing large vertical oscillations of the car,” said the Italian.“The level of porpoising was exacerbated by the conditions in which the car operated during the race, and it was not anticipated based on what we had seen in practice and based on the predictions of the car operating window in the race.
”
Is Farage right to claim that racism allegations are response to a dislike of his politics?
Nigel Farage has again denied allegations of racism as a schoolboy and repeated his claim that some had been concocted because people disliked his politics.During a press conference, he snapped at one reporter who asked about the issue, saying: “I think we’ve gone quite a long way towards answering all this, don’t you?”Farage, who prides himself on answering numerous questions at press conferences, took 10 this time, but did not include any from the Guardian.So what did he say – and is it true?The claim: Farage said the director Peter Ettedgui is the “one person that said I directly abused him”.He added: “One person says they were hurt, and if they feel they were hurt, then I’m genuinely sorry. But I never, ever, ever would have said or done anything like that directly to a human being
OBR’s leak was the only leak Reeves wasn’t responsible for in pre-budget shambles
Just maybe Rachel Reeves had a cunning plan all along. Most budgets have a tendency to be moderately well received on the day, only to fall apart when the economist wonks have had a chance to go through the small print 24 hours later. Rachel has tried a rather different approach. The budget of dialectics. Her mission has been to get her budget to fall apart in the weeks and months before she delivered it
Starmer calls on Farage to apologise to his alleged victims of racial abuse at school
Keir Starmer has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to his school contemporaries who claim the Reform leader racially abused them while at Dulwich College.The Guardian reported last week the testimony of Peter Ettedgui, who said a 13-year-old Farage “would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Starmer said: “[Farage’s] explanation in recent days in relation to the stories about what he may have said in the past is unconvincing to say the least.“He says he never engaged with racism with intent. ‘With intent’
Racism claims against Nigel Farage are no surprise to us | Letters
I was at a private boys’ school similar to Dulwich College, at the same time as Nigel Farage. I was also in the combined cadet force. The sorts of racist behaviour described in your article were normal (‘Deeply shocking’: Nigel Farage faces fresh claims of racism and antisemitism at school, 18 November).As the child of a refugee from the Nazis, I chose not only to ignore but even to join in with some of the antisemitism, much to my shame these days. It is striking that, with the exception of Chloe Deakin, teachers at the time seem to have viewed Farage’s behaviour as more like “high spirits” or “naughtiness”
Hereditary peers aren’t out of touch with the realities of the job market | Letter
You claim that “out-of-touch” hereditary peers in the House of Lords are blocking Angela Rayner’s controversial employment bill, which is spreading fear and anxiety throughout British business and choking the job prospects of young people in particular (‘Out of touch’ hereditary peers criticised for voting against workers’ rights, 18 November).Yet who really is out of touch with the realities of the job market? Cabinet members – none of whom has had a serious job in business? Or those you deride, many of whom have vast experience in setting up and running businesses, large and small. Unemployment has hit 5%, 1.7 million people are now on unemployment benefits, and the government’s own analysis has shown this bill will cost businesses £5,000m a year.The Lords’ stand is backed by the Federation of Small Businesses, the CBI, the Institute of Directors, Make UK, Care England and many more, including that old Guardian pin-up, Sir Tony Blair
Reeves freezes fuel duty for now as she confirms 3p-a-mile electric vehicle charge
Fuel duty will be frozen again, but only for five months until September 2026, the chancellor has announced, as she confirmed a new 3p-a-mile charge for electric cars from 2028.Rachel Reeves will freeze fuel duty in April at 52.95p a litre for petrol and diesel – a 16th successive year without a rise – but the so-called “temporary” 5p cut introduced by Rishi Sunak will be reversed in stages from September.Raising fuel duty has become politically contentious since the first freeze announced by the coalition government in 2010, but the eventual rise will help maintain a differential in running costs to encourage the transition to electric cars when the new mileage-based levy on EVs takes effect from 2028-29. Fuel duty in effect costs about 6p a mile on average for cars
AFLW clubs’ lack of ambition laid bare by 2025 grand final deja vu | Jack Snape
Geraint Thomas lands new Ineos role as struggling team make major reshuffle
The Super Bowl Shuffle at 40: how a goofy rap classic boosted the Bears’ title run
England plan extra training sessions in wake of howling first Ashes Test defeat
Molly McCann: ‘I’m a scouse female gay athlete who supports Everton – it’s like my cards are marked already’
Players warned not to sign IPL-style Hundred deals in standoff with owners