McLaren is ahead of Red Bull in the Formula 1 constructors' race. Now for Lando Norris to put pressure on Max Verstappen for the drivers' title. ()
Oscar Piastri's win last week at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix put McLaren top in the teams' standings 바카라 the key to F1's lavish prize money 바카라 but teammate Norris only took a small bite out of Verstappen's lead.
After starting 15th, Norris passed Verstappen late in the race to finish fourth, but the Dutch driver still leads by 59 points heading into the Singapore Grand Prix.
The talk in F1 this week has focused on McLaren's seemingly flexible rear wing, which might help at high speed. Piastri said Thursday it's legal and isn't a 바카라magic bullet바카라 for their recent success.
F1 looks wide open right now with Ferrari and Mercedes both fighting for wins. McLaren will still have to battle hard even if Red Bull isn't on the pace at a track where Verstappen has never won.
Piastri is the on-form driver in recent races, but in only his second season, he's heading into a late-season swing of tracks like Singapore that he doesn't know well. The Australian confirmed Thursday he'll still help out Norris' title challenge where he can.
"There's still going to be some tough races in the latter part of the year on tracks that I've only been to once," Piastri said. 바카라I feel like I'm improving a lot as I go through my career, but I'm certainly not the finished product yet.바카라
Red Bull's bumpy ride
Singapore was the only track where Red Bull didn't win last year. The team couldn't find a competitive setup and Verstappen was far off the pace all weekend as Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. took the victory.
Red Bull left Azerbaijan with some optimism that it's fixed at least some of the balance problems introduced by its attempts to upgrade the car this season. Verstappen 바카라 now without a win in seven races 바카라 wasn't happy with the car in Baku but emphasized it was a mistaken setup choice, not the underlying performance.
Singapore is slower than Baku and a trickier track for Red Bull, though.
바카라Our car generally is not very good on bumps and curbs and that's of course what you have around here, so we need to try to stabilize that a bit,바카라 Verstappen said Thursday in Singapore.
Street circuits tend to suit Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez, who was fast in Baku in search of a podium finish since April. Colliding with Sainz meant all those efforts were for nothing, though.
After Singapore, Red Bull and its second team RB are expected to choose whether to keep Daniel Ricciardo at RB or recall Liam Lawson instead. Ricciardo said 바카라decisions will be made바카라 before the next race in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 20.
Hamilton's criticism
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem's plans to crack down on drivers swearing has sparked the latest dispute between drivers and the governing body.
The way Ben Sulayem expressed that 바카라 drawing an unflattering comparison with 바카라rap music바카라 바카라 drew criticism from seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, F1's only Black driver. There was a 바카라racial element바카라 to Ben Sulayem's 바카라stereotypical바카라 language, he said.
While Hamilton said he thought there probably was too much swearing in F1, Verstappen argued TV should be more responsible about which radio excerpts get aired. 바카라That will help a lot more than putting bans on drivers,바카라 he said.
Sweating it out
The heat and humidity of Singapore's street circuit make it one of the toughest races of the year for drivers. Even their water can get so hot it's hard to drink.
Mercedes driver George Russell said he started special training during the mid-season break a month ago, going for a run in three layers of clothes to simulate racing in fireproof overalls in the Singapore heat.
바카라We lose almost four kilograms (8 pounds, 13 ounces) of fluids in in an hour-and-a-half race, so it's a pretty good weight loss program if that's what you're chasing," Russell said Thursday.
