StadiumPosts Logo
Stay upto date with notifications from Stadiumposts
Notifications can be managed in browser preferences

FOCUS LOST: LANDO NORRIS RADIO MESSAGE DESTROYED HIS LAS VEGAS GP

Lando Norris's title hopes were hit by Max Verstappen's pre-race mind games in Las Vegas, revealed by tense radio messages with his McLaren engineer.

Focus Lost: Lando Norris Radio Message Destroyed His Las Vegas GP
One Message Killed His Vegas GP Title Hopes

Lando Norris's hopes for the title took a hit at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. His radio messages to the McLaren pit crew before the race started show how much pressure he was feeling.

McLaren's double disqualification meant Lando Norris's lead over rival Max Verstappen got smaller.

The Dutch driver is now only 24 points behind, and with two races left, anything can still happen.

Norris started in the first position and had a good start into the first turn, but he went too wide, letting Verstappen grab the lead.

The champion kept the lead for the whole race, getting the most points possible.

Max Verstappen messed with Lando Norris's head before things even got going.

You might think Norris just made a mistake, but his radio messages to the team suggest Verstappen was playing mind games.

Norris was upset on the way to the starting grid because his rival seemed to be taking his time getting into position.

Norris quickly told his race engineer, William Joseph, about his annoyance, saying, He's taking the [censored] with how big a gap he's leaving! It's way too big.

Joseph said they were aware, but Norris added, Come on! He's just messing around here. You can't do this! It's two car lengths, right?

Verstappen's relaxed approach probably affected Norris's start.

Norris tried to block Verstappen and missed his braking point, ending up in third place.

McLaren said one thing over the radio that didn't help Lando Norris catch Max Verstappen.

Later, after Norris got past Russell and had clear space to Verstappen, his engineer told him he might be able to catch up and win the race.

Norris tried to go faster, but Verstappen had been told about the message and put his foot down.

On a podcast, journalist Erik van Haren and former F1 driver Christijan Albers talked about what happened. Albers said the McLaren pit crew made a mistake.

Norris passed Russell on the hard tyres and had good pace, said van Haren. Then he heard from his engineer that he could catch Verstappen.

Verstappen's engineer told him what was happening. Right away, he increased his lead. Afterwards, he said that gave him extra motivation.

Albers added, I thought, don't jinx it. What's the point of saying that? You can say, 'Your distance is this; you're in a rhythm; you can catch up.'

But he said it would be easy. I thought, That's risky; he's going to fight back.

And that's what happened. It was a bad move.

OSCAR PIASTRI BREAKS SILENCE ON "STRESSFUL" BATTLE WITH VERSTAPPEN AND NORRIS

Oscar Piastri reflects on leading the 2025 F1 title race for 15 rounds and reveals the "streamlined" McLaren rules for 2026.

top-news
Oscar Piastri Confirms Major Strategy Changes At McLaren

Oscar Piastri didn’t leave Abu Dhabi as a Formula 1 world champion, but he’s still looking at 2025 with a sense of optimism.

For most of the season, Piastri led the drivers’ championship. He looked set for glory until a string of mistakes tripped him up—right when Lando Norris hit his stride. It stung, sure, but let’s not forget: this was only Piastri’s third season in F1. He’s already got nine Grand Prix wins, and he’s still learning compared to some of the veterans.

Everyone expects Piastri to snag a title at some point in his career. 2025 just wasn’t his year. Even so, he managed to soak up the experience and actually enjoy the fight.

He talked about it on The Fast and The Curious podcast. They asked if he enjoyed the 2025 season, even with all the pressure from battling Norris and Verstappen for the title.

“Yeah, I did,” he said. “Winning is usually more fun than losing, obviously, but the whole experience was pretty great.”

Piastri spent 15 weekends at the top of the standings during that marathon 24-race season. He didn’t get the championship, but he still found moments to savour.

There was pressure, of course. “Fighting for a championship comes with a lot of stress,” he said. “But I remember walking into the press conference in Abu Dhabi—just seeing the line of photographers and journalists waiting to get in. That was a cool moment. It felt like I was part of F1 history. There were definitely times I could enjoy it, even right as it was happening. That mattered a lot to me.”

As for McLaren, Piastri hasn’t been shy about what he thinks needs to change. Some people think that the way the team managed their two drivers left him a bit uncertain in the garage, which ultimately cost him.

He told F1.com that he’s already talked with Zak Brown and Andrea Stella over the winter break about what to fix.

“As soon as the season ended, we all knew there were things we could do better,” he said. “Yeah, we had a great year, but we didn’t nail everything. It was important for all of us to be clear about what we want to change going forward. We’ve had some good talks about how to make that happen and what it’ll actually look like.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA REUNITED WITH 2004 BRAZILIAN GP WINNING WILLIAMS FW26

Juan Pablo Montoya reveals the $200,000 cost to restore his Williams FW26 as F1 car ownership trends among legends like Ocon and Button.

top-news
Juan Pablo Montoya Bought His Old Williams F1 Car

Juan Pablo Montoya spent most of his Formula 1 career racing for Williams. They pulled him straight out of American racing and signed him for the 2001 season.

It worked out pretty well. Montoya won four races in 68 starts, even though Michael Schumacher and Ferrari were dominating back then. He still managed to finish in the top three of the championship in both 2002 and 2003.

Montoya’s name sits high in Williams’ record books. He’s in their top five for podiums (23) and pole positions (11).

He left Williams at the end of 2004 and joined McLaren for two seasons. After that, he headed back to the U.S. to race in NASCAR.

Now, Montoya faces a pretty hefty bill if he wants to relive his Williams days. On his AS Colombia podcast, he said he bought the Williams FW26—the car he drove to victory in the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix, his last race for the team.

But owning the car and actually driving it are two different things. The car ran a BMW engine back in the day, but right now, it’s just an empty shell—no engine at all.

Montoya’s 50 now, but he was still racing as recently as 2023. He’s got plans to get the car running and take it out for a few laps soon.

He’s not sugarcoating it—getting the car back on track will cost him close to $200,000 (£147,000) if he wants to do serious mileage.

“The car is missing an engine,” Montoya said. “We were supposed to put one in this year, but we haven’t even done a single lap.

“To be honest, I’ve got so many other things going on. The idea is to take it for a few laps.

“If you want, you can chip in and give it a try yourself! If you want to do 40 laps in that car, it’ll end up costing about $150,000 to $200,000 in total.

“One day on track will run you $80,000 to $100,000, and all the parts and extras are another $100,000.”

Montoya’s not the only F1 driver who owns a piece of his old racing history.

In 2024, Esteban Ocon got his hands on the Alpine car he took to victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix—still his only F1 win. Ocon, who’s now moved to Haas, actually had a contract clause that let him keep the car.

Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning Renaults from 2005 and 2006 are on display in his museum in Spain.

Jenson Button also owned his 2009 Brawn—the car that won him the title—but he sold it at auction last year for a whopping £2.8 million.

Premier League Standings

WhatsApp Read More News