WHY CARLOS SAINZ THINKS OSCAR PIASTRI SHOCKED LANDO NORRIS DURING THE 2025 SEASON
Lando Norris is the 2025 F1 World Champion! Explore how he overcame Oscar Piastri’s challenge and Carlos Sainz’s shock verdict.
Okay, here's a rewrite of that F1 article:
Most of the recent F1 season saw Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battling it out for their first world title.
In the end, Lando Norris clinched it in Abu Dhabi. His third-place finish at Yas Marina was enough to secure the championship.
Oscar Piastri ended up in third place overall.
The Aussie was leading the championship for 15 out of 24 race weekends, but a string of unfortunate mistakes later in the season messed up Piastri's title hopes.
Still, Piastri's season had many good points. He snagged seven wins, six poles, and 16 podiums in only his third year in F1 and surprised everyone, even his teammate at McLaren.
Carlos Sainz thinks Lando Norris was surprised by how well Oscar Piastri did in 2025.
During Williams' last Team Torque podcast for 2025, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz chatted about different stuff from Sainz's first season with the Williams team.
Of course, the drivers' championship came up, and Sainz said he was happy for his old teammate's first title, saying, I'm honestly happy for him. I think he must have had a tough year up here.
His year got off to a rough start. I think it's the first time he seemed surprised by how good Oscar was. He had a potential championship-winning ride and needed to make the most of it.
I remember after Canada when he and Oscar bumped, and it was his fault. I remember seeing him, and he didn’t look too happy.
But it shows it's not about how you start; it's about how you finish. And he got over those problems well.
He had a great second part of the season to get the job done because, in the end, the car was good enough, and he made the most of it.
Sainz and Norris are good friends from when they were teammates. Sainz had said before that Norris told him about his biggest problem at McLaren during the tough title fight.
Alex Albon was also impressed with Lando Norris during the 2025 F1 season.
Albon is close to Norris, too, from their time moving up the racing ladder together.
They both started in F1 in 2019, and Albon said he was impressed with Norris' title-winning season this year.
He said, I think it was a really impressive year for him, just in terms of, I think that people don’t understand—mentally, he’s also strong, kind of in how he came back into the mid part of the season.
And then there were a lot of things that didn’t go their way. Vegas, Zandvoort. But still, he had a really strong second half of the season. I think he proved himself to a lot of people.
Sainz said, More than strong, he just kept doing his best. He’s a great Formula 1 driver. Maybe better than people think.
If you look at his last three years, since McLaren got more competitive, he’s been really quick in both qualifying and the race.
It was just the start of the year that made people doubt whether this year’s car suited him or something. It looked tricky at first, but then they got over those problems.
FERRARI ALERT: FRED VASSEUR ABANDONS TWENTY-TWENTY-FIVE TO FIX ENGINE FOR TWENTY-TWENTY-SIX RULES
Fred Vasseur admits Ferrari’s 2025 was a failure. With Lewis Hamilton scoreless on podiums, all eyes are on the 2026 engine reset.
Team boss Fred Vasseur says Ferrari's 2025 season wasn't good after neither Charles Leclerc nor Lewis Hamilton won a single race.
Vasseur thought 2025 might be the year Ferrari finally brought the F1 title back home, after what feels like forever. They haven't won the driver's title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, and their last constructor's title was in 2008.
Vasseur felt good because Ferrari ended the 2024 season just 14 points away from winning their 17th constructors' title. But he soon knew how far behind McLaren they were, and he gave up in April to concentrate on the 2026 rules.
Vasseur stopped developing the 2025 car in April to put wind tunnel time into the new rules instead of aero upgrades. But this choice led to Hamilton's worst season in his 19-year career, during his first year with Ferrari.
Fred Vasseur keeps telling Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton that 'everything' is new for 2026. Hamilton didn't even get a single podium, which hasn't happened before in his career. The 40-year-old also scored his fewest points since F1 started the current scoring system in 2010, ending up with only 156 points and sixth place.
Leclerc only got 242 points, finishing fifth, marking his fourth season without a win in seven years with Ferrari. But though Vasseur admits 2025 wasn't good, he keeps saying that everything will be different in 2026.
"The message at the end of the year, and I think we agree on this, is that we all know the season wasn't good," Vasseur told Sky Italy.
We've had time to talk about why. But the thing is, 2026 is going to be totally different. New chassis, engine, battery, fuel, and tyres—everything's new.
Ferrari had a rough time in 2025 after changing their suspension for the SF-25, which caused ride height problems all year. So, they're going back to push-rod suspension on both ends for 2026, admitting that switching to pull-rods was a mistake.
But the biggest change in the 2026 rules is expected to be the engine rules, which will increase the electrical part of the power from 20% to 50%. F1 is also getting rid of the MGU-H and switching to 100% sustainable fuels.
Many people think Mercedes will have the best engine for 2026, which could see them back at the front. But, there are worries about Ferrari's engine for 2026, and they're rushing to fix things.
Now, people are saying that Ferrari is worried Mercedes has found something in the 2026 engine rules that could let them burn fuel faster. Audi and Honda also have the same worry.
EXPERT ANALYSIS: RED BULL PROMOTES ISACK HADJAR AS MAX VERSTAPPEN DOUBTS TEAM STRATEGY FOR 2026
Max Verstappen remains vocal over Liam Lawson’s exit as Isack Hadjar is confirmed for Red Bull’s "cursed" second seat in 2026.
Max Verstappen is still not happy about Liam Lawson getting benched so quickly. Also, people are saying Red Bull has a big choice to make about who drives their second car. Here's the latest:
Verstappen Unhappy with Lawson Decision
After Sergio Perez left, Lawson became Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull. But after only two race weekends, he was out.
Lawson went back to Racing Bulls for the Japanese GP. Verstappen wasn't thrilled then, and he's still not happy about it now.
Red Bull's Second Car Problem
Ever since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018, Red Bull hasn't found a driver who can reliably do well in the second car.
Yuki Tsunoda struggled after replacing Lawson. Then he became a test/reserve driver after the 2025 season. Isack Hadjar is up next.
Karun Chandhok, a former F1 driver and now an analyst for Sky, thinks Red Bull has a big choice to make. If they want to win both titles again, Chandhok says they need a second car that can actually compete.
Ferrari's Big Signing a Mistake?
Ferrari tried to get Adrian Newey, a key guy from Verstappen and Red Bull's success, but he picked Aston Martin instead.
Ferrari did sign Lewis Hamilton, but the seven-time world champion didn't do so great in 2025.
Did Ferrari pick the wrong F1 star? Riccardo Patrese, who won six races, wasn't saying much when asked about it.
Williams Shows Off 2026 Test Colours
Williams is the first team to show what their cars will look like for the first F1 2026 pre-season test.
With new rules for cars and engines, the new cars will be on the track for the first time in January for a private test in Barcelona.
The Williams FW48 will have its Flow State colours.
Mercedes Shares Sound of 2026 Engine
Mercedes did what Honda did and put the sound of their new engine on social media.
People are very curious about the Mercedes engine because it will be in the McLaren, Williams, and Alpine cars, plus the Mercedes team cars.