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"I’M NOT A NUMBER TWO" – OSCAR PIASTRI’S BLUNT WARNING TO MCLAREN MANAGEMENT 2026

After a brutal 2025 title fight, the Norris-Piastri rivalry reaches a breaking point. We analyze the 2026 McLaren driver fallout.

"I’m not a number two" – Oscar Piastri’s blunt warning to McLaren management 2026
Piastri is being treated like Alonso 2.0, and he must leave McLaren

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are sticking together at McLaren for a fourth season in 2026, but things got tense as they battled over the 2025 F1 title.

For the first time, both drivers emerged as genuine title favourites when 2025 began. McLaren nailed their car, and it showed—Norris took the win in Australia, then Piastri racked up five victories in the first nine races.

But in July, McLaren shifted their focus to the 2026 car, and that gave Max Verstappen an opening. He clawed back from being 104 points behind Piastri and 70 behind Norris after 15 rounds. Still, Norris hung on and clinched the drivers’ title by just two points.

All season, you could feel the tension building behind the scenes. People started saying McLaren was favouring Norris, especially after a few team orders in Italy and some questionable strategy calls in Belgium and Hungary that seemed to go his way.

Norris claims his rivalry with Piastri is “as perfect” as the infamous Hamilton-Alonso showdown at McLaren. The outside world kept talking, but Piastri insisted his relationship with Norris was “better than ever”. Norris, though, compared what’s going on now to the fierce fight between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso back in 2007. For anyone who remembers, that partnership crashed and burned—Alonso left after a year, feeling like the team sided with Hamilton.

But Norris says he and Piastri have a rivalry just as good. He even mentioned the first F1 race he ever watched was Hamilton vs. Alonso at McLaren, and he thought it was “as perfect” as what he and Piastri have now. “To watch that, to see Lewis on the podium, the crowd, the energy—I wondered at seven years old what that would feel like,” Norris said while picking up the Autosport Champion award. “Last year, I got to live it. It was one of the most special moments of my life.”

As for Piastri, he’s now Norris’s longest-running teammate—2026 will be their fourth year together. Norris started alongside Carlos Sainz, then spent two years with Daniel Ricciardo before Piastri joined in 2023.

But their future as a duo isn’t guaranteed. There are rumours McLaren’s got an eye on Charles Leclerc at Ferrari in case Piastri decides to walk away after 2026. He’s apparently frustrated after how 2025 played out.

There were a few flashpoints. At Silverstone, Piastri wanted to swap places with Norris, but McLaren ignored him, and after a penalty for a safety car restart, Norris got his first home win. In Hungary, Norris beat Piastri again, this time thanks to a one-stop strategy McLaren let him run.

The biggest controversy came in Italy. McLaren told Piastri to give Norris back second place after an undercut, even though they’d told Norris he’d stay ahead if he let Piastri pit first. Piastri obeyed, but he wasn’t happy about it.

Then there was COTA, where McLaren blamed Piastri for a sprint race crash with Norris, even though earlier they’d punished Norris for banging wheels with Piastri in Singapore. All these decisions added up, and now people are wondering how much longer this pairing will last.

KIM KARDASHIAN AND LEWIS HAMILTON SPOTTED ON ROMANTIC EUROPEAN TOUR TOGETHER

Kim Kardashian and F1 star Lewis Hamilton are turning heads across Europe as insiders reveal Kim's "Russell Wilson" nickname.

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Kim and Lewis Hamilton spark a fly in London and Paris sightings

Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton are the latest celebrity duo making waves, and apparently, Kim’s already got a cheeky nickname for him. The two have been spotted out together in the Cotswolds, London, and Paris, just enjoying themselves and turning a few heads in the process.

Word is, Kim’s close friends are spilling a few details about this new romance. One insider claims Lewis isn’t looking to settle down right now, but Kim still has a special name for him—she calls him “her Russell Wilson”. If you know the reference, it’s a nod to NFL star Russell Wilson, who married singer Ciara after her high-profile breakup with rapper Future. Friends say Kim thinks of Lewis as a “sophisticated upgrade” from her ex, Kanye West.

Kim and Kanye—now legally known as Ye—were married from 2014 to 2021 and share four kids. Their co-parenting relationship is famously complicated.

Kim’s reportedly a bit anxious about how Kanye will react to her new thing with Lewis, considering Kanye and Lewis were friends back in the day. One source told the Mail, “They’re both cautious about Kanye’s feelings since he and Lewis go way back. Kim’s living for herself these days, but she doesn’t want to poke the bear. They know this could set Kanye off, so they’re keeping it light and just having fun for now.”

Kim and Lewis first crossed paths years ago at GQ’s 2014 Men of the Year Awards. Back then, they both showed up with their now-exes—Kim was with Ye, and Lewis was with Nicole Scherzinger.

Kanye even had Lewis over for Easter one year. He talked about it: “Lewis Hamilton’s over at my house, and we’re playing some music in my studio. We’re having Easter brunch—my wife’s family, my friends, everyone’s there. And everybody’s like, ‘What is this music?’ and I’m like, ‘It’s Lewis Hamilton’s music.’”

Since splitting from Ye, Kim’s dated Pete Davidson and moved on. Kanye’s remarried, too—this time to Australian architect Bianca Censori.

Those two have been in the headlines a lot, usually for their wild fashion choices. Things got especially wild when Bianca showed up at the Grammy Awards in a see-through gown. She arrived in a black fur coat but ditched it to reveal a sheer dress that left little to the imagination. People at the event were definitely stunned.

FERRARI SF-26 COMPLETES 121 LAPS IN HISTORIC LEWIS HAMILTON-LECLERC BARCELONA DEBUT

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc completed a "productive" 121-lap debut for the Ferrari SF-26 during 2026 testing in Barcelona.

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Lewis Hamilton delivers first verdict on Ferrari SF-26 after "challenging" rain

Ferrari kicked off its on-track work for the 2026 Formula One season with a steady first day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc split driving duties in the team’s bold new car, and the whole thing felt like the start of a new chapter.

With the 2026 rules shaking up both the chassis and the power unit, Ferrari didn’t chase lap times. They zeroed in on checking systems, making sure their data lined up, and ironing out any reliability kinks. The weather threw a few curveballs—rain, some dry patches—but even so, they got through their plan and stacked up plenty of laps.

Leclerc seemed upbeat after his first taste of the new machine. He said it felt good to get back behind the wheel and start figuring out the car, even if the focus was just on systems and not raw speed. “We came here to understand how everything works,” he said. “With the weather mixed up, today was all about checks. We finished what we set out to do, and the car did what we expected. It’s a solid start and a decent base.”

Hamilton, now officially in Ferrari red, felt the same. For him, it was a busy day—lots of on-track time, plenty of new things to get used to—but he called it productive. “We got good mileage, learnt a lot, and didn’t hit any big issues. That’s what matters with so many changes coming in. This gives us a strong platform for the next few days.”

Ferrari’s Head of Track Engineering, Matteo Togninalli, stressed how important it was just to get through the day cleanly. “Given the conditions, it went well for us,” he said. Rain or not, they racked up the laps and—most importantly—avoided any real reliability problems. That’s the top priority when you’re shaking down a brand-new car and engine.

Performance talk? Still way too early for that. Right now, Ferrari’s just learning how this new car behaves, gathering data, and building up bit by bit as the days go on—keeping their focus squarely on themselves.

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