Red Bull will be on home soil at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, but Lando Norris is positive about his chances of putting more pressure on world champion Max Verstappen.
Norris has managed six podium finishes and one race victory this season, his maiden F1 win coming in Miami last month.
With 150 points, the McLaren driver now sits second in the drivers' championship standings for the first time in his career, 69 points back of Verstappen.
While Verstappen approaches this weekend – which features the third sprint race of the year – with back-to-back victories in Canada and Spain under his belt, Norris believes McLaren have every chance of pushing him close again.
"We're on a roll and we're doing well," Norris said this week. "I need to tidy up a few little bits and pieces and we'll be on top. I am confident.
"Every weekend we go into now, the car is performing extremely well and we're always there, or thereabouts, within a couple of tenths."
Five of the last six races have seen Verstappen and Norris finish in the top two positions, and the McLaren driver has 10 runner-up finishes since the team introduced transformative upgrades to their car at last year's edition of the Austrian Grand Prix.
With Red Bull heading home after seeing their huge lead over their rivals chipped away in recent weeks, Verstappen expects plenty of thrills and spills.
"It is another sprint race this weekend, which always ends up being a hectic and busy weekend for us," Verstappen said.
"It is really important to nail the set-up of the car straight away and analyse how best we build and improve on our previous races, especially as qualifying is always close here.
"The track lends itself to a lot of overtaking so I'm sure it will be an exciting race.
"The team performed well here last year so hopefully, we can do the fans proud this weekend and bring it home with another win."
This weekend's sprint will be the 15th since the format's introduction, and no driver has more wins (nine), pole positions (seven), fastest laps (seven), podium finishes (13) or points (89) in the sprints than Verstappen.
The Dutchman's four wins in the main race in Spielberg are also an F1 record.
DRIVERS TO WATCH
Lando Norris – McLaren
After two years of near-total dominance, Verstappen finally has a consistent challenger in Norris, who has finished inside the top four at each of his last six races, as many as in his previous 15.
He has already led for a career-high 58 total laps throughout the 2024 season, while his next podium finish will see him match John Watson and go joint-13th in the all-time charts for British drivers, with 20.
Verstappen has not been on pole for any of the last three races, with Norris unable to capitalise when starting at the front of the grid in Barcelona last week. He will be desperate to go one better here.
Sergio Perez – Red Bull
While Verstappen's latest battle with Norris will capture the headlines, Red Bull's home race is also a big one for the Dutchman's team-mate Perez, who is enduring a difficult year.
Perez has finished outside the top five at each of his last four races (two eighth-place places and two retirements). He could find himself outside the top five on five straight outings for the first time since 2021, when he had a miserable five-race run between races in Austria and the Netherlands.
The Mexican, who got a two-year contract extension from the team earlier this month after much speculation regarding his future, needs to be far more consistent, starting here.
With Ferrari 60 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship standings and eating away at that advantage, Christian Horner will be desperate to see Verstappen get some support.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 219 points
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 150
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 148
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 116
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 111
Constructors
1. Red Bull – 330
2. Ferrari – 270
3. McLaren – 237
4. Mercedes – 151
5. Aston Martin – 58
McConnell confident heading into rounds three and four of Nitrocross Championship in Utah
Jamaican racing sensation Fraser McConnell is gearing up for an intense weekend of action as he heads into Rounds three and four of the Nitrocross championship on October 5 & 6 in Utah.
Following a stellar performance at the season’s opening rounds in Richmond, Virginia, McConnell holds second place in the overall standings, just 11 points behind leader Kevin Eriksson.
McConnell’s dominant showing at Richmond Raceway on September 7 & 8 saw him secure a third-place finish in Round 1, followed by a thrilling battle for first in Round 2.
After clinching the top qualifier spot and winning his semi-final, McConnell started the Round 2 final in pole position. Despite taking an early lead, a dramatic half-spin pushed him off his racing line, allowing Eriksson to take the win. McConnell finished second ahead of Viktor Vranckx.
Looking ahead to the Utah rounds, McConnell remains optimistic about his chances.
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend, going back to Utah, the birthplace of Nitrocross,” he shared.
“It all started there with the Nitro World Games in 2018 and 2019, so it's a very special place for everyone involved.”
McConnell also highlighted the challenge of the upcoming track. “Salt Lake is one of the craziest tracks on the calendar, with the biggest gap jump and a lot of demanding corners. It requires high speed from us drivers. I'll just go out there and hit my marks as usual, trying to extract as much as I can from the car while proudly repping Jamaica.”
With back-to-back podium finishes in Rounds 1 and 2, McConnell is confident about continuing his strong run.
“We’re second in the championship with 107 points, and I’m looking forward to continuing that streak this weekend,” he said.
McConnell currently leads defending champion Robin Larsson by four points and is poised to close the gap further in his pursuit of overtaking Eriksson.
McConnell's season is sponsored by JustBet, Proven, Tru Shake, Rainforest, and the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Reggae Racers Gore, Summerbell secure creditable finishes in race five of ADAC GT4 Germany series
Jamaica’s team of Tommi Gore and Senna Summerbell produced a creditable showing in the fifth race of the ADAC GT4 Germany series as they secured two top-15 finishes at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, at the weekend.
The Jamaican duo, dubbed the Reggae Racers, displayed their prowess as they drove their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Club Sport to a 14th place finish after qualifying in ninth position in race one.
They were up with the pace from a strong start but later faded down the track in a fiercely competitive field.
However, the Avia W&S Motorsport representatives improved significantly in the second race, where they went nine places better to place fifth after placing fourth in qualifying.
The team of Jan Marschalkowski and Philipp Gogollok from Eastside Motorsport, finished tops to register their first win of the series. They won ahead of Finn Zulauf and Josef Knopp, also representing Avia W&S Motorsport.
With much positive to take from their performances, Gore and Summerbell will target even more improvements in the final race of the season scheduled for October 18-20 in Hockenheim, Germany.
“I am so happy to be a part of this team and ready to end the year strong. We had a big jump in results from the start of the season with this change, so we can only expect things to get better from here,” Gore said.
The Avia W&S Motorsports team, which currently occupies second position in the team ranking on 179 points, are the defending champions in the ADAC GT4 Series. They are 11 points behind leaders Hofor Racing.
A no-brainer: Bajan sensation Zane Maloney ditches Formula 2 ambitions to take up Formula E opportunity
With opportunities at certain levels of motorsport only coming far and few in between, Zane Maloney could not pass up the chance to participate in Formula E.
As such, the Barbados racing sensation made the decision to cut short his Formula 2 campaign after securing a seat to represent team Lola Yamaha ABT in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
The event, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars.
Though he currently occupies third position in the F2 drivers’ championship with two rounds remaining, Maloney, who recently inked a deal with Lola, is well aware of the significance of the Formula E opportunity presented to him and, as such, is eager to make the most of it at the expense of his F2 ambitions.
“In one way, I wanted to win Formula 2 this year. I wanted to give myself the best chance to do that, but I live my life by the day and I understand the opportunity that I have for next year, and when I think about that opportunity, everything in the present moment kind of gets forgotten about to some extent,” the 20-year-old said.
“So, of course, I know that coming to Formula E is a big opportunity for me and something amazing to show my skills in a world championship. I don’t really focus too much on the negative side of certain things. I try to focus on the positives, and I only see a positive thing coming into next year,” he added.
Maloney, who won the opening two races of the Formula 2 season, believes Formula E has gained traction as a top-notch championship, which made his decision a no-brainer.
“In F1, IndyCar, Formula E, and WEC as well, there’s not many seats that become available every year. There are a lot more drivers than there are seats, which makes it very difficult, and I think Formula E has always been a series that has amazing drivers, amazing manufacturers, and amazing teams. And of course, the media sees different motorsport genres a bit differently,” Maloney explained.
“But within the group of motorsports, Formula E is very well recognized, and every driver that goes into it knows how difficult it is to perform, so from that side of things, I don’t really focus too much on anything other than driving a race car as fast as I can with the opportunity that I’m given,” he noted.
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