06/09/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | SEPT 6, 2025

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Light at end of tunnel Debut season at Ferrari has been an emotional rollercoaster, says Hamilton

Ű BY PHILIP DUNCAN

don’t want to miss any of these special moments that we’re having. “Like my first Monza in Ferrari in red and when I leave the garage tomorrow, it’s going to be incredibly special coming onto this circuit. “I want to give the tifosi absolutely everything this weekend to get the best result for them because the passion and the support they’ve given me and this team is like nothing I’ve ever seen.” However, Hamilton will have his work cut out following a grid sanction dished out by the stewards for failing to slow adequately under doubled waved yellow flags on his way to the grid in Zandvoort. Commenting on the grid drop, Hamilton said: “I landed back home and then saw that I got this penalty and I was really, really shocked to be honest. “It’s obviously not black and white. If you look at the report, I did lift, but to their liking, not enough. “To get the penalty and to get two penalty points on my licence, too, was pretty hardcore. But I learned from it and there’s no point whinging about it. “It’s going to be challenging this weekend. Qualifying has been so close between us all that just getting to Q3 is tough. “Getting in the top five is very, very tough. And then on top of that, to be sent back five places is not great when you’re going into your first Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari, but it gives me more to fight for – and I’m very motivated to make up those places.” – The Independent Piastri is taking nothing for granted ahead of an intriguing weekend in which Lewis Hamilton will race at the “Temple of Speed” for the first time as a Ferrari driver. “It’s still far too early to be calculating and settling for positions that aren’t first. “So for me, the approach is exactly the same,” he said. “Yeah, that won’t change until the gap is pretty significantly bigger or the amount of races is significantly smaller.” Piastri sits 104 points ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen who said he had “no idea”what his and Red Bull’s goal for the weekend might be. “Historically, this track has not really been that good to us because of the layout of the track with the low-speed corners also in it,” said Verstappen, who has won the last four world titles. “I just hope that tomorrow we can start a bit in a better window than we have done maybe in some races this year and then just see how competitive we are. “It’s super clear that McLaren is on another level. “But behind that, it’s all super close and it just depends also a bit on if you find the right setup for the weekend.” – AFP way at the end of the season, I’ll respect that.” Piastri, meanwhile, believes Norris won’t change the way he goes racing despite needing to claw back a deficit which totals more than a race victory over the coming months. “I don’t think much will change,” the Australian said. “He’s not out of the fight. We’ll race each other the same way, it’s not like we’ve been holding anything back to this point. “We both know that for one of us, the end will be a pretty amazing time, but for the other, it’ll be pretty painful. Zak (Brown, McLaren CEO) and the team are pretty sensitive to that.” – The Independent

‘There’s stressing

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Ferrari F1’s Hamilton (left) and Leclerc ahead of the Italian GP. – REUTERSPIC

L EWIS HAMILTON has described his first season at Ferrari as “volatile” and an “emotional rollercoaster” ahead of his Italian Grand Prix debut in red. Hamilton heads into this weekend’s race in Ferrari’s backyard a week after he crashed out in Zandvoort and still awaiting his first podium for the Scuderia. The 40-year-old’s hopes of a strong result at Monza’s “Temple of Speed” have also been hit after he received a five-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement prior to last Sunday’s race. Hamilton is 42 points behind Charles Leclerc in the world championship and has been out qualified by his teammate 10 times so far – and beaten him in only two of the 15 races – since he made the switch from Mercedes to the Italian giants. “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster,” said Hamilton. “What can I really say? Did I expect it to be as volatile in terms of the feeling? No, but that’s life. “And I’d like to think that even though we had a difficult Sunday (in Zandvoort), we are coming towards the brighter end of the tunnel. “I read something recently where it said: Williams seek to reverse Sainz’s penalty points WILLIAM S are seeking to reverse penalty points handed to their driver Carlos Sainz for colliding with Liam Lawson at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, the Formula One team said yesterday. Stewards blamed the Spaniard, who was trying to overtake around the outside at the first corner after a safety car restart. They handed him a 10-second penalty and two penalty points on his licence – a decision Sainz said at the time was “a complete joke”. “We have submitted a right of review to the FIA (governing body) relating to Carlos’ penalty in Zandvoort,” Williams said in a statement. “It is important for us to understand how to go racing in future and we are hopeful of a positive outcome.” Sainz finished 13th while Racing Bull’s Lawson was 12th in a race that saw French teammate Isack Hadjar take his first F1 podium in third place. The Spaniard told reporters he had sat down with stewards for 15 minutes after the race to discuss the incident and was left with the feeling that they knew they had got it wrong. “It was very clear to me that as soon as they got all the evidence right… I think they realised probably the decision taken wasn’t the best one,” he said. “Now we are trying to see if we can come up with enough evidence to change the outcome of the penalty, because I still firmly believe it was a very poor penalty I received and a bad judgment. “If there’s been a misunderstanding or a lack of evidence or analysis, then there is still time to reanalyse it, reopen it, and change it.” – Reuters

about tomorrow because it often puts shade on the present.’ “So I’m really trying not to worry about tomorrow. I’m really trying to be present and enjoy every moment because this half of the season has gone by really quickly. “There’s obviously a long way to go. “But I

Norris brushes off Dutch setback

LA N DO N ORRI S insists he can still win the Formula One world championship despite his bad luck at the last race in Zandvoort. Running in second place behind teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri last Sunday, Norris’s McLaren car suffered an oil leak, due to a chassis issue, and he was forced to retire with eight laps to go. The DNF result cost Norris 18 points in the title race and he now trails Piastri by 34 points with nine races to go. Yet speaking ahead of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza this weekend, the last race of the LA N DO N ORRI S has moved on from the bad luck which forced him to retire in the closing laps of the Dutch Grand Prix as he prepares to renew his Formula One title tussle with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the Italian GP. Norris suffered a mechanical failure in the closing laps of last weekend’s race as the Briton chased down championship leader, and eventual winner at Zandvoort, Piastri. That misfortune allowed Australian Piastri to open up a 34-point gap on Norris which could prove crucial in the race for the F1 drivers’ title. “I mean, of course, it’s frustrating… The reasoning of it makes it pretty easy to just move on,“ Norris told reporters yesterday. “But I think the fact is, it had nothing to do with me. It had nothing to do with what I did, or how I was driving. “If I lose the championship by those points then I just have to keep my chin up, my head held high, and try to do it again next year.” “If it was something I did, I’d probably still be kicking myself, or I’d still be pretty down about it. Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

McLaren F1’s Lando Norris. – REUTERSPIC

Lando in defiant mood as he eyes comeback at ‘Temple of Speed’

European season, Norris refused to be too downbeat. Asked if he believes Piastri now needs to suffer a DNF in order for him to win the title, Norris replied: “No because in the end, if he’s done a better job, then credit to him. “That’s how I am. I can still win the championship without anything like that happening and that’s the way I wish to do it. “It’d make my life easier if there were just some more drivers in between us now and again. “We’re so dominant as a team that it almost makes my life harder, that’s probably the most frustrating part of it all. “But it’s still the best man win and if it’s that