The former Ferrari chairLuca di Montezemolo has joined the board of McLaren. McLaren and Ferrari, the two oldest and most successful teams inFormula Onehistory, have been rivals for decades and were involved in a notorious ‘Spygate’ scandal that erupted in 2007.
A filing with Companies House by Abu Dhabi-owned McLaren Group Holdings, which controls Woking-based sports car maker McLaren Automotive, registered Montezemolo as a director on Friday. The 77-year-old Italian joined Ferrari in 1973 as founder Enzo Ferrari’s assistant and became team manager in 1974, a year before the late Niki Lauda secured his first title.
He also presided over the Formula One team during a golden era when Michael Schumacher won five of his career seven titles between 2000 and 2004 and served as chair of Ferrari and parent FIAT. McLaren were stripped of all their championship points and fined a record $100m over a dossier of stolen Ferrari technical documents found in the possession of McLaren’s chief designer Both Ferrari and McLaren are under different management now, with Montezemolo resigning his roles at the Italian luxury sports car maker in 2014 and focusing on other business interests.Reuters
Verstappenwas not able to keep up the pace today to match the McLarens but it would be foolish to rank the reigning world champion’s ability in qualifying. This is his stomping ground after all.
This may not be his best season but the talent is there, so much so, that Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has confirmed his team are considering a swoop for the driver.
Lando Norris laid down a marker ahead of qualifying by finishing fastest in final practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. Norris, who set the quickest time at the Red Bull Ring on Friday, was again the fastest man in the concluding running before qualifying.
Norris’ best effort was enough to see off McLaren team-mate and championship rival Oscar Piastri, who holds a 22-point lead in the standings, by 0.118 seconds.
Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull, two tenths behind Norris, and a place clear of Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton was fifth in the other Ferrari, 0.466 sec off the leading pace. George Russell, a winner last time out in Canada, took sixth spot.PA Media
Lando Norrishas insisted he and McLaren will come back stronger after the British driver’s title ambitions took a blow when he had to retire at the Canadian Grand Prix having made an error in hitting his teammate Oscar Piastri on track.
Norris was challenging Piastri for fourth place in Montreal when he attempted to pass and made whathe later described as a “stupid” mistake.
Norris immediately took responsibility for the accident after the race and apologised to Piastri and his team for his misjudgment.
Speaking before this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, the 11th race of the 24-meeting season, Norris confirmed he and the team engaged in extensive talks about the incident, with the British driver believing it had been a beneficial process.
Not the most joyful conversations but conversations that needed to be had clearly. Some very constructive things and in an unfortunate way but a good way I think many things have come out stronger than I would say they were prior to the weekend. Which you might not expect but is a good outcome. Through an unfortunate circumstance a lot has been learned and a lot of things have turned into being stronger than they were before.
Read more from Giles Richards at the Red Bull Ring below.
Hello and welcome to qualifiers of the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.
The Red Bull Ring is a picturesque circuit that drivers find to be relatively simple. But it does come with some secret tough spots. The downhill braking zone at Turn 4 is a spot where so many drivers end up in the gravel. The track surface is quite old and highly abrasive, which teams will factor when picking their tires.
As it has been for most of the season, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris – both of McLaren – lead the driver standings with the defending champion Max Verstappen in third. Norris ended the final practice session at the Red Bull Ring in first, closely followed by Piastri.
Join me for the buildup and news before we get to the 3pm BST qualifiers. And, as always, feel free to send your predictions, questions and concernsvia email.