RaceFans Round-up: McLaren won’t restrict Bortoleto

In the round-up: McLaren will not prevent junior driver Gabriel Bortoleto joining another team to race in Formula 1

In brief

McLaren won’t restrict Bortoleto – Stella

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says his team will not stand in the way of an opportunity junior driver Gabriel Bortoleto receives to race in Formula 1.

Bortoleto currently leads the Formula 2 championship with the final two rounds remaining. He has been linked with a possible move to Sauber ahead of their transition into the Audi factory team in 2026.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say once again how good a work he’s been doing in junior categories, winning F3, leading F2 in the first season,” Stella said.

“This is to lead into the fact that I think it’s very, very normal and natural that Formula 1 teams are interested in having Gabriel as a driver. McLaren will not stop the possibility for Gabriel to drive Formula 1. So conversations are ongoing and we will see what the scenario will be for the future.”

Tsunoda “surprised” by 18th

After failing to follow team mate Liam Lawson into SQ2, Yuki Tsunoda admitted he was not expecting to hear his final push lap was only good enough for 18th on the grid.

“A pretty tough qualifying,” he said. “Just didn’t have the pace throughout. My lap was pretty good, to be honest. Just surprised I’m so far away from the field in general.

“Normally the lap I did should put my in SQ2 at least, but just ‘P18’, I was surprised to hear that position.”

Toyota lockout front row for WEC finale

Toyota’s two cars will start on the front row of the grid for today’s season-ending World Endurance Championship round in Bahrain.

The number eight crew of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa will lead the field away from pole after Hartley set the quickest time in hyperpole. The number seven car will start alongside after Nyck de Vries set the second-fastest time.

The number 51 Ferrari will start from third on the grid ahead of the number 99 Porsche Penske.

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Links

Lando Norris downplays friendship with Max Verstappen: ‘I don’t talk to him’ (Independent)

”How I focus on track is different from off track. If someone treats me like s*** on track, it doesn’t mean I will treat them like s*** off the track. They are two different worlds. There have been very few people in the world who has done what Max has been able to do. There are 99 things that he is better at than everyone else in the world, and one thing that he is not.”’

The Debrief: São Paulo Grand Prix (Aston Martin)

Fernando Alonso: ”We didn’t have the pace in Sprint Qualifying today. We had to make some changes to the car after Free Practice 1 due to the bumpy track conditions, which we knew would be detrimental to our pace. It’s going to be difficult to score points tomorrow in the Sprint, so we have to keep ourselves focused on Sunday.”

Tom Cruise eyeing ‘Days of Thunder’ sequel for Paramount (Hollywood Reporter)

‘Racing films have become rating fashionable lately, with the success of James Mangold’s 2019 picture Ford v Ferrari, Michael Mann’s less successful 2023 racing drama Ferrari, and next year’s ‘F1’ — which stars Brad Pitt and is directed by Maverick helmer Joseph Kosinski (who would seemingly be the ideal choice to helm Thunder, but one imagines he wouldn’t be too keen on making back-to-back racing movies). The glut of recent fast-cars-on-tracks projects makes the prospect of resurrecting Thunder even more daunting (imagine if Maverick had been released after three other fighter pilot movies), but at least none of the other titles specifically explore the world of NASCAR racing, which has a decidedly different Americana vibe compared to the more European-based world of Le Mans and Formula 1. ‘

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