Tag Archives: lando norris

Daniel Ricciardo Speaks Texan, Y’all

Here’s Your Daniel Ricciardo Friday-In-Texas Update

“That accent cycled through so many different accents,” our own North Carolina native Collin Woodard messaged in Slack after watching the clip. Yes, Danny Ric’s Texan still needs some work, but damn if the guy doesn’t get an A+ for effort. And for dropping a “hell boogedy” in there — he’s definitely got the vocabulary down, at least to this Pennsylvanian who’s spent all of four days in Austin over the course of his life.

Anyway, Ricciardo is entering the weekend in the appropriate attire, too. Here’s the helmet he’ll be wearing, courtesy of Jens Munser Designs:

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I need a windbreaker with “McLaren Service Plus” embroidered on the breast and the back, like, yesterday. Ricciardo will of course lap COTA in The Intimidator’s 1984 No. 3 Chevy before Sunday’s race — the culmination of his bet with McLaren boss Zak Brown for nabbing a podium (ahem, race win) this year — so it all checks out.

Oh, and yesterday, this happened:

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Ricciardo ended Friday’s Free Practice 1 session in 16th, 2.5 seconds off Valtteri Bottas’ lead time. His teammate Lando Norris fell eighth on the timing boards. The Aussie’s last race in Turkey was nothing to celebrate, as he finished 13th after stopping for new tires too early and lost two spots in the last two laps of the race.

I’d like to think his spiritual homefield advantage will work in his favor this weekend. After all, I’ve heard he draws his power from the clay under the track.

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Max Verstappen Takes Second Pole At Austria, Lando Norris Starts Second

Illustration for article titled Max Verstappen Takes Second Pole At Austria, Lando Norris Starts Second

Photo: CHRISTIAN BRUNA/AFP (Getty Images)

Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix dawned with packed grandstands and a host of Max Verstappen fans filling the circuit in hopes of seeing their semi-local hero take pole position. And luckily for them, anything was possible, with Verstappen taking pole position yet again.

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This weekend, Mercedes still looked to be the dominant team after several practice sessions saw its drivers topping the charts — though with Verstappen’s performance throughout the season, anything could be possible. As it turned out, Mercedes would be seriously lacking.

Knocked Out In Q1

16. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
17. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
19. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
20. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)

Knocked Out In Q2

11. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
12. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
13. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
14. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
15. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)

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The final qualifying session was quite a whirlwind. Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel had an on-track spat in Q2 that allowed Williams’ George Russell to slip into the final qualifying session and try his hand at a legitimate top-10 starting position. He took ninth place, out-qualifying Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll. This is Williams’ first Q3 appearance since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix.

After that, all eyes were on the top drivers of the weekend, mainly Verstappen, who appeared unbeatable. Both Mercedes drivers went out for one final run at the end of Q3, but it proved fruitless for them; Verstappen took the lead.

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The biggest surprise, though, had to be McLaren’s Lando Norris. The papaya team has been doing pretty damn well this season after several years of struggling, and Norris’ performance epitomizes the success the team has been having. He’ll start the race in second place on the first row of the grid.

Top 10 Starting Grid

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
  3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
  4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
  5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
  6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
  7. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
  8. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
  9. George Russell (Williams)
  10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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McLaren Sold Its Iconic Headquarters For $236 Million

Illustration for article titled McLaren Sold Its Iconic Headquarters For $236 Million

Photo: Getty Images (Getty Images)

A deal has been struck for McLaren to sell its iconic headquarters in Woking, England, to a New York-based firm for £170 million, or around $236 million, it was announced Tuesday. The complex had been on the market for months.

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McLaren will remain a tenant on the 840,000 square foot campus as part of a 20-year leaseback agreement, with plans to remain there long term. McLaren is in the middle of restructuring its debt, it said last year, with the money for its headquarters part of a broader equity raise it was doing to have “a sustainable platform for long-term growth and investment.”

McLaren sold to a firm called Global Net Lease, which sounds pleased with itself.

“We are excited to announce that this world-class facility will become part of the GNL portfolio,” said James Nelson, CEO of GNL “The McLaren Group Headquarters’ state of the art buildings have won numerous awards, were designed by renowned architect Norman Foster, and are the type of mission-critical, net-leased properties that make up the GNL portfolio.”

Illustration for article titled McLaren Sold Its Iconic Headquarters For $236 Million

Photo: McLaren

McLaren had initially sought £200 million for the complex, which has a wind tunnel testing facility and several artificial lakes, in addition to production facilities for McLaren’s road cars. Construction was completed on the tech center in 2003, while the production center was added in 2011.

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And while it’s a little sad to see it go, the pandemic has not been kind to McLaren, which was forced to lay off around a quarter of its staff last year. McLaren also got a $185 million cash boost from the National Bank of Bahrain last year.

There was even some suggestion that McLaren’s cash struggles might affect its performance in Formula 1 this year, though that hasn’t been the case; Lando Norris in particular is enjoying a fine start to the season, sitting in third in the driver standings. The team’s other driver, Daniel Ricciardo sits seventh, or right in the mix for what should be a competitive year for a team that is shooting for at least one driver in the top five.

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