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Lando Norris tells reporter ‘I hate this question so much’ and shakes head as battle with Verstappen takes fresh twist

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Lando Norris tells reporter 'I hate this question so much' and shakes head as battle with Verstappen takes fresh twist

LANDO NORRIS hit back at a reporter after being asked about his championship battle with Max Verstappen.

The McLaren star is 47 points off his rival with just four races to go.

Lando Norris did not like being questioned about Max Verstappen

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Lando Norris did not like being questioned about Max VerstappenCredit: Sky Sports
The rivals had a war of words this week after almost crashing in Mexico City

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The rivals had a war of words this week after almost crashing in Mexico CityCredit: Getty

But he will start at the front of the grid for the Sprint in Sao Paulo after finishing second in qualifying behind team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen will start directly behind Norris in fourth place, with Charles Leclerc pipping him to third in Friday’s session, but the Dutchman will be hit with a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race.

Norris, 24, was pleased with his performance but his mood was dampened after a reporter questioned whether the result was good news for his championship battle with Verstappen.

Shaking his head, Norris told Formula 1: “I don’t care. I hate these questions so much.

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“I’m just going to race. I don’t care about where he qualifies. For me, it’s just focus on my own job and that’s it.

“It’s the same question every time but it doesn’t matter. If he’s first, if he’s last, I’ll do the best I can.”

Norris and Verstappen clashed on the track last week in Mexico City, with the latter receiving two 10-second penalties for his actions.

Verstappen forced his rival off the track and the pair came close to a rash, with the FIA finding the Dutchman at fault.

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F1 reporter Isabelle Barker’s prediction

I EXPECT Max Verstappen to go all guns blazing over the next six-rounds. I also think his experience and aggression could give him the edge.

It seems too little too late for Norris showing consistency, despite that dominant win in Singapore last time out.

You can’t help think what could have been had he sorted out his first-lap issues sooner.

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Norris needs to prove he has the mental fortitude, because we all know he’s got the speed, the team and the fastest car.

Verstappen has endured an eight-race winless streak, but he has still managed to score points, with three second-places during that time.

So I think the Dutchman will lift his fourth world-title this season, by the skin of his teeth. 

Norris was critical of the three-time world champion over race radio and has since claimed Verstappen knows he was in the wrong.

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He said: “Max knows what he has to do. He knows he did wrong, deep down he does. And it’s for him to change, not me.

Toto Wolff has his say on Lando Norris’ penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Max Verstappen

“Max is one of the most capable drivers on the grid, if not the most. He knows what he can and can’t do and what the limits are.”

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Morgan Riddle shares video of terrifying break-in attempt at London flat as Taylor Fritz’s Wag lifts lid on scary ordeal

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Morgan Riddle shares video of terrifying break-in attempt at London flat as Taylor Fritz's Wag lifts lid on scary ordeal

MORGAN RIDDLE revealed she was the victim of a terrifying break-in attempt while on holiday with boyfriend Taylor Fritz in London.

The couple headed for a few days in the English capital following Fritz’s early exit to British tennis No1 Jack Draper at the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

Morgan Riddle and Taylor Fritz endured a nightmare in London

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Morgan Riddle and Taylor Fritz endured a nightmare in LondonCredit: Getty
The Airbnb they were staying in was targeted

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The Airbnb they were staying in was targetedCredit: Instagram / moorrgs
Riddle said someone tried to break in at 4am

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Riddle said someone tried to break in at 4amCredit: Instagram / moorrgs
The safety chain on the lock had been removed

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The safety chain on the lock had been removedCredit: Instagram / moorrgs

But their dream retreat turned into a nightmare following the scary ordeal.

Riddle, 27, took to Instagram on Saturday morning to tell her 406,000 followers about her Airbnb woes.

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The influencer had posted a snap of an upmarket street.

However, she then posted a series of photos and videos from the home detailing the incident.

That included snaps of a topless Fritz checking out of the window and clip showing the safety chain had been removed from the lock on the front door.

Riddle wrote: “In 2017, I stayed in an Airbnb and woke up to a man standing over me while I was sleeping.

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“This July, I stayed in an Airbnb and my friend and I walked in on someone actively robbing our house.

“At 4am this morning, Taylor and I wake up to someone trying to enter the code and break into the front door of the Airbnb we’re staying at in London.

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“I tell Taylor to run and lock the secondary lock as they’re standing outside trying to get in and IT’S BEEN REMOVED???

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“Airbnb is SO unsafe. They are intentionally targeted in many cities.

Taylor Fritz’s influencer girlfriend Morgan Riddle sparks feud with defeated rival Zverev with now-deleted video

Tennis stars’ new careers

PLENTY of tennis stars have stayed involved in the sport since retiring.

But others pursued very different careers. Here are some of the best…

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“Houses are nice for longer stays but please just stay in a hotel, especially if you are travelling alone or only with girls.

“I swore I’d never stay in one again after my past experiences and clearly didn’t learn my lesson.”

Riddle also added a photo of Fritz holding one of his orange Head tennis racquets as a “weapon” just in case he came face to face with an intruder.

And he even had to deal with a mosquito in the room after calling the police.

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Riddle and Fritz started dating in 2020 and celebrated their four-year anniversary over the summer.

That coincided with Fritz’s run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals – as Riddle got into a bitter feud with controversial German Alexander Zverev.

The tennis Wag was then in the stands to cheer on her man as he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open – but he lost to Jannik Sinner in front of Taylor Swift.

SunSport has contacted Airbnb for comment.

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Riddle earlier posted a photo of the street in London

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Riddle earlier posted a photo of the street in LondonCredit: Instagram / moorrgs
The couple celebrated their four-year anniversary in the summer

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The couple celebrated their four-year anniversary in the summerCredit: Getty
Riddle gives fans an insight into life as a tennis Wag

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Riddle gives fans an insight into life as a tennis WagCredit: Getty
She was at the US Open final as Fritz lost to Jannik Sinner

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She was at the US Open final as Fritz lost to Jannik SinnerCredit: Getty
The model watched on as he was dumped out of the Paris Masters

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The model watched on as he was dumped out of the Paris MastersCredit: Getty
The glamorous model has racked up more than 400,000 Instagram followers

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The glamorous model has racked up more than 400,000 Instagram followersCredit: @moorrgs
The blonde has been dating Fritz since 2020

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The blonde has been dating Fritz since 2020Credit: @moorrgs

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MMA

Erin Blanchfield reveals what went wrong against Manon Fiorot, her chances against Valentina Shevchenko

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Erin Blanchfield reveals what went wrong against Manon Fiorot, her chances against Valentina Shevchenko

Erin Blanchfield never wants to lose but she did manage to find some perspective after her first setback in the UFC when she fell to Manon Fiorot by decision back in March.

While a win would have almost certainly cemented her as the No. 1 contender in the division, the 25-year-old flyweight prefers that she got her bad night at the office out of the way before she became a champion. Nothing is ideal about losing but Blanchfield learned a lot from that experience and now believes she’s a better fighter because of it.

“It’s something I actually talked to my dad about,” Blanchfield explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I was thinking about that after that fight. It sucks to lose but you can always get better and there’s perspective on it. Like I’m so happy I was able to lose then and not lose my title to her. Let’s say I fought for a title and won it and then had lost my title to her or somebody else, that would have sucked more.

“Taking that lesson now while I’m still on the journey to get to the title, I think it’s going to be a lot better than losing a title in that way. I’d rather learn the lessons now so I can be prepared when I’m a champ.”

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As far as what went wrong in the Fiorot fight, Blanchfield points to a couple of key issues that led to her struggles during the five-round battle.

In particular, Blanchfield was impressed with how effectively Fiorot used her size and reach advantage, which then led to problems with her grappling after going 0-for-3 on takedowns.

“I think my distance definitely wasn’t gauged great,” Blanchfield said. “I feel like she did a really good job sticking to her plan. She was very disciplined with it and I feel like maybe I didn’t have all the answers at that time. Those are things I’ve really tried to focus on and fix leading up to this fight. I feel like it was a really good experience for me and you’re never going to have the best nights every single time. I feel like it was a bad night, some bad timing, some bad distances. I think those are the things that kind of led to the loss.

“I knew she was a good fighter. I knew she used her length well. She knows how to fight for her body type and her style. She just utilized it well.”

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Coming off that loss, Blanchfield moves right back into another huge matchup when she faces Rose Namajunas in a five-round co-main event at the UFC Edmonton card on Saturday. Meanwhile, Fiorot is expected to get a title shot against new champion Valentina Shevchenko sometime in 2025.

Blanchfield expects that Fiorot could potentially give Shevchenko the same kinds of problems she faced against a taller, longer fighter at 125 pounds. Of course, Shevchenko is the champion for a reason but Blanchfield doesn’t count Fiorot out from getting the job done and taking the title.

“I think Manon will do very well,” Blanchfield said. “I think she’s going to be a lot bigger fighter than Valentina. I don’t think Valentina cuts a lot to make [125] and Manon’s a big girl. I think she can definitely use that to her advantage, her height and her length.

“I do think Valentina is the more dynamic fighter. She has more tools than Manon. So I think it’s almost who can utilize what better. Can Manon use her size and her reach and her length to her advantage over Valentina’s more dynamic style.”

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Since first arriving in the UFC, Blanchfield always dreamed about facing Shevchenko as one of the fighters she most admired coming up as a prospect in the sport. With hopes of getting back into title contention with a win over Namajunas on Saturday, the New Jersey native knows that fight could definitely still happen.

On the flipside if Fiorot gets the job done against Shevchenko and becomes champion, Blanchfield has just as much motivation to earn her way back to a rematch, perhaps this time with gold on the line.

“I’ve always wanted to fight Valentina,” Blanchfield said. “I’ve been watching her forever. She still has that aura being a great champ even with the whole Alexa [Grasso] trilogy. So I’d love to fight her and then obviously I’d love to fight Manon to get that win back.”

Before any of that can happen, Blanchfield has to get through Namajunas but she couldn’t have envisioned a better scenario to get back to where she wants than landing this particular matchup.

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Namajunas is a former UFC champion currently riding a two-fight win streak at flyweight and Blanchfield recognizes that a win should put her right back in title contention again.

“It sucked losing my last fight and that always kind of hurts,” Blanchfield said. “So you always want to get back out there and get that win under your belt. Kind of get yourself feeling the way you’re used to. I’m really grateful I’m still in position to have these very high level fights and high profile fights like another five round fight against Rose.

“I set myself up in that position because of the performances I’ve had in the past. So I really want to continue that and really show out in this one.”

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Motorsports

McLaren admits no “easy solution” to F1 team orders headache

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McLaren has admitted its approach to team orders is making life difficult for itself, but says there is no “easy solution” that does not risk upsetting one of its drivers.

The Woking-based squad successfully came through the Brazil sprint race with a 1-2 finish, having swapped it cars around to help Lando Norris’s quest to win the world championship.

But the situation was far from straightforward as, with Norris stacked up behind Oscar Piastri earlier in the race, the team risked the Briton being exposed to attack from Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen right behind him.

While the occasional window appeared to open up in the early stages of the 24-lap sprint to get Piastri to let Norris through, the team kept them racing until two laps from home – when the risk of a Virtual Safety Car for Nico Hulkenberg’s stranded Haas forced its hand in getting the swap done.

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McLaren was fortunate that neither Leclerc nor Verstappen were able to stay right with Norris though, because having not switched its cars earlier there was a danger of it never having an opportunity to do so before the chequered flag.

Team principal Andrea Stella has admitted that the team orders situation is a difficult one to manage – but points out that there is no solution that will keep the team and both drivers perfectly happy.

“Making life difficult for ourselves is natural, because when you have two drivers that can win races and a car that can win races, this first thing you have to accept is there’s not an easy solution,” he told Motorsport.com.

“That already sets you in a good mindset to deal with the potential difficulties.

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“But, like I have said already in the past, we have worked very hard to put ourselves in this difficult situation – and we are all on the same page: team and drivers.

“I always discuss with the drivers, and say that this is the most difficult thing we are going to face in our career, because this is the only thing that we cannot face by having our interests exactly matching.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 2nd position, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, congratulate each other

Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 2nd position, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, congratulate each other

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Why McLaren delayed the switch

McLaren went into the Brazil sprint crystal clear that the ultimate intention was to have Norris finish ahead of Piastri.

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However, what was not settled was how that would be executed in the race, especially because the team could not be certain about how its rivals would get involved.

Explaining how its calls played out, Stella said that the team had agreed with both drivers that they race away as normal – with the priority being that they do not allow any other cars to get between them.

The idea then was to swap the cars once the pair had got to the point where there was a big enough gap behind Norris, so that race-leader Piastri would not be at risk of being overtaken by anyone else.

Stella added: “We knew that we wanted to swap. But we were waiting for the right gap behind Lando, because if you swap and the other car gets in the DRS, we may compromise one of the principles, which is maximum result for the team.

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“So, we were observing, and we were ideally waiting for a couple of seconds [gap], but repeated for a couple of laps.”

Stella said that without the gap behind Norris staying large enough for several laps, it felt the risk was too much to force a change too soon.

“The gaps in the sectors were moving around a bit, and I wasn’t completely comfortable to expose Oscar to Leclerc, because, at some stage, Leclerc didn’t seem slow at all at the start of the race.

“Even the time the two seconds appeared, the next lap, it was 1.2 seconds. We were waiting for the right opportunity.

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“We didn’t want to get excited and then create a situation that doesn’t maximise the result for the team. We knew that we had time to do that, unless there was a risk of a safety car.

“And as soon as we saw the risk of a safety car towards the end of the race, then we needed to accelerate the process.”

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Paris Masters: Alexander Zverev beats Holger Rune to reach final

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Paris Masters: Alexander Zverev beats Holger Rune to reach final

World number three Alexander Zverev produced a superb performance to outclass former champion Holger Rune 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and reach the Paris Masters final.

Zverev, who reached the final of the French Open in June, will face 2018 champion Karen Khachanov or local hope Ugo Humbert who meet in the other semi-final.

Sustained pressure from the baseline helped Zverev to grab an early break for a 3-1 lead but the German had to work a lot harder in the fifth game before unleashing a couple of booming serves to consolidate it.

The Roland Garros runner-up shrugged off a late double fault to wrap up the opening set on the back of 11 winners at a packed Palais Omnisports in Bercy.

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A tighter second set followed as Rune ramped up the aggression by serving and volleying at times, but Zverev took control in the tie-break by racing ahead 3-0 and held his nerve from there to earn a career-high 65th win of the season.

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Motorsports

Verstappen investigated for potential VSC rule breach in Brazilian GP sprint

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Max Verstappen is under investigation for a potential virtual safety car infringement during the Formula 1 sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The championship leader had seemingly minimised the damage to nearest challenger Lando Norris, who was waved past by McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to take the win.

However, with Verstappen coming home third, the Red Bull driver had only dropped two points to Norris.

But he now faces scrutiny after the end of the 24-lap sprint race saw a virtual safety car deployed as the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg stopped at the side of the track.

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said to Sky Sports F1 afterwards that he “didn’t see anything wrong” with Verstappen’s driving.

The Dutchman already has a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Brazilian GP after changing his engine outside of his allocation ahead of the weekend.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Verstappen leads the title fight by 45 points as he looks to defend his championship title despite Red Bull currently being out-performed by both McLaren and Ferrari.

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Having qualified fourth for the sprint, Verstappen passed Charles Leclerc to finish behind the two McLarens, who switched places to aid Norris’ title ambitions.

It is unclear at present which regulation Verstappen may have fallen foul of but the rules regarding virtual safety cars stipulate:

“56.3 – No car may be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person at any time whilst the VSC procedure is in use. This will apply whether any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry road, or the pitlane.

“56.5 – All competing cars must reduce speed and stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU at least once in each marshalling sector and at both the first and second safety car lines (a marshalling sector is defined as the section of track between each of the FIA light panels).”

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England 6 New Zealand 7 LIVE SCORE: Borthwick’s side host All Blacks in Autumn Internationals opener – updates

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England 6 New Zealand 7 LIVE SCORE: Borthwick's side host All Blacks in Autumn Internationals opener - updates

England team news

Here’s Steve Borthwick’s XV for today’s showdown at Twickenham.

1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (captain), 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin; 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Marcus Smith, 11 Tommy Freeman, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 13 Henry Slade, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 15 George Furbank.

Credit: X

Head to head

England and New Zealand have met five times since 2018.

There’s not been a dull encounter, with the All Blacks taking the win three times, England once, and one contest ending in a crazy draw.

  • New Zealand 24-17 England – July 13, 2024
  • New Zealand 16-15 England – July 6, 2024
  • England 25-25 New Zealand – November 19, 2022
  • England 19-7 New Zealand – October 26, 2019
  • England 15-16 New Zealand – November 10, 2018
Credit: Reuters

London Calling

International rugby is back in the capital – and we have an absolute cracker to start the Autumn schedule.

England go head-to-head with the All Black once again, hosting New Zealand at Twickenham for the first time since 2022.

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Steve Borthwick’s men battled hard in two closely fought Test matches against the Kiwis in Auckland earlier this year.

Ultimately they came up short in both, but will be hopeful the rebuild under Borthwick’s new-look coaching staff will start to take shape today.

These two nations have faced off at Twickenham just once since 2018, a pulsating 25-25 draw in November 2022.

When these two meet, it’s never dull.

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A packed out Home of Rugby, a chill in the air and two teams going hell for leather in the first match of the Autumn.

It promises to be a cracker, let’s get you some team news.

Credit: Getty

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