DAVID COULTHARD DEFENDS KIM KARDASHIAN AFTER MARTIN BRUNDLE MONACO GP GRID WALK BACKLASH

David Coulthard has defended Kim Kardashian after criticism over her Monaco Grand Prix appearance

Kim Kardashian on the grid.

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has weighed in on the comments surrounding Kim Kardashian's appearance at the Monaco Grand Prix, defending the reality television star after she didn't speak to Martin Brundle.

Kardashian became a big talking point of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend after she turned down an interview with Brundle during his famous Sky Sports F1 grid walk and was later seen picking up race winner Kimi Antonelli's towel after the race.

The incident led to widespread online criticism, but Coulthard believes the online hate was unwarranted.

Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, the 13-time grand prix winner revealed that Kardashian had been very polite to him during his own broadcasting duties on the grid. 

"Well, I'll go first as the least following of any of that social thing. I do a grid walk with Viaplay, which is I guess like Sky but more in the northern European countries, and she spoke to me," he said.

"So it feels a little bit like it's a set-up because Martin is as famous for people not talking to him as he is for people talking to him. So it actually helps perpetuate that. Taking a towel, that's maybe a bit not correct but does she actually understand that that's for the driver? She might have just thought it was a Monaco freebie."

When pressed on what he spoke to Kardashian about, Coulthard explained: "I said, 'Having a nice time in Monaco? To which she said, 'yes.' I wasn't going to ask, 'Who are you supporting?' because that would be quite clear. It would be funny if she said Kimi."

Coulthard added that the championship could be a new interest for Kardashian, so it would be unfair to assume she knows the ins and outs of the series. 

"I think also what we've seen when you've got big American celebrities coming into the sport, I think the worst thing you can do is put them on the spot," he continued.

"Obviously, it would be easy for her to say she was supporting Lewis, but why would we assume just because we're embedded in Formula 1 that this is anything other than just a new interest?"

- Lydia Mee

ONE PHOTOGH, DECADES OF FORMULA 1 HISTORY

Last weekend’s Historic French Grand Prix became far more than a celebration of classic machinery — it felt like a reunion of the sport’s soul.

Legends from multiple generations gathered together in a moment dripping with nostalgia, from Alain Prost, Mika Häkkinen and Jacques Villeneuve to David Coulthard, Jean Alesi and Mark Webber, among others.

There was emotion everywhere at Circuit Paul Ricard. Pierre Gasly climbed into Jean-Pierre Jabouille’s iconic 1979 Renault RS10, reliving a landmark chapter of French motorsport history with Jabouille’s son, Victor, watching on.

©X/pierregasly

At 82 years old, Jacques Laffite also rolled back the years aboard the Ligier JS11/15 that carried him to victory at Hockenheim nearly five decades ago.

And perhaps most touching of all, the sons of Niki Lauda and Patrick Depailler took to the track in the very cars raced by their fathers – a reminder that Formula 1’s greatest stories never truly fade.

©GP de France Historique/Morgan Mathurin

- Fi.com

LANDO NORRIS WILL TIE MCLAREN RECORD WITH 15OTH START AT LAS VEGAS GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates on the podium his first place in the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Lando Norris will tie David Coulthard as the most-tenured driver in McLaren history when the lights go out for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where the current Formula 1 points leader will make his 150th career start.

It’s taken the 26-year-old British driver seven seasons to catch Coulthard, an accomplishment he’s grateful to have reached. He’ll break the mark a week from Sunday when he starts the Qatar Grand Prix.

“It’s crazy, it’s a big number, matching DC for the number of races with McLaren. Qatar will be 151 so — I don’t know what the word would be — the most-racingest driver for McLaren?” Norris said Wednesday night at the wet and cold circuit that runs down the famed Las Vegas Strip.

“That’s something I am pretty proud of, it is quite an achievement, 150 in F1, this is my dream,” he continued. “It’s been my dream since I was a kid. To get that far is pretty incredible and time certainly flies.”

Norris is incredible position as he hits the milestone for McLaren — he holds a 24-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri in the world championship standings with three races remaining. Four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen sits 49 points back.

Norris and Piastri have already helped McLaren clinch a second consecutive constructors championship and the two have swapped the driver standings lead all season.

McLaren refuses to designate either of its drivers as the favorite and is giving Norris and Piastri an equal chance to win the title without giving preferential treatment to one over the other.

But since reclaiming the points lead from Piastri two races ago in Mexico City, there’s been speculation that tension has developed between the teammates. Norris said that isn’t the case, though, when asked specifically why he and Piastri haven’t partnered together much lately for the humorous social media vidoes McLaren has been making the last several years.

“I think the reason you see less videos is because we both asked to do less videos. We’re racing drivers, we want to come and drive and not make videos for social media,” Norris said.

He then explained it’s his nature to be friendly with teammates even if that’s not the norm in the cutthroat world of F1.

“It’s still the same and I’m very happy, I think we are both happy that that’s how it is,” Norris said. “It’s because we both have a lot of respect for one another and we both understand the position that we’re in. I feel like I’ve always gone on well with my teammates since go-karting — I’ve always wanted to because it just makes my life more fun, more enjoyable.

“We very, very much understand that we work for McLaren. We want the best for the team. We work very hard, and you try and maximize your own performance more than anything. But then when we step out the car we can still have a joke. We still have laughs in our debriefs, and we still enjoy everything away from the track.”

Both have won seven times this season, but Piastri has slipped since winning the Dutch Grand Prix on the final day in August. In the six races since that victory, the Australian has only one podium finish — at the very next race at Monza — and arrived in Las Vegas with three consecutive fifth-place finishes.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in Vegas. I’m concentrating on performance, building a strong weekend and maximizing every opportunity,” Piastri said.

His bland pre-race comments are on brand for Piastri, Norris said.

“We’re still very different people. He’s just very calm, down to earth, very relaxed. Always looks cool, and that’s something I admire quite a bit, how just plain sailing he is with a lot of things,” Norris said. “It’s a good attribute to have — always hard to read what mood he’s in. For me, you see more visually kind of the moods I’m in.”

Norris’ mood is terrific as a first career F1 title is in his reach. He said he feels fortunate to have had a poor start to the season because he’s turned it around at the right time, but he’s not ready to celebrate a championship yet.

“Everyone knows my approach is still just one race at a time,” Norris said. “I will treat it that way until the very end.”

- Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press

DAVID COULTHARD DELIVERS INSTANT FOUR-WORD VERDICT AFTER CADILLAC SIGN VALTTERI BOTTAS AND SERGIO PEREZ

Credit: Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1/Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto/Simon Galloway/LAT Images for Formula E via Getty Images

Cadillac have finally ended the speculation around their first F1 driver line-up by announcing Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Both drivers will make comebacks in their mid-30s.

Perez lost his Red Bull seat at the end of last season via a pay-off. He’d spent four years at Milton Keynes but, while there was always an element of inconsistency, he truly unravelled in 2024.

Bottas, who used to go up against Perez at Mercedes, had already dropped into the lower midfield with Sauber. Both he and teammate Zhou Guanyu were axed at the end of a four-point campaign.

As it stands, Cadillac will have the oldest line-up in Formula 1 next year. Both drivers are contracted for multiple seasons, which indicates that the team don’t see the moves as risky.

David Coulthard calls Cadillac’s F1 driver line-up ‘perfect’

David Coulthard is a Red Bull ambassador, which makes him a former colleague of Perez. He was among the first big names to react when Cadillac announced their line-up on Instagram.

Coulthard wrote that Graeme Lowdon and co. had made a ‘perfect driver line-up’ in addition for their first season. Between them, Bottas and Perez have won 16 Grands Prix.

For reference, only McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes boast two race-winning drivers. Cadillac expect to be at the back next year, but these two drivers can help them operate like a top team.

Coulthard’s counterpart Martin Brundle agrees that Cadillac have formed a ‘great line-up’. He did warn, though, that the veteran duo will have to manage some ‘early frustrations’.

Kimi Antonelli reacts to Mercedes colleague Valtteri Bottas landing Cadillac drive

Like the rest of the teams, Cadillac will make their 2026 ‘debut’ behind closed doors in Barcelona. This will relieve some of the pressure surrounding a brand-new set-up.

Reports have already claimed that Bottas could take part in a TPC run, using an old Ferrari, to sharpen up the team’s mechanics and engineers. Theoretically, there would be nothing stopping the free agent Perez from getting involved, either.

Ferrari will supply Cadillac’s engine for their first few years of their existence. They then plan to introduce their own power unit and become a fully-fledged works team, although their original drivers may have retired by then.

Kimi Antonelli has congratulated Bottas, who has mentored him at Mercedes this season. He wishes the Finn good luck on his ‘next adventure’.

- David Comerford

MCLAREN HAVE NOW MADE A 'VERY RARE' LANDO NORRIS CAR CHANGE THAT NEVER HAPPENS IN FORMULA 1

Formula 1 teams are always looking for the extra tenths of a second needed to improve their on-track performance.

This has become one of the main challenges of the current regulation package, as teams usually pile on downforce and work out which tracks it suits the most.

Red Bull has shown how easy it is to upset a concept that was dominant in 2023, but is now struggling to reach the same gains as the rest of the pack, now that they have converged.

McLaren is now the benchmark team, but they have been quick to temper any suggestions that they can turn up at every track and have a car capable of race wins. McLaren hasn’t lost its ‘guiding path’ like Red Bull, according to F1 technical experts, which has made them the likely victors of this year’s title.

Discussing their successful season on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast, journalist Andrew Benson outlined how the team has done one thing that no other F1 team would ever do on the grid.

Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images

McLaren focused on driver-specific tweaks that Red Bull or Ferrari would never do

Lando Norris struggled early on compared to Oscar Piastri to put in consistent results, which McLaren identified as being part of a suspension development they brought to this year’s car.

The Briton was unable to feel the front end of the car the way he wanted, which in turn impacted his ability to generate heat into the tyres and bring them into the optimum working window for performance.

McLaren introduced an upgrade specifically for Norris’ car at the Canadian GP, and ever since, he has been a lot closer to Piastri. Benson believes this is something no other team on the grid would attempt to achieve.

“They changed something in the front suspension, specifically to address that for him. Piastri isn’t even using it. So they’ve got two cars. It doesn’t actually affect the overall theoretical optimum performance of the car,” said Benson.

“What it does do is it allows Norris to access more of the theoretical performance of the car himself, whereas Piastri’s happy doing that with the way the car was before. And that’s a very rare thing to happen in a motorsport team in any category.”

McLaren has the margin to make their car suit their drivers

It’s not uncommon for F1 teams to adapt their car to suit specific drivers, with McLaren once giving David Coulthard a foot clutch in his car for the 1997 and 1998 seasons instead of using the hand-operated clutch on his steering wheel.

It is perhaps indicative of where McLaren currently stand in the competitive order, although teams like Red Bull never did this when they were miles ahead of the pack.

Max Verstappen was backed as the main driver, while Sergio Perez was left chasing his performance, which in turn made it difficult for him to finish second regularly in a car that was clearly capable of achieving those results.

Now Red Bull are stuck in a design cul-de-sac, having tried out two different drivers this year and seen no improvement in results, while McLaren’s approach will likely see them as the only contenders for race wins in the final 10 races.

- Rory Mitchell

KEEPING UP WITH THE VERSTAPPENS, FT. DAVID COULTHARD | CARNEXT.COM