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The 2025 Formula 1 season is heading for a hectic climax with three races on successive weekends to decide the winner of the drivers’ championship.

Lando Norris has a commanding 24-point lead over McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri heading into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which takes place under the lights on the Strip at 04:00 GMT on Sunday.

That is followed by grands prix in Qatar, from 28-30 November, and then Abu Dhabi, from 5-7 December.

Are Ferrari chair John Elkann’s comments that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc need to concentrate “on driving and talk less” after their poor results this season unfair? – Jordan

John Elkann certainly caused a stir with his remarks the day after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

It’s not clear what exactly provoked them, as Ferrari did not say.

But given they came less than 24 hours after Hamilton had said that his run of results in his first season at Ferrari were “a nightmare, and I have been living it for a while”, it would not be unreasonable to suppose the seven-time champion might have been in Elkann’s mind.

As far as Hamilton goes, this is typical of the sort of emotional remark he makes when he has had a disappointing race.

Remember when he said after Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying that he was “just useless” and “drove terribly” and Ferrari “probably need to change driver”?

He didn’t mean that then, not really. And Brazil should be seen in that context.

After all, Hamilton went on to say: “I believe there is something extraordinary up ahead in my life and in my destiny. I truly still believe in this team and what we can achieve together.”

Which is, one might think, exactly the sort of message Elkann would want to hear.

The issue many people had with Elkann’s comments was that their accuracy was questionable.

He singled out the mechanics for praise for “basically winning the championship with their performance and everything that has been done on the pit stops”, on the basis they are leading the rankings for average pit-stop time.

Fair enough, but then he said: “If we look at our engineers, there’s no doubt that the car has improved.”

Well, perhaps it has. But not relative to the opposition. Ferrari were 0.372 seconds off the pace on average in qualifying in the first half of the season, and so far in the second they are 0.472secs off.

As for the drivers, yes, Hamilton has been through the mill this year, but his performances have improved over the season, even if Brazil was a difficult race for him.

But Leclerc has been outstanding. And while he has pointed out regularly that the car is not quick enough, no-one would disagree with that, not even Elkann.

Ferrari are in F1 to win. Nothing less is good enough. That’s just a fact. And Leclerc has been steadfastly loyal to the team.

The grid seems to be as close in performance as I have ever seen. Has F1 succeeded in creating a situation where each driver’s performance over a weekend is a bigger differentiator than in the past, and does the upcoming regulation change threaten this balance? – Matt

It stands to reason that if the cars are closer in performance, then the driver would make more of a difference.

Whether that is more a factor now than at any other time is a difficult question to answer because there are a lot of aspects of F1 now that work in some ways to reduce the difference between drivers.

Telemetry, for example, allows drivers who are not as naturally able to find the limit a chance to catch up over a weekend.

You could see this, for example, at Alpine when Fernando Alonso partnered Esteban Ocon.

At the start of a weekend, Alonso would typically be considerably quicker than Ocon, who would inch closer with each session until he was competitive in qualifying and sometimes able to beat him.

Something else to factor in is that many would argue that the depth of talent at the top of F1 right now is as good as it has ever been, if not better.

In Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Alonso, there are three drivers who would be on anyone’s list of all-time greats.

In addition, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Leclerc are all exceptional, without question.

That’s at least seven world-class drivers in F1 at the same time.

Any major regulation change inevitably increases both the gaps between teams, and the risk that one team will steal a march on the rest of the field, as happened in 2022 with Red Bull and 2014 with Mercedes.

As the season nears the end, the rookies are increasingly showing their talent. Is there an argument to allow more testing in current cars for new drivers than the current regulations offer? Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar really look settled and in a good place. – Chris

Well, you could argue that there is no need to change the testing regulations as Antonelli, Bearman and Hadjar have all proved their talent without the need for it!

There is no appetite in F1 to increase testing allowances. Testing is expensive.

Having said that, there is an acceptance that rookie drivers could do with more opportunities to experience F1.

That’s why the rules were changed this year to force teams to run rookies in two sessions per car – a total of four for the season.

And it’s why teams have started running young drivers in cars from previous years – so called testing of previous cars (TPC) and testing of historic cars (THC).

Are Aston Martin the team to watch next season with Adrian Newey in charge of the design of next year’s car? – Ian

The truth is no-one knows what the competitive order will be next year, and no-one will know until the first race of the season.

Newey has a strong record when it comes to regulation changes. He aced the ones in 1998 with McLaren, 2009 with Red Bull (once the controversial advantage of Brawn’s double diffuser had been neutralised), and in 2022 with Red Bull again.

In 1998, he had officially joined McLaren only in September of the previous year. With Aston Martin, he has had six more months than that, albeit F1 is a lot more complex now.

Of course, the whole of F1 is waiting with interest to see how Newey gets on with Aston Martin.

On the engine side, Honda, which will become sole factory partner to Aston Martin, clearly knows what it’s doing.

Aston Martin’s lead driver is pretty handy, as well.

But success in F1 tends to come from stability. And stable is the last thing Aston Martin have been in recent years.

There have been a dizzying number staff changes at senior levels, and they are continuing to this day.

A new leadership structure has to bed down. Andy Cowell has only been chief executive officer for a little over a year, and Newey did not join until March this year.

Enrico Cardile was signed from Ferrari in July 2024, but took on his role as chief technical officer only in August.

The 2025 Formula 1 season is heading for a hectic climax with three races on successive weekends to decide the winner of the drivers’ championship.

Lando Norris has a commanding 24-point lead over McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri heading into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which takes place under the lights on the Strip at 04:00 GMT on Sunday.

That is followed by grands prix in Qatar, from 28-30 November, and then Abu Dhabi, from 5-7 December.

Are Ferrari chair John Elkann’s comments that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc need to concentrate “on driving and talk less” after their poor results this season unfair? – Jordan

John Elkann certainly caused a stir with his remarks the day after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

It’s not clear what exactly provoked them, as Ferrari did not say.

But given they came less than 24 hours after Hamilton had said that his run of results in his first season at Ferrari were “a nightmare, and I have been living it for a while”, it would not be unreasonable to suppose the seven-time champion might have been in Elkann’s mind.

As far as Hamilton goes, this is typical of the sort of emotional remark he makes when he has had a disappointing race.

Remember when he said after Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying that he was “just useless” and “drove terribly” and Ferrari “probably need to change driver”?

He didn’t mean that then, not really. And Brazil should be seen in that context.

After all, Hamilton went on to say: “I believe there is something extraordinary up ahead in my life and in my destiny. I truly still believe in this team and what we can achieve together.”

Which is, one might think, exactly the sort of message Elkann would want to hear.

The issue many people had with Elkann’s comments was that their accuracy was questionable.

He singled out the mechanics for praise for “basically winning the championship with their performance and everything that has been done on the pit stops”, on the basis they are leading the rankings for average pit-stop time.

Fair enough, but then he said: “If we look at our engineers, there’s no doubt that the car has improved.”

Well, perhaps it has. But not relative to the opposition. Ferrari were 0.372 seconds off the pace on average in qualifying in the first half of the season, and so far in the second they are 0.472secs off.

As for the drivers, yes, Hamilton has been through the mill this year, but his performances have improved over the season, even if Brazil was a difficult race for him.

But Leclerc has been outstanding. And while he has pointed out regularly that the car is not quick enough, no-one would disagree with that, not even Elkann.

Ferrari are in F1 to win. Nothing less is good enough. That’s just a fact. And Leclerc has been steadfastly loyal to the team.

The grid seems to be as close in performance as I have ever seen. Has F1 succeeded in creating a situation where each driver’s performance over a weekend is a bigger differentiator than in the past, and does the upcoming regulation change threaten this balance? – Matt

It stands to reason that if the cars are closer in performance, then the driver would make more of a difference.

Whether that is more a factor now than at any other time is a difficult question to answer because there are a lot of aspects of F1 now that work in some ways to reduce the difference between drivers.

Telemetry, for example, allows drivers who are not as naturally able to find the limit a chance to catch up over a weekend.

You could see this, for example, at Alpine when Fernando Alonso partnered Esteban Ocon.

At the start of a weekend, Alonso would typically be considerably quicker than Ocon, who would inch closer with each session until he was competitive in qualifying and sometimes able to beat him.

Something else to factor in is that many would argue that the depth of talent at the top of F1 right now is as good as it has ever been, if not better.

In Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Alonso, there are three drivers who would be on anyone’s list of all-time greats.

In addition, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Leclerc are all exceptional, without question.

That’s at least seven world-class drivers in F1 at the same time.

Any major regulation change inevitably increases both the gaps between teams, and the risk that one team will steal a march on the rest of the field, as happened in 2022 with Red Bull and 2014 with Mercedes.

As the season nears the end, the rookies are increasingly showing their talent. Is there an argument to allow more testing in current cars for new drivers than the current regulations offer? Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar really look settled and in a good place. – Chris

Well, you could argue that there is no need to change the testing regulations as Antonelli, Bearman and Hadjar have all proved their talent without the need for it!

There is no appetite in F1 to increase testing allowances. Testing is expensive.

Having said that, there is an acceptance that rookie drivers could do with more opportunities to experience F1.

That’s why the rules were changed this year to force teams to run rookies in two sessions per car – a total of four for the season.

And it’s why teams have started running young drivers in cars from previous years – so called testing of previous cars (TPC) and testing of historic cars (THC).

Are Aston Martin the team to watch next season with Adrian Newey in charge of the design of next year’s car? – Ian

The truth is no-one knows what the competitive order will be next year, and no-one will know until the first race of the season.

Newey has a strong record when it comes to regulation changes. He aced the ones in 1998 with McLaren, 2009 with Red Bull (once the controversial advantage of Brawn’s double diffuser had been neutralised), and in 2022 with Red Bull again.

In 1998, he had officially joined McLaren only in September of the previous year. With Aston Martin, he has had six more months than that, albeit F1 is a lot more complex now.

Of course, the whole of F1 is waiting with interest to see how Newey gets on with Aston Martin.

On the engine side, Honda, which will become sole factory partner to Aston Martin, clearly knows what it’s doing.

Aston Martin’s lead driver is pretty handy, as well.

But success in F1 tends to come from stability. And stable is the last thing Aston Martin have been in recent years.

There have been a dizzying number staff changes at senior levels, and they are continuing to this day.

A new leadership structure has to bed down. Andy Cowell has only been chief executive officer for a little over a year, and Newey did not join until March this year.

Enrico Cardile was signed from Ferrari in July 2024, but took on his role as chief technical officer only in August.

Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw believes their final autumn nations series fixture against world champions South Africa will be a “proper test” in terms of assessing where the squad is at.

Ireland suffered a dispiriting loss to New Zealand before a below-par victory over Japan, but bounced back in ruthless fashion last weekend with a record 46-19 victory over Australia, with Henshaw scoring one of their six tries.

Having won the Rugby Championship, South Africa are three from three in their November matches in the northern hemisphere.

The Springboks will look to claim a tour clean sweep in Dublin after victories over Japan at Wembley, France and Italy.

Ireland famously stunned South Africa in the group stages of the 2023 World Cup, and the sides drew a summer series in 2024.

And Henshaw hopes the Irish can back up their display against the Wallabies with another big performance at Aviva Stadium on Saturday (17:40 GMT).

“I think they’re the talk of world rugby at the moment in terms of the strength in depth they have, the individual talent,” he said.

“They’re grinding out results… teams looks like they have them and then they find a way to get back.

“It’s a proper test for us to see where we’re at. We have gone toe-to-toe with them, from summer last year it was one win each in that series, so I suppose they’ll be looking at that as well.

“It’s massively exciting because they’re such a proud nation as well and, you know, when we play against them here in Dublin, it’s always a thriller.”

The 32-year-old believes there is still more to come from Ireland as they look to end 2025 on a high.

“I think [against Australia] we conceded quite easily in the first half in that second 20 minutes when they got a roll on,” Henshaw added.

“So, with what’s coming, it’s more of that up-front physicality and big men running down our channels.

Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw believes their final autumn nations series fixture against world champions South Africa will be a “proper test” in terms of assessing where the squad is at.

Ireland suffered a dispiriting loss to New Zealand before a below-par victory over Japan, but bounced back in ruthless fashion last weekend with a record 46-19 victory over Australia, with Henshaw scoring one of their six tries.

Having won the Rugby Championship, South Africa are three from three in their November matches in the northern hemisphere.

The Springboks will look to claim a tour clean sweep in Dublin after victories over Japan at Wembley, France and Italy.

Ireland famously stunned South Africa in the group stages of the 2023 World Cup, and the sides drew a summer series in 2024.

And Henshaw hopes the Irish can back up their display against the Wallabies with another big performance at Aviva Stadium on Saturday (17:40 GMT).

“I think they’re the talk of world rugby at the moment in terms of the strength in depth they have, the individual talent,” he said.

“They’re grinding out results… teams looks like they have them and then they find a way to get back.

“It’s a proper test for us to see where we’re at. We have gone toe-to-toe with them, from summer last year it was one win each in that series, so I suppose they’ll be looking at that as well.

“It’s massively exciting because they’re such a proud nation as well and, you know, when we play against them here in Dublin, it’s always a thriller.”

The 32-year-old believes there is still more to come from Ireland as they look to end 2025 on a high.

“I think [against Australia] we conceded quite easily in the first half in that second 20 minutes when they got a roll on,” Henshaw added.

“So, with what’s coming, it’s more of that up-front physicality and big men running down our channels.

Speaking before the final international window of the year, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill described the number nine jersey as one position where he was “still searching for an option”.

Almost three years since his return to the job, and four months before a World Cup play-off semi-final, the former Stoke City boss’ selections have given the impression that, if he is set on 10 of his first-choice XI, centre-forward remains the place where he is most open to persuasion.

After adding that he “would love someone to really step up”, on Monday night against Luxembourg it was the turn of Tottenham Hotspur attacker Jamie Donley to press his claim as the third different player to lead the line in as many games.

With the winning goal from the penalty spot, and an earlier effort chalked off for an offside, the 20-year-old – currently on loan at Stoke – certainly made the most compelling case of any player to date for an extended run in the position.

Indeed, O’Neill felt Donley was the “best player on the pitch” in what was a dead-rubber qualifier for next summer’s World Cup in North America.

“I wanted to see him as a nine,” continued the manager after Northern Ireland finished their Group A campaign with nine points from six games and in third place behind Germany and Slovakia.

“Look, there’s no secret that the nine is a problem position for us. I think Jamie has different attributes maybe from some of the other strikers.

More used to playing in a deeper position, Donley may not have the physicality of a more orthodox number nine but, quite aside from putting the ball in the net on two occasions, he was a willing runner in the channels too.

“You’re the last line of attack,” Donley said of the main difference between playing up front compared to as a number 10.

“Normally I’m behind the striker. I know I’ve always got someone behind me, but it’s more about running and stretching the game.

“I think I can add that to my game definitely because I don’t think I do enough of that. Michael says that to me a lot about running in behind because the team needs that sometimes.”

Should Donley develop his skills in leading the line, there is no doubt his playmaking ability from deep would still be an asset too.

There is no better example than England and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, a player Donley previously trained with at Spurs.

“He helped me a lot when he was around,” said Donley of Tottenham’s record goalscorer who moved to Germany in August 2024.

Kane’s goalscoring feats came only after a number of frustrating loan spells away from Tottenham earlier in his career with Donley presently enduring similar struggles.

Having impressed at Leyton Orient last season, and made his international debut while with the Brisbane Road club, he has found things tougher in the Championship with Stoke this year.

Since the start of September, he has played only 37 club minutes, which in turn has hampered his international prospects.

Born in Northern Ireland but raised in England, Donley represented both at youth level and it was viewed as a real coup when O’Neill convinced him to turn out in a green jersey at senior level in March. Yet Monday represented his first start since that initial international window with the squad.

O’Neill thinks Donley has been “unlucky” not to have won more than six senior caps, but believes you can always see his Premier League quality.

“He just looks like that player that has been at a high level as a young player at a club like Tottenham all his days,” he said.

“Obviously he’s still a Tottenham player at this minute in time. He’s just got himself in a situation where his loan has not gone as well as he’d hoped.

“That’s happened to many players. Many players have gone through that situation where the loan is not always a success, but they learn from that as well. He’s only 20 years of age, so he’s got it all ahead of him.”

Such has been Donley’s struggle for regular football this season that he dropped back down to the Northern Ireland Under-21s as recently as last month.

Yet, on the most recent evidence, he is now in pole position to start what will be the country’s biggest game in at least five years come the play-off in March.

O’Neill hopes the “situation resolves itself” in the coming months, while Donley believes his international progress can aid his club prospects – in turn helping his chances of holding on to Northern Ireland’s number nine jersey.

“I think I need to be playing at my club to have any chance of playing in March because Michael speaks a lot about that,” he said.

“I think [the Luxembourg showing] would have helped me if someone from Stoke was watching and seeing that I’ve got a bit of quality. I’ll go back and see what happens.