Lando Norris has admitted he is unsure whether McLaren will be able to fix an issue with his car that is causing a loss of straight-line speed ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion was in fine form as he claimed three pole positions and two victories in four races spread either side of the summer break, but he has since been off the pace in Azerbaijan and Malaysia.

Norris only qualified fifth at both events, was taken out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a crash and could only manage ninth in an error-strewn display as Malaysia hosted the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The issue, which made Norris slower than his team-mate Oscar Piastri in certain parts of the Sepang International Circuit, appears to be being caused by his power unit, but McLaren have yet to find the exact issue.

Asked whether the team can fix it for the upcoming Sprint weekend in Singapore, Norris told Sky Sports F1: “I have no idea.

“The team are trying but I’m losing almost two tenths a lap. Two tenths a lap over 55 laps is just painful as hell. It’s making my life pretty damn difficult.

“There are also other things. In Malaysia I could have done better. I can’t just have that. That’s not just an excuse.

“There are things I can do better and the team as well.”

Stella: Rivals may have developed car with bigger steps

McLaren boss Andrea Stella admitted that some of the team’s rivals may have “developed their car with bigger steps” after successive underwhelming showings.

The reigning constructors’ champions appeared to be back in the mix for victories when their upgrade package at the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break helped Norris deliver the team’s first grand prix pole and victory of the season.

However, despite McLaren having added more upgrades to their car, Mercedes’ George Russell claimed a dominant win in Azerbaijan before Max Verstappen exhibited Red Bull’s progress by triumphing in Malaysia.

Stella said: “We see a scenario in Formula 1 which seems to be changing pretty rapidly.

“In Hungary, we took some upgrades, and we were in condition to have a pole position in Hungary and Zandvoort and then we were in condition to do pole position and pretty much victory in Madrid without the Virtual Safety Car.

“Then very rapidly and interestingly, as we took upgrades as well, the picture changes.

“I think we have to take a look at our own development. We don’t see any anomaly in our data, but we have to acknowledge that potentially some competitors have developed their car with bigger steps than we did.”

The extremely high temperatures and rough track surface in Malaysia created a potential outlier in terms of conditions, which has left Stella with some hope that McLaren could return to form in Singapore.

“There are very specific conditions in Malaysia, so I think we should give ourselves more time,” he added.

“I’m sure this is the same kind of review that we’ll have next door at Mercedes. It’s a very special condition in Malaysia, so I think we have to understand better the behaviour of the cars.

“I think we need to give ourselves some more time. I’m personally not in condition to say if Singapore will be now more suitable or not, because from a track layout point of view, we thought that Sepang would be a decent circuit for us.

“This is because of the uncertainty caused by the new scenario from a competitiveness point of view, but also because we might have to understand a bit better the upgrades that we took ourselves, and Singapore will give us a better answer.”

Formula 1 heads straight to Singapore for the last Sprint weekend of the season with track action starting this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

Australia’s first Test tour of South Africa since ‘Sandpapergate’ in 2018 begins with the first of three Tests in Durban on Friday – live on Sky Sports – as the top two in the world rankings do battle.

The ball-tampering scandal that rocked cricket occurred during the Cape Town Test in March 2018 – a series South Africa would go on to win 3-1 – when Cameron Bancroft was shown on TV using a small, yellow object that ultimately proved to be a piece of sandpaper to tamper with the ball.

He was banned for nine months by Cricket Australia for his actions, with 12-month bans dished out to then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner for their part in proceedings and prior knowledge of the plan.

Reflecting on the incident more than six years on, former South Africa bowler Shaun Pollock told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “I wasn’t on air at the time, but I can remember when it came out and the major impact that it had.

“We were getting messages from back home of people going, ‘I can’t believe this has happened’.

“For the next hour or two, whatever happened on the cricket field was kind of irrelevant to everything that was going on. We knew there was trouble brewing.”

Australia haven’t toured South Africa since, with a proposed trip in early 2021 called off due to the pandemic.

But South Africa did claim a notable victory over Australia at Lord’s last summer, winning the World Test Championship final, and Durban’s series-opener on Friday serves as the team’s first home Test in the 16 months since.

England visit for a three-Test tour of their own, starting in December. But Pollock believes it’s Australia who will be the prized scalp.

“There’s definitely something special about the Australia series,” he said. “There’s obviously some wonderful history between South Africa and England, and we’ll thoroughly enjoy that series too – I know the Barmy Army are coming out – but I think it’s Australia [if fans had to choose], to be brutally honest.”

“The World Test Championship win has definitely created a bigger appetite for Test cricket in South Africa. That’s been a real plus for us, and I’m sure the mace will be paraded around all the venues, considering it is Australia that we play.”

Pollock added: “What will their reception be? I don’t think it’ll be overly hostile.

“The coverage over here, there’s been quite a few replays of the [2018] series over the last few weeks, just to sort of create a bit of animosity, I suppose.

“But when you play against Australia, people in South Africa won’t need a reason to, I don’t know, write a billboard or have a go at them about some particular reason.

“I’m sure there’ll be a few people coming dressed up in accordance with Sandpapergate. I’m sure there’ll be some continual reminding of it. But I don’t think it’ll be over the top or too intense.”

As for the series itself, Pollock is predicting 2-1 successes in both series, against Australia and England, pointing to the former’s misfiring batting line-up as particular cause for optimism.

“Australia’s batting would be a concern for me,” he said. “I watched the one-day series and they didn’t play spin that well at all, and that might even tempt South Africa to play two spinners in the first Test.

“And there’s obviously a lot of talk in circles about should Marnus [Labuschagne] be there or should this guy be there? It’s not settled.

“Think back to the days we played, there were guys queuing up for an opportunity, and they only got a chance where there was injury. Whereas now it’s a case of kind of throwing all the balls up in the air.

“I just think they’re very unsettled. They rely massively on Steve Smith and Travis Head, in particular.”

Watch the first Test between South Africa and Australia live on Sky Sports Cricket from Friday (7.30am on air, 8.30am first ball).

Newell’s will still be close, because the club is one of the sixteen academies at this year’s Messi Cup.

If owning clubs is one love, youth football is the other, and his regular presence at his son’s games and the Messi Cup are the proof.

He puts his money and his time into a tournament for Under-16 academies, which began in 2025 with eight teams.

Last year, the organisers expected him to come to one or two games, perhaps only the final, but to everyone’s surprise, he sat through every match on every day.

This year the teams doubled to 16, from 25 October at Inter Miami’s facilities in Florida, including Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Arsenal, UE Cornella, and others.

Away from the pitch, Messi has built a portfolio that helps explain why Forbes put his net worth at about $1.1bn, external in June, with earnings of around $140m over the previous year split between football and business.

His best known endorsement is the lifetime Adidas deal he signed in 2017.

The most visible piece is MiM Hotels, six boutique properties from Ibiza to Andorra, which Melia has run under a rental agreement since 1 November 2025.

MiM takes its name from Messi and the Majestic hotel group, and runs the hotels inside its Melia Collection.

In Rosario, his family firm invests in Carrasco M, a development of 24 homes by the Parana river, with Ángel Di María’s property agency handling the sales.

He is also a partner in the restaurant chain El Club de la Milanesa which plans to open five branches in Catalonia, the first in Castelldefels.

He has a mate collection with the drinkware giants Stanley, the brand’s first multi-year deal with an athlete, and he gave his opinion on materials and colours.

The business side began with his father. Jorge Messi, who died in August aged 68, looked after his son’s affairs from the start, and some of his early advice led the family into trouble with the tax authorities in Spain.

The company then grew into branches for TV production, marketing, media and commercial partnerships, among others, all well established by the time Jorge fell seriously ill.

Messi trusts the people who run them, some of them with him since his early days at Barcelona, and a thorough filter means he only gets offered and chooses what he is comfortable with.

He sets his own relationship with the business world, and nobody imposes anything on him.

In Miami last November, Messi told the America Business Forum: “Business is something that interests me. I would like to keep learning because I know nothing and I am just starting out.”

The portfolio his circle has prepared is already impressive while he finds more football targets to keep the flame alive.