F1 title fight is increasingly focused on McLaren but Verstappen still hopeful

Ahead of Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, this Formula 1 season is looking like McLaren vs. McLaren. Still, defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull says he hasn't lost hope.

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the only ones to consistently have the pace through the first four rounds of the championship.

Norris has a three-point lead but admits he isn't at his best — though he had the fastest time of the day in practice on Friday — while Piastri has momentum after winning in Bahrain last week.

Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have all had their moments but none has been a consistent challenger, as McLaren's 58-point constructors' championship lead shows.

Norris went fastest in the second practice session, while Yuki Tsunoda crashed to continue his difficult start with Red Bull.

Norris was .163 seconds faster than Piastri in the second session, which was run under floodlights and more representative of race conditions than the hotter daytime session. Verstappen complained earlier in the day of his car feeling “very loose” in high-speed corners but ended Friday third fastest, .280 off Norris.

In his third race weekend with Red Bull since replacing Liam Lawson, Tsunoda clipped the wall on the inside of a corner and slid into the barrier on the other side, requiring a red flag.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly was the surprise leader in the first session, just .007 of a second faster than Norris. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was .07 off Gasly in third and Piastri fourth, barely a tenth of a second off the pace. Lewis Hamilton was eighth in the other Ferrari. Verstappen was ninth.

Verstappen is the only non-McLaren driver to win a grand prix this season, but in Bahrain he was struggling so much that Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said he was concerned the Dutch star might reconsider his future.

Verstappen said this week he wasn’t considering the championship picture this early in the season.

“I’m not thinking about that. I just go race by race,” he said. “At the moment we are not the quickest. So then naturally it’s very tough to fight for a championship, but it’s still a very long road ... I’m hopeful that we can still improve things.”

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso dampened speculation Verstappen could seek to join his Aston Martin team after Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey made that move last year.

Asked if he’d welcome being Verstappen’s teammate, Alonso said Thursday: “Yes, but it’s unlikely to happen. Very unlikely.”

Alonso’s current teammate is Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll.

Jeddah hosts the fifth race in six weeks in a hectic start to the season, which stays at a record 24 races. There's a little respite after Saudi Arabia, with two weeks till the next event in Miami.

“It’s on the upper end of the limit. It feels like race 10 already,” said Williams driver Alex Albon, adding it's especially tough on mechanics and other crew members.

“As drivers, we travel better than everyone else in the paddock. We stay in better hotels than everyone else in the paddock — it’s just a function of being in a privileged position. With mechanics ... these are people with families. These are the people that really struggle.”

The rookies are still enjoying their first taste of F1, though.

“It’s just the beginning of my career, so I just want to keep racing and keep driving," Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto said. “I’m learning new things every single weekend, so for me, if I could have another race next weekend, I would be very happy as well.”

AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the second free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia prepares at pits during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain gets a pit stop during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands speaks during a news conference ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)