The history of Formula 1 shows how vying for the title can turn the friendliest of teammates into bitter rivals. But so far, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are making it work at McLaren.
As Norris heads to his home race at Silverstone, he's hoping fans at the British Grand Prix show his Australian teammate some love, too.
“The British fans are normally very accepting for all of us and especially for us as McLaren. So I think the first point should be for the fans to embrace everyone and support everyone,” Norris said after his win at Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix when asked if there might be a hostile reception for Piastri.
Nine years ago, one of F1's most famous teammate rivalries came into focus at the Austrian Grand Prix, when childhood friends-turned-Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided on the last lap, one more incident in a relationship which had long been rocky.
There have been recent incidents in Norris' and Piastri's time together which potentially may have soured the relationship between other drivers.
In Canada, Norris clipped the back of Piastri's car on June 15 and hit the wall. Norris apologized.
On Sunday in Austria, Piastri attempted an over-optimistic lunge and narrowly missed hitting Norris. Piastri apologized.
“We both want to race hard and race fair, and it goes both ways,” Norris said Sunday.
“(The incident in Canada is) something I wish never happened but it was nice that we could go out and have a good battle (in Austria) and push things to the limits," he said. "There were still some close moments, but nothing that was hopefully something that would make Andrea (Stella, McLaren's team principal) or the pit wall sweat too much.”
In his third year with Britain-based McLaren, Piastri has some warm memories of the Silverstone crowd, but he's never been there before as a championship leader whose closest rival is the home hero.
“A couple of years ago they were chanting my name in the crowd, so that was unexpected. I’m not sure I’ll quite get that again, which is fair enough,” Piastri said. “Obviously I’m expecting there to be a lot more Lando fans than ‘me’ fans, but that’s fair. It’s it’s his home race as well, so I think it’ll be fine.”
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McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain leads the race in front of McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
First-placed McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain, left, and second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrate during the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
-Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia congratualtes the victory to McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain during the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Saudi warplanes have reportedly struck on Friday forces in southern Yemen backed by the United Arab Emirates, a separatist leader says.
This comes as a Saudi-led operation attempts to take over camps of the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, in the governorate of Haramout that borders Saudi Arabia.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE rose after the STC moved last month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. The move pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group aligned with the coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen accused the head of the STC of blocking a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden.
The STC deputy and former Hamdrmout governor, Ahmed bin Breik, said in a statement that the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces advanced toward the camps, but the separatists refused to withdraw, apparently leading to the airstrikes.
Mohamed al-Nakib, spokesperson for the STC-backed Southern Shield Forces, also known as Dera Al-Janoub, said Saudi airstrikes caused fatalities, without providing details. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.
Al-Nakib also accused Saudi Arabia in a video on X of using “Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda militias” in a "large-scale attack " early Friday that he claimed sepratists were able to repel.
He likened the latest developments to Yemen’s 1994 civil war, “except that this time it is under the cover of Saudi aviation operations.”
Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout who was chosen Friday by Yemen's internationally recognized government to command the Saudi-led forces in the governorate, refuted STC claims, calling them “ridiculous” and showing intentions of escalation instead of a peaceful handover, according Okaz newspaper, which is aligned with the Saudi government.
Earlier on Friday, al-khanbashi called the current operation of retrieving seized areas “peaceful.”
“This operation is not a declaration of war and does not seek escalation,” al-Khanbashi said in a speech aired on state media. “This is a responsible pre-emptive measure to remove weapons and prevent chaos and the camps from being used to undermine the security in Hadramout,” he added.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen demands the withdrawal of STC forces from the two governorates as part of de-escalation efforts. The STC has so far refused to hand over its weapons and camps.
The coalition's spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Friday on X that Saudi-backed naval forces were deployed across the Arabian Sea to carry out inspections and combat smuggling.
In his post on X, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said the kingdom had tried “all efforts with STC” for weeks "to stop the escalation" and to urge the separatists to leave Hadramout and Mahra, only to be faced with “continued intransigence and rejection from Aidarous al-Zubaidi," the STC head.
Al-Jaber said the latest development was not permitting the Saudi delegation's jet to land in Aden, despite having agreed on its arrival with some STC leaders to find a solution that serves “everyone and the public interest.”
Yemen’s transport ministry, aligned with STC, said Saudi Arabia imposed on Thursday requirements mandating that flights to and from Aden International Airport undergo inspection in Jeddah. The ministry expressed “shock” and denounced the decision. There was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.
ِA spokesperson with the transport ministry told the AP late Thursday that all flights from and to the UAE were suspended until Saudi Arabia reverses these reported measures.
Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the northern regions, while a Saudi-UAE-backed coalition supports the internationally recognized government in the south. However, the UAE also helps the southern separatists who call for South Yemen to secede once again from Yemen. Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990.
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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.
Southern Yemen soldiers of Southern Transitional Council (STC) at a check point, in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo)
