Booing by members of the crowd at any sporting event is something which is rarely, if ever, justified, and McLaren’s Lando Norris has certainly suffered in this respect, including in Brazil this weekend. The same occurred throughout the recent Mexico City Grand Prix round and also previously after the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September, when McLaren had controversially instructed Oscar Piastri to let Norris past for second place following a pit stop delay for the latter. The unhappy fans repeatedly booing him believe that the Woking-based team is guilty of the manipulation of results in favour of its British driver.

This is surely not the case though, as the outfit has a deserved reputation for trying to treat its drivers fairly. However, it is undeniably strange how Piastri’s pace of late has dropped, compared to earlier this year when both the Australian and Norris were equally matched and, if anything, Piastri was perhaps slightly the better. At the United States Grand Prix three weeks ago Piastri finished 21 seconds behind his teammate, and then in Mexico a fortnight ago the gap between the duo at the chequered flag was a mighty 42 seconds. Just when it counted most, the usually ice-calm Piastri was clearly losing his edge, and this led Norris to overhaul him in the fight for the Drivers’ title. This had left Piastri knowing that when he arrived in Brazil he really needed to regain much of the momentum lost, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also still loitering in the wings, but it was not to be.

We recently witnessed the start at London’s Royal Courts of Justice of the legal claim by the Brazilian former F1 driver, Felipe Massa, for £64m in damages against the FIA governing body, Formula One Management and the former F1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone. It relates back to the 2008 season and in particular to the Singapore Grand Prix, during which the struggling Renault team instructed its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to crash deliberately and trigger a Safety Car intervention, which helped his teammate, Fernando Alonso, to win.

Just when it counted most, the usually ice-calm Piastri was clearly losing his edge, and this led Norris to overhaul him in the fight for the Drivers’ title.

Massa lost out to Lewis Hamilton that year for the world Drivers’ title by a single point and asserts he would have been the champion but for the Singapore fiasco, claiming that Ecclestone and the FIA’s then president, Max Mosley, initially took no action about it in order to protect the image of the sport and cover up a title-impacting scandal. Only the following year were Renault’s Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds given lifetime bans from motorsport for the incident, although these were subsequently rescinded by a French court. Massa’s legal action reached the end of its pre-trial stage on 31 October, and a judgement is awaited as to whether the case will proceed to a full trial.

The 2009 Formula 1 world champion, Jenson Button, took part in the last professional race of his long motorsport career this weekend, competing in the 8 Hours of Bahrain event in the Middle East, which was the final round of this year’s World Endurance Championship. Unfortunately it didn’t go well for the likeable Brit, as the stewards gave him a 30-second stop/go penalty for causing a collision with another competitor.

Now aged 45, Button still has a passion for racing and contributes to the Sky Sports coverage of F1, but he understandably wants to be able to spend more time with his wife, Brittny Ward, and their two young children. He made his Formula 1 debut for Williams in 2000 and took the 2009 title with the fledgling Brawn team, doing so at Interlagos. He then left to pair up with Hamilton at McLaren for three years, during which time he outscored his multiple-champion-to-be teammate. Ultimately, Button’s Formula 1 career spanned 18 seasons, marked by that sole title and 15 victories from 306 race starts.

Elsewhere on the driver front, Alpine confirmed at Interlagos on Friday that it would be retaining the 22-year-old Argentinian, Franco Colapinto, alongside Pierre Gasly for the 2026 season.

In other news, the Paris-based FIA governing body is due to hold its latest presidential election on 12 December, but a Swiss candidate called Laura Villars is legally questioning its democratic standards via a French court. Four people had put themselves forward to be the next president, but, under the FIA’s current rules, only the present holder of the post, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, will be able to run. These rules require candidates to assemble a team of seven vice-presidents from each of the FIA’s six global regions, but only one person, Fabiana Ecclestone, is eligible to be a vice-president from South America, and she is tied to Ben Sulayem, thus meaning that no-one else can attempt to become president.

Silverstone-based Aston Martin is undertaking a technical restructure following the arrival of Adrian Newey from Red Bull, and various members of the existing design and engineering teams will be leaving prior to the 2026 season.

Villars is looking for the court to postpone the FIA’s presidential election until the whole issue is clarified. In a statement she explained her stance: “I have twice tried to open a constructive dialogue with the FIA on essential matters such as internal democracy and the transparency of electoral rules, but the responses received were not up to the challenge,” before adding, “I am not acting against the FIA, but am acting to protect it. Democracy is not a threat to the FIA, but its strength.” So, it will be interesting to see how this challenge to the FIA’s existing electoral procedures progresses.

Meanwhile, Silverstone-based Aston Martin is undertaking a technical restructure following the arrival of Adrian Newey from Red Bull, and various members of the existing design and engineering teams will be leaving prior to the 2026 season.

On a lighter and far happier note, we should send our congratulations to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and his 24-year-old long-term partner, Alexandra Saint Mleux, who announced their engagement last weekend. Alexandra is an art historian and fashion icon and is often seen accompanying her Monégasque husband-to-be at Formula 1 rounds.

Read my report from yesterday's Brazil Grand Prix Norris Extends Title Lead In Brazil