(CTN News) – Lando Norris and his McLaren squad survived a tough qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but they know they must perform on Sunday.

Lando Norris needed to win Budapest after Oscar Piastri locked off the top row in the field’s fastest McLaren. Recent races have been costly owing to wasted opportunities and little mistakes.

He matched Max Verstappen’s pole lap at the Hungaroring, who was unhappy to finish third. In a confident and aggressive approach, the 24-year-old finished more than three tenths ahead of the Dutchman, hitting the apexes.

Piastri followed Lando Norris by two hundredths of a second on the second hot run, demonstrating McLaren’s speed.

McLaren is doing well since Lando Norris won the Miami Grand Prix.

His potential triumphs have been cost by team and driver error, for which both parties have taken responsibility. On Sunday, he and McLaren will know they must do well.

Norris was quietly pleased with his historic first pole in Hungary and third overall. Although confident, McLaren will also be proud of their recent race progress. No one has won the pole in Budapest since Lewis Hamilton won the race and flag in 2012.

Norris and his crew recognize they must capitalize on closing gaps with 12 races left to drive Verstappen to the finish. Lando Norris understands. Behind Verstappen by 84 championship points.

“I know we missed out on some races, but we did the best we could in every one of them, and I don’t want to get back into all that stuff,” he said. I expect Oscar and Max to challenge me in the rear, not a clean weekend.

“Every location and point must be maximized; the more we can do to return to Max and Red Bull, the better.”

Hungary is a great opportunity since Lando Norris Verstappen was plainly unhappy with his car and outperformed. This disappointed him twice because the team had swiftly upgraded this race.

Verstappen had stated that the upgrades will define the second half of the season, but he admitted that he did not think they had gone far enough and could not defeat the McLarens.

“The changes are effective, but we still need more as we are not at the top,” said he. “Despite the imbalance, I liked the laps. I was pushing hard, so you had these little moments. Fast lap times are less crucial today. Simple: we need to work more because we’re moving slower. McLaren’s qualifying performance suggests a lot of ground to cover.

Lando Norris completed his best lap despite two crash-related stoppages.

Verstappen looked great in dry Q3 hot laps. He set a record with a lap time of 1 minute, 15.555 seconds and was quickest through each sector.

Lando Norris followed and pushed through the corners with fearlessness, posting a perfect 1:15.227 lap time. Piastri improved to second place on the penultimate laps while Verstappen did not, and Yuki Tsunoda’s crash halted the session.

A tardy coda didn’t matter when practice resumed because the last two minutes on old tires were worthless. McLaren has all the cards, but they must perform at the highest level to prove the legendary brand can win again.

Carlos Sainz of Ferrari was fourth and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes fifth. George Russell, Sainz’s teammate, was unexpectedly ousted in the first round.

Sergio Pérez of Red Bull struggled again in the first qualifying round. He hit the curb, lost the rear at turn eight, and crashed, interrupting the session.

Poor performance again for the Mexican, whose Red Bull berth is in risk after a succession of poor performances, especially in qualification. His contract, recently extended to 2025, may have a performance clause, and Red Bull is unlikely to tolerate him underperforming for long. He was sixteen.

Russell fell behind because Lando Norris Mercedes didn’t fuel the car until the session ended. The British driver was eliminated in 17th place after staying out when the track dried after the break.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari placed sixth, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin placed seventh and eighth, Daniel Ricciardo of RB placed nine, and Tsunoda placed tenth.

Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen of Haas finished 11 and 15, Valtteri Bottas of Sauber 12 and Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant of Williams 13 and 14. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly placed ninth and twentieth for Alpine, while Guanyu Zhou placed eighth for Sauber.

SOURCE: GN

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(CTN News) – Two people were sent to the hospital for treatment as a result of the M5 tragic vehicle accident that happened in Devon.

The accident between two vehicles was the cause of the disaster. One more consequence of the crash is that it has left the M5 partially blocked to traffic to this day.

Between junction 28 for Cullompton and junction 29 for Exeter, the highway was blocked in both directions; however, one lane on the southbound carriageway has been opened up for previously closed traffic.

In a statement issued by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, they stated that they were notified of a traffic accident that had happened in the Exeter district at 2:29 p.m. on Friday, July 12.

M5 happened in Exeter, according to reports.

Furthermore, information was given to them by the South Western Ambulance Service.

To provide medical assistance to those injured, four land ambulances, each with two crews, an air ambulance, a critical care M5 vehicle, a doctor, an operations officer, and a responding officer were dispatched to the scene of the incident.

Furthermore, a critical care vehicle was dispatched. We also dispatched an air ambulance to the scene of the event.

Two patients were transported to their respective hospitals: one was transported by land ambulance to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, while the second patient was flown there by air ambulance.

After being moved, the two patients were sent to hospitals in Devon and Exeter, respectively. Simultaneously, both patients were transferred to their respective sites at the same time.

Here’s what Devon and Somerset M5 Fire and Rescue Service said:

“We responded to the scene of a road traffic collision on the M5 at 2.30 p.m. today, between junctions 28 and 29.” The statement cited above was part of an official declaration.

A car that had been hit by another car coming from the other direction had two persons inside that had been rescued. It had been traveling in the other direction.

We offered support as the people were being taken out of the car. These people are now receiving medical assistance from the ambulance service in order to fulfill their duties.

The event caused significant delays for the M5 and the routes that pass through Exeter during the period when traffic was being redirected. In order to accommodate the traffic, this was being done.

A southbound vehicle experienced wheel failure, causing it to cross the center reserve and merge with the northbound road approaching. The car was going the wrong way, which is why this happened. The vehicle was traveling southward at that precise moment.

National Highways indicated that based on the facts they have provided, it is expected that the police would begin their investigation into the occurrence given the magnitude of the calamity that occurred. The entity that made this information public was National Highways.

The Devon and Cornwall Police Department issued the following statement:

“We know the M5 closure is causing traffic.”

The statement that was released is located beneath you. “We will get people moving safely when we can but please bear with us while we deal with the incident and causalities at the scene.”

In order to accommodate cars and other small vehicles that were traveling on the now-closed northern route towards M5 Taunton and Bristol, the back of the line has been shifted.

This was done to create space for these cars, which were heading towards Taunton and Bristol. The purpose of this activity was to provide space for larger cars. At this point, it seems like more and more vehicles are being stopped from going forward.

Due to this incident, a second lane has been opened up for use by any and all vehicles traveling southward.

SOURCE: ITV

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BYD Car Buyers in Thailand Outraged Over Huge Dealer Discounts

(CTN News) – Since the Thai consumer protection office began investigating BYD (SZ:002594) dealers’ aggressive discounting strategies, it has received seventy complaints.

The aggressive discounting practices were the subject of several complaints. The consumer agency has received about seventy complaints since the inquiry started, and a number of customers have expressed the opinion that the investigation caused them to overpay for their Chinese electric vehicles.

BYD’s first factory in Southeast Asia was opened in Thailand this week.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin instructed him when he was there to ensure that local customers are safeguarded and to better manage customer expectations with relation to pricing. Wang paid the premier a visit on Friday out of respect.

The goal of this instruction was to enhance the way in which the consumer marketplace’s expectations are managed. A government spokeswoman claimed that the government has given guarantees that prices in the future would be reasonable and that consumers who have suffered losses will get support for their claims.

Emails submitted to Reuters seeking comment on the topic were not immediately answered by the company’s sole distributor, Rever Automotive, nor by executives from BYD in Thailand.

Furthermore, Rever Automotive refrained from responding to Reuters. The company is in charge of overseeing the network of Rever Automotive, which consists of more than 100 dealerships.

The authorities received a complaint alleging that a salesperson had informed the customer that their car would cost more when a promotion ended. The authorities opened an investigation against BYD’s dealers as a result of this accusation.

The complaint was sent to the government for review when it was received. Conversely, the dealership eventually succeeded in reducing the expenses by an even greater amount.

Many BYD owners in Thailand have voiced their displeasure with the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer’s recent substantial price reductions. I feel like I’m not given enough credit as a result. The owners have expressed how unhappy they are with the current situation.

One owner wrote on Facebook (NASDAQ:META) that “nothing hurts more than this,” revealing that the BYD Atto 3 car he had previously bought for 1.19 million baht was now being sold for 859,000 baht.

The car was originally bought by the owner for 1.19 million baht. The proprietor had bought the car for 1.19 million baht in total; the transaction had happened.

An additional owner dissatisfied with BYD uploaded a video.

In the video, the owner of the electric car can be seen writing disparaging remarks about the company using a hefty blue marker that came from the manufacturer on the hood of his car. One example of a comment is as follows: “I will never buy anything from this automobile manufacturer again.”

An advertisement posted on the Rever website on Friday states that the company is currently offering a number of models for as low as 340,000 baht, or $9,300. These models can all be downloaded and purchased right now.

Passakorn Thapmongkol, a senior officer of Thailand’s Consumer Protection Board, told Reuters in an interview that the organization met with Rever executives and requested relevant documentation related to the discounted plan.

These two things actually happened. The official supplied this specific information. He said in his statement that there is a steady increase in the number of clients filing complaints.

The capacity of Thailand to effectively establish itself in this market is crucial to BYD’s goals for global expansion, as it is the company’s most significant market outside of China.

This is particularly relevant given that the car maker is subject to taxes from the European Union totaling 17.4% of the item’s total worth. When you think about it, this is very important.

The Chinese automaker is currently the third-largest player in the passenger car industry, according to research firm Counterpoint. In addition, the Chinese automaker controlled 46% of Thailand’s electric vehicle (EV) market during the first quarter of the year. In Thailand, this was the situation. For every one dollar, there are 36,5700 baht.

Source: Daily Sabah

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