Verstappen in defensive mode against hard-charging McLaren, takes 10-place penalty at Belgian GP

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — When Max Verstappen raced at the Belgian Grand Prix last season, he was cruising to a third straight Formula One world championship.

One year later, the Dutch driver heads into the same race on Sunday with what's looking like a fight on his hands from a pack of chasers led by McLaren's Lando Norris.

Verstappen not only has stiff competition for the first time since he became the series dominant force. He will face a 10-place grid penalty in the race after his team installed a fifth power unit in his car before Friday's first practice. That is one more engine than the established limit for the season.

The Red Bull ace still holds a relatively comfortable 76-point lead, 265 to 189 for Norris. But McLaren has erased the speed gap with Red Bull this summer while Mercedes and Ferrari remain real threats for individual victories.

Norris showed his pace once again during Friday's practice, putting in the top time ahead of McLaren partner Oscar Piastri. Verstappen was third best.

In 2023, Verstappen finished first at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to claim an eighth straight victory and enter the midseason break with a 125-point lead over teammate Sergio Pérez. Verstappen would go on to make it an F1 record 10 wins in a row as Red Bull dominated the season. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was the only non-Red Bull driver to top the podium.

And Verstappen appeared to be off to another title march this year after winning four of the first five races. But since then he has just three wins in the last eight grand prix and has gone three consecutive races without a victory for the first time since 2021.

His frustration was evident last weekend in Hungary where he finished fifth despite having started from third. Verstappen bickered with his team over the radio regarding their pit-stop strategies after his car was unable to match the pace of the McLarens, which locked out the front row in qualifying and the race.

“From my side I think it was quite clear that the strategy was wrong and of course I’m very driven like everyone else in the team. We want to try and be perfect,” Verstappen said Thursday, reflecting on the tough race in Budapest, which included contact with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes that sent his Red Bull airborne.

“Now I know that every single race to do that is very, very hard. We came very close last year, but when things are not going how they should have been, I think it’s quite normal that you can share your frustration."

Verstappen, who was born in Belgium but drives under the Dutch flag, won here the past three years at the track set in the forested hills of the Ardennes.

But Verstappen acknowledged that the 10-spot penalty hurts his chances to end his mini-streak of winless races.

“I knew of course that it is coming. It’s not a surprise to me,” he said earlier. “If you look at our last few races where we haven’t particularly been the fastest, I wouldn’t say that with 10 places extra we have a chance of winning.”

Yuki Tsunoda of RB will start from the back of the grid on Sunday after also exceeding his number of new engines and the addition of other new parts.

Piastri became the seventh different winner in 13 races this season after leading a one-two by McLaren ahead of Norris at the Hungaroring. That was the Australian's first F1 victory.

While the papaya pair of cars were uncatchable, the real drama of the race played out on the McLaren team radio where the team engineer had to plead with Norris to give back the race lead to Piastri.

“The main point is we had a one-two. I was super happy with that, the whole team were very happy,” Norris said Thursday. “Could I have done things probably a little bit differently? Yes, but that’s from my side and the team’s side to discuss what we’ve done, so (I’m) coming in this weekend to try and repeat it in terms of result.”

While Norris still has a way to go to catch Verstappen, McLaren as a team has closed on Red Bull in the constructors’ championship. Red Bull leads 389-338 over McLaren, with Pérez struggling to stay among the top drivers despite having one of the better cars.

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McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the second practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia sits in his car inside the team garage prior to the second practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the second practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the first practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu of China steers his car during the first practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the first practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the first practice session of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso of Spain arrives in the paddock ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Thursday, July 25, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia speaks with the media as he arrives in the paddock ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Thursday, July 25, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain speaks with the media as he arrives in the paddock ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Thursday, July 25, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands smiles after speaking with fans ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Thursday, July 25, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands arrives in the paddock ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Thursday, July 25, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the first practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Friday, July 26, 2024. The Belgian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump laced into Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats on Thursday in a pointed and at times bitter speech as he headlined the annual Al Smith charity dinner in New York.

Trump, in remarks that often felt more like a rally speech than a comedy bit, repeatedly criticized Harris over her decision to skip the event, breaking with presidential tradition as she campaigned in Wisconsin. She recorded a video that was played onscreen instead.

“You should have told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis and then she’d be here,” Trump quipped, urging Catholics to vote for him in response.

“You gotta remember that I’m here and she’s not," he said.

The white-tie dinner raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally offered candidates from both parties the chance to trade lighthearted barbs, poke fun at themselves, and show that they can get along — or at least pretend to — for one night in the election's final stretch.

It's often the last time the two nominees share a stage before Election Day.

Trump delivered a number of one-liners that drew hearty laughs. But he also questioned the mental fitness of Harris and President Joe Biden, commented on second gentleman Doug Emhoff's extramarital affair during his previous marriage, and made a joke about transgender women that echoed his frequent mocking of trans athletes on the campaign trail.

He said at one point that he would offer a couple of self-deprecating jokes before abandoning the effort. “Nope. I’ve got nothing,” he said to laughs.

“I just don’t see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me," he said, referencing his survival of two assassination attempts this year.

Of Biden, he said, “If the Democrats really wanted to have someone not be with us this evening, they would have sent Joe Biden."

Later, he said the current occupant of the White House “can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have the mental faculties of a child. This is a person that has nothing going, no intelligence whatsoever. But enough about Kamala Harris.”

In the video she recorded for the occasion, Harris appeared alongside comedian and actress Molly Shannon, who reprised her long-running “Saturday Night Live” character Mary Katherine Gallagher, an awkward Catholic schoolgirl. She also poked fun at Trump for comments he made in Michigan, saying that mocking Catholics in the video would be “like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.”

Harris’ campaign had previously said that, with less than three weeks before Election Day, they wanted her to spend as much time as possible campaigning in battleground states that will decide the election, rather than detouring to heavily Democratic New York. Her team has told organizers that she would be willing to attend the dinner as president if she wins.

Trump was joined at the dinner by his wife, Melania, who has been an infrequent presence on the campaign trail.

The dais included a mix of Trump allies and foes, with various entanglements. They included New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a successful civil fraud case against Trump and his business. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who endorsed Trump after dropping his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, attended with his wife, Cheryl Hines.

New York’s embattled Mayor Eric Adams and other top city officials, as well as business leaders and sports and media personalities, were also in attendance. Adams was charged last month with accepting illegal campaign contributions and lavish overseas trips from Turkish officials and businesspeople — a case that was mentioned repeatedly, including by Trump.

Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Adams was targeted by authorities because he criticized Biden’s migrant policies.

“Mayor Adams: Good luck with everything,” Trump said, adding that what Adams faces is “peanuts” compared to his own legal woes.

He also went after former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was repeatedly booed by the crowd.

“To be honest, he was a terrible mayor," Trump said before offering a profanity at a religion-themed event. "I don’t give a s—- if this is comedy or not.”

The dinner was emceed by comedian Jim Gaffigan, who plays Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz on “Saturday Night Live.”

Gaffigan has a history of criticizing Trump. In 2020, he wrote on X, then named Twitter, that “We need to wake up. We need to call trump the con man and thief that he is.”

He largely kept his focus Thursday on others, including Adams, whom he introduced as “brought to you by Turkish Airlines.”

But he offered some hits, including when he referenced allegations that the Trump Organization in the 1970s discriminated against Black renters in its buildings.

“If Vice President Harris wins this election, not only would she be the first female president, a Black woman would occupy the White House, a former Trump residence,” Gaffigan said. “Obviously you wouldn't be renting to her. I mean, that would never happen anyway. Maybe if Doug did the signing.”

Trump's tone echoed his appearance in 2016, when he was joined by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and delivered a particularly nasty speech, calling her “corrupt.”

“Hillary believes that it’s vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private,” he said to jeers. “For example, here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.”

Mary Callahan Erdoes, vice chair of the foundation, alluded to that when she introduced Trump, suggesting she hoped for something less caustic.

“You never disappoint. Your wit is absolutely fabulous. And all of us together are going to hope for the best,” she said to laughs.

Trump, too, referenced the performance onstage, saying that, in 2016, he "went overboard. That was like terrible. And I knew I was in trouble midway through."

That didn't stop him, however, from similar attacks.

The Harris campaign responded to Trump's speech with a statement saying it would remind “Americans how unstable he’s become.”

“He may refuse to release his medical records, but every day he makes it clear to the American people that he is not up to the job,” said spokesperson Ammar Moussa.

Trump's sense of humor is often cited by his supporters as key to his appeal. While he infamously glowered through former President Barack Obama’s jokes at his expense during the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, he also sometimes pokes fun at himself.

At several rallies this year, he has remarked on his hair after catching a glimpse of himself onscreen.

“What the hell can you do? There’s nothing I can do about it. We’re stuck with it," he joked at a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, last month.

Both Trump and Biden, who is Catholic, spoke at a virtual version of the fundraiser in 2020, which was moved online due to concerns over large gatherings at the height of the pandemic.

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat who was the first Catholic to receive a major-party nomination for president when he unsuccessfully ran for the White House in 1928.

The event has become a tradition for presidential candidates since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a late-term abortion ban.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and Cardinal Timothy Dolan listen. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., listens at the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arrives for the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Michael Bloomberg arrives for the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump arrive for the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., arrives for the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, center, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, arrive for the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and Cardinal Timothy Dolan gesture as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump watches at the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump atalks with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., at the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump arrive for the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves at Trenton-Mercer Airport, in Mercer County, N.J., before departing en route to Milwaukee, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands before the start of an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)