UK MPs urge Formula 1 to set up an independent inquiry into the links between grands prix and human rights violations.
Source: BBC Sport
Monthly Archives: February 2023
Serrano injury causes Taylor rematch postponement
Katie Taylor’s world title rematch against Amanda Serrano, due to take place in Dublin in May, is postponed due to an injury sustained by Serrano.
Source: BBC Sport
Lewis Hamilton discusses support for LGBTQI+ community in heart-warming interview and says ‘I will speak out whether they like it or not’
Lewis Hamilton has spoken passionately about his support for the LGBTQI+ community, saying he will never stop using his platform to help underprivileged groups.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion regularly uses his status for good, whether that be helmet and t-shirt designs, statements in the media or posts to his huge social media audience.
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Hamilton has raced with a rainbow flag on his helmet in multiple middle eastern countries where homosexuality is illegal, and faced some resistance in Hungary in 2021.
In the backdrop of the August race in Budapest, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban was attempting to pass an anti-gay law which the EU described as a ‘flagrant form of discrimination’.
Hamilton and fellow champion Sebastian Vettel both raced with rainbow flags on their helmets, while Vettel said he would happily take punishment for a pre-race t-shirt in the colours.
Speaking to The Fast and the Curious, Hamilton called the proposed law ‘unacceptable, cowardly and misguided’ a stance which F1 reporter Christian Hewgill thanked him for in a heartwarming interview.
Orban later took the law to a referendum, and it failed when 1.6million protesters spoiled their ballots.
Responding to the praise, Hamilton said: “Thank you, and firstly I commend you also because it’s a challenging journey.
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“I think for me, I’m always saying that we need more empathy and compassion in the world. Everyone.
“We’re all human beings and there are all of these things that people find challenging in different countries, different governments, people with opinions, social media and different things.
“We have this platform and I feel a huge responsibility, I’m not just a Formula 1 driver and could just have success and go about my life.
“This is a platform to really spark change, spark conversation which is really the beginning of those things, sparking uncomfortable conversations and then holding people accountable who have been happy with status quo in the past which has held people down, which has made people not included and it frustrates me and goes into that fear thing.
“We can make change and I want to be part of that and making people feel more included, motorsport or any sport or business shouldn’t be able to continue with not being diverse.
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“There’s not enough access for people from that community, you don’t see enough access for a lot of people with disabilities in our sport, when have you seen someone working in our industry with disabilities?
“There’s so many different things that we need to challenge and fix and also we’re going to a lot of countries where they have these challenging human rights issues where humans are not treated as human beings and in the past people just brushed by it like it wasn’t important.
“It is so important that someone speaks out on it and I don’t care if I don’t win another race, I’m going to speak on those things whether they like it or not.”
Sadly for Hamilton, it appears they don’t like it, with F1’s governing body, the FIA, updating their sporting code to state that drivers need prior approval for ‘political, religious and personal statements’.
There has been widespread condemnation of the ruling across the grid, but the FIA are yet to back down, saying punishments could be administered if statements are made ‘on track’.
Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport
Eight uncapped players in Ireland women's squad
Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams names eight uncapped players in his squad for the 2023 Women’s Six Nations.
Source: BBC Sport
French football president Le Graet resigns
French Football Federation president Noel le Graet resigns following a damning report into the organisation and accusations of sexual harassment.
Source: BBC Sport
Liverpool won the title and Tottenham even got a trophy – when football and Formula 1 combined for the Superleague Formula
Tottenham’s 15-year deal with Formula 1 has provoked a fever-dream style throwback to the last time the two sports combined.
The announcement, which will bring electric go-karting to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, comes with a car modelling their colours and cockerel logo, but not for the first time.
@SpursOfficial
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Rex
F1 was in the midst of its last big era-defining change in 2008 with Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari dominance finally over and thrilling young names Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen achieving world champion status.
Unlike today with Formula E and other single-seater series scooping up drivers no longer good enough for the F1 grid, back in the 00s, there wasn’t really a competitor.
That was until the idea of a ‘Superleague’ – no not that one – was born, although it took eight years to come to fruition.
Giants from across world football, including Liverpool, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, signed up to sponsor open-wheeled cars in a series that actually had a lot going for it.
Everything that F1 was criticised for was corrected in Superleague Formula, with screeching V12 engines, equal machinery and some classic old school tracks.
At the same time, F1 was getting quieter, less competitive, and opening its doors to snooze-fest street circuits.
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The sport had global appeal, with teams like Brazilian giants Flamengo and Chinese side Beijing Guoan agreeing to join, adding to some very recognisable liveries and colour schemes brought in by Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Galatasaray.
On top of that, there was also known talent, with seven ex-F1 drivers, headlined by products of Red Bull Racing, Sebastien Bourdais and Robert Doornbos.
Kicking off in 2008, Beijing Guoan took the first championship to be followed by Liverpool, Anderlecht, and finally ‘Team Australia’ in the series final 2011 season.
It started with a bang, attracting six million viewers worldwide, and even garnered an accompanying video game, while the football clubs involved seemed delighted with the exposure.
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So competitive was the series that Tottenham even won a trophy, collecting top honours in Silverstone in 2010 and their driver Craig Dolby contested a thrilling title race with Andelecht’s Davide Rigon that was decided by just three points.
Unfortunately, though, things ground to a halt a year later in 2011, just two races into the campaign as the money dried up.
That’s nothing out of the ordinary in motorsport, and director Robin Webb maintains all parties got paid, with cars later auctioned off to fans.
Spurs driver Dolby later explained: “Championships come and go and that was one heck of a championship to be in; it was a shame really.
“Superleague did everything right with the noise and the tyres – we could push as hard as we wanted to on the tyres and there was nothing left on the table.
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“We were the naughty boys of motorsport. We went out with a 4.2-litre V12, beautiful engine, noisy as hell.
“I think from a consumer point of view, everybody would’ve absolutely loved it to keep going – I have no doubt, in fact. But it was a very hungry beast. And you had to keep feeding the beast. Conceptually it was a dream for TV companies, and the crowds liked it.
“Could it happen again with football teams and no nations? Yes.
“I don’t know whether people would go for it now – they did then, they were gagging for it.”
With star drivers all over the place and Drive to Survive one of Netflix’s biggest successes, there’s no doubt people are again gagging for F1 content, and a new Spurs branded F1 car may not be a one-off.
Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport
I was fined £12,500 for pretending to do sex act on water bottle, was sued by Wimbledon fan, smashed over 2000 rackets but I’m good for tennis
Nick Kyrgios has revealed some of the more bizarre fines he has received, including pretending to do a sex act on a water bottle.
The Australian tennis star joined Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast and spoke openly on a range of topics.
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Naturally the conversation turned to some of the ridiculous fines he has received over the years.
Barely a tournament goes by without some cash being taken off him for various racket smashing, angry outbursts and even the occasional spitting.
When asked about some of the more unusual ones, he said: “I was at this really prestigious tournament and pretended to jerk off this water bottle… I got fined $15,000 [£12,500].
“I honestly don’t know [why I did that]. My team were just in the box having fun and this was the semi-final of a really prestigious event.
“I don’t know, I just felt like doing it.”
Kyrgios also fell foul of the strict Wimbledon dress code after he lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s final.
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He added: “I wore a red hat and red shoes for the presentation and got fined $10,000 for that.”
That was not the only time he got in trouble at that tournament, as he also was sued by a woman in the crowd whom he accused of being drunk.
That matter was later settled and Kyrgios made a donation to charity.
“Boos don’t affect me but when someone says something inappropriate or racist, that grinds my gears. People just shout out anything,” he added.
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“In the Wimbledon final, there was a lady screaming out to me in the middle of points. You have to be quiet.
“I spoke to the umpire and then I ended up getting a court case about it.
“I said, ‘She’s had 700 drinks’ and then she sued me for defamation. It’s all done now.
“They’ve branded me the bad boy since I came on tour but I don’t do anything crazy at all.
“I’ve broken a couple of thousand rackets, it’s not good, I don’t condone it.”
However, he has always insisted he is good for the sport.
The conversations also turned to murkier ground when they asked about conspiracy theories.
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When asked if he through the world was flat, he said: “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
He was a little more matter of fact when it came to the pyramids, though.
“I don’t think the pyramids are man-made,” he declared.
“The doors are pretty big, and we as humans don’t need doors as big as those ones.”
Source: TalkSport.com Tennis
England head coach Wane to stay on until 2025
Shaun Wane is to remain England head coach, after the RFL extends his contract until the conclusion of the 2025 World Cup.
Source: BBC Sport
Lewis Hamilton’s stunning supercar collection includes two LaFerraris and a McLaren P1, while he sold crashed Pagani Zonda for £7.5m and owned £19m private jet
Lewis Hamilton described last year’s Mercedes W13 challenger as the ‘worst car I’ve ever had’ – and he would know.
Not only has the seven-time world champion driven some of the best Formula 1 cars ever made, but also the best road cars, with an enviable collection.
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Living in Monaco with further homes in Manhattan, New York and also Switzerland, Hamilton is not only one of the most successful active athletes in the world, but one of the richest.
And given his profession, it’s no surprise that a fair chunk of that goes on road cars, even though he’s admitted he doesn’t actually enjoy driving off of the race track.
“I just think that I find it stressful,” he told Vanity Fair last year. “I try not to do things that don’t add to my life.”
Conducting that interview in the most modest of vehicles, a Smart Car, Mercedes mini two-seater microcar.
“Look, we’re on these roads, anything can happen,” he said while getting overtaken. “This is now stressful for me. This road is crazy. So much going on here. I’m going to turn around in a second.”
The 37-year-old hasn’t always been so adverse to driving though, with a car collection that leaves petrolheads drooling.
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13 of Hamilton’s best road cars
The Pagani heads an incredible list
2013 Pagani Zonda 760LH – £7.9m
2017 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta – £5.1m
2015 Ferrari LaFerrari – £2.7m
2022 Mercedes-AMG One – £2.25m
1966 Shelby Cobra 427 – £1.75m
2014 McLaren P1 – £1.25m
2012 Ferrari 599 SA Aperta – £1m
1967 Shelby Cobra 427 – £960k
2015 Mercedes-AMG G63 6X6 – £713k
1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 – £624k
2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupe Black Series – £419k
1967 Mercedes Benz Maybach X3 – £109k
1965 Mini Cooper S – £1k
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It all began with a Mini Cooper back when Hamilton was growing up in Stevenage, a small but pokey icon of the motoring world, which would only end up being outgunned by far more powerful machines.
Carhp have ranked the Brit’s most expensive motors as of 2023, with a list of 13 supercars totalling £24million in list price.
Way out ahead in his collection is a car that even rivals F1 speeds in some categories, but was also part of an unfortunate accident.
A self-branded Pagani Zonda 760LH in Hamilton’s trademark purple reportedly sold for $9.5m [£7.5m] in 2021, despite him crashing it eight years earlier.
@lewishamilton
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Pagani are known as one of the original ‘hypercar’ brands with extraordinary looks, breakneck speed, screeching engines and 0-60 times regularly below three seconds.
That means it’s slightly more forgivable that Hamilton managed to lose control of his personalised model in Monaco in 2015 and crash into some parked cars, which would have left him worried about its £1.7m value.
However, with the brand so rare and only increasing in legendary status over the years, he managed to sell it for more than five times what he paid in 2021.
That doesn’t mean his supercar purchases stopped there, though, with cash heading in the direction of rival F1 teams after picking up an incredible Mercedes AMG One.
It began with an idea. A dream…. @F1 technology brought to the streets.
Today, that dream becomes reality. The ONE and only, @MercedesAMG ONE.
pic.twitter.com/KXyetqSD3c
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 1, 2022
@lewishamilton
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Hamilton owns two Ferrari LaFerraris, having previously admitted he always wanted to drive for the Italian team, while on top of that he has the hybrid competitor of his former team McLaren, with a P1 in his collection.
Despite the enviable list of supercars, it’s far from just about speed for Hamilton, who clearly loves American muscle.
Owning a number of Shelby Cobras over the years as well as a Ford Mustang, Hamilton also purchased the ultimate Chelsea tractor, a Mercedes-AMG G63 6X6.
Cobras are so iconic even fake kitcars sell for six figures, but Hamilton has the real thing from the 60s[/caption]
@lewishamilton
Gazumping all of that, though, is his Bombardier Challenger 605, which, if you hadn’t guessed by the name, is a plane rather than a car.
Hamilton’s cherry red private jet was a regular fixture at race weekends, costing him an eye-watering $23million [£19m] in 2013.
Despite it possibly being the most exclusive item in world sport for many years, rival millionaires can now charter the jet, with Hamilton selling it at a massive loss in 2019.
Wanting to reduce his carbon footprint, Hamilton has been far more associated with his pitlane scooter.
Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport
Smith left out of England squad as Ford returns
Marcus Smith is left out of England’s training squad before the Six Nations match against France, with George Ford returning.
Source: BBC Sport