Rugby-List of European Champions Cup winners
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The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Motor racing-F1 drivers given trophies made of LEGO at British GP
Formula One F1 - British Grand Prix - Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain - July 6, 2025 General view of trophies that are made out of lego on display on the podium REUTERS/Andrew Boyers SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) -The top three finishers in Sunday's British Formula One Grand Prix were rewarded for their efforts with trophies made of LEGO toy bricks, a novelty appreciated by some more than others. The trophies are part of a multi-year partnership between LEGO and Formula One that has already put drivers in a fleet of 10 brick-built cars for a pre-race parade at the Miami Grand Prix, a moment that went viral. "How does it feel after 15 years of F1 to get a podium (trophy) that's made out of LEGO that you can just pull apart?," McLaren's runner-up Oscar Piastri asked Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, on the podium for the first time after 239 starts. "It's just made out of LEGO that you can pull apart and probably buy next week," explained the Australian teasingly. "I love LEGO. It's good. My daughter can play with it too. You've always got to see the bright side," replied the German. "But, you know, a bit of silver or gold would have been nice too, but I won't complain." Sunday's race marked 75 years of the championship at the Silverstone circuit where it started in 1950 and the winner's gold-adorned LEGO trophy, modelled on the real RAC golden trophy, is made of 2,717 bricks. It weighs more than 2 kg and is more than 59 cm high and, contrary to Piastri's assertion, cannot be bought as a kit. The second and third-placed trophies were white with red and blue detailing respectively, while the constructors' was dark blue and gold. "We wanted to create something very special because it's the 75th anniversary," LEGO's chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin said. The blocks are stuck together with glue, and took seven builders 210 hours to create in Denmark. NEW AUDIENCES Formula One is reaching out to a new demographic, and particularly a younger audience, with considerable success and has found partners in previously untapped areas. That includes deals with Mattel's Hot Wheels toy cars, a 2026 collaboration with Disney's Mickey & Friends and LEGO announced last year. Emily Prazer, Formula One's chief commercial officer, rejected any suggestion of the sport "dumbing down" and said the strategy was to make brands more accessible and reach out to those who may never go to a race. "LEGO puts us in nearly every shopping mall in the world," she said. "Disney helps us appeal to the next generation of fans. Hot Wheels and Mattel allow for kids to actually play with the cars at home." Goldin said LEGO also appealed to more and more adults and had products that were intriguing to people with all kinds of interests. "The same is happening with F1 and there is a real benefit of how the sport is able to engage different people with different interests and different elements of the sport," she said. "We are not just trying to turn the sport into a toy but actually trying to help the fans to experience the best." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
Rugby-Frustrated Farrell says Pollock okay despite late withdrawal
FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Western Force v British and Irish Lions - Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia - June 28, 2025 Lions' Henry Pollock applauds the fans after the match Richard Wainwright/AAP Image via REUTERS/File Photo SYDNEY (Reuters) - British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell said Henry Pollock's withdrawal before kickoff was precautionary and reported a clean bill of health for the rest of his side after their win over the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday. Pollock, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise this year, was named at blindside flanker for his third Lions match but was a late withdrawal from the Sydney Football Stadium clash. "It was just a bit of an awareness on a calf strain that was tight enough this morning so, knowing what we knew, there was no need to risk him," Farrell told reporters after the unconvincing 21-10 victory. The Lions have lost players for the remainder of the tour in their first two matches in Australia, scrumhalf Tomos Williams suffering a hamstring injury and Elliot Daly breaking his arm. Farrell said his team had come through Saturday's match unscathed. "That's a good positive at this stage," he said. He was less impressed with the error-prone performance of his side and suggested the Waratahs might have watered the pitch before the match to make the conditions tougher. "I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? That the ball's slippy, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high octane stuff from them as well," he said. "We kept on trying to overplay at times, certainly around halfway, and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game. "And that amount of turnover ball is credit to them, obviously, but not good enough from us." Farrell brought his son Owen into the squad as an injury replacement for but said Wednesday's match against the ACT Brumbies would probably be too early for him. The Brumbies beat the Lions on their last tour of Australia 12 years ago. "It looks like there could be a bit of rain so that's good for us, we need to play in that as well," Farrell said. "But we also know that they're top side in the Australian division, and we also know what happened as far as the Lions is concerned in 2013, so we know it's a big day on Wednesday for us all." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Ed Osmond)
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Alpine appoint Nielsen to run F1 team day-to-day
FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - F1 75 Live Season Launch - The O2, London, Britain - February 18, 2025 The Alpine car is revealed during the launch REUTERS/Andrew Boyers/File Photo SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) -Renault-owned Alpine appointed former sporting director Steve Nielsen on Friday to handle the day-to-day running of the Formula One team following the departure of principal Oliver Oakes. The Enstone-based team, effectively run by executive adviser and former principal Flavio Briatore who will continue to have overall charge, said Nielsen would start work as managing director on September 1. Nielsen has most recently been working for Liberty Media-owned Formula One, after a brief period as sporting director at the governing FIA. He was also sporting director when Renault won championships in 2005 and 2006 under Briatore. Alpine, last in the constructors' championship but switching to Mercedes engines next year, also appointed Kris Midgley as head of aerodynamic development. Midgley previously worked at Ferrari as principal aerodynamicist and is also returning to the Enstone factory after a stint from 2007-13. Oakes, the team's fifth boss in four turbulent seasons, resigned in May for personal reasons after being appointed in July last year. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
