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BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
Norris gets to 'live that feeling' of being Silverstone winner
Lando Norris did not let a cut nose dampen his celebrations after winning his first British Grand might end up with a second scar on his nose, to match one caused by a glass cut last year, after a photographer fell off the pit-wall barriers and knocked the McLaren driver's winner's trophy into his face as he was trying to celebrate his Silverstone victory with the a little while later he was up on the fan stage, two strips of medical tape on his injury, with his team-mate Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive officer Zak did three 'shoeys', the celebration where a winner drinks champagne out of his shoe brought to Formula 1 from Australian sport by his former team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, and Piastri and Brown followed was the least he - and they - deserved after a demanding, incident-packed, intensely difficult race in constantly changing conditions between wet and dry, which Piastri would have won but for a controversial penalty for what was adjudged a safety-car will be stewing over that one for a while, but while Norris inherited the win, there was little to choose between them all weekend. And the Briton was pressing Piastri hard at the time the Australian pitted for tyres for the final time and served the had driven exceptional races, in a different class from the rest of the field, in a car that looked as impressive as it has done all season."Eventful race," Norris, 25, said. "It means a huge amount. Being on top in your home race is very, very special." Norris first started watching F1, he said, when Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were driving silver McLarens at Silverstone in 2007. He recalled that, as well as Hamilton's brilliant victory in the wet in now, with Hamilton and Alonso still in the field, Norris had taken his own win in a silver - well, partially, anyway, at least for this weekend - McLaren."Lewis won, and I got that picture of him going around and seeing all the fans standing up, and that picture of what an atmosphere in Silverstone is like, and dreamed of that for many, many years," Norris said."Today I got to live that feeling myself and see it through my own eyes. So pretty amazing, pretty special. A lot of people, from my friends and family, my brother, my sisters, my mom, my dad, my dad's parents."Every person that I could have here is here. So, yeah, more special than ever, 100%. And tough race to do it in as well." The win reduced his deficit to Piastri in the championship to eight points, and it was the first time he has ever won two races in a row. But he was wary of talking about the meaning of it beyond itself."You can always class it as momentum or whatever," he said. "I don't know. It's whatever you want to believe in the end of the day. I think it's still just one race at a time."I give my credit to Oscar at the same time because he drove an extremely good race."It's two wins, but they've not come easy by any means. We've had good fights, but they're pretty strenuous, exhausting weekends because you're fighting for hundredths and thousandths, and you're fighting for perfection every session and I'm against some pretty good drivers. So, it takes a lot out of you, especially when you have a race like today."I've had two good weekends and, of course, I would love to continue that momentum, but it still requires more consistency. Two weekends doesn't mean anything otherwise. And I just need to keep it up and keep working hard." Piastri penalty 'very harsh' The events of the day were demanding on everyone, but the way the race turned was, according to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, "very harsh" on was penalised for braking hard in the middle of the straight as he prepared for the restart after the final one of three safety car periods. This, in the stewards' view, "resulted in (Max Verstappen's Red Bull) having to take evasive action to avoid a collision".Piastri was furious. But, wary of the stance the FIA is taking at the moment on drivers speaking out and not wanting to risk a further penalty or a fine, he kept his remarks well under control afterwards."Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car any more," he said. "I mean, I did it for five laps before that. Again, I'm not going say too much till I get myself in trouble."Piastri was bemused by the penalty, because all drivers know the leader's actions dictate things for those behind in this sort of situation, even if there are rules to issue seemed to be that he had driven in this way after the safety car had switched its lights off, the point at which the rules say he must "proceed at a pace which involved no erratic braking nor any other manoeuvre which is likely to endanger other drivers".Piastri said: "I hit the brakes. At the same time I did that, the lights on the safety car went out, which was also extremely late. And then obviously, I didn't accelerate because I can control the pace from there."I didn't do anything differently to my first restart. I didn't go any slower. I can only comment on what I felt I did, which I felt was well within the rules, and I did it once already in that race. So, yeah. I don't really get it. I'll go have a look back." The contrast with the outcome of a very similar incident in Canada two races ago between Mercedes' George Russell and Verstappen was Montreal, after the stewards took no action, Red Bull lodged a protest, but it was dismissed out of said: "Going back to Canada, I think he had to evade more there than he did today. So, yeah, I'm a bit confused to say the least."There was also the feeling within McLaren that Verstappen may have 'gamed' the system by exaggerating how much it affected him."I don't think he had to evade me," Piastri said. "I think he managed the first time."Team principal Andrea Stella said: "We'll have to see also if other competitors kind of made the situation look worse than what it is."Because we know that as part of the race car, some competitors definitely there's also the ability to make others look like they are causing severe infringement when they are not."Verstappen said: "The thing is that it happened to me now a few times, this kind of scenario. I just find it strange that suddenly now Oscar is the first one to receive 10 seconds first."Was that because because there was no difference to what Russell did in Canada?"Well, to the stewards, yes," Verstappen end result was that Norris has now moved himself on to four wins for the season, one short of Piastri."I felt like I drove a really strong race," Piastri said. "Ultimately, when you don't get the result you think you deserve, it hurts, especially when it's not in your control."I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later."Both have two weekends off to reset and refresh before battle is rejoined at the Belgian Grand Prix, the start of the second half of the season.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Farce and fury as players rage against the machine at Wimbledon after line-calling technology was accidentally switched off in Sonay Kartal defeat
The sight of a chair umpire ringing his superiors on something resembling a 1970s telephone, after AI technology had failed to make a blindingly obvious line call, took us deep into the realms of a farce which overshadowed one of the brightest British stories of this past week drawing to a close. The 'electronic line calling' system employs banks of cameras in place of the uniformed judges who were once such a fine and distinctive part of Wimbledon, to state which side of the line a ball has dropped. Perhaps the system works. Perhaps it doesn't. Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper have made their doubts extremely clear these past few days. But it will certainly fail when somebody turns the machine off, which Wimbledon declared was the reason why a Sonay Kartal volley — sent a foot beyond the baseline at a vital moment towards the end of the first set of her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova — elicited no call of 'out.' In the absence of this most obvious verdict, Centre Court's audio system started demanding 'stop, stop' and so, at the same time, did German umpire Nico Helwerth. A bewildering and rather dystopian moment. Pavlyuchenkova ought to have been walking to her seat, 5-4 to the good. She — and every advocate of common sense — anticipated an umpire's overrule. Instead, Helwerth declared: 'We are going to check the system is up and running.' And, after a three-minute hiatus: 'The electronic line system is currently unable to replay the last point so we will replay.' Summers in SW19 are supposed to offer respite from infernal VAR controversies, though this one was even more lamentable than that detested system football has come to know. At least football's referees are wired up to people who can see the video, or may walk to a screen to view it back themselves. Helwerth was unable to use his own initiative on the point in question. Pavlyuchenkova sensed a British conspiracy when the point had been replayed and Kartal ended up winning the game. 'Because she is local, they can say whatever,' the Russian told Helwerth. 'They stole the game from me. They stole it.' After six hours of deliberation, the All England Club finally issued a statement last night disclosing that 'operator error' had meant the AI system was 'deactivated' on Pavlyuchenkova's side of the net for one game, including the controversial point in question. Helwerth, they said, had 'followed the established process'. After Pavlyuchenkova had won 7-6, 6-4, Helwerth admitted to her that he had seen the ball was out. 'I think he felt bad, a little bit,' she revealed. Though some would argue that a Russian player should not even be here at a time when Putin's drones are inflicting untold horrors on Ukraine, Pavlyuchenkova spoke for many when she urged tennis not to render its officials completely redundant. 'It's difficult for him,' she said of Helwerth's reaction. 'He probably was scared to take such a big decision. But they should take those decisions. That's why they're sitting on the chair. That's why we have a chair umpire. Otherwise, soon we'll just play without them and then we're going to have everything automatic. It becomes, like, robot-orientated.' Kartal's struggle to capitalise on this opportunity belonged to the wider narrative of her match. She strode out in a storm —thunder booming overhead, rain hammering down on the Centre Court roof — and after a hesitant start, threw everything at the first set, despite having her right knee heavily strapped. Pavlyuchenkova struggled with the 23-year-old's mobility and heavy forehand spin. The age gap — Pavlyuchenkova is 34 — felt significant. But Kartal could not seize her opportunities, winning only three of 10 break points in that first set. She will feel regret, despite collecting £240,000 in prize money which she says can transform her future preparations. In Kartal's first-round game, her opponent Jelena Ostapenko had raged against AI, ironically clapping the cameras which foot-faulted her. Pavlyuchenkova has previously put this kind of behaviour down to the Latvian's combustible nature but now she's not so sure. 'At the beginning it was funny, but after I was getting her point a little bit,' Pavlyuchenkova said. 'Sometimes when we play, I'm thinking, 'Am I crazy?' I just feel like the ball is long, then nothing is happening. There is no automatic line calling.' She is not the only one now demanding answers.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Sarina Wiegman must forget loyalty to save England's Euros dream, writes TARA ANSON-WALSH, after Lionesses' opening defeat by France
Sarina Wiegman 's faith in her stalwarts has been the backbone of England 's success at tournaments. Honesty with her players over when they will play, and how they can help the team, whether that be from the start or off the bench, is frequently praised. Wiegman's transparency allows players to tailor their preparations without second-guessing late tactical shifts. But on Saturday night that same loyalty looked, for the first time, like a liability as England were outfought and outpaced by a battling France side, whose aggressive press and superior athleticism dismantled the holders and set up a 2-1 win. England are the first defending champions to lose their opening group game of a women's Euros. Lucy Bronze had a punishing evening against her Chelsea team-mate Sandy Baltimore, who was sensational for the Treble winners last season. On the opposite flank, Jess Carter also suffered against the electric Delphine Cascarino, with the England defender admitting as much afterwards. 'We all have days where we're just having a bit of a mare on the ball and unfortunately there was more than one player doing that,' said the Gotham FC left back. Wiegman's decision to start Lauren James, Alex Greenwood, Lauren Hemp and Georgia Stanway was a significant gamble considering how little they have featured recently. Greenwood and Hemp had each played only one full match — last month's Nations League clash with Spain — since returning from injuries sustained at the end of last year. Stanway, recovering from a knee injury she suffered in January, had only completed a full 90 minutes in the friendly against Jamaica last weekend. As for James, this marked her first start since April 4. Those four have long been among Wiegman's most trusted lieutenants, central to England's run to the World Cup final two years ago. Yet starting all of them felt like an unnecessary risk and England suffered because of it. 'I make a lot of considerations before I pick a starting line-up,' Wiegman said. 'I do it with my technical staff. Sometimes things go well and sometimes it doesn't, but I don't have regrets because we try to turn every stone before we pick the line-up.' There is a difference between match fitness and match sharpness, and that contrast was clear. It was highlighted further when Ella Toone, Grace Clinton and Michelle Agyemang were brought on and added some much-needed quality, albeit too late in the day. Toone and Clinton have been Manchester United's best players this season — the former her club's leading light as they qualified for the Champions League, the latter industrious in defence and clinical in front of goal. Introducing them against Netherlands on Wednesday in place of Stanway and James would shore up England defensively, as well as bringing more energy alongside Keira Walsh. Agyemang also deserves more than an 86th-minute introduction. She is powerful and her physicality brings something different to England's attack — she managed to get under the skin of the France backline. On Sunday, the players who did not feature or played limited minutes spent time working on one-v-one drills, an area in which England really struggled. The mood was light and Hemp revealed conversations within the squad had leant towards 'putting an arm around each other' rather than calling each other out. 'We've got to come together rather than push each other further apart,' the 24-year-old winger added. 'That's what this team are good at — getting around each other and supporting each other. We're going to need everyone back up to their best on Wednesday.' Loyalty built this team. But now evolution and not sentimentality must guide Wiegman's next move… before it's too late.
