Austrian GP delayed after Sainz' Williams catches fire
After taking a push from the marshals, the Spanish driver chased after the rest of the field and was set to start from the pit-lane until his rear brakes caught fire.
The race distance was reduced by one lap to 70 laps.
Sainz's car was beyond rapid repair and he was forced to withdraw from the race.
The conditions for the race were hot with air temperatures touching 32 degrees Celsius and the track temperature recorded at 54 degrees.
"I cannot tell you the temperature of the seat," said two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin as he waited for the re-start.
"It's maybe 200 degrees!"
© 2025 AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
37 minutes ago
- France 24
Pogacar seeks century as Tour de France returns to its roots
After starts in Florence, Bilbao and Copenhagen, cycling's most prestigious race returns to its roots with an old school itinerary favouring climbers. "We decided to bring the Tour home, it was high time after all the foreign starts," said race director Christian Prudhomme. Every inch of this year's 21-day course is on French soil, for the first time since the pandemic-delayed edition, with most of the country placed on a heatwave alert in the week leading up to the race. Temperatures in the south of France topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, with large swathes of the country bracing for similar conditions in the coming days. The heatwave is expected to subside by the end of the week, but riders will still be tested to their limits over the peaks and plains of France lauded in cycling folklore as "the world's most beautiful stadium". "Great settings for great heroes," said Prudhomme, a former TV executive who has transformed the race into a global extravaganza broadcast in 190 countries. For 21 days this July, the daily doings of this most arduous of sporting struggles provides the drumbeat of summer, with armchair tourists and cycling fanatics alike tuning in around the world. Team UAE's Pogacar starts as red-hot favourite with fans and bookmakers alike, and he can silence any remaining doubters by beating arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard of Visma. American former champion Greg LeMond told AFP in a recent interview it would be a close call. "Pogacar is like the one in a million, but you can't count Vingegaard out. That's what's making cycling so exciting right now," said LeMond, who won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990. Glimpses of Pogacar and Vingegaard going head-to-head on the Alpine slopes or along the panoramic roads of the French Riviera provide tension, drama and sporting rivalry as enthralling as any involving the old-time legends. Ready to attack at the slightest provocation, the 26-year-old Pogacar has 21 chances to add to his jaw-dropping 99 professional wins. Mission clarity Vingegaard tends to focus on a single-mission strategy, awaiting one big moment to spring a deeply considered killer move at a meticulously chosen spot. Vingegaard's Visma team boss Grischa Niermann confirmed this week he believed in the plan he has made for the Tour de France. "We think we can get the best possible result." The pair have won the past five editions of the Tour de France between them and should be increasingly in the spotlight as the race advances. A total of 184 riders from 23 teams will gather in Lille for the Grand Depart, with local authorities preparing for a massive influx of fans from nearby cycling-mad Belgium. And aggressive, hotly contested battles for the right to the overall leader's yellow jersey are expected in the opening stages, as are huge roadside crowds of several hundred thousand each day. Belgian star Remco Evenepoel will be well supported as the first week takes in the north coast at Dunkirk and Caen, scenes of ferocious fighting in World War II, before shifting to another cycling heartland in Brittany with its verdant, rolling roads. The volcanoes of the Puy de Dome present the first mountains as late as stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps. But before any dash towards the eventual finish line on the Champs-Elysees there is one final twist. A last-minute addition to the 2025 route is a nod to the 2024 Olympic Games road race, which drew vast crowds to the old Parisian neighbourhood of Montmartre. On the final day a cauldron of noise up the narrow cobbled climb to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica provides one final obstacle, after which the winner will be crowned. © 2025 AFP
France 24
37 minutes ago
- France 24
After outcry, rugby-inspired collision sport seeks new markets
It's the start of a night of thumps, grunts and head injuries at Runit, the rugby-inspired competition that has quickly drawn a social media following and alarm from health experts. The injury-count is high: three of the 12 players are withdrawn with suspected concussion, including a sickening hit that leaves ex-National Rugby League pro Kevin Proctor writhing on the ground. The final ends when Sam "The Ice Man" Suamili is too dazed to continue, leaving Auckland's Vulangi Olosoni, 26, to celebrate the Aus$200,000 ($130,000) first prize with his overjoyed wife and sister. Organisers have big plans for the Runit Championship League, the brainchild of seven young men from Melbourne who have evolved it from a backyard game to a marketable commodity in a matter of months. Saturday's competition, attended by just a few hundred fans, was backed by several sponsors with a live-stream featuring ex-NRL pro George Burgess, a figurehead for the sport. Its rapid rise has been controversial, however. The event was held in the United Arab Emirates after calls to ban it following trials in New Zealand, where a teenager died playing a copycat version last month. 'Honourable' According to Lou Sticca, a football agent and consultant promoter who brought the tournament to Dubai, the next stop is the United States. "It's a contact sport. Americans love contact sport. This is tailor-made," he told AFP. "It's two gladiators. It's actually quite honourable. You've got two guys similar size, similar weight. There's a lot of technique," he added. Runit, which bills itself as the "world's fiercest new collision sport", is contested on a track 20 metres (65 feet) long and four metres wide. The athletes, typically with a rugby background and the build of a heavyweight boxer, have four runs at each other taking turns to hold a rugby ball. The winner is the man judged to "dominate" the contest. Two doctors and three other medics were pitchside in Dubai, with two ambulances waiting outside, according to Sticca. The players, mostly New Zealanders, had medical checks including head scans before flying out and will be assessed again on their return, he said. "We're engaging proper legal experts on concussion and as we grow the sport, we'll get experts in concussion at other sports," Sticca said. "We'll do whatever we can to play our part in ensuring the health and safety of our combatants." 'Unacceptable threat to life' However, not everyone is convinced. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called Runit a "dumb thing to do", while the New Zealand Medical Journal said it was "engineered for injury". "It is a ritualised, high-risk physical collision that poses an unacceptable threat to life and wellbeing," an editorial said this week. "As trauma clinicians, we warn unequivocally: Run It Straight is a mechanism for significant acute and long-term injury," the journal added. Concerns over concussion have prompted new measures in several sports including the rugby codes as scores of retired players report serious health problems. Tania Mayne, a Dubai-based neurophysiotherapist who specialises in concussion, said the science was clear on impacts to the head. "World Rugby has been so outspoken about how a contact should take place in a match," she told AFP, referring to rugby union's governing body. "This goes against everything out there." Mayne added: "I would just encourage people not to get involved and read what's out there. There's so much information about concussion in sport." Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive disease caused by repeated blows to the head, is known to trigger violent moods, dementia and depression. Injuries from head knocks have also been linked to disorders such as motor neurone disease, early onset dementia, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. However, Sticca said Runit was being unfairly singled out. "Any contact sport has got the same issues. It's just that we're only hearing about this because it suits the agenda," he said. "We don't care about the critics, we care about the combatants. We care about making Runit a bigger, better sport. Simple as that."
France 24
37 minutes ago
- France 24
The players to watch at women's Euro 2025
Here AFP takes a look at the stars expected to make a splash in the tournament. Alexia Putellas (Spain) Two-time Ballon d'Or winner Putellas' importance to Spain has only increased since the shock news of her Barcelona teammate Aitana Bonmati being diagnosed with viral meningitis, although the latter has been discharged from hospital and is expected to join up with her teammates this week. Putellas, 31, has the experience and standing to guide Spain in their charge for a first ever Euros title, and there will be extra weight on the midfielder's shoulders for La Roja's opening Group B match against Portugal on Thursday. Spain's squad is predictably dominated with Barca players who suffered a painful defeat to Arsenal in the recent Champions League final. Putellas was one of them and she has even more reason to be fired up after missing the last Euros with a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered a day before the tournament began. She has also returned to her best this past season with 22 goals and 17 assists for Barca, and she was also voted player of the season in Liga F. Lea Schueller (Germany) Bayern Munich striker Schueller has been the focus of Germany's attack since Alexandra Popp retired last year, and her lethal finishing will be key for Christian Wuck's team. Schueller, 27, has scored 52 times in 75 appearances for Germany and comes into the tournament having netted key goals in Bayern's domestic league and cup double. "Of course, we're not just in the tournament to take part. We're Germany. We definitely want to win a title," said Schueller in May. "But we're playing with a very young team, a team that's undergone a transformation, with a new coach and a new coaching staff. Nevertheless, we definitely want to compete for the title." Germany could be Spain's biggest challenger after showing great form in cruising into the Nations League finals, with Schueller netting five times in six Group A1 matches. Lauren James (England) That Sarina Wiegman included dynamo James in her squad despite her not playing a game since April due to a hamstring injury is a testament to just how important the Chelsea star is to the reigning champions. The 23-year-old is one of the players that give England an extra dimension, playing between midfield and attack and providing an extra element of creativity and unpredictability. The only question surrounding James is whether she can get up to full match fitness for the tournament, although Wiegman has said she expects James to be in the mix come England's opening fixture with France. "I never really doubted myself, because I think as soon as you have a doubt in your head, then it's always negative thoughts," James said after returning to full training earlier this month. "I always had in my head that I was going to make it." Claudia Pina (Spain) So far stuck in the role of super-sub, Barcelona forward Pina has been making a case all season to be a regular starter for both club and country after a superb campaign for the 23-year-old. Pina was the star of the show with two goals off the bench which gave Spain a come-from-behind win over England and a spot in the Nations League semi-finals. She was also on target twice in Barca's thumping of Chelsea in the last four of the Champions League, two of the 10 goals she scored which made her the top scorer in this year's competition. Kadidiatou Diani (France) Lyon forward Diani is France's most experienced player following coach Laurent Bonadei's shock move to drop former captain Wendie Renard and all-time leading goal scorer Eugenie Le Sommer. The 30-year-old will be key to the French, who are in a tough Group D alongside England, Wales and the Netherlands, and are hoping for a big show in Switzerland after winning all six of their matches in 2025. Diani comes into the tournament after a fine season with Lyon in which she scored 16 goals and set up 10 more in 29 appearances. © 2025 AFP
