British Grand Prix first practice at Silverstone
Date: 12:19 BST
Title: Get Involved - who should Mercedes choose for 2026?
Content: #bbcf1, f1@bbc.co.uk, WhatsApp on 03301231826
At last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said it was likelier that George Russell would be at the team next season than Max Verstappen, but did not deny he was speaking to the world champion's representatives.
So, imagine you're Toto Wolff and you have to choose between Russell and Verstappen: who do you pick for the all-new 2026 era?
Let us know your thoughts on #bbcf1 on X, email f1@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 03301231826.
Also use those channels if you're at Silverstone this weekend and want a mention on the page.
Update:
Date: 12:16 BST
Title: Lindblad in for Tsunoda in FP1
Content: There's another home driver to keep an eye out for in first practice, as Arvid Lindblad makes his F1 weekend debut at Red Bull.
The 17-year-old Formula 2 driver - who turns 18 in August - was granted a super licence last month and will take the wheel of Yuki Tsunoda's car in the opening hour at Silverstone.
Paul Aron is also making his first free practice appearance today. The 21-year-old Estonian is an Alpine reserve driver but he'll be sitting in for Nico Hulkenberg over at Sauber after the two teams reached agreement to share his duties.
Update:
Date: 12:12 BST
Title: Antonelli set for three-place grid penalty
Content: Kimi Antonelli brings with him to Silverstone some excess backage from Austria in the form of a three-place grid penalty. The Italian rookie was found to be "fully at fault" by the stewards for the early collision with Max Verstappen - contact that ended both of their races on the opening lap.
The Dutchman put his arm around the 18-year-old Mercedes driver after the incident and said: "No one does that on purpose as well so for me, that's not a big deal."
Update:
Date: 12:09 BST
Title: Home drivers ready for Silverstone
Content: The British contingent of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, George Russell, Oliver Bearman and Alex Albon - who says he does consider this a home grand prix even though he races under a Thai licence - get to salute their adoring crowd this weekend.
For Silverstone record holder Hamilton, he arrives this year not as a Mercedes driver but in the scarlet red of Ferrari.
The Italian team's floor upgrade in Austria helped Hamilton to a fourth-placed finish (Charles Leclerc was third), so this would be the perfect circuit to claim his first proper podium of the season, especially after his emotional victory on home turf 12 months ago.
Russell took pole here last year but had to retire the car, while Norris finished third and will be one of the favourites for the win this year.
Update:
Date: 12:06 BST
Title: Verstappen has 'nothing to add' on Mercedes rumour
Content: Max Verstappen, meanwhile, was swamped by journalists in the paddock yesterday, all eager to hear the Dutchman's thoughts on the latest rumours he could be joining rivals Mercedes for the 2026 season.
"I have nothing to add," said Verstapen, who has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, when quizzed about his future.
The four-time world champion was also asked by 5 Live's Jennie Gow whether he could imagine driving for another team on the grid.
"I've always said to the team it would be ideal - and I think they feel the same way - is of course to finish off my career in Formula 1 with one team," Verstappen replied. "I think that would be something amazing, I think. And that's something that we are still trying to achieve."
Update:
Date: 12:03 BST
Title: I don't think I'll be going anywhere - Russell
Content: Andrew BensonBBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone
George Russell says he "doesn't think I'll be going anywhere" amid links between his Mercedes team and four-time world champion Max Verstappen.
Mercedes have talked to Verstappen's management about the possibility of the Dutchman joining them from Red Bull next year.
The 27-year-old Briton is out of contract with the Silver Arrows at the end of this season. "The likelihood I'm not at Mercedes next year, I think, is exceptionally low," said Russell on Thursday.
"I know where their loyalty lies. It doesn't need to be public. It doesn't need to be broadcast to everybody.
"I feel I'm performing better than ever. And it's as simple as that really. Performance speaks for everything."
Read the full story here
Update:
Date: 12:00 BST
Title: Round 12: Silverstone
Content: Lorraine McKennaBBC Sport Journalist
Hello, folks. July on the F1 calendar means only one thing for us here in the UK: The British Grand Prix.
We've arrived at Silverstone - the place where it all began 75 years ago - for round 12 of the 2025 season. The circuit, as you would expect, is packed to the rafters with excited fans who are all hoping for a home victory.
First practice gets under way at 12:30 BST.
Second practice goes green at 16:00 BST.
Austria seven days ago was all about McLaren, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri securing a dominant one-two. The win for Briton Norris cuts Piastri's lead in the title fight to 15 points heading into the 52-lap race this weekend.
The story making waves for the second weekend in a row, however, is the George Russell-Max Verstappen-Mercedes saga. Is the Dutchman heading for a team change? Or is Russell finally going to put pen to paper on a new Silver Arrows contract? ...
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South Wales Argus
25 minutes ago
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Five things we learnt as England lose to France in Euro 2025 opener
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Telegraph
30 minutes ago
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Sonay Kartal: The unlikely heroine flying the flag for Britain
With 14 tattoos, a retro range of baggy Adidas clothes, and a childhood spent around her parents' kebab shop while struggling to afford tennis coaching, the sense that Sonay Kartal's Wimbledon fairy tale could reach far beyond a traditional tennis fanbase is obvious. We also now know that it was almost over before it started, with Kartal revealing ahead of her big Centre Court debut on Sunday how her baby steps in tennis – at the Pavilion & Avenue club in Brighton – became tinged with fear and anxiety. 'We used to do this thing called the lines game, it's a little warm-up,' she said. 'They'd shout, 'service line', and all the kids had to run to the service line. That was always the first game and I was too shy for three months to actually come on court. My coach Julie [Hobbs] finally managed to get me to do it. I tried to run to the outside tramline, tripped over, burst into tears. Off I went, and I didn't come back for a couple of months.' 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Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Sonay Kartal's dad owns a kebab shop, she loves tattoos and she wears retro baggy whites - the rising British talent is Wimbledon's most unlikely star, writes MATTHEW LAMBWELL
Look back at the career of any tennis player and there is a sliding doors moment when, unbeknownst to them at the time, their life changes course. For Sonay Kartal, that moment came at the age of six. 'So at my club, we used to do this thing called the lines game,' she begins. 'It's like a little warm-up. They'd shout 'service line' or 'tram line' and all the kids had to run to that line. 'That was always the first game and I was too shy for three months to actually come on court. The coach, Julie, finally managed to get me on court, I tried to run, tripped over, burst into tears, off I went and didn't come back for a good couple of months.' So that could have been that. But coach Julie Hobbs worked away on the shy little girl until eventually she returned, taking the first step on a yellow brick road leading all the way to Centre Court. On Saturday afternoon, Kartal will open proceedings on tennis's most august arena, making her first appearance in the fourth-round of a Grand Slam. If she can get past Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova she will become the British No1. And watching on from the stands will be Hobbs and Ben Reeves, who together have coached Kartal from her very first days at the Pavilion and Avenue Tennis Club in Hove all the way to the world's top 50. 'When I first appeared on the tour people were saying, 'Do you think you should get a coach that has already done it?' But I didn't want that at all,' says Kartal. 'I have coaches that have taken me from a six-year-old to the WTA Tour - I think that shows they know what they are talking about. We both just learned together. We're doing this crazy thing together.' It really is crazy - wonderfully so. There are so many reasons why Kartal should not have been a tennis player: she is not from the traditional tennis heartland of greater London and the home counties. She is 5ft 4in in a game where height is might. She comes from a modest background, the daughter of a Turkish restauranteur. That all makes her run here not just heartwarming but important. Every victory here has been a victory for the outsider; a clarion call to those who feel locked out of the gilded gates of British tennis. The toned arms with which she generates a huge amount of topspin also feel important, at a time when AI images of the 'perfect' female body flood the internet. 'I think a lot of girls are getting more comfortable with having more muscle on their body,' says Kartal. 'I don't think anyone should feel like girls have to look a certain way and I think that's changing in tennis as well - everyone's all different physiques and sizes and heights. 'If I can inspire kids, whether that's boys, girls, that's good.' Even with those muscles, there is a sliding door. 'I wasn't always strong,' says Kartal. 'I used to hate fitness back in the day but lockdown happened and I had nothing to do. 'I turned to it as a bit of an escape, something to do for a bit of fun. I didn't have crazy weights or anything (she was 19 at the time of the first lockdown) so it was just for running or bodyweight stuff and I absolutely loved it. 'So when it opened back up I'd go to the gym, stick my headphones in and just forget about the world.' In typical Kartal fashion, her gym was just a normal budget high-street chain. With a minimal £250,000 injection to her bank account after this fortnight, Kartal can certainly afford something more exclusive - and given her rising profile that could be wise. 'Yeah, it was getting a bit tricky prior so I do think I'll have to move,' she says sadly. 'But to be honest they were actually pretty respectful there, they would just say hello and let me get on with it. So maybe I'll have to test that when I'm back.' For all the wonder of this week, one feels like Kartal is looking forward to getting back to Brighton, where she still lives in the family home. Her father moved over from Turkey and opened two restaurants - a kebab takeaway and a sit in restaurant. Kartal would eat in there sometimes - but never ventured into the kitchens. 'Unfortunately I'm not a very good cook,' she says. 'He definitely would not have me in there.' It was in one of those Turkish restaurants when the first links between Kartal and the Lawn Tennis Association were formed. An LTA employee was in there having a meal, Mr Kartal spotted him and said words to the effect of, 'You should have a look at my girl.' But it was only really in 2021 that Kartal was fully embraced by the national setup. Until she was 13 she played a lot of football and cricket too. She was always up front in football; in cricket she just whacked it. 'Honestly, cricket, I was only good because of tennis,' says Kartal. 'I played left-handed and was just backhanding it, launching it as far as I could. 'I was a bit tomboy and super sporty, I loved football. I used to go to my local park with my dad and just kick the ball around. I absolutely loved it.' When I first met Kartal as she emerged on to the tour, she did not say much. She got through her press conferences politely but as quickly as possible. It was a little like the six year old who was too shy to take the court for the line game. But as her game has developed so has her confidence. Perhaps also she has begun to realise how interesting she is; how cool she is. Her baggy, retro Adidas kit which is fast becoming iconic; her 14 tattoos with more to come; the Turkish restaurants, the two coaches who have been with her all the way - none of this is normal. Here at Wimbledon she sticks out like a sore thumb; a thumb raised towards the tennis highway, hitching a lift towards the top.
