
Piastri tops final Hungarian GP practice to deny Norris clean sweep
Piastri lapped the Hungaroring with a best time of one minute 14.916 seconds, 0.032 quicker than his closest title rival.
The Australian, who took his first F1 win in Hungary last year, leads Norris by 16 points after 13 of the season's 24 rounds.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, the latter a record eight times winner in Hungary, were third and fourth 0.399 and 0.768 off the pace respectively.
Mercedes' Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli showed signs of a return to form with the fifth-best time while Aston Martin continued their strong Friday form with Fernando Alonso sixth and Lance Stroll seventh.
Mercedes' George Russell was eighth ahead of the Sauber pair of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.
Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen was only 12th and teammate Yuki Tsunoda 19th. — AFP
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New Straits Times
4 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Ferrari boss confident 'frustrated' Hamilton will bounce back after Hungarian GP
BUDAPEST: Lewis Hamilton received support from his Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur on Sunday just hours after the Briton cut a dejected figure following a lacklustre drive to 12th place in the Hungarian Grand Prix. While team-mate Charles Leclerc proved unable to convert Ferrari's first pole position of the season into victory due to unexplained mechanical problems during the race, seven-time champion Hamilton was battling to escape midfield and finished where he started. As on Saturday, when he was dumped out of Q2 and appeared miserable, claiming he was "completely useless" and saying the team should "bring in another driver", Hamilton seemed utterly deflated. To most observers, it appeared as if the pressures of living up to the hype of his spectacular marquee move from Mercedes, where he won six titles, and adjusting to the culture, car and expectations at Ferrari were overwhelming him. At 40, talk of imminent retirement circled around him. But Vasseur was swift to defend Hamilton, who has always been prone to impulsive heart-on-sleeve reactions. "I don't need to motivate him," said Vasseur. "Honestly, he's frustrated, but not demotivated. "He's demanding, but I think it's also why he's (a) seven-time world champion. I can perfectly understand this situation. "Sometimes, you are making comments on what the driver is saying (in) the car, but if you put the microphone on some other sportsmen, in football and so on, I'm not sure that it would be much better. "Sometimes, just after the race or just after qualifying, you are very disappointed and the first reaction is harsh. I can understand the frustration, but we are all frustrated." Vasseur added Hamilton's weekend appeared worse than it really was because of the tight and competitive times that led him to miss out on reaching Q3 on Saturday. "For sure, when you are a seven-time world champion, your team-mate is on pole position and you are out in Q2, it's a tough situation," he said. "But overall, we can also have a deep look that he was in front of Charles in Q1 and with the first set that he was one-tenth off in Q2. We were not far away from having the two cars out in Q2. "I can understand the frustration from Lewis. That's normal and he will come back. He was stuck in a DRS train, but when he was alone, the pace was good. "I'm sure that he will be back and he will perform." Fourth-placed Leclerc backed his team-mate. "At the end, we are one team and as much as I want to finish in front of Lewis, I want both of us to be successful and for Ferrari to be successful, and obviously this weekend has been a tough one for Lewis," Leclerc said. "But I have no doubt that it's a one-off and I'm sure the second part of the season will be a lot more positive." Hamilton, sixth in the drivers' standings, but without a podium for Ferrari this year, said he was looking forward to a much-needed "break from work" during F1's August holiday before the Dutch Grand Prix on the final weekend of this month.--AFP


Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Forget speed limits, Citroen 2CV lovers take the slow road to happiness in Slovenia
POSTOJNA (Slovenia), Aug 4 — Fans of an iconic French car gather this week in Slovenia to reclaim a slow, stress-free way of life where repairs are easy and cars are slow. 'Once you sit down, all the stress from your office is gone,' Karmen Uglesic, one of the organisers of this year's 25th world meeting of Citroen 2CV fans, told AFP. 'You stop worrying and simply enjoy,' she said. As head of the Slovenian parliament's public relations office, Uglesic has more than 20 years' experience working with politicians and managing events as the tiny former Yugoslav state transitioned into a fully fledged member of the European Union and Nato. Preparing for retirement, Uglesic says she owes her mental well-being to her passion for the 'Spacek', or 'little freak'. That is what one journalist, bewildered by the car's appearance, called the 2CV when it appeared in the Yugoslav market in the early 50s. 'When I get home from work and my husband asks me if I would go for a ride with our 'Spacek', I'm immediately for it! I put on my Citroen T-shirt, open the foldable roof and go for it,' Uglesic said. Fans of an iconic French car gather this week in Slovenia to reclaim a slow, stress-free way of life where repairs are easy and cars are slow. — AFP pic 'A different world' The Citroen 2CV was launched in 1948 as the French carmaker Citroen's answer to Germany's Volkswagen Beetle. The 2CV stands for 'deux chevaux' (two horses), a reference to its original horsepower. Admired for its simplicity, utilitarian design and low-cost maintenance, more than five million 2CVs were built until 1990, when production stopped due to tougher emissions standards. Uglesic is one of more than 300 volunteers who organised the 25th world meeting of 2CV friends at an airfield near the Postojna cave, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the capital Ljubljana. The previous gathering was in Switzerland in 2023. 'If you want to, you can repair it yourself thanks to the engine's simplicity,' 55-year-old Italian Gabriele Salvoni told AFP. He was sitting with friends, drinking a beer, eating popcorn and surrounded by four 2CVs in different colours. His group did the 400-kilometres-long trip to Postojna driving at 80 to 90 kilometres per hour, letting traditional Italian supercars shoot past them. 'This is a different world, we travel in peace, that is our way of living,' Salvoni said proudly, displaying tattoos on his chest representing two 2CVs with the names of his two children. Citroen 2CV vehicles are parked at a camp during the 25th World Meeting of 2CV Friends in Postojna, Slovenia. — AFP pic 'A piece of art' Their cars were parked in one of the many camping areas marked by organisers to leave space for more than 3,000 2CVs to parade around. The vehicles came in many colours — some equipped with loudspeakers, others covered in rust, or in yellow with a giant duck on the roof. 'This car is a piece of art,' Uglesic said. 'Many here take it as a white canvas on which you can paint whatever you like.' As she spoke, a limousine-like 2CV, extended to double its usual length, passed by. The camp appeared to be a series of parties happening at the same time but in perfect harmony. From time to time, a column of cars formed to drive along the kilometre-plus main 'road' separating two sides of the camp. They sounded their horns as passers-by sang along to the music from their loudspeakers. Many of the participants were not even born when 2CV production stopped. 'It was my dream for years,' 26-year-old freelance artist Jamie said as she sat with her 32-year-old boyfriend Mike under a tent hanging from her blue 2CV. 'I went to France and I fell in love with the car.' 2CV fans drive their vehicle through a camp as they attend the 25th World Meeting of 2CV Friends in Postojna, Slovenia on July 30, 2025. — AFP pic 'Chill a bit' Mike, who works in aircraft maintenance, is teaching her to repair it herself. He admitted that, when it rained, their recently restored foldable roof 'drips a little, but just on one side, but we don't really mind'. They drove from Hamburg in Germany, where highways have some of the fastest speed limits in the world. 'I don't mind being the slow one on the highway,' Jamie said. 'I think it's better to slow down. Maybe they should learn something from us: to chill a bit.' Not far away, 16-year-old Aleksandar Dincic from Vranje in Serbia and his father were checking out a tent where 2CV spare parts were being sold. 'I adore these cars, they are very good and can easily be driven in the 21st century,' Dincic said. And his father had promised him one for his 18th birthday, he added. 'It's a car that you drive with pleasure,' he said with a smile. — AFP

The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Crash boom & bang!
Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar during qualifying at Silverstone. — Reuters THE first half of Isack Hadjar's rookie Formula One season with Racing Bulls has been book-ended by accidents. His debut, in Australia, ended before it began. He spun into the wall on the formation lap in wet conditions and tearily trudged back to the paddock, where he was consoled by Anthony Hamilton, the father of Lewis Hamilton, the English driver.