Latest news with #ex-FormulaOne
Wales Online
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Gareth Bale's glamorous night with Brad Pitt as he takes everyone by surprise
Gareth Bale's glamorous night with Brad Pitt as he takes everyone by surprise The Wales football legend threatened to upstage the Hollywood royalty around him with news of his own Bale grabbed a photo with Pitt at the premiere Wales football legend Gareth Bale rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in Hollywood on Monday night but ended up stealing the headlines himself as he made a huge announcement. The 35-year-old dressed up smart to appear on the red carpet in London's Leicester Square for the European premiere of F1 The Movie, with Brad Pitt - who plays the lead role of ex-Formula One driver Sonny Hayes in the new film - among the top acting talents in attendance. Tom Cruise also made a surprise attendance at the premiere, while F1 great Lewis Hamilton - who stars in and helped produced the film - was there alongside the rest of the cast, which includes Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies and Javier Bardem. Donning a suit, Bale appeared on the red carpet alongside his wife Emma Rhys-Jones and posed with Pitt by a Formula One car outside the Cineworld theatre at the London landmark. However, the former Wales captain threatened to upstage the Hollywood royalty in attendance as he confirmed rumours that he plans to buy Cardiff City. Bale attended the premiere alongside his wife Emma Rhys-Jones Article continues below WalesOnline learned last week that a consortium including Bale had made an offer directly to current Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan last week, only for that offer to be rejected. In an interview with Sky Sports, Bale confirmed his interest in buying his hometown club and taking them back to the Premier League, following their recent relegation to League One - but played a straight bat to questions over whether a second offer is to soon follow. "We are interested in getting Cardiff," the former Real Madrid and Tottenham star said. "It's my home club, it's where I grew up and my uncle [Chris Pike] used to play for them. To be involved with an ownership group would be a dream come true. "It's a club close to my heart. It's where I grew up and I would love to be able to be a part of growing Cardiff and taking it to the Premier League where it belongs. "I know how amazing the Welsh fans and Cardiff fans are. It would be amazing to try and do something together." Pitt was joined by Tom Cruise, who made a surprise appearance at the premiere Bale later made similar comments in an interview with talkSPORT as he denied reports that he was keen to buy Plymouth Argyle, which emerged before his interest in taking over Cardiff was made public, adding: "I have no idea where [that] came from". He said: "It's always been Cardiff that we've been trying to get and obviously being from Cardiff, it's obviously where I was born, where I grew up. "I'm very passionate, obviously I know how passionate the Wales fans and the Cardiff fans are, so it's an interesting time. Exciting time, and hopefully something can be done. Article continues below "It will be exciting to be part of an ownership group and would love to go down that route." On whether fans could now expect a second offer, Bale added: "I can't say too much. But, like I said, we would love to be part of that Cardiff ownership and take Cardiff back where they belong."
Irish Independent
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Inside the luxurious ‘once-in-a-generation' Killiney home that's on sale for €10m, and has Bono and Enya as neighbours
Mount Mapas House, a Georgian home with unobstructed views of the sea from Killiney Bay to Bray Head, has a drawing room, a sauna, multiple marble fireplaces and direct access to the beach below. It has been owned by many high-profile figures throughout its lifetime, including a prominent Dublin surgeon, top civil servants, a former manager of the Daily Irish Independent in the 1900s and the late Cormac O'Connell, one of Ireland's best-known pharmacists, who bought the property for £2.3m at auction in 1997. Neighbours past and present have included singer Van Morrison, ex-Formula One driver Eddie Irvine and Simple Minds star Jim Kerr. The six-bed, four-bath property has been described as 'one of the finest homes to come to market' this year, offering 'a once-in-a-generation opportunity to own a coastal Georgian masterpiece'. It has landscaped gardens spanning 1.25 acres and was one of the first houses built on the corner of Vico Road in the affluent area of Killiney, just beyond Dalkey, around 1800. The property has been described as a house with 'timeless grandeur' and as 'a fine example of an early 19th-century villa with a graceful ironwork veranda at first floor level that lends it a distinctly colonial elegance', with a terrace that once provided 'driveway space for carriages'. The house, which spans approximately 585 sq m, with 'stately architectural heritage and refined contemporary luxury' is private despite its place on one of Dublin's most sought-after roads. 'Mount Mapas House is not merely a residence – it is a legacy. A home that offers stately elegance, modern comfort, unmatched views, and a prestigious address,' the estate agent, Lisney Sotheby's, said. It has a reception hall, a drawing room, a dining room, sash windows, a split-level staircase with 'a magnificent cathedral-style skylight', a family bathroom with a sauna, a 'guest cloaks area' and a reception room. The main bedroom, along with a bay window and panoramic views, also has an intercom to the front door, a digital security alarm panel and a CCTV camera control panel. One en-suite bathroom has a jacuzzi bath, while another has 'a power steam shower room'. A conservatory overlooks 'the pond and bridge to the rear gardens and planting to the side and double folding double glazed French doors opening out to the patio area which looks directly out over the grounds and Killiney Bay'. There is also a dining terrace in the tiered gardens, which include direct private access to Killiney beach, and a 120m deep natural well with a pump and filter for drinking water and garden watering.
Hindustan Times
15-06-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Motor racing-Kubica wins Le Mans with Ferrari customer team
-Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the third year in a row on Sunday with Poland's Robert Kubica taking the chequered flag for the customer AF Corse team on a stirring afternoon at the Sarthe circuit. The ex-Formula One driver's yellow 83 car, shared with Yifei Ye China's first winner and Britain's Phil Hanson, crossed the line after 387 laps in the 93rd edition of the French endurance race. The number 6 Porsche Penske shared by France's Kevin Estre, Belgian Laurens Vanthoor and Australian Matt Campbell finished second and 14.084 seconds behind. The red 51 factory Ferrari of 2023 winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado completed the podium with last year's winners Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina fourth in the number 50 car. "I finally managed to win it and in Hypercar," said Kubica of his fifth attempt, his first three in the second tier LMP2 category, to become Poland's first overall winner since Le Mans was first staged in 1923. "Great job from everyone... it has not been a smooth one but we deserved it. We have been fast, only a few mistakes which we couldn't avoid but that's Le Mans. "Happy for Ferrari: Three years in a row with three different crews, different cars. Congratulations to them, it's amazing." Ye, who joined Hanson in riding the car into the pit lane, said winning was a dream come true. "I have to pinch myself, I'm still dreaming," he said. AF Corse were the first customer team to win Le Mans since ADT Champion Racing triumphed with an Audi R8 in 2005, giving Denmark's Tom Kristensen a record seventh win. The Dane would go on to win nine times in total. Kubica's triumph came on the same weekend as the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, scene of his only Formula One win with BMW Sauber in 2008 after a huge crash at the same track in 2007. It also capped an astonishing racing redemption story for the 40-year-old whose Formula One career ended after a near-fatal rally crash in Italy in 2011 that partially severed his right forearm. The race had started with Swiss tennis great Roger Federer waving the French flag to get the race underway on Saturday afternoon, with Porsche immediately seizing the lead from pole-sitters Cadillac. Cadillac had swept the front row in Thursday's qualifying but any advantage was short-lived as Porsche Penske's Julien Andlauer slipstreamed into the lead from third on the grid before the first chicane on the opening lap. Ferrari worked their way to the front and Fuoco took the lead in the third hour on the run from Mulsanne to Indianapolis with the three Ferraris running 1-2-3 at the quarter distance. The BMW driven by Italy's MotoGP great Valentino Rossi had to retire in the LMGT3 category during the night. The race featured 62 cars shared by 186 drivers from 34 countries, and was the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship . Organisers put the total weekend attendance at more than 300,000 spectators.
Scotsman
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Scotsman
F1 veteran di Resta on unique race
Over 300,000 expected at endurance racing's blue ribband event Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There is nothing on earth like it. No other sporting event that quite captures the glamour, the madness and the full-throated excitement of the Le Mans 24-Hour Race. If Scotland's own Paul di Resta is quick to play down his team's chances of rising to the top of the elite class once the mayhem begins at 3 pm UK time this afternoon, the ex-Formula One driver remains excited by the possibilities ahead. Trusted by his Peugeot Total Energies team to navigate a start that ALWAYS produces drama, the former winner – he finished first in the LMP2 class in the Covid-affected 2020 race – is as energised as ever. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Di Resta, harking back to his debut with United Autosports in 2018, confessed: 'People always talked about Le Mans before I arrived here, saying it is one of the best races you'll ever do. And I underestimated it when I was in F1 and DTM. 'I thought to myself: 'Why would I ever want to share a car with somebody? Why would you ever want to have that experience?' 'Because you're selfish. Competition as an athlete is where it is. 'But somehow that sense of sharing the experience with two other drivers, and certainly getting a team spirit behind it, that's the bit that drew me in. That's the bit I loved, the responsibility side of it, and working collectively with every individual in the team to do it.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A nine-hour shift BEFORE race begins at Circuit de la Sarthe Explaining just how gruelling the weekend can be not just for drivers working in rotating shifts but the pit crews, engineers, strategy experts and assorted collections of support workers who go into making any team tick, Di Resta – one of NINETEEN former F1 drivers taking part in endurance racing's blue ribband event – said: 'They say it's a 24-hour race. It's not, because you're here at the track from seven on Saturday morning, race starts at four, so you're already nine hours into the day before you leave, and the green lights go out. 'Then you've got 24 hours. And the real heroes are the people that are obviously working their asses off all week and awake for the 24 hours. 'We get the easy bit as drivers. But the emotions are just incredible, from the ups and downs, to switching off, to recycling yourself back into it six hours later, from what you've picked up. 'There's just nothing quite like it, and I wish I'd done it sooner. I honestly do.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Anyone who has ever stood on the podium at Le Mans talks about the unique nature of the experience, with three-time winner Alan McNish describing those victory celebrations as a real rock star experience. Huge crowds are an integral part of an event that marries an entire season's worth of racing with a Glastonbury feel; don't be surprised if attendances break the 300,000 barrier again this year. The one regret Di Resta harbours from his 2020 victory, then, was that it was behind closed doors because of the global Covid pandemic. Not that it detracts from his achievement, of course. 'It will always rank very high up in anything I've done,' he said, when asked to rate his triumph at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the 39-year-old adding: 'It's kind of the start of what I would say was the transition into this. 'For a race to win in that year, given how low everybody's spirit was, I think it's sweet. The only thing is the picture on the podium's with a mask, but I think you can look through the eyes and see I'm there. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'When it hits you is the grid walk. I don't think you can quite appreciate how many people are on that grid, how open the access is. First corner mayhem to be navigated by Peugeot's trusted driver 'Then when all the teams line up, silence for the French national anthem. Those are pinch-yourself moments. Then the adrenaline goes. 'I've started the last couple. I'm going to start again on Saturday. That's why you work so hard to do these things. You can see everybody's behind it. Everybody's motivated for it. 'One of the weird things about endurance racing is, while you take that picture, you're never collectively all together. Because somebody's always doing the work or somebody's always in the car and you're never there as a group. I guess that's where the whole part of the jigsaw comes together at the end if you're successful, with the true emotion of those other people.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Le Mans has become much more of a full-throttle race over the past couple of decades, with drivers and manufacturers going flat-out for position from the first corner. By the time the cars at the front of the grid reach the famous Dunlop Bridge, anything might have happened. 'It can be quite risky,' admitted di Resta. 'The biggest thing is you can never win Le Mans in the first corner or the first lap - but you can certainly lose it. 'That's always the thinking. But at the same time, you're not out there to go into it easy. 'Of course, you want to be strong, and you want to do it, but you need to be in the fight. I think I'm experienced enough to understand. You try your best but listen, you put your trust in everything. You can't avoid it all - and sometimes it's going to trip you up. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'But overall, it's such a good event, and it just gets bigger and bigger with the more manufacturers. It's been a tough week for us. I mean, we're not in the game. We're far out of it.' Restricted by rules that prevented them from making necessary changes to their 9X8 car, Peugeot struggled in qualifying earlier this week. Di Resta will start from 19th place in the Hypercar class – and isn't getting carried away with his chances of slaloming through the field. 'Just with the way it's all playing out in terms of the rules, the competition is just so far up the road, and it makes it hard, obviously,' he said, adding: 'I mean, you've done all the same preparation and put in all the same efforts going in, and not to be even close to being in the fight so far. 'We will go out there punching. 'We will go out there swinging as best as we can, but up until now it's not been straightforward. 'It's still great to see the momentum building, the fact that more and more new manufacturers are coming in. It would just be nice if we're more into the race and further up the front.'
Irish Daily Mirror
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Michael Schumacher's former F1 boss gives heartbreaking update on his condition
Michael Schumacher's ex-Formula One boss has provided a heart-wrenching new insight into the racing icon's condition, nearly 12 years after the skiing accident that altered his life forever. The F1 superstar was gravely injured after striking his head on a rock whilst skiing in the French Alps in December 2013, resulting in him being placed in a medically induced coma for several months. He returned to his Lake Geneva home the following year but continues to require constant medical attention from a team of professionals and his wife Corinna. Since the accident, Corinna has fiercely guarded Schumacher's privacy, with only a select group of trusted family members and friends permitted to visit him and be privy to the intimate details of his condition. Last year, it was widely reported that the German star made his first public appearance in over a year by attending his daughter Gina-Marie's wedding at the family's villa in Majorca. Guests were reportedly asked to leave their mobile phones at the door to prevent any unauthorised photos of Schumacher from being taken. Now, former Benetton chief Flavio Briatore, who formed a close bond with Schumacher when the legendary driver clinched his first two titles consecutively for the team, has offered a fresh insight into his friend's condition, reports Wales Online. Seemingly confirming that Schumacher is bed-bound, Briatore stated he prefers to recall the joyful memories he shared with the 56 year old, rather than dwell on his current state. '"If I close my eyes, I see him smiling after a victory," he shared with Corriere della Sera. "I prefer to remember him like that rather than him just lying on a bed. Corinna and I talk often, though.' Briatore's update follows F1 reporter Felix Gorner's revelation in March, who is close to Schumacher's family, that the seven-time world champion can no longer communicate verbally." The situation is very sad," he expressed. "He needs constant care and is completely dependent on his caregivers. And he can no longer express himself verbally. "Currently, there's a maximum of 20 people who can approach Michael. And, in my opinion, it's the right strategy. Because the family is acting in Michael's best interests. They've always strictly protected his privacy, and that hasn't changed." During a 2021 Netflix documentary about Schumacher's life, his son Mick revealed he and his father "understand each other now in a different way," while Corinna stated that her husband was "different, but here".There were positive signs in April when Schumacher signed a special helmet worn by Sir Jackie Stewart, which was auctioned off for charity. Johnny Herbert, who was Schumacher's teammate at Benetton in the 1990s, described the signature as an 'emotional' moment and hoped that it was a sign that the legendary driver was "on the mend". "It's wonderful news that Michael Schumacher signed Jackie Stewart's helmet," Herbert told FastSlots. "It was a wonderful moment. We haven't seen something emotional like this in years, and hopefully, it's a sign."
