Category Sports News

BMW International Open – final leaderboard

-22 D Brown (Eng); -20 J Smith (Eng); -18 K Kobori (NZ); -16 J Luiten (Ned), D Bryant (US), K Reitan (Nor)

Selected others: -15 L Canter (Eng) -14 M Penge (Eng) -11 S Jamieson (Sco) R Ramsay (Sco) -10 R Mansell (Eng) J Parry (Eng) M Armitage (Eng)

An emotional Dan Brown dedicated his victory at the BMW International Open to his late friend after he won his first European tour title since 2023.

The 30-year-old shot a bogey-free final round of 66 as he fought off fellow Briton Jordan Smith to win by two shots.

“I lost a friend at home last weekend,” said Brown. “I don’t know what to say really, but that was for him.

“The last two days I’ve been thinking about him to try and take my mind off it, obviously try not to get too emotional in the process.

“I’m not too sure what happened today. Like all day, it was an out-of-body experience. Obviously nerves, and then thinking about the importance of winning a golf tournament.

“It sort of played it down with what happened. I suppose he was there with me and it made it a lot easier.

Brown is now the eighth English winner of the tournament.

He began the day with a one-shot lead over Smith but extended his advantage with four birdies in his first six holes.

McLaren’s Lando Norris took his first home victory in a chaotic, dramatic, rain-affected British Grand Prix.

Norris benefited from a 10-second penalty handed to team-mate Oscar Piastri, who was found to have driven erratically during a restart after one of two safety-car periods at Silverstone.

Piastri had led the race calmly through a heavy shower of rain and series of incidents but was passed by Norris when he served his penalty at his final pit stop in the closing laps.

Norris appeared to be crying in his helmet on the slowing-down lap and described the win as “beautiful”.

It reduces his deficit to Piastri in the drivers’ championship to eight points.

“Apart from a championship, I think this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings and in terms of achievement, being proud, all of it,” Norris said.

“The last few laps, I was just looking into the crowd. I was just trying to take it all in, enjoy the moment, because it might never happen again. I hope it does. But these are memories that I’ll bring with me forever. “

Nico Hulkenberg, 37, took his first podium finish at the 239th attempt – setting a new record for the longest time before finishing in the top three – after a strong race for Sauber.

An all-time F1 record crowd – 168,000 on the day and 500,000 over the weekend – were treated to an action-packed race.

Perhaps the most extraordinary moment came when Verstappen spun before racing had resumed at the restart after the second safety-car period.

Verstappen appeared to have been distracted by what had happened a few seconds before in the incident that earned Piastri his penalty.

As Piastri prepared for the final restart on lap 22, he slowed on the Hangar Straight. Verstappen, partially unsighted in the wet conditions, briefly passed the Australian, and then complained over the radio that he had suddenly braked.

It carried echoes of an incident at the Canadian Grand Prix two races ago, when Red Bull protested against a similar action by race winner George Russell of Mercedes, but had it rejected.

Piastri was angry, but said he was “not going to say much because I’ll get myself into trouble” – a reference to rules that say drivers can be penalised for criticising officials.

“Apparently you can’t break behind the safety car any more. I did it for five laps before that,” he said.

As the field rounded Stowe, Verstappen lost control and spun, dropping down to 10th place.

He recovered to fifth but is now 69 points behind Piastri and his championship hopes are dimmer than ever, especially in the face of McLaren’s consistently strong form.

Hulkenberg, meanwhile, secured a hugely popular podium place from 19th on the grid.

“Coming from almost last it was pretty surreal, not sure how it happened,” he said.

The race started on a wet track after a soaking wet morning, but with the sun out and more rain heading towards Silverstone.

Verstappen held the lead through a brief challenge from Piastri off the line but he could not shake the McLarens, and Piastri was soon challenging him hard for the lead.

Before he could try a move, though, a virtual safety car was deployed after Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto crashed at Turn Two on lap four.

The race was restarted on lap seven, and Piastri was past Verstappen on the Hangar Straight before two laps were over, building a 2. 9-second lead after just one lap.

It was then Norris’ turn to challenge the Red Bull, but Verstappen gifted him the position when he slid off at Becketts on lap 11, just as heavy rain started.

That brought the drivers into the pits for fresh intermediates. By then, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had gained time by an earlier change to soft tyres when the track was drying and emerged in fourth place, with Hulkenberg in fifth after stopping for inters on lap 10, so benefiting when others had to drive on a wet track on slick tyres and then pit.

The rain became heavier and a safety car was deployed on lap 14. The race restarted on lap 18, but a second safety car was sent out within a lap after Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar ran into the back of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes at Copse because he could not see him in the spray.

When the race restarted for the last time on lap 22, Piastri started to try to build a lead but he was not able to get more than four seconds ahead before Norris came back at him – he was less than two seconds back by the time Piastri pitted to serve his penalty with nine laps to go.

Stroll was unable to hold on to his third place, soon being passed by Hulkenberg, then Hamilton, and eventually dropping down to seventh place.

Behind Verstappen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who was fifth at the restart, lost places to Hamilton and the Dutchman but was able to secure sixth place.

Williams’ Alex Albon was eighth, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was frustrated by his team’s strategy costing him places in the topsy-turvy early part of the race, then pitted a couple of laps too early for slick tyres as the track dried in the closing stages.

1. Lando Norris (McLaren)

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

3. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

6. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

7. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

8. Alex Albon (Williams)

9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

10. George Russell (Mercedes)

Wimbledon 2025

Dates: 30 June-13 July Venue: All England Club

An “extreme level” of superstition is aiding Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon as the world number five bids for a first major title.

The American matched his best run at the All England Club by reaching the quarter-finals on Sunday, after Australian opponent Jordan Thompson retired with injury when trailing 6-1 3-0.

After reaching his first major final at the US Open last year, Fritz hopes that sticking to a precise routine off the court can help him take the next step on it.

“I’m superstitious in a way that it just revolves [around] my routine. I don’t have superstitions on court but I take the saying ‘you don’t change a winning formula’ to an extreme,” Fritz said.

“Every single thing I’m doing, I do everything exactly the same. It’s like the second I get off the practice court, I eat, I organise my clothes, I go shower.

“Everything is in the same order to an extreme level.

“I’m a little bit superstitious, but when I repeat the same routines, it gives me confidence that I’m going to keep playing well. “

The 27-year-old was denied a first Grand Slam trophy by world number one Jannik Sinner in New York 10 months ago.

However he is in good form on the grass courts, having won titles at Stuttgart and Eastbourne in the build-up to Wimbledon.

Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov now stands in his way of a first Wimbledon semi-final.

Women’s Irish Open final-round leaderboard

-21 L Woad (Eng*); -15 M Sagstrom (Swe); -14 A Garvey (NZ); -12 C Hull (Eng); -10 H Screen (Eng), F Fernandez (Spa), C Tamburlini (Swi), K Rudgeley (Aus)

Selected others: -8 A Foster (Ire), A Hewson (Eng); -7 L Beveridge (Sco), D Harry (Wal); -6 M MacLaren (Eng) E Hamilton (Eng); -3 C Williams (Wal), M Rhodes (Eng); -2 G Hall (Eng), C Screene (Ire); -1 L McClymont (Sco*); Level L Maguire (Ire); +3 E Fleming (Ire*)

* denotes amateur

English amateur Lottie Woad carded a four-under final-round 69 to claim her first Ladies European Tour title in dominant fashion with a six-shot victory at the Women’s Irish Open.

But because Woad is an amateur, she will not receive any prize money, with the 67,500 euro (£58,000) winner’s cheque going to Sweden’s four-time Solheim Cup player Madelene Sagstrom, who finished second.

Woad, the world number one amateur, hit the front in windy conditions on Friday, extended her lead to seven strokes in Saturday’s third round and made six birdies and two bogeys on Sunday to cruise home at Carton House.

The 21-year-old – who broke 70 in all four rounds – becomes the first non-professional to win on the Ladies European Tour since Czech player Jana Melichova at the 2022 Czech Ladies Open.

Woad, who won the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur title and finished tied 10th in last year’s Women’s Open, carded just three bogeys all week in a hugely impressive performance in County Kildare.

“It felt pretty comfortable overall,” said Woad.

“There were a few moments at the start of the back nine that could’ve gone wrong but I hung in there and finished with some nice birdies.

“As soon as I birdied the second hole, holed a nice 12-footer there, it settled me in. I hit some good shots today, maybe didn’t hole as many putts as the other days, but it was pretty stress free in the end. “

Anna Foster (72) was the leading Irish player in a share of 12th on eight under, while her countrywoman Canice Screene carded a bogey-free seven-under 66 – the joint-lowest round of the day – to finish inside the top 40.

Having established a comfortable 54-hole cushion, Woad picked up two birdies in her first four holes on Sunday before dropping a shot at the par-four fifth.

Surrey’s Woad regained that shot with a birdie three at the eighth and picked up another at the 13th.

The Florida State University player dropped a shot at the par-five 15th, but bounced back with birdies on her next two holes, a four at the par-five 17th coming after she nearly holed her approach.

While Woad nearly produced a grandstand finish by holing a long birdie putt at the last, a par secured a winning score of 271.

“It definitely means a lot,” added Woad, who will be in major action next week at the Evian Championship in France.

“Obviously I had a big lead coming into today, but I was able to focus. I was being chased by some really good players but happy to get it done. “

Britain’s representative on the FIA Senate has been removed by president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Ben Cussons – vice-president of the Royal Automobile Club – had been on the senate for three and a half years after supporting Ben Sulayem’s candidature for president of motorsport’s governing body.

He has been replaced by Azerbaijani Anar Alakbarov – known as a supporter and ally of Ben Sulayem.

The senate is the FIA body responsible for financial oversight and governance structure.

He said his removal had taken him by surprise, pointing out he and David Richards – the head of British motorsport’s governing body, MotorsportUK – had been “staunch supporters of Mohammed in his election year and his then manifesto”.

“As far as I am aware, I haven’t fallen out with him,” he added.

“I have written to him for clarification and I haven’t had a reply. I’m a great believer in transparency and good governance. “

Cussons is in dispute with Ben Sulayem over his pushback on a requirement to sign a stricter non-disclosure agreement regarding FIA business. He says he is “awaiting a reply from the FIA” having made his position clear.

His removal comes just weeks after a change to the rules governing the body’s composition at the FIA general assembly.

They gave the FIA president power to appoint or dismiss the required four “independent and qualified” members of the senate.

Previously, the president could only propose their appointment or removal, which required confirmation by the remaining 12 members.

The reason given by the FIA for the change was to provide “more flexibility in having the expertise required for the many and varied topics [the senate] has to deal with and which may require an urgent decision”.

Critics said the potential requirement was already contained within other FIA rules, and that it was a transparent attempt to consolidate power in Ben Sulayem’s hands.

The other 12 senate members are four from the presidential team, including the president, and four elected by each of the world councils, for sport and mobility.

The senate is empowered to take decisions over the FIA’s rules – including those governing Formula 1 – when world councils are unable to meet.

Cussons’ dismissal follows the removal of a series of senior figures, all apparently because they have disagreed or clashed with Ben Sulayem.

These include former senior steward Tim Mayer, who last week announced he was running against Ben Sulayem in December’s presidential election, chief executive officer Natalie Robyn, FIA F1 race director Niels Wittich, compliance officer Paolo Basarri and the head of the audit committee, Bertrand Badre.

Robert Reid resigned his position as the FIA vice-president for sport in March over what he described as a “standards breakdown” at the FIA.

Richards has, in recent months, been critical of changes made by Ben Sulayem to the FIA’s statutes, and has been banned from attending meetings of the FIA World Council because he refused to sign a stricter non-disclosure agreement imposed on members.

The decision to impose stricter NDAs on world council members – which has also been resisted by a number of other members – followed Richards’ criticisms of changes made to the statutes last December.

An FIA spokesperson said the governing body “thanked Mr Cussons for his service during his time as a member of the FIA Senate”.

The spokesperson did not respond to questions as to why he had been removed, whether it had been planned before the statute changes, and whether there were any plans to remove other members.

They also did not respond to a question as to whether it was right to form the conclusion this was an example of the sort of conduct warned about by opponents of the two most recent sets of statute changes, and evidence of what was described as a “weakening of the ability of the senate to perform oversight functions, and especially oversight of the president himself”.

The spokesperson instead explained the role of the senate, saying it “plays a crucial role in the governance of the FIA, ensuring effective oversight of its financial and administrative affairs while guiding the strategic implementation of its long-term vision across sport and mobility”.

They added: “The past year has marked a turning point in the federation’s financial transformation, culminating with the FIA posting a significant operating profit for the first time since 2019.

“All proposed amendments to the FIA statutes were voted through by a super majority of FIA member clubs at the FIA general assemblies, in line with the democratic process which governs decision-making within the federation.

“The amendments to the FIA statutes further strengthen processes around governance and confidentiality. “