Category Sports News

British Grand Prix

Venue: Silverstone Dates: 4-6 July Race start: 15:00 BST on Sunday

Lewis Hamilton sees the first six months of his time at Ferrari through two different prisms.

“Everything generally outside of the racetrack is going amazing,” he says, “I couldn’t be happier in that respect. And I’m working as hard as I can to make sure that’s reflected also in my results. I want to be at the front, obviously.”

At the front – with one exception – he has not been. Hamilton has not had the start to his Ferrari career he would have wanted.

His move caused a sensation when it was announced, in February last year, and it dominated the news cycle in the lead-up to this season.

But the reality of Hamilton at Ferrari has so far not lived up to the hype.

The Briton is sixth in the championship, one place and 28 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who has out-qualified him 9-4, at an average advantage of 0.151 seconds.

Hamilton won the sprint race in China, from pole position. But his highest qualifying position for a grand prix was fourth in Monaco and Austria – with Leclerc second on the grid both times. His best grand prix race result is fourth.

Hamilton went to Ferrari convinced they could take him to an eighth world title, although not necessarily in his debut season.

Ferrari started the year confident of battling for both titles, having run McLaren close for the constructors’ championship last season.

Both have fallen short of the level expected of them, as we reach the halfway point of the season – this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Ferrari is, on average qualifying pace, the slowest car of the top four teams – at 0.393secs a lap slower behind the pace-setting McLaren.

And Hamilton has rarely been the fastest driver in it – he is further behind Leclerc on pace then he was George Russell in what was a disappointing final season at Mercedes in 2024.

So what is going wrong?

Hamilton, 40, has made much of the fact that he is still adapting to his new team, and that this was always going to take time.

He has pointed repeatedly to the fact that Ferrari operate differently as a team than he is used to, and run their car in a very different way; and that the car itself feels very different from a Mercedes.

“I think it looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside,” Hamilton says. “It’s my first half of the year in a new team.

“It’s interesting to see how different teams work and operate. How they set the car up is completely different.

“And I’m having discussions with engineers to change things… There’s a certain way they like to work and it’s: ‘Hold on a second – that doesn’t actually make sense. Like, this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here (in F1), and it’s worked in a lot of them.’

“So, getting those things to consistently work with the team and making sure you’re working in a constructive way to make changes.

“I’m constantly battling the engineers, asking them questions. Because they set things up and are like: ‘This is how we always do it’ and I’m like: ‘What about this?’

From Hamilton’s point of view, there are signs of an upward trend. Leaving aside his sprint pole in China, in the first seven races he qualified in the top five only once, also in Shanghai. Starting with Monaco, he has been fourth twice and fifth twice.

Likewise, his gap to Leclerc is coming down. In the first five races of the season, it was 0.227secs; in the subsequent six it’s 0.087secs.

Hamilton says: “The positive is that we are making improvements. We are progressing. Whether or not you see that, that’s not necessarily important to me personally. I feel like I’m making progress. I feel like we are making progress, and that’s what’s most important.”

Qualifying so often sets the trend for races, with overtaking so difficult. But a rough run of luck has also made it tough to see whether Hamilton’s progress is being matched in races.

Having qualified fourth in Monaco, Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Max Verstappen, after a radio miscommunication from his engineer, on a track where overtaking is next-to impossible.

In Spain, he was running fourth in the race until Mercedes out-strategised Ferrari and undercut George Russell ahead of him, and then both Ferraris had a problem in the final part of the race that slowed them. Team principal Frederic Vasseur has refused to say what it was.

In Canada, having out-qualified Leclerc on an error-strewn weekend for the Monegasque, Hamilton hit a groundhog after about eight laps of the race. It damaged his floor and cost him about 0.5secs a lap.

It is situations like this to which Vasseur points when he is defending the team’s performances this season.

Vasseur is cutting an increasingly defensive figure as the pressure mounts over the team’s lack of performance and failure to match its objectives.

Critical articles in two major Italian newspapers before the Canadian Grand Prix questioned Vasseur’s position.

Vasseur reacted angrily, and said the articles were a distraction. “It’s really hurting the team,” he said. “It’s not like this that we’ll be able to win a championship. At least not with this kind of journalist around us.”

It’s inevitable that Ferrari are facing this criticism. After Leclerc and Hamilton qualified 11th and 12th at their first home race of the season in Imola, Leclerc described the team as being “P-nowhere”.

Both drivers have bemoaned the lack of upgrades. The first of these since the fourth race in Bahrain finally arrived in Austria last weekend, and both drivers agreed they were a step forward, but that it would take time to judge how much. More are coming.

Nevertheless, Vasseur insists the car is better than the team have shown in recent races.

“The initial goal was to fight for the championship,” he said in Canada, “but I think it’s true for us, it’s true for McLaren, for Red Bull, for Mercedes. We are all in this mood to fight for the championship at the beginning of the season.

“If you compare with expectations, probably McLaren is one step ahead compared to everybody. And we didn’t do a good job on our side.

“Just speaking about us, we didn’t do a good job, in a couple of races.”

He points out that, after both cars were disqualified in China, they were 60 points behind Red Bull and 40 behind Mercedes two races into the season. Now, they are second in the constructors’ championship. On the flip side, they have nearly half the points of McLaren.

Vasseur describes this as “a decent recovery”.

The fact Ferrari have a stronger combined driver line-up than Red Bull and Mercedes is reflected in the fact that, despite their position in the constructors’ championship, Leclerc is fifth in the drivers’ – behind both McLaren drivers and the lead drivers from Red Bull and Mercedes.

“McLaren are still one step ahead,” Vasseur says. “It means we have to continue to try to do a better job each day and improve.

“You have to put everything together in the right place if you want to achieve a good result today, because in the tyre usage and the tyre performance, or what performance you get from the tyres, I think there is much more than between the cars.

“The car doesn’t matter. If the team is doing a very good job on the tyres, they will be in front. It will be like this until the end of the season. But it’s the same for everybody, we have to do a better job.”

As for Hamilton, he sees this as a building year for 2026, when new rules bring in revised cars and engines and Ferrari expect to be fighting at the very front.

He has generally not been especially comfortable with the type of cars introduced with the 2022 regulations, which demand a different driving style from those that came before. Next year’s cars are different in design again, and may well be different in driving character, too.

“The fact is with this car hopefully we can still fight for second in the constructors’ championship,” Hamilton says. “That would be great.

British Grand Prix

Venue: Silverstone Dates: 4-6 July Race start: 15:00 BST on Sunday

Lewis Hamilton sees the first six months of his time at Ferrari through two different prisms.

“Everything generally outside of the racetrack is going amazing,” he says, “I couldn’t be happier in that respect. And I’m working as hard as I can to make sure that’s reflected also in my results. I want to be at the front, obviously.”

At the front – with one exception – he has not been. Hamilton has not had the start to his Ferrari career he would have wanted.

His move caused a sensation when it was announced, in February last year, and it dominated the news cycle in the lead-up to this season.

But the reality of Hamilton at Ferrari has so far not lived up to the hype.

The Briton is sixth in the championship, one place and 28 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who has out-qualified him 9-4, at an average advantage of 0.151 seconds.

Hamilton won the sprint race in China, from pole position. But his highest qualifying position for a grand prix was fourth in Monaco and Austria – with Leclerc second on the grid both times. His best grand prix race result is fourth.

Hamilton went to Ferrari convinced they could take him to an eighth world title, although not necessarily in his debut season.

Ferrari started the year confident of battling for both titles, having run McLaren close for the constructors’ championship last season.

Both have fallen short of the level expected of them, as we reach the halfway point of the season – this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Ferrari is, on average qualifying pace, the slowest car of the top four teams – at 0.393secs a lap slower behind the pace-setting McLaren.

And Hamilton has rarely been the fastest driver in it – he is further behind Leclerc on pace then he was George Russell in what was a disappointing final season at Mercedes in 2024.

So what is going wrong?

Hamilton, 40, has made much of the fact that he is still adapting to his new team, and that this was always going to take time.

He has pointed repeatedly to the fact that Ferrari operate differently as a team than he is used to, and run their car in a very different way; and that the car itself feels very different from a Mercedes.

“I think it looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside,” Hamilton says. “It’s my first half of the year in a new team.

“It’s interesting to see how different teams work and operate. How they set the car up is completely different.

“And I’m having discussions with engineers to change things… There’s a certain way they like to work and it’s: ‘Hold on a second – that doesn’t actually make sense. Like, this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here (in F1), and it’s worked in a lot of them.’

“So, getting those things to consistently work with the team and making sure you’re working in a constructive way to make changes.

“I’m constantly battling the engineers, asking them questions. Because they set things up and are like: ‘This is how we always do it’ and I’m like: ‘What about this?’

From Hamilton’s point of view, there are signs of an upward trend. Leaving aside his sprint pole in China, in the first seven races he qualified in the top five only once, also in Shanghai. Starting with Monaco, he has been fourth twice and fifth twice.

Likewise, his gap to Leclerc is coming down. In the first five races of the season, it was 0.227secs; in the subsequent six it’s 0.087secs.

Hamilton says: “The positive is that we are making improvements. We are progressing. Whether or not you see that, that’s not necessarily important to me personally. I feel like I’m making progress. I feel like we are making progress, and that’s what’s most important.”

Qualifying so often sets the trend for races, with overtaking so difficult. But a rough run of luck has also made it tough to see whether Hamilton’s progress is being matched in races.

Having qualified fourth in Monaco, Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Max Verstappen, after a radio miscommunication from his engineer, on a track where overtaking is next-to impossible.

In Spain, he was running fourth in the race until Mercedes out-strategised Ferrari and undercut George Russell ahead of him, and then both Ferraris had a problem in the final part of the race that slowed them. Team principal Frederic Vasseur has refused to say what it was.

In Canada, having out-qualified Leclerc on an error-strewn weekend for the Monegasque, Hamilton hit a groundhog after about eight laps of the race. It damaged his floor and cost him about 0.5secs a lap.

It is situations like this to which Vasseur points when he is defending the team’s performances this season.

Vasseur is cutting an increasingly defensive figure as the pressure mounts over the team’s lack of performance and failure to match its objectives.

Critical articles in two major Italian newspapers before the Canadian Grand Prix questioned Vasseur’s position.

Vasseur reacted angrily, and said the articles were a distraction. “It’s really hurting the team,” he said. “It’s not like this that we’ll be able to win a championship. At least not with this kind of journalist around us.”

It’s inevitable that Ferrari are facing this criticism. After Leclerc and Hamilton qualified 11th and 12th at their first home race of the season in Imola, Leclerc described the team as being “P-nowhere”.

Both drivers have bemoaned the lack of upgrades. The first of these since the fourth race in Bahrain finally arrived in Austria last weekend, and both drivers agreed they were a step forward, but that it would take time to judge how much. More are coming.

Nevertheless, Vasseur insists the car is better than the team have shown in recent races.

“The initial goal was to fight for the championship,” he said in Canada, “but I think it’s true for us, it’s true for McLaren, for Red Bull, for Mercedes. We are all in this mood to fight for the championship at the beginning of the season.

“If you compare with expectations, probably McLaren is one step ahead compared to everybody. And we didn’t do a good job on our side.

“Just speaking about us, we didn’t do a good job, in a couple of races.”

He points out that, after both cars were disqualified in China, they were 60 points behind Red Bull and 40 behind Mercedes two races into the season. Now, they are second in the constructors’ championship. On the flip side, they have nearly half the points of McLaren.

Vasseur describes this as “a decent recovery”.

The fact Ferrari have a stronger combined driver line-up than Red Bull and Mercedes is reflected in the fact that, despite their position in the constructors’ championship, Leclerc is fifth in the drivers’ – behind both McLaren drivers and the lead drivers from Red Bull and Mercedes.

“McLaren are still one step ahead,” Vasseur says. “It means we have to continue to try to do a better job each day and improve.

“You have to put everything together in the right place if you want to achieve a good result today, because in the tyre usage and the tyre performance, or what performance you get from the tyres, I think there is much more than between the cars.

“The car doesn’t matter. If the team is doing a very good job on the tyres, they will be in front. It will be like this until the end of the season. But it’s the same for everybody, we have to do a better job.”

As for Hamilton, he sees this as a building year for 2026, when new rules bring in revised cars and engines and Ferrari expect to be fighting at the very front.

He has generally not been especially comfortable with the type of cars introduced with the 2022 regulations, which demand a different driving style from those that came before. Next year’s cars are different in design again, and may well be different in driving character, too.

“The fact is with this car hopefully we can still fight for second in the constructors’ championship,” Hamilton says. “That would be great.

The wait is almost over.

Thun, Switzerland, hosts Iceland and Finland (17:00 BST) on Wednesday for Euro 2025.

Hosts Switzerland kicks off their campaign in Basel at 2:00 BST against Norway later that day.

What will the tournament have in store, then? What will the nation’s own fate be? And who is most likely to receive the trophy on July 27th?

England and Wales, who are drawn together in Group D, will receive the majority of the attention in the UK.

On July 13 (2:00 BST), the two teams’ final group game will feature a potentially decisive duel between them.

However, France and the Netherlands, who won the tournament in 2017, are both top teams, who are in danger of making it to the knockout stages.

Wales struggled against stronger opposition recently after advancing to League A in the Nations League despite losing just one of their ten games in qualifying.

Rhian Wilkinson, who led Wales to their first major tournament, has stated that her team “can compete with the best teams.”

England are currently the defending champions, but elimination is not a guaranteed outcome.

England showed promise in the defeat by favorite Spain last month, while the disruption brought on by the exits of Millie Bright and Mary Earps abroad did not.

“There have been injuries, headlines, and a lot of noise,” the statement read. Former Scotland international Jen Beattie argued that the key to effective strategy is to focus on performance and the opening game.

After a 7-0 thrashing of Jamaica in their final warm-up game, Sarina Wiegman’s squad will feel better, with six different goal scorers.

Spain are the reigning world champions and have a lot of talent in their squad, which makes their debut in Switzerland as favorites to take the trophy.

They have never reached the final, but they have only ever reached the semi-finals of the Euros.

Despite having a divided squad in the tournament and a background of unrest, La Roja won the 2023 World Cup.

When Luis Rubiales, the then president of the Spanish football federation, kissed player Jennifer Hermoso on the lips, he claimed it was consensual, but Jennifer Hermoso claimed it wasn’t. In February of this year, Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault and fined.

The players appear to have grown stronger and appear to be more united than ever almost two years later.

Vicky Losada, a former Spain midfielder, stated in the Euro 2025 preview on BBC Radio 5 Live, “The girls finally want to put an end to that story.”

They will win a significant championship in a good location. They haven’t done anything they haven’t done in the past two major tournaments, but they are all promising to be able to perform and enjoy it.

They are unwilling to discuss it further. They are confident in the new manager and prepared for it.

Just in time for Euro 2025, the record-breaking June heatwave that has affected Europe is coming to Switzerland.

The Swiss government has issued amber heatwave warnings for the majority of the week. Temperatures are anticipated to be around 10C above average, with daytime highs of about 35C (95F) and around 35C above average.

Even though the temperatures will be easing, the first round of matches will take place in the evening.

For the 18: 00 CET (17: 00 BST) kick-offs temperatures will hover between 27-30C. Kick-offs scheduled for 21:00 CET (20:00 BST) are expected to take place between 24 and 27 degrees Celsius.

Drink breaks may be used during Euro 2025 when the weather is high, like in all Uefa competitions.

At the end of the teams’ warm-ups, Uefa delegates will use a wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) thermometer to measure the temperature. Cooling breaks will be used for the match if the temperature exceeds 35C. The referee has the discretion to implement drinks breaks if the temperature is below those thresholds.

Uefa has issued a heat advisory for all games on July 2, 3, and 4. Fans may enter the stadium with a 500ml water bottle for these games.

But how do players react to playing in the cold?

Meriame Terchoun, a midfielder for Switzerland, told BBC Sport, “Of course it’s not easy, but we have staff that is taking that into account.” We can use cold baths or cryotherapy to recover, which are both available to us.

With six goals and Beth Mead’s Golden Boot at Euro 2022, will Alessia Russo’s Arsenal team-mate steal the show this summer?

The 26-year-old striker scored 12 goals in the Women’s Super League last season, one more than Mead had in the previous campaign to win the 2022 championship.

Russo started a game at Euro 2022, but she came in second place behind Ellen White in the pecking order, and she scored four goals from the bench, including an outrageous backheel finish in the semi-final against Sweden.

Former Wales international Danny Gabbidon stated on BBC Sport, “You would expect her to be there or thereabouts for the Golden Boot. She is going to be the one leading the line for England.”

Russo will win the Golden Boot, according to five of BBC Sport’s pundits, but Claudia Pina and Esther Gonzalez from Spain were also mentioned.

This will be Switzerland’s first women’s sporting occasion of this magnitude.

In 2023, it defeated Poland, France, and Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway to be awarded the host country award by Uefa.

The tournament will take place in eight cities, including Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St Gallen, Sion, Lucerne, and Thun, in a setting that evokes the iconic mountainous landscape of Switzerland.

The organizers have set the match schedule to lessen team travel during the group stage, making the free public transportation available to all ticket holders traveling within the country and to and from games.

Additionally, they have developed a strategy to increase the number of girls and women playing football in Switzerland from 40, 000 to 80, 000 by 2027.

Former England international Ellen White stated on BBC Radio 5 Live, “For the tournament, it will be absolutely amazing for the host country to leave the group and advance.”

“Getting behind this team and pushing them over the line will be huge for Switzerland as a country.”

Kathrin Lehmann, the former Switzerland goalkeeper, said: “We all know we have the best fans. We have not that good of a team like England.”

There is one thing he would like you to know about: he’s Ollie, not Oliver, Tarvet, if you’re just hearing about the British underdog who has caught the imagination of Wimbledon.

“My mother gets angry with me, but I’m usually Oliver.” You’re aware that I make an effort to avoid it at all costs, the 21-year-old said.

He continued, claiming that he had “done something wrong” when he heard “Oliver” being shouted from the court four stands during his first-round victory on Monday.

Fans might be forgiven for not knowing that he is the world number 733 making his Grand Slam debut.

However, he is quickly establishing himself and is unfazed by what lies ahead for him on Wednesday in front of 15, 000 fans, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

The biggest upset in Wimbledon history would be if the US college student won. He doesn’t, however, rule out his chances; he sees it as an opportunity rather than an experience.

He told BBC Sport, “I don’t really like the word “experience” because I believe it to be merely a spectator and that one cannot really expect to win.

“And I’m not saying that I expect to win, obviously.” But at the same time, I feel incredibly confident throughout the entire tournament.

“Playing the ball, not the player, is a big thing for me,” he said.

It is an experience Garry’s father can’t help but relearn.

He told BBC Sport, “What a mouth-watering prospect.

When Tarvet was younger, tennis wasn’t a simple career choice. His father works as a construction manager, his mother Jennifer, and his father, Jennifer, are both teachers.

However, Batchwood Tennis Centre, where he “played five times per week,” was very close to their family home in St Albans.

When Tarvet was six, he received his first true tennis lesson. His memory of that day is hazy, but Ben Wood, his first coach, claims it to be yesterday.

I remember thinking, “This kid is incredible,” and I was shocked to find it. This is the best impression anyone has ever made of me in a first lesson, and I always backed it.

He kept coming up with the challenge, and I kept making it harder. This is similar to a six-year-old who was expected to be unable to do those things, and I was immediately blown away.

When Tarvet was a teenager, he completely switched to tennis as a talented footballer and cricketer. He attended the Unique Tennis Academy in London, where he could play full-time while attending homeschool for his A-Levels.

He refers to the program as “a big stepping stone” in his development.

For what those men did for me, Tarvet expressed his gratitude and appreciation.

“I wasn’t on anyone’s radar as a teenager, but they saw me as one of their own,” I said.

Tarvet decided to pursue a career in American college tennis rather than joining the ATP Tour.

Tarvet, who is pursuing a degree in communications and marketing at the University of San Diego, credited his teammates and coaches there with “giving me a lot.”

Along with Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley, he is the latest British player to try the American college system.

But why has it gained popularity over time?

According to Mark Hilton, LTA men’s national coach, “I think players are maturing a little later.”

“Careers last longer,” says one employee. Additionally, there is a lot of competition there. At age 18, not many players are prepared to play professional tennis, and it’s financially challenging.

Time spent abroad has helped to foster Tarvet’s winning mindset.

In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships, he won in 23 of his 25 matches this year, placing him among the top five singles players.

In addition to winning five titles on the ITF Tour this year in San Diego, Tarvet has won the third-tier of the ATP and Challenger Tours.

However, NCAA regulations forbid players from competing in professional tournaments.

Due to his ability to qualify for the second round, Tarvet should be able to claim prize money of $99,000, which will increase to $ 125, 000 if he defeats Alcaraz.

Tarvet describes himself as “ferocious” on the court, and he has shown over the past week that he is not afraid to express himself.

His shouts of “Gareth!” during qualifying week! “after winning points were a particular source of amusement- and intrigue.

A giggled Tarvet would not reveal the full meaning, but suggested Gareth Bale was a reference to former Wales footballer.

Because I was saying it, my team-mates were laughing and they blew up our group discussion,” Tarvet, a Liverpool supporter, said.

However, they’re going to have to wonder, “I’m sorry. My coworkers already resent the information I provided.