Sky Sports F1 star Ted Kravitz calls out key Ferrari figure over Lewis Hamilton treatment
Ferrari engineer Riccardo Adami has faced criticism for his approach towards Lewis Hamilton. It came as the Brit suffered a torrid weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix, which included two Q1 exits in both qualifying sessions held at the Formula 1 Sprint event at Circuit Spa-Francorchamps.
Following a disappointing 15th-place finish in Saturday's sprint race, matters worsened for the seven-time F1 champion when he encountered difficulties during qualifying. Hamilton set a rapid lap in Q1, but his time was subsequently scrubbed from the records.
He received a penalty for breaching track limits at the Raidillon corner, meaning he failed to progress to Q2. This left him just 16th on the timesheets before Ferrari confirmed hours before Sunday's race that Hamilton would start from the pit lane.
Speaking over the radio, race engineer Adami seemed to display little compassion in the aftermath. When Hamilton enquired airwaves: "Is everything okay?" following his qualifying attempt, he received a curt response. "Track limits at turn four," came the blunt reply.
After Hamilton questioned whether this meant he had been eliminated from Q1, the Italian responded: "Yeah. Lap time is deleted. P16." Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz highlighted Adami's approach to that conversation as he discussed what had happened on his Ted's Notebook programme.
He suggested that Hamilton's previous engineer at Mercedes, Peter Bonnington, would have managed the situation with greater sensitivity. 'Bono' worked with the Brit for more than a decade and the pair had a strong rapport, which is something Hamilton has yet to find with Adami.
"Did you think it was a bit terse on the radio between him and Riccardo Adami, saying, 'Is there something wrong?" Kravitz said. "I don't know whether I expected a bit more empathy. To say, 'Ah, I'm sorry, Lewis. Bad luck, mate. You're out, hard one by, pal.' The kind of things Bono would have said."
Hamilton, 40, made no effort to hide his frustration afterwards, offering an apology to both his team and supporters as his difficult 2025 campaign rolls on. I'm just really sorry to the team," he said. "Hard work with the filming day that we did, and all the preparation, and then you come here and don't make it through Q1. It's unacceptable. Really sorry."
It is far from the first time the relationship between Hamilton and Adami has been questioned since his move to Ferrari. There were several examples of tense conversations between them over the radio earlier in the season which caused so much of a stir that the racer felt the need to speak publicly about how he is working with his new race engineer.
He said: "We're constantly learning more and more about each other, we're constantly adapting to the way both of us like to work. There's a lot of speculation. I mean, most of it is BS. Ultimately, we have a great relationship. He's been amazing to work with, he's a great guy, working so hard – we both are – and we don't always get it right every weekend. We have disagreements, like everyone does in relationships, but we work through them."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Turkey joins host of countries eyeing F1 race – and could step-in as soon as 2026
Turkey is looking to claim a permanent spot back on the F1 calendar and has offered the services of Istanbul Park for 2026 should any country be unable to host their race. The Turkish Grand Prix first appeared on the sport's calendar in 2005 for seven iterations, before it was dropped in 2011. However, the race at the popular Istanbul circuit returned in the Covid-hit years of 2020 and 2021. However, the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation (TOSFED) have made it known their desire to host a race again. While the 24-race 2026 calendar has already been published, Istanbul could step in if any race – such as the new street track in Madrid, with the race scheduled in September 2026 – is not ready in time. 'As is known, the 2026 calendar has already been announced,' TOSFED president Eren Uclertopragi told Autosport. 'Nevertheless, in the event that a race cannot be held for various reasons, we could host the Turkish Grand Prix.' However, Ulcertopragi has made it known that Turkey – alongside a host of other countries such as South Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria, Thailand and South Korea – wants a long-term spot on the schedule. 'There is a strong commitment from the government to bring Turkey back onto the Formula 1 calendar with a permanent and long-term agreement. 'Unlike during the pandemic, we do not want to host a one-off replacement race; instead, we aim to secure a place on the calendar through a long-term contract.' The federation's president added that a potential bid has the backing of Turkey's government and its location offers advantages, especially if any potential race can be paired with the nearby Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 'Turkey still has a very popular and unique track, a population of 85 million, great interest in the sport among young people, a market where more than 1.2 million cars are sold annually, factories or major distributors of most F1 car brands located here, and a geopolitical position,' he said. 'The huge spectator potential in countries within a two-to-three-hour flight from Istanbul makes it a country that could add significant value to the F1 calendar if included. 'Preferably, September is a month when the weather is good in Istanbul and students return to school. Therefore, I think it would be very convenient to organise the race in September. 'The fact that the Azerbaijan GP will also take place in our sister country in September could make things easier for Formula 1 teams in terms of logistics. A race that can be held before or after going to or returning from Baku would be a relatively lower-cost and easier operation for F1.' With the Dutch Grand Prix set to leave the calendar after 2026 and Barcelona also dropping off, two spots could open up for 2027. F1 is keen to host a race in Africa, the only habitable continent it does not host an event in, while a street track in Bangkok is also being considered by bosses of the sport.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Australia tears its hair out as it tries to come to terms with Lions series defeat
The Wallabies were brave in Melbourne but the true test of their courage comes now. Despite snatching defeat from the jaws of victory yet again, they must try and put aside the disappointment of the last-gasp 29-26 defeat at the MCG and debate over that contentious 80th minute non-penalty, and win the final Test to deny the Lions a 3-0 sweep. The Wallabies can't save the series but they can save face in Sydney on Saturday – and claw back a little of the goodwill they squandered in letting the Lions off the hook with 90,307 fans in the stands and millions more watching on screens at home. It won't be easy. All week Australians have torn themselves apart wrestling with one of the crueller defeats in the Wallabies' woebegone recent history. Moods have swung between grieving and aggrieved, despair and defiance. On one hand the wider public are mourning a gut-wrenching defeat, a once-every-12-years opportunity lost amid an embarrassing, yet painfully familiar, inability to ruthlessly close out a game they were bossing with a 23-5 lead. On the other hand they are still aggrieved that Australia's early dominance over the Lions was denied at the death by a 50-50 decision. Carlo Tizzano's theatrics – reeling from the contact with operatic passion, hands clutching the back of his head in mock-agony – have also polarised. Was this cowardly 'diving' or canny gamesmanship to catch the camera's eye? Alas, Italian referee Andrea Piardi sang only from the songsheet of officialdom. He ignored Tizzano's squatter's rights to the ball in the ruck to reward Jac Morgan's lethal clean-out a split-second later. In the chaos, the Wallabies lost possession. The Lions cleared to the left and found space for Hugo Keenan to scramble over the line. Game over. Series won – and lost. For Wallabies fans who have endured a torrid two decades of decline, it was another cruel blow. But not an undeserving one. Australia had tempted the fates when young flyhalf Tom Lynagh coughed up a kick under no pressure to spark two Lions tries that saw Australia's 18-point ascendency vanish into a slender six-point buffer at the break. Yes, Piardi's decision had denied Australia a penalty that would've secured victory and squared the series one-all. But sport is built on drama, not justice. Rugby clings to respect for the referee as sacrosanct. Both captains Harry Wilson and Maro Itoje addressed Piardi as 'sir' throughout (even though the honorary title often gets lost in a torrent of profanity afterwards). For all its wine-producing and guzzling, sour grapes are not Australia's go. This, after all, is the land of 'cop it sweet'. The real cost for the Wallabies was bottling a golden chance to win back floating fans with a famous victory at the nation's most storied colosseum. With a World Cup to host in 2027, Australian rugby badly needed a boilover victory against an all-star touring side to give Joe Schmidt's ragged band of players a jolt of confidence before another arduous Rugby Championship against the All Blacks, South Africa and Argentina starting on 17 August. Instead, the opportunity for a week of fever pitch anticipation for a decider before more than 80,000 fans at the former Olympic stadium has been lost. Worse, the largely self-inflicted calamity in Melbourne has reopened old wounds of other near-victories cruelly vaporised – Kurtley Beale slipping in the mud to gift the 2013 Lions their first series win in 16 years, Bernard Foley penalised for time wasting when the Wallabies had the All Blacks on the rack in 2022. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion Are the Wallabies cursed? Former Socceroo Johnny Warren claimed an unpaid debt led a Mozambique witchdoctor to put a hex on Australian soccer in 1970 and led to a series of bizarre losses and a 32-year World Cup exile. Melbourne Demons fans swore the sacking of legendary coach Norm Smith in 1965 sparked the club's premiership drought until 2021. Footballers are superstitious creatures. In theatre circles it's unlucky to say 'Macbeth' before a performance and apparently these Wallabies won't utter the name 'Eddie Jones' aloud for fear of ghosting by their old coach. But superstition is borne from fear. The Wallabies must banish any demons from Melbourne and set their jaws for a last stand with these hungry Lions, not for their sake as much as ours. US basketball coach Dick Motta used to tell his troops 'you cannot find victory unless you first understand defeat … but show me a good loser in pro sport and I'll show you an idiot.' Australian fans are sick of lionising brave defeats and Schmidt can't shrug off the loss in Melbourne if he's to win Sydney. As the NRL and AFL close in, winning a 'dead rubber' in front of a full house keeps Wallabies hope alive.
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul fight purse predicted as heavyweight showdown edges closer
Anthony Joshua could take on Jake Paul in a stunning boxing match next year with a reported purse predicted - and the potential figure is quite simply staggering A sports finance expert has predicted a whopping $40million (£30m) payday from a possible clash between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul. Paul has been vocal in recent months about stepping into the ring with the two-time heavyweight champ. After his victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the 'Problem Child' once again called for a fight with the Brit, and he was spotted ringside at Daniel Dubois ' recent heavyweight clash with Oleksandr Usyk. "Yeah 100 per cent it's going to happen. We're going to do the unthinkable and create one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing," Paul said ahead of Usyk's fight with Dubois. "It's not even about it being realistic or not, it's going to happen so fasten your seatbelts. And when I knock him out I'll go down in the history books forever." With the fight seemingly in the pipeline, fans across the globe are buzzing with anticipation over how the clash would unfold. Sports finance expert Rob Wilson has chimed in, predicting that Joshua and Paul could pocket a cool $40m (£30m) should the fight go ahead. In an interview with OLBG, Wilson said: "Anthony Joshua is very contemporary, but not as historically relevant as Mike Tyson, so I think that will go against him. He's obviously not had the best performances either over the last couple of years, so that fan engagement has probably waned to a certain extent. But then you bring in a whole new audience of people with Jake Paul," reports All Out Fighting. "He is, to be fair, showing himself as a technically decent fighter. He's not in the kind of upper echelons of world heavyweight boxing, he knows how to handle himself in the ring. So it would be a decent spectacle. He's a contemporary boxer and the fact that he's been fighting these kinds of these older generational athletes and winning is one thing, whether he can mix it up with somebody like AJ is a completely different thing. I think the pay-per-view stuff will be really interesting. If the pay-per-view sells well then you could be talking upwards of $40million. So you could double what they took on the Tyson fight, probably do it at Wembley. "So gate revenue will be good, the global exposure, marketing media rights, that will be good. So yeah, we could, I don't think it'd be beyond the realm of possibility for each fighter to generate 40ish million dollars from that fight. The access that Paul has to that 16 to 24 year old age bracket, the social media influencer side of things is really interesting. So it would be a massive fight in terms of British boxing." Eddie Hearn has shockingly revealed that a bout between Paul and Joshua could be on the cards for next year, despite initial scepticism, after the internet sensation agreed to a shocking one per cent of the fight purse. "Don't ask me how. Don't ask me why," Hearn remarked. "But if people want Anthony Joshua to evaporate the career of Jake Paul in one night, maybe we make it happen." Hearn continued: "You know, obviously it'll be up to AJ and myself what AJ does, and [Most Valuable Promotions CEO] Nakisa [Bidarian] and Jake, what they do – but also the power of Turki Alalshikh bringing it together, making it a mega-event. We're up for it. You know, it's not a fight we targeted. It's not a fight we anticipated. But as I said, if it's there and it's open and it's a running-up fight before Tyson Fury, why not? It probably breaks the internet. It breaks the platform. It probably delivers the biggest numbers of any fight we've ever seen, and that's the crazy world we live in. For me, I don't expect it to be competitive, but do you want to see Jake Paul flattened? There you go. It's on a plate right in front of you." When is Anthony Joshua's next fight? Joshua is expected to return to the ring later this year. Hearn has recently indicated that 'AJ' is eager to move forward with his career after a prolonged chase for a clash with Tyson Fury, yet he still harbours hopes of a definitive showdown with the 'Gypsy King' before retiring. Hearn has shared an update on Anthony Joshua's condition with Sky Sports, confirming: "Yeah, good, he had that operation recently... that elbow surgery, which went very well. You will see him return in October, November or December."
