Verstappen fastest in first Canadian GP practice, Leclerc crashes
MONTREAL, June 13 (Reuters) - Red Bull's Max Verstappen led first practice for the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix on Friday while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed and runaway leaders McLaren made a comparatively slow start to the weekend.
Four-times world champion Verstappen, last year's winner at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Canadian victory, lapped in one minute 13.193 seconds on a bright afternoon.
Williams' Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were second and third fastest respectively, with the Briton 0.039 slower than Verstappen and his teammate 0.082 off the pace and all using the soft tyres.
Mercedes' George Russell, who started on pole position in Canada last year, was fourth fastest with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton fifth and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar sixth.
McLaren's Lando Norris was seventh with championship leading teammate Oscar Piastri 14th, and fined 100 euros ($115) for speeding in the pitlane, as the team tested upgrades including a new front wing.
The session was halted when Leclerc hit the barriers at the second chicane with 45 minutes remaining, causing extensive damage to his Ferrari.
The Monegasque still ended up 10th fastest.
Canadian Lance Stroll returned to action after missing the Spanish Grand Prix due to hand and wrist pain and was 15th for Aston Martin in front of his home crowd.
($1 = 0.8662 euros)
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Lionel Messi in Miami – a football failure but a money-spinning triumph
There will be a time, said Lionel Messi's friend and former Argentina team-mate Sergio Agüero, when football (soccer) in the United States will be divided into two periods: Before Messi and After Messi. That may well be true. The bigger question, though, is what effect will Messi have had on that shift? After all, with the forward, 38 this month, kicking off Fifa's bloated and so far unloved Club World Cup in the cloying heat of Miami at a far from sold-out Hard Rock Stadium at 1am on Sunday (UK time), it could be the start of the countdown to his time in the US drawing to a close. Messi is out of contract at Inter Miami at the end of this year, having signed with a fanfare as a free agent in July 2023 from Paris St-Germain in one of the most extraordinary deals ever constructed in sport. The expectation remains that he will re-sign, although there have been murmurings that he has grown increasingly frustrated of late with the club's struggles and has shown flashes of anger towards referees. That is despite Miami bringing in those who played alongside him at Barcelona in Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and head coach Javier Mascherano. There is a fear that should Miami bomb at the Club World Cup – a competition he has already won three times, albeit in a vastly different format – it may make up his mind to quit. But this has strongly been played down by the club, whose managing owner, Jorge Mas, says that contract negotiations are ongoing and that he wants Messi to 'finish his career here'. They hope to make an announcement within weeks. Anything but a contract extension would be damaging for Miami, who are desperate for Messi to lead them into their new stadium at the $1billion (£850 million) Freedom Park next year, and for US soccer. It is no coincidence that he was wooed to the US at a time when in consecutive years they were hosting the Copa America – which Messi won with Argentina – this summer's Club World Cup and then the 2026 World Cup, where 75 per cent of the fixtures will be played in the country and where it is hoped he will have his international swansong. This is about finance and geopolitical influence. And, thankfully, also football. A standout player in a very average league In a sense, the Club World Cup is a test run for the bigger prize: that World Cup. The first US World Cup in 1994 launched Major League Soccer two years later. The hope is that hosting it again will power MLS, which has undeniably stalled, to a new level. And to do that they need the Messi effect. One of the challenges MLS faces is that Americans want to watch the best, and MLS is simply not the best league in the world. But by association with Messi, it does become more important, and he remains by far the biggest name and is marketed as the face of football. For example, the UK-based sports intelligence firm Twenty First Group ranks MLS alongside the Ukrainian Premier League – 19th in the world – for having top players (just eight spread across six teams and Messi the stand-out). To put that in perspective, the Premier League has 258 of the top 1,250 players; La Liga is second with 185. MLS knows it must change if it is to achieve its global aim and there are claims that Messi being there has already started the conversations – about switching the season to be in line with Fifa's calendar, about allowing more spending. Even, maybe, about introducing relegation and promotion, although that still seems anathema to US owners. The big question remains: what will the difference be when Messi leaves MLS? There is a parallel with David Beckham, who is co-owner of Miami and played an integral role in wooing Messi. When Beckham signed for LA Galaxy in 2007 – when he was still just 32 – it took MLS to one level. Messi's mission is to take it to the next one. But will his time be as seismic as Beckham's? Eye-watering money, for life The Messi effect can also be divided into two areas: money and on-field success. Messi's signing was always likely to be a commercial success and the spoils have quickly piled up. But the danger remains that Messi will become nothing more than a commercial blip. Even if that blip has been astonishing. When Messi signed, his income per year was estimated at $60 million. But that does not tell half the story. It is made up of salary, signing-on bonus, but also a potentially lucrative deal to eventually award him equity in the team. Only Beckham was granted something similar – even if MLS paid a high price by allowing him to buy Miami's place in the league for just $25million, with the club now valued at $1 billion (£737 million). Not that he owns all of it. Messi's contract has similar benefits. With a trigger to own a percentage of Miami after he retires, Messi will be an MLS stakeholder, which the Americans hope will tie him into their league for the long term. On top of that, he has separate deals with Adidas, Fanatics and Apple. The latter, in particular, is significant. Messi signed in the first season when all MLS games were shown by Apple, behind a paywall, in a 10-year, $2.5 billion media rights deal with his own remuneration linked to new subscriptions. In terms of a league broadcast partner putting a player into the profits, we have never seen anything like that before. There was also talk that a prime motivator for the company was the South American market, where it was not dominant and Android still had a far larger footprint. What is intriguing is whether it has actually worked. Apple boasted of a huge increase in subscriber numbers – not that they were published – but more recently there has been speculation that the company might take advantage of a rumoured break clause after year five of the contract. What is not in dispute is that an early Apple TV+ docuseries Messi Meets America was a flop and was panned by critics. In terms of social media it has been trumpeted that before Messi arrived Miami had fewer than one million Instagram followers. Now they have 17 million – although Messi himself has 505 million. Messi has also drawn record crowds. This season, 72,610 watched Miami away to Kansas City and 65,612 at Foxborough. The Houston Dynamos even issued an apology to their angry fans for Messi not playing in their fixture, after they jacked up prices, offering them free tickets in return. Don Garber, the MLS commissioner, has claimed that Messi's pink Miami shirt is Adidas' top-seller – not just in football but for any of the company's shirts. MLS insists that Messi has helped put the league 'in front of a global audience' and 'piqued the interest of sports fans in our country'. Mas has likened Messi to Michael Jordan. The footballing magic is fading In pure football terms, Messi's move to the MLS is more complicated. This season in particular has been underwhelming for Miami, despite Messi being named MLS's most valuable player, even though he only played half the games, scoring 20 times and earning 16 assists in just 19 matches. He is still playing well, but it already feels a far cry from when he arrived in a blaze of publicity and excitement and his impact was immediate and dazzling. Messi's first hat trick with Inter Miami 🎩 (via @MLS) — B/R Football (@brfootball) October 20, 2024 Messi scored a free-kick in the dying seconds to win on his debut followed by a flurry of crucial, typically brilliant goals as Miami charged up from bottom of the league table and won their first-ever trophy, the Leagues Cup, with a strike in the final and with a host of celebrities – Leonardo Di Caprio, Kim Kardashian, Will Ferrell, Edward Norton, Selena Gomez – flocking to their games. 'It's like a movie,' Beckham purred. It certainly felt like it. Unfortunately Messi got injured and Miami reverted to type, missing out on the play-offs and the football has not really been the same ever since with Mascherano, in his first meaningful role as manager, struggling. Of the seven trophies they have had the chance to win with Messi, Miami have won two: that Leagues Cup followed by the Supporters Shield, which is awarded for gaining the most points. It was that prize that, controversially, Fifa president Gianni Infantino seized on to award Messi, sorry Miami, the final slot reserved for a Club World Cup host in the enlarged 32-team competition. It was a loophole, nothing more, with the argument in the US that the place should have gone to the MLS Cup winners, LA Galaxy. Clearly it should have done. But they do not have Messi. And Infantino wanted Messi – just as he wanted Saudi-based Cristiano Ronaldo and tried to force that to happen – to help christen his new baby, this tournament, with capacity crowds and a fervour of interest. The fear is that will not happen, with tickets being sold off cheaply for the inaugural game of Miami versus the Egyptian side Al-Ahly – although there is some credence to the argument that Fifa probably should have taken Messi on the road rather than in his home stadium, where Miami residents have ready access to see him. In fairness, demand has been strong for Real Madrid against Al-Hilal on June 18 in the same stadium, with the cheapest seats priced at $244 (£180). That may owe partly to a boost from the hiring of Xabi Alonso as head coach and the signing of Trent Alexander-Arnold. But the fact is Messi needs to achieve more on-field success with Miami, even if that sounds harsh given his age and the reality that, clearly, he cannot do it on his own. Even when he won the last World Cup in Qatar he had an Argentina side carefully built around him. Miami have tried to do that by bringing in a host of former Barcelona thirtysomethings. It has not had the same effect and the truth is Miami and Messi will not succeed until they win a trophy that really matters – such as the MLS Cup or the Concacaf Champions League. Can Miami win the Club World Cup? Without a doubt Messi – who returned from Buenos Aires immediately after Argentina's World Cup qualifier draw against Colombia on Wednesday, when he asked to be substituted – has been held back for this tournament. But winning it feels like a long shot, given the formidable opposition. Indeed, Miami will do well to get out of a group that also contains Porto and the Brazilian club Palmeiras. 'Messi is the one everyone wants to watch' In US, the attention around Messi has turned Miami into something of an unpopular club, one that other fans even want to see fail. Such is football rivalry, with Mas having described it as simple 'jealousy', although that usually follows a team being dominant on the pitch and hoovering up all the trophies, as well as having the glitz and glamour. It all places the spotlight even more firmly on Messi. There will be those who want to see if he, and Miami and, by extension, MLS and football in the US, fail at this Club World Cup. There will be those who want to see if he has still got it, to know if he can even turn back the clock and do what he did in Qatar at the last World Cup. 'We know Leo is there and for the world, for the fans, it was very important that Inter Miami was included because, whether some like it or not, Messi is the one everyone wants to watch,' Agüero declared in a statement provided by Fifa. It is fascinating, especially for a global audience who do not possess an Apple TV subscription and have not been following MLS. In fact, it probably all adds up to what Infantino wanted when he commissioned a new trophy from Tiffany &Co, set up a new competition shoehorned in Messi. Fifa needed Messi. But what happens in the next few weeks will go a long way to defining the Messi effect in America and whether it will be a ripple or a halo. At present opinion is divided.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Forgotten XI of players you didn't realise were playing Club World Cup including ex-Man Utd, Chelsea & Real Madrid stars
THE CLUB WORLD CUP is fast approaching as teams prepare to do battle in the US this month. The expanded tournament will see 32 teams compete for the coveted trophy and a reported £100million jackpot. 24 The first-ever edition of the new Club World Cup format will take place in the US. Chelsea and Manchester City are the sole representatives from the Premier League. But there are a host of other big-name teams from around the world. And as a result, there are numerous star players turning out — including those who have vanished from recent memory... 24 24 GK: HUGO LLORIS (LAFC) Tottenham's former captain, 38, joined LAFC at the start of 2024 and has already cemented his place as a fan favourite. Lloris has clocked up 67 appearances in that short time, hot on the heels of his 447 outings in London. The World Cup-winning stopper has even landed a trophy in the City of Angels, scooping the US Open Cup in September. And after helping LAFC win a playoff to replace Club Leon, Lloris will be between the sticks for the Group D opener against Chelsea on June 16. But his presence is sure to reignite the Blues' capital rivalry with Spurs. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will see the World's best players decide which club is the greatest CB: SERGIO RAMOS (MONTERREY) Having led Real Madrid to four Club World Cups in the past, Ramos will be feeling confident he can help Mexican side Monterrey get far this summer. The centre-back is already captaining the team just four months after joining following spells at Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla. But at 39 years of age, Ramos has shown he has still got what it takes to boss a defence. And he will need to be at his best to help Monterrey get past Inter Milan and River Plate in Group E. 24 24 CB: THIAGO SILVA (FLUMINENSE) Once a Chelsea icon, always a Chelsea icon. Even at 40 years old, Silva would still likely walk back into the Blues' XI. Instead, he is king of the hill at Fluminense, saving them from relegation in his first season. And Silva's know-how should help the Brazilians get out of a group which includes German giants Borussia Dortmund. 24 24 CB: NICOLAS OTAMENDI (BENFICA) A two-time Premier League winner with Man City, Otamendi has gone on to win more trophies since leaving the Etihad. Having now completed five seasons at Benfica, the 37-year-old has a Portuguese league title to boot. And he even played a key role in Argentina's World Cup win in 2022. Otamendi is just one of several big forgotten names playing at Benfica, who are in a tough group with Bayern Munich and Boca Juniors. 24 24 RWB: JOAO CANCELO (AL-HILAL) Once regarded as the best full-back in world football, Cancelo's fall from grace was swift after starring at giants including Inter Milan, Juventus, Man City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. He is now playing in Saudi Arabia, earning a fortune with moneybags Al-Hilal. At the age of 31, Cancelo is still playing in his prime years. And he will be looking to inflict damage when Al-Hilal come up against reigning champions Real Madrid in Group H. 24 24 CM: ANDER HERRERA (BOCA JUNIORS) It's been six years since Herrera, 35, lit up Old Trafford in a Manchester United shirt. His tenacity in midfield endeared him to supporters while raking in FOUR trophies including the FA Cup and Europa League. After playing for PSG and a second spell at Athletic Bilbao, Herrera now finds himself in Argentina with Boca Juniors. But just six appearances in all competitions since his January switch means Herrera may not be guaranteed a starting spot in the US. 24 24 CM: RUBEN NEVES (AL-HILAL) Why he was not snapped up by a fellow Premier League club while at Wolves remains a mystery. Neves, 28, is only entering his prime now and continues to be a key player for Portugal. Yet he finds himself playing in Saudi with Al-Hilal, completing a shock move two years ago before leading them to a Treble last season. Neves would still walk into most European squads and could attract interest with some strong Club World Cup performances — but that's only if he wants to leave the riches of the Middle East. 24 24 LWB: ALEX TELLES (BOTAFOGO) A miserable time at Manchester United saw Telles, 32, fail to live up to the hype as one of Europe's best left-footers. After winning trophies galore at Galatasaray and Porto, he left Old Trafford empty-handed after just two years. But he has enjoyed plenty of success since then, winning trophies at Sevilla, Al-Nassr and now Botafogo. The Brazilian champs are coming in with a host of experienced homegrown talents and Telles' deadly free-kicks are likely to cause some damage. 24 24 CAM: ANGEL DI MARIA (BENFICA) Man United's flop winger is returning to boyhood Argentina club Rosario Central this summer — but only after he leads out Benfica for the final time at the Club World Cup. Ignoring his duff sole season in the north west, Di Maria's record means he will go down as one of football's most talented and decorated wingers ever. His two years at Benfica have not yielded any trophies, however. And Di Maria, 37, will be desperate to make amends before leaving Europe for good. 24 24 ST: EDINSON CAVANI (BOCA JUNIORS) Another former United player, Cavani will feel he did not do himself justice during his two seasons in England. Having also struggled at Valencia, the 38-year-old is now leading the way for Argentine giants Boca Juniors 20 goals in 39 games last year showed Cavani still has an eye for goal. And although his pace may have gone, the experienced Uruguayan's sheer physicality and clever movement will surely see him in the mix for the Golden Boot. 24 24 ST: OLIVIER GIROUD (LAFC) Last but not least, Giroud will face off against old side Chelsea later this month. His extra-time assist helped LAFC book their place at the tournament ahead of Club America. Giroud has already become a talisman for his Californian side, preferring the role of creator to goalscorer. And his cunning know-how could help the experienced poacher nick a goal when he faces off against a young Blues defence. 24 24 You can watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZN.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
F1 star reveals he was BURGLED by thief who 'stole everything' after breaking into his car - and nearly missed the Canadian Grand Prix after passport was nicked
Formula 1 star Gabriel Bortoleto almost missed out this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after a thief shockingly broke into his car and stole his passport. The Brazilian, who was in Zurich near his Sauber team's headquarters, also had his computer taken while he was eating dinner and was forced to use a different passport and replacement travel documents as he scrambled to get to Montreal on time. The 20-year-old joined Sauber ahead of this season after winning last year's Formula 2 title and is yet to earn a point in his maiden season in the F1 circuit. A 12th place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona represented his best result so far. And his preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix were dealt a heavy blow as he looks to improve on a challenging campaign, with the thiefs causing 'chaos'. 'I had gone to dinner one day in Switzerland and they ended up opening the car and taking my backpack,' the Sauber driver told Brazilian media. 'I had my passports, everything inside, my computer, all my running gear. 'It was chaos, but we managed to find the guy. 'Everything worked out in the end, I have my passports. We didn't find everything, but we did find some things.' Bortoleto is the 14th highest paid driver, earning around £1.5m a year. The F1 rookie, who replaced former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas this season, is not the first star to be targeted by thieves. Two years ago, then-Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz chased down thieves and retrieved his £500,000 watch just hours after competing in the Italian Grand Prix in Milan. While Bortoleto is still looking to pick up his first point of the season, team-mate Nico Hulkenburg sits in 11th on 16. Despite Sauber's car being one of the slowest on the grid, the German impressively raced to a fifth-place finish in Spain. Much attention will be fixed of Max Verstappen as the F1 season continues at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal this weekend. The Red Bull driver is in third place but is a single error away from a race ban after his shocking collision with George Russell in Spain. Meanwhile, Brit Lando Norris will be aiming to return to the top of the leaderboard by besting McLaren team-mate and championship rival Oscar Piastri.
