Muniz makes most of limited opportunities - so could he move?
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BBC News
28 minutes ago
- BBC News
'He definitely has it', so why did Hamilton say he was useless?
Lewis Hamilton insisted he "still loves" Formula 1 after his most challenging weekend of his Ferrari career so far at the Hungarian Grand Saturday, Hamilton had said he was "just useless" after the seven-time champion qualified 12th on the grid, while his team-mate Charles Leclerc took Ferrari's first grand prix pole position of the Sunday, Hamilton finished in the same place, while Leclerc, after fighting with the race-winning McLarens for the first two-thirds of the race, faded to fourth place, his car apparently afflicted by a problem in the final said he felt "the same" as he had after qualifying. He said: "There's a lot going on in the background that is not… great, so…" But added: "I'm sure there are positives to take from the weekend and I'm sure there's learnings."As is often the case when Hamilton struggles, not only does his mood plumb the depths, but the F1 rumour mill spins into Hamilton over the hill, some wondered after qualifying? Would he even quit Ferrari at the end of the year, or perhaps even before the end of the season?That one, at least, Hamilton rejected, saying he would be back in the car at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August after F1's summer break."I'm looking forward to coming back," he said. "I'll be back, yeah."Anyone who knows Hamilton, and his determination, and refusal to give up, knows the answers to the other questions about his future, performance, in the wake of some upgrades on the Ferrari car at least gives him some room for optimism."Definitely some improvements that have been made on the upgrades," Hamilton said. "Naturally, it's a shame we're not as competitive as the guys at the front, but you've seen Charles has had a really strong run of the last two races."The car is definitely progressing, so we have to keep trying to extract more from it." What does his boss think? Team principal Frederic Vasseur injected some perspective into Hamilton's situation."For sure when you are seven times world champion, your team-mate is in pole position and you are out in Q2, it's a tough situation," Vasseur the race result, Vasseur pointed out that Ferrari had gambled on a one-stop strategy starting on the hard tyre on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult, and it "didn't work.""I can understand the frustration from Lewis," he said, "but this is normal, and he will come back."Vasseur, who was instrumental in persuading Hamilton to leave Mercedes to join Ferrari for this season, pointed out that the results in Hungary made his driver's weekend look worse than it Hamilton had been 0.247 seconds slower than Leclerc when he was knocked out of qualifying after the second session. But Leclerc himself had found it hard to progress, and Hamilton had been just 0.155secs adrift of his team-mate in the first past two races have seen a stall in the positive momentum Hamilton had been building after a difficult start to his Ferrari Miami in early May, there has been little to choose between the two drivers in qualifying, and Hamilton out-qualified Leclerc in three of the four races before Belgium, a week before errors of different kinds in the qualifying sessions for the sprint and grand prix at Spa made Hamilton look uncompetitive when he was anything was a match for Leclerc on pace in Belgium, but an off followed by a spin caused by a combination of factors relating to a new braking material saw him out in the first session in sprint qualifying, and the same thing happened when he misjudged the exit of the 180mph+ swerves at Eau Rouge and went slightly outside track limits in qualifying for the grand with the problems in Belgium and Hungary, and the need to adapt to a new car of very different characteristics at the start of the season, Hamilton's average qualifying deficit to Leclerc is 0.146 seconds this not what Hamilton would expect of himself, but it should be viewed in the context of that Ferrari - and many others in F1 - regard Leclerc as the fastest driver over a single lap in the critics point to his struggles against George Russell in his final season at Mercedes last 40-year-old has found the ground-effect cars introduced into F1 in 2022 do not fit his late-braking style as well as the previous generation of cars. And it does remain a mystery that he has not been able to adapt as well as would have been expected, or apparently as well as other Vasseur rejected any idea that he might be worried about Hamilton's situation."He's demanding," Vasseur said, "but I think it's also why he's seven times world champion, that he's demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself also. But first of all he's very demanding with himself." What does his former boss think? Toto Wolff, Hamilton's former team boss at Mercedes, was asked about Hamilton's downbeat self-assessment."That is Lewis wearing his heart on the sleeve," he said. "It's what he thought very much when he was asked after the session. It was very raw."He was doubting himself, and we had it in the past when he felt that he underperformed his own expectations and your team-mate is on pole, and he's been that emotionally transparent since he was a young boy or young adult."As for Hamilton's general performances, Wolff said: "He's the GOAT, and he will always be the GOAT, and nobody's going to take that away. That's something he needs to always remember, that he's the greatest of all times."Lewis has unfinished business in Formula 1. In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations since 2022, we kind of never got happy with ground-effect cars. And in the same way, it bit him."Maybe it's linked to driving style. So he shouldn't go anywhere. Next year is brand new cars, completely different to drive, new power-units that need an intelligent way of managing the energy."Can Hamilton still win that elusive eighth title, Wolff was asked?"If he has a car underneath him that he has confidence in, that does what he wants, then yes," he replied."If he has a car that it's not giving him the feedback that he wants, and that was the Mercedes of the past few years, and that seems to be the Ferrari, and even worse, then not."But you ask me whether he has it, he definitely has it."
Daily Mirror
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Mikel Arteta ruthlessly mocked as Arsenal manager's word for 'friendly' comes to light
Mikel Arteta has internally made it clear that he does not believe in the concept of friendlies and has used a different word with his Arsenal players during pre-season Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been ridiculed after it emerged that he doesn't buy into the concept of a 'friendly' and instead told his players that their pre-season outings were 'tests'. The Spaniard doesn't like the term attached to non-competitive matches as he looks to finally end the Gunners' wait for a Premier League title. Arsenal have been over in Asia playing several of their domestic rivals as they look to get match ready. In recent days they were beaten by AC Milan on penalties, saw off Newcastle 3-2, before later losing to rivals Tottenham on Thursday. Arteta has internally made it clear that he doesn't believe in the friendly concept, as per the Athletic, but that has seen him mocked by fans. One fan said on social media: "Then Arsenal failed their first and last tests." Another claimed: "Does this mean arsenal failed their test against Tottenham??" Along the same theme was: "Well they lost a test against Spurs". Arsenal will begin their season with a stern test away at Manchester United. The Red Devils have impressed in pre-season and the Gunners will be under pressure to showcase their title credentials when they head to Old Trafford in a fortnight. Arteta has presided over three successive seasons where Arsenal have finished second, but he's confident that his side have benefited from their three matches in Asia. He said: "Yes, for the three of them and today in particular it showed different demands, different understanding of things that we have to do. "I'm very pleased with what I've seen in most of the things that we've done but we missed something you know in certain moments, that preciseness, that moment that unlocks the result and the moment to turn the result away and win the match but in terms of attitude, the desire, level of organisation in the team, it was great and we have to continue to elevate a little bit all the individual aspects." Arteta has continued to employ unorthodox methods. Last pre-season, during a team dinner, the Spaniard hired professional pickpockets to go around the tables taking things from the players. After dinner was finished, Arteta asked the team to empty their pockets, when several individuals clocked they were missing their valuables. It was then that the Arsenal boss underlined the need to be alert at all times. The 43-year-old has, again, invested heavily in his squad as he looks to end a trophy drought that dates back to his FA Cup triumph in 2020. The former Manchester City assistant claimed his squad lacked depth recently, but he's since seen Viktor Gyokeres arrive from Sporting Lisbon. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Jude Bellingham shows off huge scar after shoulder surgery as Real Madrid star recovers ahead of new season
JUDE BELLINGHAM showed off a huge scar after undergoing shoulder surgery. The Real Madrid and England midfielder went under the knife at a London hospital three weeks ago. 3 3 And in a new photo that has surfaced on social media, Bellingham is now sporting a huge scar down his left shoulder. The 22-year-old shared a snap of himself in a hospital bed with a sling on after the surgery. He thanked doctors in his Instagram post, writing: "Thank you to Andrew Wallace and Susan Alexander, their team and everyone at Fortius Clinic for the surgery and hospitality. "To Ivan Ortega and Dr Leyes for travelling to support. "And finally, to everyone else for all the well wishes and messages of love. "The process to come back has already started, see you soon." Bellingham chose to undergo surgery after soldiering on through pain since 2023. He delayed going into hospital and managed the discomfort by wearing a brace during matches. It has been reported that Bellingham will miss around 10-12 weeks of action, meaning he will not return to the pitch until October. Aside from missing the start of the domestic season with Real Madrid, he will also be unavailable for England's World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia in September. 3
