'Oh my word!' - Fitzpatrick slam dunks for a birdie
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Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Piastri and Norris racing like champions in F1 title battle
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium, July 28 (Reuters) - McLaren boss Andrea Stella says teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are racing like champions and the Formula One title will probably be decided by fine margins and individual brilliance. The pair are 16 points apart in a two-horse race, with Australian Piastri leading McLaren's sixth one-two of the season in Belgium on Sunday and taking his sixth win of the campaign. Red Bull's Max Verstappen is third but 81 points behind with his hopes of a fifth successive title fast receding. There are 11 races left and the intra-team rivalry will be the major focus with McLaren set to retain the constructors' crown with ease as they now a massive 268 points clear of second-placed Ferrari. Norris won in Britain after Piastri was penalised for braking erratically behind the safety car but the Australian triumphed at Spa by slipstreaming past from second on the grid. "There is very, very little between our two drivers and this is because the two drivers are racing at a very, very high level," Stella told reporters. "I think the difference will be made by the accuracy, the precision, the quality of the execution," added the Italian, who worked with champions at Ferrari and said Piastri and Norris were both operating at that level. At Spa, the regular grid lineup was replaced by a rolling start in wet conditions after four laps behind the safety car, with Norris finding pole position was no real advantage once the race got going. Piastri had discovered the same during the Saturday sprint, when Verstappen won from second on the grid after seizing the lead on the opening lap. "We saw in Silverstone that an issue, a sporting issue for Oscar, during the safety car restart and the consequent penalty cost him the race," said Stella. "Here we saw that, somehow related to the circuit characteristic, it would have been very difficult for Lando to keep the position, starting first at the safety car restart." Stella discounted a battery problem that appeared to be an issue initially, saying a slight anomaly had occurred on both cars and Norris should not have been any worse off. "It would have always been very difficult for Lando to keep the position starting first at the safety car restart, but at the same time I think Lando didn't help himself by not having a great gap...," he said. "So I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference." Piastri was not unhappy after qualifying second, observing that Spa was probably the best place not to have the best lap and planning his next move already. "The move through Eau Rouge, I knew it was going to be by far my best opportunity to try and win the race. I'd been thinking about it for a while, put it that way," said the Australian.
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
Penders joins Strasbourg on loan
Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders was always likely to join Strasbourg this summer and it has finally been made official. The 19-year-old is highly regarded at Stamford Bridge and manager Enzo Maresca took him to the United States as part of his Club World Cup-winning team to take a closer look at the Belgian. However, Penders has only made 26 senior appearances in his short career so a loan move was always likely. Strasbourg are also owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's BlueCo and thus have emerged as the primary destination for young players to go on loan from Chelsea, especially ones the club feel have a long term future inside their project. Penders perfectly fits the BlueCo ideology of player development, but is making a significant step up from Belgian football given Strasbourg have qualified for European football this former number one Djordje Petrovic - who joined Bournemouth for £25m this summer after winning Strasbourg's player of the year award - will also be difficult. Yet Penders is seen as a keeper who some day is capable of reaching the highest level within the Chelsea/Strasbourg system - and this is an opportunity to live up to those beliefs.
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
🎧 How did the Saints fare in Spain?
"It does feel that connection is not quite there at the moment, the familiarity isn't there - but I think that's normal after a relegation season."BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore and Alfie House of the Southern Daily Echo reflect on Southampton's training trip in Girona and what it could spell for the Saints' return to the to the full analysis and more on BBC Sounds.
