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Piastri beats Norris in rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix

Piastri beats Norris in rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix

Reuters17 hours ago
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium, July 27 (Reuters) - Oscar Piastri passed McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris with a bold early move to win the rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix and extend his Formula One lead to 16 points on Sunday.
Charles Leclerc was a distant third for Ferrari as reigning champions McLaren celebrated their sixth one-two finish in 13 races and the third in a row.
The race at Spa-Francorchamps was red-flagged after an initial formation lap and delayed by an hour and 20 minutes due to the weather, with standing water and heavy spray affecting visibility.
Piastri was in no mood for hanging around when the racing got going with a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car to check conditions.
The Australian slipstreamed Norris through the daunting Eau Rouge and then scythed past down the Kemmel straight into Les Combes in a move of total commitment in the treacherous conditions.
"I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn One, lifted as little as I dared out of Eau Rouge," he said.
"The rest of the race we managed really well. I struggled at the end. Maybe the mediums were not the best for the last five or six laps. We had it mostly under control."
The win was his sixth of the season, making the 24-year-old the first Australian -- on a list that includes past world champions Jack Brabham and Alan Jones -- to triumph so many times in a single campaign.
Norris had a slight battery issue, the Briton asking over the radio why he had "no pack" before his race engineer assured him it was coming back, but he was not looking for any excuses afterwards.
"Oscar just did a good job. Nothing more to say. Committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run," he said.
"So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today."
Piastri now has 266 points to Norris' 250. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen is third but 81 points off the lead and the championship more than ever a two-horse race with Hungary up next weekend before the August break.
McLaren lead the constructors' standings with 516 points to Ferrari's 248 while Mercedes fell further behind their Italian rivals on 220.
Piastri pitted on lap 12 of 44 to switch from intermediates to medium tyres on a drying track and Norris followed a lap later, but opting for the hards and rejoining nine seconds behind.
The Briton might have hoped Piastri would have to pit again but the Australian made the tyres last to the chequered flag on a one-stop strategy.
Piastri crossed the line 3.415 seconds clear of Norris, who had been chasing a third win in a row and managed to reduce the gap in the final laps before late mistakes left the ever-calm Australian under no pressure.
Saturday sprint winner Verstappen finished fourth in his team's first grand prix since the dismissal of team boss Christian Horner , with George Russell fifth for Mercedes.
Williams' Alex Albon held off Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton -- last year's winner with Mercedes -- to secure sixth.
Hamilton had been one of four drivers due to start from the pit lane but given a big boost by the switch to a rolling getaway and a fresh engine installed overnight.
The Briton was also the first to make the decision to switch to slicks and pit, gaining six places.
Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls with Gabriel Bortoleto ninth for Sauber and Pierre Gasly securing the final point for Alpine.
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Piastri and Norris racing like champions in F1 title battle
Piastri and Norris racing like champions in F1 title battle

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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.

Why do men like Jeremy Clarkson get so upset at women playing football?
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The old dinosaur Jeremy Clarkson claims he likes women's football. In fact, he wrote a column about it for The Sunday Times, saying he found the Lionesses' Euros final 'exciting'. Great! Progress, right? Well… not quite. Because in the very same breath, he compares that excitement to what he imagines he'd feel watching cow racing in Sri Lanka. Yes, really. His exact words: ' It was exciting – in the same way that I'd be excited if I were in Sri Lanka and the locals invited me to watch some cow racing.' It's a thinly veiled pat on the head – the kind of backhanded compliment women in sport have heard for decades. Clarkson's message is clear: well done, ladies – that was 120 minutes of fun, in a novelty sort of way. Not real football, of course. Just a quirky spectacle for a Sunday afternoon. And that, right there, is the problem. Because even when some men say they like women's football, it's often delivered with a side of snark, scepticism or condescension. It's not quite "real". It's not quite worthy. It's the football equivalent of a try-hard indie band – enjoyable, but let's not pretend it deserves top billing. That mindset – whether shouted from comment sections of newspapers or whispered into broadsheet columns – is why women's football continues to be met with hostility. And it's going to take far more than England's back-to-back Euros win, a Downing Street visit and a street parade through the capital to convince men like Clarkson that women's football is worthy of their attention. What are they waiting for – a Bank Holiday in the Lionesses' honour? Nothing has stirred more bizarre, irrational rage in recent years than women playing football. Not climate change, not taxes, not even unfixed potholes. No – it's women daring to lace up their boots and play the same sport men have dominated for over a century. The horror! Now, don't get me wrong. I'm well aware there are thousands of men who have supported the Lionesses wholeheartedly through the Euros and through the trials and triumphs of women's football. Those men exist. In fact, I live with two of them. But what's also been impossible to ignore is the other group – a loud, seething contingent who foam at the mouth every time women's football gets airtime. Let's be honest. Some of these men don't just dislike women's football – they absolutely hate it. Viscerally and irrationally. As though women simply kicking a ball poses a threat to their very identity. Take Graham (real name, I believe), a caller I heard on LBC just the other day. He proudly declared – without a hint of irony – that he 'can't stand' women's football. Not just that he doesn't enjoy it. Not just that it's not his thing. No, Graham hates it. He can't watch it. He repeated several times that he can't bear it being 'shoved down our throats'. Shoved down our throats? Remind me… has there ever been a sport more relentlessly marketed, broadcast and worshipped than men's football? We've had 24/7 coverage for decades, wall-to-wall analysis of Premier League games, live transfer updates (snore) that border on obsession. Somehow, that's just normal. But when the BBC dares to air a Lionesses match? Now it's an outrage. Another gem came from a man I came across on a well-known sports account on Instagram who insisted women's football 'isn't the same sport' as men's. It's not as fast, not as powerful. Therefore, in his eyes, it's a different game entirely. Let's unpack that for a second. Two teams. Eleven players per side. A ball. A pitch. A goal at each end. A ref. Sounds like football to me. The only real difference? Some of the players have penises and some don't. That's not a different sport. That's just biology. By this logic, does he tell his son – who maybe plays under-12s on a soggy Sunday morning – that his football isn't real football because it lacks the speed and precision of the Champions League? Does he pat the kid on the head and say, 'Sorry son, it's just not the same sport'? Unlikely. The moment you challenge these men, even gently, the reaction is instant and vicious. I dared to comment on one of these videos, pointing out the obvious: it is the same sport. Cue the backlash. Within seconds, I saw replies accusing me of 'rage bait', clown emojis and insults I won't repeat here. The vitriol is astonishing – and sadly familiar, if you've ever spoken up for women's sport. But it begs the question: why does women's football cause such a meltdown in some men? Why this sport in particular? Why not women's tennis, where the stars earn millions and fill arenas? Why not rugby or cricket? Why this obsessive need to gatekeep football? The answer is as uncomfortable as it is obvious: misogyny. It's pure, deep-seated and often subconscious. Men's football is one of the last cultural arenas where some men feel untouchable. It's 'theirs'. The pub, the banter, the tribalism. And it seems when women enter that space (and excel in it), it rattles them to their core. Here's the real kicker: the England Lionesses aren't just playing football. They're winning. They're one of the most successful England teams this country has ever produced. While the men's team continues to serve us heartbreak, hype and penalty shootout trauma, the Lionesses deliver us trophies and finals and pride. At last! And it's not just what happens on the pitch. Off the field, the women are widely seen as more approachable, less egotistical and, frankly, better role models. They play as a team. They show humility. They connect with fans in a way that's rare in the era of £100k-a-week Instagram stars. That success – both in results and in values – should be a source of national pride. But instead, a portion of the male population would rather die on the hill of 'it's just not the same' than cheer on the best England football team we've got. Before I get accused of having no facts to back up my point – let's talk numbers for a minute. The Lionesses won the 2022 European Championship, something the men haven't done. They've reached the World Cup finals. Their matches have sold out stadiums. They've inspired millions of young girls – and plenty of boys – to take up the sport. If you're still arguing they don't deserve the spotlight, then sorry, but you've left logic behind. It's a sad day when a country finally gets to be world-class at something… and a significant chunk of its population responds by crossing its arms and pouting. Here's the truth: no one's asking you to like every pass or admire every tackle. But if you hate it – if it genuinely makes you angry to see women succeeding in sport – then maybe the problem isn't the football. Maybe the problem is you.

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