Lewis Hamilton devastated after running over groundhog
Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was saddened to discover his car had run over a groundhog during Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
'I didn't see it happen, but I heard I hit a groundhog, so that's devastating,' Hamilton, an animal rights activist and vegan, said to Sky Sports following his sixth-place finish.
The 40-year-old Ferrari driver, who started fifth on the grid, said he began losing pace early in the race after the incident damaged the floor of his car.
'I love animals, so I'm so sad about it,' Hamilton said. 'It's horrible. It's never happened to me before.'
Hamilton also experienced some problems with his brakes during the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where groundhogs are common.
'It was feeling pretty decent until (hitting the animal),' he said. 'I got a good start, held position, and I was holding onto the group. I was managing the tires well. I was feeling optimistic.'
Hamilton's fellow Great Britain native, Mercedes' George Russell, won the race. Four-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing finished second and Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli was third.
Hamilton, who won his last F1 word title in 2020, ranks sixth in the driver standings through 10 races. Up next is the Austrian Grand Prix on June 29.
--Field Level Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
38 minutes ago
- National Post
Ron Taylor, ex-MLB pitcher and longtime Blue Jays doctor, dead at 87
Dr. Ron Taylor, a two-time World Series-winning pitcher and longtime Toronto Blue Jays team physician, has died. He was 87. Article content The Blue Jays confirmed Taylor's death in a statement Monday. A cause of death was not provided. Article content Article content Taylor, who was born in Toronto on Dec. 13, 1937, played 10 seasons in the majors from 1962 to 1972 after signing with the Cleveland Indians in 1955. Article content Article content He threw 11 scoreless innings at Fenway Park in his big-league debut on April 11, 1962, before surrendering a 12th-inning grand slam in a 4-0 defeat. Article content He joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1963 and helped them win a World Series the following year. Article content He was a key member of the 1969 'Miracle Mets' championship team. He earned a win out of the bullpen against Atlanta in the National League Championship Series, then surrendered no hits in 2 1/3 innings with a save in two appearances in the World Series against the favoured Baltimore Orioles. Article content Taylor also pitched with Houston and San Diego. He had a career 45-43 record with a 3.93 earned-run average, 464 strikeouts and 74 saves. Article content After retiring in 1972, he returned to Toronto and received a medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1977. Article content He joined the Blue Jays as team physician in 1979 and earned the nickname 'Dr. Baseball' as he served in the role for 30 years, a span that included the team's World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. Article content Taylor was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He was appointed to the Order of Ontario by lieutenant governor James Bartleman in 2005. Article content
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Skinner or Pickard? Oilers' Knoblauch still not naming starting goalie for Stanley Cup Final Game 6
Edmonton Oilers' goalie Calvin Pickard (30), left, and goalie Stuart Skinner (74) take part in practice before taking on the Florida Panthers in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, in Edmonton, Wednesday, June 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It's anyone's guess who starts in goal for the Edmonton Oilers when they face elimination in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Coach Kris Knoblauch did not say Monday whether it would be Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard. 'It's who we feel can win us a game,' Knoblauch said after practice. 'That's how it's gone in other games, and we'll make that decision.' Skinner was Edmonton's starting goaltender to begin the playoffs, lost the first two games and was replaced by Pickard, who went 6-0 before getting injured. Skinner also started the first four in the final, got pulled twice and for Pickard, who won Game 4 and lost Game 5. 'A strength of our team is that we can go with both guys,' winger Connor Brown said. 'They're up for the challenge. I mean, they're both absolute pros. Both have given this their best every time they come in there, and they both work hard, so we're in it as a group.' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did not practice Monday, though Knoblauch expects the Oilers' longest-tenured player to be in the lineup Tuesday night in Sunrise. That is a constant, even if Nugent-Hopkins is not 100% healthy, though there could be other changes coming. Either Jeff Skinner or Vasily Podkolzin may be ticketed for the press box as a healthy scratch up front, while John Klingberg is a candidate to return on defense. Status quo Panthers Florida will be making no such changes, barring something unforeseen, in the first chance to clinch back-to-back championships. The same 12 forwards and six defensemen who have been in place since A.J. Greer returned from injury in Game 3 figure to be in the lineup again. 'It's all health based,' coach Paul Maurice said. 'We're a pretty healthy team, fortunately, at this point, and we've got good players.' That includes Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the remainder of the regular season after getting injured at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. After some ups and downs and uncertainty, he's 'feeling the best' he has during this run. 'I thought there was maybe a 50% chance I wouldn't be playing as close to about a week or five days before the playoffs started,' Tkachuk said. 'Very lucky and fortunate that I've got great trainers and doctors, and they all somehow got me healthy enough to play.' Florida Olympians The Panthers have five players already bound for the 2026 Olympics in Milan: Tkachuk for the U.S., Sam Reinhart for Canada, Aleksander Barkov for Finland, Nico Sturm for Germany and Uvis Balinskis for Latvia. The 12 teams participating unveiled their preliminary six-man rosters Monday. Sturm and Balinskis have not played in the final, but the Olympic announcements put them in the spotlight. 'Being an Olympian is something that not a lot of athletes can say about their careers,' Sturm said. 'It's the best athletes in the world from every sport, and it's definitely something that I've marked on my calendar, something that I want to achieve in my career. It'd be a huge accomplish to be able to play there and, once your career's done, to say you participated in the Olympics, I think that's a huge accomplishment not to be understated.' Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
John Herdman keeping busy while he looks for the next coaching job
Toronto FC head coach John Herdman reacts during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Colorado Rapids, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) John Herdman has been busy since stepping down as Toronto FC coach on Nov. 29. He has been involved with daughter Lilly's under-14 soccer team, spent time working on an high-performance app called 'Live to Win' as well as mentoring coaches and doing some World Cup-related work for Sky Sports in England. Herdman, who turns 50 next month, is also looking for his next coaching job but says the time and position have to be right. 'There's been a lot of opportunities over the last seven months,' he said in an interview. 'But I made a commitment to (wife) Clare that we just be patient, (that) we look and pick the right opportunity. There's been some good ones, but location, timing, just weren't right.' He says the interest has been global, including club and international opportunities in Europe. 'I think we're open-minded,' he said. 'I wanted this time to just reset, and again put some energy into my family, put some energy into some other things and just breathe. And then be ready to see what is the best opportunity. I think there were some good opportunities but the timing just didn't feel right. It felt like I was rushing into things at a time that I needed just to take some time.' 'When it comes, it could be the U.K., could be Europe, could be North America — men's, women's, international, club,' he added. 'We're looking at all the opportunities at the moment.' Herdman recently talked to Plymouth Argyle, a team in England's third tier. The job went to 35-year-old Tom Cleverley, the former Manchester United, Everton and Watford midfielder who was fired as Watford coach last month after a 14th-place finish in the second-tier Championship. Herdman is headed back to the United Kingdom this week and plans to talk to another club, as well as catch up with Dan Ashworth, chief football officer of England's Football Association. 'I'm not out of the game, that's for sure,' he said. 'I'm looking and I'm speaking to different people. You just have to get the right (job). That's what I've learned. At my age now … I think I know myself. I've had some good experiences. I know what the right opportunity can look like, something that's transformative.' He says his family will 'embrace' the right choice. The hiatus from coaching is his first in more than 30 years. But it hasn't slowed him down. 'I've been busy as hell, to be honest,' Herdman said with a chuckle. 'I've just treated it like I'm still at work. Just getting up and really smashing every day. I've enjoyed it, really enjoyed it. Even though it hasn't been football per se, I've stayed bloody busy.' Herdman, an accomplished public speaker, estimates he has done some 200 corporate talks over the last 13 years. His app, which should be out later this summer, allows him to house such content while creating a leadership training program on 'how to unlock potential.' 'There's a few things I'm looking to bring out in the summer while I'm not on the sidelines,' he said. 'Hopefully I get some things out before I get back in to my real passion.' Last week, he delivered a virtual keynote address on transformational leadership at an annual conference of NHL coaches in Toronto. 'Life outside of football, it's been good,' he said brightly. 'I was nervous at how it was going to feel on daily basis. But I've enjoyed it.' When Herdman left TFC, he said it was 'the right time for me to step away from the club, as the organization defines its vision for the future.' His departure was linked by many to the Canada Soccer investigation arising from the drone-spying scandal at the Paris Olympics that cost women's coach Bev Priestman her job. Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi were handed one-year suspensions from FIFA and are no longer with Canada Soccer. In March, a disciplinary committee into Herdman concluded with the former Canada coach receiving a written admonishment. The disciplinary hearing, conducted by a three-person panel independent of Canada Soccer, came after Herdman was cited in the report by Sonia Regenbogen of the law firm Mathews, Dinsdale and Clark into the spying scandal. The Regenbogen report, commissioned by Canada Soccer and released in a redacted form in November, concluded that it was clear the 'practice of conducting surreptitious surveillance of opponents' predated the Paris Olympics. Herdman is looking forward not back these days. 'That chapter is closed,' he said. 'The support from players past and present behind the scenes who came forward to support me and defend our culture was overwhelming,' he added. 'And to be honest, humbling. Really humbling. 'It showed for me, you talk about brotherhood and sisterhood, it was real. In difficult times, people come together. Just a massive thanks to the players and staff that supported me through that period.' Asked if he believes that he did nothing wrong, Herdman replied: 'I'll keep saying this. The chapter is well and truly closed. I made my case very clearly to Canada Soccer and their response was not even a yellow card … That was the outcome, a letter of admonishment.' Herdman took over the Canadian women's team in 2011 and switched to the Canadian men in January 2018. He quit Canada Soccer in August 2023 to take over Toronto FC. He led the Canadian women to two Olympics, winning bronze in 2012 and 2016 and took the Canadian men to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — their first trip to the sport's showcase since 1986. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025.
