Lewis Hamilton Says He'd Race for Free: ‘Don't Tell My Boss'
Lewis Hamilton Says He'd Race for Free: 'Don't Tell My Boss' originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Lewis Hamilton may be one of the highest-paid drivers in F1, but on race day in Barcelona, the seven-time world champion admitted something that floored even his most loyal fans.
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Speaking at a Ferrari paddock club event before the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton reflected on his career, passion for racing, and his ongoing journey with Ferrari, and dropped a heartfelt line that immediately turned heads.
'I love my job the same as I did at the beginning,' Hamilton said with a grin. 'And don't tell my boss, I'd do it for free. Fortunately, I don't have to.'
It was a candid moment that spoke volumes. Now in his first season with Ferrari, Hamilton has made it clear that his motivation comes from something deeper than money or trophies. With almost two decades in the sport, he remains energized by the daily grind and challenge of elite racing.
Lewis Hamilton after finishing third during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race.Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
'It's a real privilege,' he said. 'There's only 20 of us in the world out of 8 or 9 billion that get to do this.'
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But Hamilton also acknowledged the emotional rollercoaster of the job, especially during difficult seasons. 'There's a love-hate relationship when you're not succeeding,' he admitted. 'But you have to remember it's all part of the journey.'
He likened his new chapter with Ferrari to climbing a mountain from its base determined to rebuild and reach the summit again. 'We're at the lower part of the mountain,' he said. 'And we're building up to get back to the top. That's what I'm working on.'
Hamilton's words struck a chord with fans, reminding many why he remains one of the most beloved and resilient figures in the sport.
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Related: Charles Leclerc Furious on Radio After Ferrari Delays Lewis Hamilton Swap
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
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New York Times
40 minutes ago
- New York Times
Scientifically testing the footballs Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta complained about in 2024-25
Walk into the reception of the Sports Technology Institute at Loughborough University and your eyes are drawn immediately to a pristine glass cabinet on the left. In it, among other things, are basketballs, a cricket helmet, golf club heads, sprinting spikes, a commemorative coin from the London 2012 Olympics, and a middle section dedicated to 12 footballs: one for every men's European Championship and World Cup since 2002, neatly organised in two rows of six. Loughborough conducted testing on all of those for Adidas, the details of which are listed on a small plaque next to each one — and go as deep as aerodynamics and performance testing to surface texture modelling. That, if anything, makes them a little overqualified to test our hypothesis: were Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola simply displaying a self-serving bias when, respectively, they criticised Puma's Carabao Cup and Mitre's FA Cup balls last season? 'It flies and grips differently to a Premier League ball, you have to adapt to it, ' Arteta said after his Arsenal side lost against Newcastle United in the first leg of their semi-final in January. 'We kicked a lot of balls over the bar. It's tricky that these balls fly a lot.' Ten of their 23 shots were off target and only three were on target. Teams, including at academy sides, are given competition-specific balls to train with before matches. Perhaps Arteta's side needed more shooting practice (their chances are illustrated below). Guardiola was even more scathing in March when Manchester City came from behind to beat Plymouth Argyle 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth round. Advertisement 'The ball in the Champions League is exceptional, the ball in the Premier League is exceptional, this one isn't,' he said. 'It's difficult to control. 'You know how many shots went over? Normally, the ball goes in.' 'When you lose it (sounds like) you're complaining, but the ball is not right. It's the truth. In many years, it's happened in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup — it's a business and they come to agreements.' Armed with a bag of match-replica balls (which are worth more than you might think, in some cases well over £100) and some falsifiable hypotheses, it takes four hours to conduct what Loughborough call 'light touch testing'. Fair enough, they have actual studies to be doing. For context, researcher Ieuan Williams, who has just finished a PhD rooted in testing footballs, explained a project he once carried out for Adidas. With five versions of a model of the brand's Predator boots, various trial conditions amounted to 350 kicks with their bespoke robot (more on that later), which took him days to complete — and he works quickly. A mix of player testing and the use of Loughborough's kicking robot is enough to get a 'sense and understanding about why some balls perform differently, and why the perception of players can have a big impact'. We start outside with three Loughborough University players, all right-footed. Each player has five goes at striking the ball from the same central spot 24 yards out. They can choose the technique and aim for the crossbar. First up is Puma's Orbita 1 Carabao Cup ball, then the Mitre FA Cup Ultimax Pro, and finally Nike's 2024-25 Flight, which was used in the Premier League. This kind of testing only accounts for one-tenth of their typical research, not because it is unimportant, but because outdoor and human conditions make things harder to control (and thus definitive conclusions more difficult to draw). Professor Andy Harland, an associate dean for enterprise at Loughborough — frankly, a guru in this field — explains that 'the relative time taken for player versus robot testing, allied with the greater natural variation in the player data, is why we tend to favour the robot'. Advertisement 'Players can perceive things, and one of our big challenges at the moment is trying to get those minor differences that players feel and try and translate them into mechanical tests,' Williams says. They are working on some tests, but 'can't say anything yet'. A very expensive and high-speed camera (which records at 1,000 frames per second) is set up perpendicular to the ball, capturing a slow-motion video of each strike. With an in-house algorithm, they use it to quantify velocity and spin. 'You can see some patterns in players,' says Professor Harland. He has conducted tests on every Adidas men's major tournament ball since 2002. What Professor Harland does not know about ball testing isn't worth knowing. For instance, he explains Diego Forlan's success with the infamously unpredictable Jabulani ball at the 2010 South Africa World Cup owes to different ball-striking techniques — with his laces at altitude (where reduced air resistance makes objects fly faster) and curled finishes at sea level (where the atmosphere makes them move more). Professor Harland tells me that each World Cup match can have up to 30 balls specifically provided for it, all stamped with the date and teams playing. Then, he explains how the iconic star designs on the Champions League balls, a mix of pentagons and hexagons, make the flight more readable in the air because they turn into straight dark lines as the ball spins. 'Players adjust their kicks differently,' Professor Harland explains of the testing done with our three balls. One player 'showed a higher and tighter launch angle', another 'showed greater variation'. Unique physiology means everyone kicks differently from a biomechanical perspective, and thus players interact with different balls in unique ways. One player, after four kicks with one ball, said he needed to change his run-up, and there were different opinions as to which balls had bigger 'sweet spots'. 'Two of the players clearly chose to apply higher spin rates to certain balls. But the balls they did this with were different,' Professor Harland explains. One spun the Mitre FA Cup and Nike Premier League balls 'significantly higher' than the Puma Carabao Cup one. 'Some players show decent repeatability with repeated kicks of the same ball, occasionally a player will show a large variation with a particular ball — for reasons we can only speculate about.' One player in our test demonstrated more consistency with Mitre's FA Cup ball, for example. Professor Harland says he would need a bigger sample to make confident conclusions but a trend from the player testing came from two players kicking the Nike Premier League ball more consistently. It 'gave some curious results'. 'Overall, the Mitre ball generated greater spin than the Puma and Nike. These differences were not statistically significant, but of greater significance than the differences in speed.' Advertisement Interestingly, Nike's marketing for the Flight 2024-25 Premier League ball talks about how its 'moulded grooves disrupt airflow to reduce drag and keep the ball stable in the air', with four fused panels intending to increase the size of the sweet spot. So, to conclude from the first part of the testing procedure, Arteta and Guardiola's claims seem to have some scientific support. Follow the Club World Cup on The Athletic this summer… Williams apologises for the mess as he walks into the lab. It is not quite at the level of a mad scientist's lair but there are machines under repair, whiteboards displaying various scribbles, equations and stats, and stockpiles of miscellaneous sporting equipment. Even at the end of the academic year, they are busy. He asks if I want a guided tour. Of course I want a guided tour. After showing me two world-leading golf-ball testers (giant robotic arms to which club heads are attached), Williams pops into an office to retrieve what he calls a 'more-authentic human head', featuring a realistic brain for concussion research, before we return to the kicking robot. Next to it is a giant trolley filled with 30 footballs. He speaks about the 'generations' of balls and how they have changed. They start with the 'old leather generation, which would be the uncoated one with laces. Then they moved to being laceless with coatings — they were more water repellent, but still hand-stitched. Then they moved to synthetic, hand-stitched, 32/18 panels. At the turn of the millennium, Adidas moved towards — and others have followed — thermal bonding.' Adidas' 2004 Roteiro was the first ball to be thermally bonded rather than hand-stitched, and Loughborough helped test its impact. From there, Williams says, 'people started to go, 'Well, these don't have to be regular shapes any longer. We can do crazy things with panels'.' Puma's Carabao Cup ball has eight panels and the Mitre FA Cup has just four panels. 'Classically, you'd have an 18- or 32-panel ball,' Williams explains, noting the evolution towards single-digit panels. 'There's been a bit of a readjustment and now we need to make sure that the ball flies properly again, which has made a load of investment in that. So the Al-Rihla (World Cup 2022 ball) was 20 panels — it's getting back to the 18 to 32 range again.' 'Making sure the ball flies properly again' brings us neatly to the kicking robot. Behind a robust plastic screen stands the 640kg (1,400lb) machine that amounts to a mechanical arm with a foot last and boot attached. Slightly unusually, only left-footed boots can be applied — they use it to test boots, too — that are a size U.S. 9 or UK 8.5. Typically, it is set up for lace strikes. They have tested more wrapped, curled finishes, which is why there are marks on the glass from the ball hitting it. Cinematography lights shine bright, with a similar camera system set up outside, plus a TV screen on which they can broadcast the slow-motion footage live. The robot contraption all hooks up to a motor that Williams controls from a nearby desk. A crash mat is on the far wall, behind some green netting, into which the ball is smashed. The robot produces so much force — and is so loud — that, for safety reasons, Williams calls out 'three, two, one… FIRING' before every kick. For more robust testing, they nail it into the floor to improve consistency, which is why there are holes in the ground. Williams explains how it 'rattles and shakes'. The robot is not as cutting-edge as it was in 2006 when Professor Harland and other researchers, with Adidas' support, developed it. Notwithstanding, Williams says this is one of only three such models anywhere in the world: Nike has one in Portland, Oregon, and Adidas another at its HQ in Germany. Advertisement The benefit, Professor Harland explains, is they can set the robot to a 'fixed leg speed and fixed ball position. This should give a near-identical kick each time.' The five-kick test for each ball is repeated, with the robot set at 20 metres a second to replicate kicking speeds of players outside. Between kicks, Williams has to unlock and open the door, retrieve the ball and locate the tee it sits on (it ends up in some obscure places) and then reset it for the next one. It is rather menial work that can define what version of a ball millions see at a World Cup or European Championship. Professor Harland's top-line from the data: 'The results show some clustering and marginal differences between balls in terms of speed and launch angle — but nothing statistically significant.' A bigger sample and more varied kicking conditions, such as changing the valve position or launch angle, could change results, 'but nothing immediately obvious' presents itself. 'Robot testing confirmed very clear uniformity between balls, and much tighter consistency of kick — as you would expect. 'This is consistent with what we would expect to see from top-level FIFA-approved match balls. They satisfy the standard that constrains size, shape, mass and rebound, among other things.' So while the players showed individual differences in how they kicked the balls (and these are important), on a more objective level, they were remarkably similar. Bizarrely, in the early codified laws of the game, there were no rules for balls. These only came in from 1872. Now, balls must pass FIFA's 'Quality Programme for Footballs' test, which gives about a 10 per cent leeway for balls in circumference, weight and pressure. The tolerance lines are even tighter at the top level, with FIFA introducing testing from 1995 onwards. It takes place at the EMPA lab in St Gallen, Switzerland, and six prototypes of a ball have to be sent for each batch of tests. 'We do some slightly more advanced tests (than FIFA)', Williams says. These include a shooter test: firing a ball repeatedly to see how quickly (or not) it degrades; a rebound/height drop test; stiffness testing; and, amusingly, a test of sphericity — just how round is it? Advertisement 'There's so much market competitiveness now and so many other things going on, like sensors in the ball, the invention of fuse welding as a joining mechanism. There's such a broad range of balls on the market currently, each of which players quite like. 'The aerodynamic designs have been really important but, in the broad picture, that doesn't make a massive difference to the ball — that's small percentages.' With Puma replacing Nike as the Premier League's match-ball provider from next season, meaning a different ball manufacturer and inevitable managerial complaints, Williams makes a wry, but evidence-backed summation: 'A football broadly is a football.' And, as Arteta himself pointed out in January, players will just have to adapt to it. (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic)
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Real Madrid Plot Shock Move for PSG Standout to Replace Key Veteran
PSG have a big decision to make—and clubs like Manchester City are surely watching closely: Is Gianluigi Donnarumma still their long-term answer in goal? He's under contract until 2026, but interest from Europe's elite is growing. Since arriving from AC Milan in 2021, Donnarumma has delivered in key moments—stepping up in shootouts and making clutch saves—but his time in Paris hasn't been flawless. Advertisement There have been notable mistakes, including the costly error against Real Madrid in the 2022 Champions League, that continue to cast doubt on his ability to handle high-pressure situations. Now, with PSG heading to the Champions League final, the pressure is back on. A strong performance could reaffirm his place as the club's No. 1. If not, with time ticking on his deal, other clubs will be ready to pounce. Could Real Madrid shock PSG and move for Gianluigi Donnarumma?According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Real Madrid are interested in Donnarumma as a long-term replacement for Thibaut Courtois. The PSG goalkeeper is under contract until 2026. Advertisement The report adds that Donnarumma is said to be open to the move, as he's looking for a new challenge in a different league. Football Italia reported on Saturday that Donnarumma's contract is winding down. Still, despite interest from Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Inter Milan, he plans to meet with PSG first to discuss a new deal. His current contract runs until June 2026, but PSG have offered him a new deal with a much lower salary than the €10 million per season he was earning after leaving Milan in 2021.
New York Times
44 minutes ago
- New York Times
Club World Cup team guide – Real Madrid: Europe's superstars who will expect to dominate with Kylian Mbappe
Their failure to win any major trophies last season has led to a revolution at Real Madrid, starting with a change of head coach: Xabi Alonso in for Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian, who already has a new job managing Brazil's national team, was given an honourable farewell by the Santiago Bernabeu as the coach with the most titles (15) in the club's history, though the arrival of Alonso has brought a boost of enthusiasm. Advertisement The board has also acted quickly to improve the squad. Luka Modric, the player with the most trophies (28) in the club's history, and Lucas Vazquez will not have their expiring contracts renewed — both will leave, but not until after a last hurrah at this tournament. Jesus Vallejo, another whose contract ends on June 30, has been informed he won't be part of the squad travelling to the United States for the Club World Cup. In terms of playing arrivals, there are two big names in already. Centre-back Dean Huijsen signed from Bournemouth after Madrid triggered his £50million ($67.7m) clause. Trent Alexander-Arnold could have arrived for free on July 1 once his contract at Liverpool ran out but Madrid have paid €10million (£8.4m; $11.4m) for to get him a couple of weeks early specifically so he can play in this tournament. And The Athletic reported last month that Madrid were in talks with Benfica about left-back Alvaro Carreras. These early moves are no coincidence: Madrid is very interested in this new-look Club World Cup, for footballing, prestige and economic reasons. Follow the Club World Cup on The Athletic this summer… Their past year has been very disappointing. After winning the Champions League and La Liga in 2023-24, and despite bringing in Kylian Mbappe as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain, Madrid failed to land any of the three main trophies this campaign. They did lift the European Super Cup in August by beating Europa League winners Atalanta and added the Intercontinental Cup — the annual competition that used to be called the Club World Cup before FIFA got fancy — in December against Mexico's Pachuca (now one of their three opponents in the group stage of this tournament), but failed to make the grade in the other competitions. They finished second in La Liga behind Barcelona, who also beat them in the final of the Copa del Rey (and also the Spanish Super Cup), and were eliminated by Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, losing 5-1 over the two legs. However, Madrid have 15 European Cup/Champions League titles compared to Milan's next-best seven, 36 Spanish championships compared to Barcelona's second-biggest total of 28 and five Club World Cups, two more than anyone else (also Barca) — in other words, they are historically the dominant team in Spain, in Europe and worldwide, so are always going to be among the favourites. Madrid are one of 12 European sides in the 32-team tournament, which they qualified for via the continental champions' route, winning the Champions League in 2022 (which by itself ensured their presence at the Club World Cup) and doing so again in 2024. We don't really know yet, as Alonso will make his debut as Madrid coach at this Club World Cup. However, from his time at Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, we can expect a very vertical and entertaining style of football. Alonso said when he was presented to the media as Ancelotti's replacement that he wanted to 'ignite the fans'. He said his goal is to 'transmit emotions, joy, that people enjoy, that they go to the stadium to enjoy, that on TV all over the world watching us they say, 'That's the team I like; that's my team, that's my Real Madrid''. He added: 'If we manage to ignite that, we will have an unstoppable force.' Advertisement In terms of his likely line-up, Eduardo Camavinga and Endrick are injured and will not play at this tournament, and Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba are not expected to be involved in Madrid's first group game for the same reason. Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao, out since October and November with serious knee injuries, might be unfit too. Alonso has returned to Madrid as a coach almost 11 years after his last game for them as a player, having won a Champions League and La Liga among other titles in his five seasons. After retiring as a Bayern Munich player in 2017, he began his coaching career at Madrid's academy, before moving on to lead the B team at Real Sociedad — another Spanish club he also played for — and then getting the top job at Leverkusen in October 2022. He quickly won the first Bundesliga in that club's history in 2024, going through the 34-game league season undefeated, and also steered them into the Europa League final, losing that game to Italy's Atalanta. Now, with the experience from his playing days in Spain, England (with Liverpool) and Germany under big names including Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Ancelotti, he is considered one of the best coaches in the world, despite being just 43 years old. He was long ago picked out by Madrid's decision-makers as the one to succeed Ancelotti when the Italian's time at the helm came to an end. Kylian Mbappe. The French striker's first few months at Madrid were very disappointing, with only nine goals in his first 19 games until early December. 'In Bilbao (on December 4, he missed a penalty away against Athletic Club as Madrid lost, 2-1), I hit rock bottom,' he admitted. After that, he played much better and the 26-year-old finished with the best goal stats ever for a Madrid debut season, his 43 in all competitions surpassing the 37 of Chilean forward Ivan Zamorano in the 1992-93 season. His total of 31 league goals earned Mbappe the 'Pichichi' award as La Liga's top scorer and also the European Golden Boot for the most goals across Europe's top domestic divisions. Arda Guler, a 20-year-old known as 'The Turkish Pearl', is one of Madrid's latest big bets on young talent. Signed in 2023 from Fenerbahce in his homeland, Guler's debut season was marred by injuries. But he ended the most recent campaign as a starter for Ancelotti. Now, with Alonso, who wanted him for Leverkusen before Madrid bought him, he is looking to cement himself in the line-up. He can operate in attack both from the right flank and as a playmaker and has also been used, for Turkey's national team and in recent months by Madrid, as an offensive midfielder. He has quality, precision and a magical left foot. Madrid fans are crazy about him. 'Hasta el final, vamos Real!' ('Until the end, come on Real!') is probably the most iconic. It speaks of the unwavering ambition, confidence and faith of a team who can never be given up on, because they rise to improbable comebacks, especially when playing at the Santiago Bernabeu. Their 2021-22 Champions League campaign, where they lifted the trophy after rallying from being behind at home in second legs to win ties against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City in the knockout rounds, is a good example. Barcelona. At the beginning of the 20th century, the rivalry was greater with neighbours Atletico Madrid, who will also play in this Club World Cup, but over the years their matches with Barcelona, a fixture now called El Clasico, have become heated and drawn the most interest, although the cities are almost 400 miles apart. Many voices at Madrid, in the offices more than the dressing room, have long pointed to this Club World Cup as the most important competition of the lot for them. They want to be the first club to win the expanded tournament to help them become a reference among the North American public — and they want the €100million+ in prize money that goes to the eventual champions, too. Their many successes and proud history are well known, so there are plenty of arguments to support Madrid in this competition… and also to want anyone but them to win it. Perhaps a point in their favour is the beautiful and modern football Alonso is expected to pursue. (All kicks-offs ET/BST) (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic)
