Latest news with #MarkWebber
New York Times
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Verstappen hits 200 (and more?) at Red Bull. Plus, Norris leads early in Hungary
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where today, as is so often the case in this Formula One era, it's a Max Verstappen special. I'm Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later. Verstappen's will-he-won't-he 2026 Mercedes transfer saga might be over — for this year at least — but he and Red Bull are still worth talking about for a nice healthy statistical reason. Verstappen, assuming he takes the start on Sunday at this weekend's Hungarian GP, is about to notch up a whopping 200 grand prix appearances for Red Bull. Advertisement And he'll do it at a venue that's already hosted a notable moment in that run: Verstappen's first F1 pole, which he claimed in the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen has long been Red Bull's longest-serving driver, as he passed the previous highest total (Mark Webber's 129) back at the 2022 Austrian GP. All told, 21 drivers have turned out for Red Bull. Verstappen pretty much outstrips them all in every metric that matters for Red Bull. He's matched Sebastian Vettel (113 Red Bull starts) in terms of titles (with his four from 2021-2024 against the great German driver's four from 2010-2013), but statistically sits ahead on success count back because Verstappen has more Red Bull wins (65 to Vettel's 38). Only three other drivers have won races for Red Bull in F1. Webber — these days Oscar Piastri's manager — scored nine wins for the team. Daniel Ricciardo managed seven from his century of Red Bull races, while Sergio Perez picked up five from his 90. This group are also the only five drivers to have claimed a Red Bull F1 pole. Pierre Gasly, however, joins this group in having claimed a fastest lap for Red Bull (the current Alpine star doing so twice, at the 2019 Chinese and Monaco races). Vettel does have Verstappen beaten in two particular parts of Red Bull's success stats pile. His wins and poles coming from a smaller starts total means Vettel leads the Dutchman in average return. Vettel won 33.6 percent of his Red Bull F1 races, while Verstappen is currently on 32.7 percent. This is far above the next highest average — Webber and fellow Aussie Ricciardo on seven percent. Vettel also claimed pole for an impressive 38.9 percent of his Red Bull starts, compared to Verstappen's 22.1 percent — and they are dead level right now on 44 poles each for the team overall. Since the 2024 United States GP, Verstappen has been in second place on F1's record list for most races started for a single constructor, when he passed the legendary Michael Schumacher's 181 for Ferrari. Ahead, only sits Hamilton's 246 GP races for Mercedes. Advertisement Should Verstappen start every race after 2025's summer break, he'll be on 210 Red Bull starts come the year's end. And if he sees out his current Red Bull deal to the end of the 2028 season, he'll finally topple Hamilton's record just before the end of the 2027 campaign. But, something tells me he won't. Verstappen might've claimed in Hungary on Thursday that it was 'time to basically stop all the rumors' about him possibly joining Mercedes, but he could've done exactly that several months ago by shutting down all the noise about the switch potential by just declaring he'd honor his current contract. Instead, he chose to let the speculation build. As is his want. But, as Luke pointed out in his column earlier this week, he's only confirmed he'll be driving for Red Bull in 2026 now there's no chances the break clauses in his contract can become activated in 2025 (as Verstappen won't dip down the drivers' standings beyond the critical third-place cutoff point pre-summer break). Therefore, if Red Bull's new engine and car package aren't up to scratch as the new rules design begins in 2026, he'll have an even bigger chance to walk away early (and drivers do have to put loyalty aside when really pushed, as much as its clear Max loves his current squad). Especially if Mercedes surges back to the front again, as it did in 2014, which led Hamilton to sweep so many F1 records before him. And there will be three Mercedes customer teams (including mighty McLaren), potentially squeezing Red Bull firmly into the midfield if history does repeat itself, let alone if Ferrari or Honda-powered Aston Martin come good. Max and new Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies are clearly starting off on the right foot, given what F1 saw of their relationship last weekend at Spa. That's to be expected as Mekies is a no-nonsense character and a respected engineer. But it's only a temporary reprieve. Red Bull just has to get better fast to keep its best asset long-term. Now, over to Luke in Hungary. Budapest is one of my favorite places to visit on the F1 calendar. But in an era of shiny new tracks and much redevelopment, the Hungaroring was starting to fall a bit behind the times. As much as it held some old school charm. That's all changed for this year. One day after last year's race, work began on a brand new pit building, which has been completed for our visit this year, as well as a new grandstand overlooking the main straight (above). Both are impressive structures, even if the media is (for this year only, apparently) confined to working from a windowless underground bunker before a proper media center appears. It's all part of a wider development program for the Hungaroring that is designed to turn this venue into a year-round 'multifunctional event centre' from 2026, which will be the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The changes haven't made the track feel at all soulless, instead serving as a welcome upgrade that everyone in the paddock is saying positive things about. More garage space and fresh facilities are always good news for teams. And the face-lift will also ensure this is a race that stays firmly with the times and, importantly, on the calendar whilst maintaining its character. Here's how things sit so far from the on-track action at the 2025 Hungarian GP weekend. Here are the main takeaways from today's on-track action in Hungary: Here's the moment during FP2 🎥#F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 1, 2025 Final practice in Hungary takes place at 6:30 a.m. ET and 11:30 a.m. UK on Saturday, with qualifying to follow at 10 a.m. ET and 3 p.m. UK. Follow it all with us. 🏎 Check out what is a beautifully shot film featuring Verstappen and British TV presenter Chris Harris, where they discuss all things driving. It's lovely insight into what makes the world champion tick, with some extremely blatant fizzy drink product placement. 😔 Madeline Coleman examined what's been going wrong for Kimi Antonelli after his emotional scenes during a tricky Belgian GP weekend. 🇮🇹 Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur signed a new contract with the Scuderia this week — keeping in place beyond 2025. It's a show of faith given Vasseur has been hit hard in the Italian media this year, but Ferrari's bigwigs will still be expecting results to improve, fast. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Teresa Palmer shows off baby bump in skin-tight frock at Mix Tape premiere alongside husband Mark Webber as she awaits birth of fifth child after devastating miscarriage
Teresa Palmer was absolutely glowing on Wednesday night as she showed off her baby bump after revealing she is expecting her fifth child. The 39-year-old attended the premiere of her new movie, Mix Tape, at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney alongside her husband Mark Webber. The actress, who is 28 weeks pregnant, opted for a skin tight-dress in a black tone with glittering threading throughout. The long sleeved number clung to her blossoming belly and she added some patent heels to the look. Teresa chose a clean makeup look with a smoky eye and pink matte lipstick while wearing her blonde locks down in mermaid waves. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Mark meanwhile matched his wife in an all black ensemble as he shared her red carpet moment. Teresa also posed alongside her co-star in the romantic comedy, English actor Jim Sturgess. Teresa shared the happy news of her pregnancy in an Instagram post in March, posing alongside her four children. 'Our family is expanding. Overwhelmed with gratitude to be welcoming another little one into our lives. Feels like a dream' the Australian actress wrote. Further photos showed Teresa with her husband, and showing off her growing bump from various angles. Teresa shares four children with husband Mark - Bodhi Rain, 11, Forest Sage, nine, Poet Lake, six, and Prairie Moon, three. She is also a dedicated stepmother to Mark's teenage son Isaac Love, 16, whom he shares with his ex, SMILF actress Frankie Shaw. The happy news comes after the Lights Out star revealed she suffered a miscarriage three months after falling pregnant. Mark meanwhile matched his wife in an all black ensemble as he shared her red carpet moment The star shared a heartbreaking video on Instagram in May last year, which documented the moment she found out she was expecting another baby. In the clip, the mother-of-four showed a positive pregnancy test to her family members, including husband Mark, 44. Other moments showed Teresa displaying her growing baby bump, as well as her kids kissing her stomach. But as the video continued, Teresa broke down in tears in what appeared to be the moment she lost her baby. 'TW: pregnancy loss. It feels really good to be able to share my story,' she wrote in her caption. 'Honoured and grateful to have been able to carry this little soul, my fifth baby, in my heart and body for the past three months. Sometimes in life things happen that we just don't understand. 'Brimming with gratitude for my people who have held me close during this time. To anyone who knows the pain of pregnancy loss, sending you immense love. Teresa had not publicly announced her pregnancy, and revealed that she will be sharing 'the full story' of her loss in an episode of The Mother Daze Podcast. The couple wed in 2013, while Teresa was still pregnant with their first child. Mark, also an actor, has appeared in the film Scott Pilgrim vs The World and co-starred in the animated Netflix spin-off Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. Meanwhile, on the eve of their ninth wedding anniversary in 2022, Teresa said she was aiming to add more children to her brood. The Hollywood star says she wants at least three more kids and is hoping she falls pregnant with twins. 'Twins run in the family. I might get two for one next time,' she said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Teresa said she told Mark on their first date she wanted six kids. 'He said he also wanted six,' she added. 'So I am holding him to that number.' Teresa said the pressures of raising five kids has meant juggling the demands of a career. 'I don't think I've slept properly in about eight years,' she joked.
The Guardian
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Pulp review – Jarvis Cocker's captivating comeback turns a rapt crowd rapturous
A thick velvet curtain cocoons the stage as a cool disembodied voice projects over the audience: 'This is an encore. An encore occurs because the audience wants more.' Since their initial breakup in 2002, Pulp have re-formed twice, for sold-out tours and festival sets played to loyal, rapturous audiences. Tonight, the stakes are higher: for the first time in 24 years, Pulp have a new album, More, released just one day before tonight's opening show. The audience want more – but do they want More? Any anxiety about new material is quashed when set opener and comeback single Spike Island is received like an old friend. Jarvis Cocker rises from the back of the stage flanked by cardboard cutouts of his bandmates – recognisable from the cover of 1995's Different Class – before joining their real-life counterparts, guitarist Mark Webber, drummer Nick Banks and keyboardist Candida Doyle, downstage. Continuing this mood, old and new songs on the setlist complement each other: the spacious psychedelia of More's Farmer's Market leads into the wide-eyed wonder of Sunrise from We Love Life; and the high stakes disco of O.U. (Gone, Gone) is echoed in its new counterpart Got to Have Love. With its illuminated staircase, kitschy backdrops and full string section, the stage is reminiscent of a 1970s chatshow set, with Cocker holding court in a corduroy suit, taking a seat – and occasionally laying down – during the spoken word sections, but always captivating. The setlist caters for fans of most Pulp eras, but This Is Hardcore heads are truly spoiled, with Help the Aged and The Fear both played live for the first time in over a decade. The latter sees Cocker share the limelight with four inflatable air dancers, somehow perfectly encapsulating the song's ennui in their gigantic absurdity. This Is Hardcore begins with the strings-only End of the Line mix, maximising the luxe melodrama before laying on its heavy dread. A hits-packed final run ends with Common People, somehow still thrilling – and relevant – 30 years after its release. The curtains are drawn, but the band return for a semi-acoustic version of A Sunset, the final track from More. It says a lot about this beloved group that, after playing their biggest hit, they can play an album track released yesterday to the same rapt attention. Pulp tour the UK and Ireland until 21 June
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
ADRIAN THRILLS reviews Pulp: More (Rough Trade): Britpop for grown-ups...it's a perfect Pulp album for 2025
Breaking into a music scene then dominated by glum American grunge bands, Pulp were the Britpop outsiders who became massive. Fronted by a witty English eccentric in Jarvis Cocker, the Sheffield group secured their first Top Ten album with 1994's His 'n' Hers, and became front-page news two years later when Cocker wiggled his backside onstage during a Michael Jackson performance at the BRITs. Like their 90s contemporaries Oasis and Blur, they are returning to find themselves as big as in their Cool Britannia heyday. Their 2023 tour, This Is What We Do For An Encore, included headline shows at Finsbury Park and Latitude – and they've now come up with their first new album in 24 years. With Jarvis, 61, joined by a trio of fellow Pulp veterans – keyboardist Candida Doyle, guitarist Mark Webber and drummer Nick Banks all excel here – More is a perfect Pulp album for 2025. Out in a week's time, it revisits the disco-infused, keyboard-driven pop of yesteryear while adding more assured musicianship and age-appropriate lyrics: Britpop played by grown-ups. It's a record front-loaded with its catchiest anthems. It opens with Spike Island, a track inspired by a Stone Roses gig on the Mersey estuary in 1990, but in reality a song that examines why Cocker put Pulp on hold in 2001 and then got them back together in 2011 and 2023. 'I was born to perform, it's a calling,' he sings. 'I exist to do this: shouting and pointing.' He delivers lyrical zingers as the LP progresses. The orchestral Tina is a stalker-ish song about unrequited desire for a woman he sees on his morning commute; Farmers Market, a pithy portrayal of middle-aged love. He addresses ageing again on the stomping, Madness-like Grown Ups: 'So you move from Camden out to Hackney, and you stress about wrinkles instead of acne.' The quality dips on ballads Slow Jam and Partial Eclipse, but More otherwise finishes strongly. The swirling disco-pop of Got To Have Love is bound to be a highlight of next month's UK arena shows. There's also, on The Hymn Of The North, a celebration of Sheffield's resilience despite the decline of its manufacturing industries. 'Northern lights will guide you home,' sings Jarvis, capping a warm, rewarding comeback with a hometown homage. He insists that 'no AI' was involved in making the album, and that feels right. Artificial intelligence would struggle to replicate the quirky genius of Pulp. More is out on June 6. Pulp start a UK tour on June 7 at OVO Hydro, Glasgow (
The Independent
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Oscar Piastri pips McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to practice double at Imola
Oscar Piastri edged out McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to claim a practice double on Friday at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Australian Piastri has won the last three races – and four of the first six – to hold a 16-point championship lead heading into this weekend. McLaren were dominant in claiming a one-two in Miami a fortnight ago, where Mercedes' George Russell in third was over 33 seconds adrift of runner-up Norris. Friday's running at Imola, ahead of the first European race of the season, hinted that the papaya duo would again be the ones to beat. Piastri was just 0.032 seconds ahead of his team-mate in first practice before coming out on top by an even narrower margin of 0.025sec in the second session. The 24-year-old's impressive start to the season has seen him become the first Australian to lead the standings since his manager Mark Webber in 2010 and catapulted him into being favourite to claim his first drivers' championship. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella earlier praised the way Piastri has developed since last season and also credited the team around him, including Webber. 'Over the winter, there's been a very specific amount of work that has gone in,' Stella said. 'It's been quite holistic. While Oscar is definitely the main one to praise for these developments, I would like to mention the team around Oscar – his engineers and all the support from the factory with all the analysis – and even the team, Mark Webber, that works with Oscar. 'He's definitely a great source of thoughts, insight and identification of opportunities. 'So, there's quite a lot of work behind this progress. But ultimately, hats off to Oscar who has been able to capitalise.' Pierre Gasly finished the day an impressive third for Alpine ahead of Russell, with Max Verstappen fifth and over four tenths off the pace. Early encouragement for Lewis Hamilton, at his first home race for Ferrari, faded as the day went on. The seven-time world champion was fifth and less than a tenth off the pace in FP1 but both he and team-mate Charles Leclerc raised brake issues in the second running as Hamilton could manage only 11th. Leclerc, who missed Thursday's media day through illness, finished the day sixth fastest.
