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Lewis Hamilton has admitted that Mercedes’ upgrade is “definitely not the step forward” he was hoping for ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion said after May’s Miami Grand Prix he was “counting down the days” for the upgrade he hoped would propel him back to the front, and he was given his first taste of Mercedes’ revamped machine at last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton qualified sixth in Monte Carlo before making up two places in the rain-hit race. Team-mate George Russell finished one spot behind Hamilton in fifth, while Max Verstappen raced to his fourth win of the season. The Monte Carlo layout has been among Mercedes’ worst tracks and Sunday’s race here at the Circuit de Catalunya on the outskirts of Barcelona is set to represent a truer reflection of the team’s outright speed. But addressing Mercedes’ upgrade on the eve of the seventh round, Hamilton said: “It is definitely not the step forward that we were hoping for. “The true step forward we were hoping for was to [overturn] a one-second delta [to Red Bull] in race trim, and we have not covered that with this step. “When you bring upgrades, naturally you should be progressing forwards, and the fact is that it is an improvement, but it just not the improvement we had dreamed of. “It is one step at a time. I don’t feel negative towards it, I am grateful we have it, and I understand how much work has gone into making these parts, the rush that has gone on, and the amount of flat-out work by the team. “We are hugely hungry to move in the right direction so I would say that I am just hopeful that it puts us on a better track. “We have taken account of where we are, where we have gone wrong, and now we are slowly chipping away and navigating our way back to the front but unfortunately it is just a long process.” Hamilton finished 39 seconds behind Verstappen on Sunday as the Dutchman extended his championship lead over team-mate Sergio Perez to 39 points. Red Bull have won 16 of the last 17 grands prix, with Verstappen firmly on course to secure his third world title in as many years. And Verstappen said his team – which has dominated the sport since a major overhaul of the regulations at the beginning of last season – has the speed to win all 22 races. “I would say at the moment, that we can,” said Verstappen. “But that’s very unlikely to happen. “There are always things that go wrong, a retirement or whatever. But purely on pace at the moment we can. “We have always seen dominant periods in Formula One and this is nothing new. If we look back at the 80s, the 90s, the 2000s, early 2010s to all the way until 2020, it’s pure dominance of certain teams. “The longer you leave the regulations the same, the closer people will get. So maybe this is something we need to look at.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Fernando Alonso: Aston Martin ‘will not give up’ in push for F1 triumph Concerns Monaco GP could be ‘left behind’ as Max Verstappen wins ‘boring race’ Fernando Alonso ready to pounce if Max Verstappen makes a slow start in Monaco

GOP Representative Clay Higgins appeared to call for an insurrection following the announcement that Donald Trump would face a second set of indictments stemming from his possession of sensitive documents following his presidency. On Thursday evening, Mr Trump announced on Truth Social that he would face indictment a second time — making him the first president ever to face federal charges — in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago raid by the FBI. After the announcement, Mr Higgins, a GOP congressman from Louisiana and a former law enforcement officer, issued a strange tweet responding to the news. "President Trump said he has 'been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM.' This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors. Hold. rPOTUS has this," he wrote. "Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all." Mr Higgins has previously referred to Mr Trump as "rPOTUS," and Joe Biden as "iPOTUS." QuacksAnonymous, a researcher on Twitter who follows right-wing extremist spaces, told The Independent that the "rPOTUS" abbreviation was originally used by resistance Democrats when referring to Mr Trump — with "r" standing for Russian — but was later co-opted by conservatives who do not accept the results of the 2020 election, now using the "r" to stand for "real." It is unclear what "iPOTUS" refers to with regard to Mr Biden, though it may mean "imposter" when considering the meaning behind "rPOTUS." More troubling though is his comment regarding bridges. The Washington Post's Will Sommer — who has authored a book on QAnon and previously hosted a podcast focused on esoteric right-wing grievance culture — was baffled by the tweet and asked for assistance parsing the language. “Any ideas on what '1/50k know your bridges' means, besides literally knowing your local bridges? Not something I’ve encountered before,” Sommer asked on Twitter. Jeff Sharlet, the author of The Undertow: Scenes From a Slow Civil War, a New York Times bestselling book about US militia movements, provided Sommer with an answer. "Deep scary: 1/50 k refers to military scale maps & publicly available US Geological Survey maps of areas mostly surrounding military installations," he wrote. "This isn’t a metaphor. This isn’t slow civil war. This is a congressman calling for the real thing." Mr Sharlet admitted that "I think this is scary as hell." He also theorised that “rPOTUS” means “real POTUS” in Mr Higgins’ usage. The alarming response prompted Twitter users to ask Mr Sharlet for his intepretation of Mr Higgins’ tweet. “Prepare for war. ‘Know your bridges’ is militia speak for closing them down. County level insurrection,” Mr Sharlet replied. Former New Jersey Democratic Representative Tom Malinkowski, who served at the same time as Mr Higgins, called the congressman "dangerous" and "unhinged" after the comment. "Most of this guy's House GOP colleagues know he's dangerous and unhinged," Mr Malinkowski wrote. "But they tolerate him. That is all." The Independent has reached out to Mr Higgins for comment. This is the second time in as many months that Mr Higgins has made headlines. Last month he grabbed and shoved an activist who was shouting questions at Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and other GOP lawmakers during an outdoor press conference in Washington DC. Mr Higgins was caught on video grabbing the man's shirt and forcefully shoving him backward. He then kept the man grappled until police arrived and separated the two. He offered a response peppered with law enforcement lingo following the incident. "Activist was a 103M. Threatening. He was escorted out and turned over to Capitol Police. Textbook," Mr Higgins wrote in a tweet. "103M" is police radio code for a "mentally disturbed individual”. Read More Hiding documents from the FBI and foreign nuclear plans: Key allegations in Trump’s unsealed indictment Trump bragged a ‘secret’ document ‘totally wins my case’. A tape of his remarks could land him in prison Trump lashes out at ‘deranged lunatic’ and ‘psycho’ Jack Smith as startling secret papers charges revealed Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

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