Mercedes chief predicts performance level at Canadian Grand Prix
Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin admits the team won’t be “nipping at the heels” of Red Bull at the Canadian Grand Prix - with the Montreal circuit offering a “bigger challenge” than last time out in Spain. The Silver Arrows brought highly-anticipated upgrades to the Monaco Grand Prix last month, with their full impact seen at the traditional testing circuit in Barcelona last time out. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and third respectively, securing Mercedes’ first double podium of the season. Yet Toto Wolff has moved to downplay suggestions Mercedes can compete with runaway leaders Red Bull and trackside engineering director Shovlin echoed those thoughts when speaking in the team’s debrief video. “The fact is that the update kit works very well around circuits like Barcelona with a lot of high-speed performance,” Shovlin said. “The car itself would have still been okay there because we’ve been better at the fast circuits and the front-limited tracks. We ended up with a really good balance and really good race pace. “Now, where we are going to go next, Montreal, it’s a very different circuit. There are more low-speed corners, quite a lot of straight-line full throttle and we would expect more of a challenge there. “We are not thinking that we are going in nipping at the heels of Red Bull. We are going in there prepared for a battle with Ferrari, Aston Martin, and maybe even Alpine.” Hamilton finished on the podium last year in Canada, behind Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, and Shovlin added that behind Red Bull the performance gap is close with other teams this season. “It will be good fun and we are certainly going to be fighting to find every little bit of performance we can,” he added. “Because the way the grid stacks up now you can be P2 or you can be P10, and there are only a few tenths in it,” he added. “We are looking forward to more exciting racing but certainly we are aware that Canada is likely to be a bigger challenge than the Sunday we just had in Barcelona.” Verstappen currently has a 59-point lead in the championship from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and has won the last three races in Miami, Monaco and Barcelona. Read More Lewis Hamilton contract update provided by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff Christian Horner reveals how close Fernando Alonso was to joining Red Bull Lewis Hamilton, an 18-month drought and an eighth world title further away than ever
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Manchester United Shares Soar After Tweet Spurs Sale Speculation
Manchester United Plc shares surged in premarket trading after a tweet from a Qatari newspaper spurred speculation that
1970-01-01 08:00
Scarlett Johansson's brutal takedown of reporter who asked if she wore underwear beneath 'Avengers' costume: 'What is going on?'
Scarlett Johansson's upcoming film 'Asteroid City', directed by Wes Anderson, is scheduled for its worldwide release on June 16
1970-01-01 08:00
What’s Trending Today: Denver Nuggets Win NBA Championship, Trump Goes to Court, India Fights Dorsey
Welcome to Social Buzz, a daily column looking at what’s trending on social media platforms. I’m Caitlin Fichtel,
1970-01-01 08:00
'Hair,' 'Everwood' actor Treat Williams dies after Vermont motorcycle crash
Actor Treat Williams, whose nearly 50-year career included starring roles in the TV series “Everwood” and the movie “Hair,” has died after a motorcycle crash in Vermont
1970-01-01 08:00
Why Chris Christie's presidential bid remains a long shot
Republican Chris Christie is hoping the second time's the charm when it comes to White House runs. The former New Jersey governor took part in a CNN town hall Monday night, less than a week after declaring his bid for the presidency.
1970-01-01 08:00
Manchester City quintet set to arrive for England duty on Tuesday evening
England’s Manchester City quintet are due to arrive at St George’s Park on Tuesday evening after days celebrating their treble triumph. Gareth Southgate’s men are preparing for Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Malta and the Old Trafford encounter with North Macedonia on Monday. The exact availability of City’s players for the doubleheader is unclear given their celebrations following Saturday’s Champions League triumph in Turkey only ended after Monday’s rain-soaked parade. Jack Grealish was at the heart of the revelry and is due at St George’s Park to link up with England on Tuesday night, as are Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips. Declan Rice was also given extra time after captaining West Ham to Europa Conference League glory last week and linked up with the squad on Monday morning. The 24-year-old midfielder was part of a 19-man training group on Tuesday morning, as was uncapped Crystal Palace talent Eberechi Eze. England Under-21 international Levi Colwill was also involved in the session. The defender has joined Southgate’s squad for training this week following the withdrawal of injured Brighton team-mate Lewis Dunk. Jude Bellingham watched the start from the sidelines at St George’s Park. The 19-year-old, who is set to join Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund, has been ruled out of the Malta and North Macedonia matches through injury. However, Bellingham headed to St George’s Park to continue his rehabilitation from a knee issue.
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What to know about Trump's court appearance
Donald Trump will appear in a federal courthouse in Miami Tuesday afternoon for an unprecedented and historic court appearance as the first former president to face federal charges in US history.
1970-01-01 08:00
7 Facts About Lorraine Hansberry
By the age of 34, Lorraine Hansberry was already the author of two plays that had appeared on Broadway. She should have been on course for a long and successful career—but tragically, that wouldn't happen. Still, her legacy has endured.
1970-01-01 08:00
Diablo IV makes $666m less than a week after its launch
Blizzard Entertainment has declared 'Diablo IV' its "fastest-selling" title of all time.
1970-01-01 08:00
Turkey says it's ready to open consulate in city that Azerbaijan took from Armenian forces
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is ready to open a consulate in Shusha, a city that Azerbaijan took from Armenian forces in a war in 2020
1970-01-01 08:00
Joe Joyce on heavyweight knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim
For someone who is such a monolith of a man, there are a surprising number of layers to Joe Joyce. At certain points during our half-hour conversation, Joe Joyce the heavyweight boxer is speaking; at others, it’s Joe Joyce the fine-art student, the swimming instructor, the cheerleader, or the trumpet player. “When I was a swimming and diving teacher, it was a really great feeling to have someone who was really afraid of the water and to get their head under the water – or have them swimming three, four strokes by the end,” the Londoner tells The Independent. “To have people who have spent their life not being able to swim, and to get them to even put their head under the water in their late sixties and seventies, that’s something I found really rewarding. “I also played trumpet for quite a few years, I was in the choir at school. I could do a little bit of percussion; I used to go on music holidays. My little brother is the more musical one; he’s at uni doing something musical and was in the Brit School; he was also in Thriller Live. My dad’s an art teacher, he restores antique mirror frames, and my mum was into pottery; she does a series of African-esque heads. Growing up, music and sport was encouraged, as was art. I did my first oil painting when I was seven years old. “It would be nice to make more art and create more things, be more creative than the destructive boxing side.” These other sides to Joyce are all “authentic” elements of the 37-year-old, as he puts it. “I wake up Joe Joyce, I go to sleep Joe Joyce. I’d like to inspire the next generation coming up and teach them, lead by example. It’s good to give back. I’d like to lead a movement, like how Muhammad Ali transcended boxing and is one of these pivotal names in history – like Bruce Lee, Bob Marley, Michael Jordan. That’s the kind of thing I’d like to leave behind, or at least something close to that.” They are huge aspirations for a man who comes across so humbly, but while there is some way for Joyce to go in achieving such status, his profile swelled significantly in the aftermath of his knockout of Joseph Parker in September 2022. “Overnight I saw the change, where people were kind of putting me in the top five [at heavyweight] and were interested and excited about certain match-ups with these top fighters,” he says. Joyce, who claimed silver for Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, hammered Parker to the canvas with a left hook in the 11th round in Manchester to become interim WBO champion. “When I was in there, I couldn’t remember what shot I stopped him with; it wasn’t until I got back to the changing room and they showed me the clip of it. I was like, ‘Woah!’” The final shot capped off an indefatigable performance from Joyce, who marched down the New Zealander relentlessly and was unperturbed by Parker’s best strikes. “He did his best, he put his best effort in, and it wasn’t enough,” Joyce says matter-of-factly, before morphing his voice into a fine impression of a 1970s professional wrestler: “And it’s gonna take a wrecking ball to take me down, I’ll tell you that much!” he bellows, making a whipping motion with his index finger, before his voice cracks into a laugh. Unfortunately for the Briton, Zhilei Zhang became that wrecking ball in April. While the Chinese heavyweight did not quite take down Joyce, he battered the “Juggernaut”’s right eye to the point of closure, forcing the referee to wave off the bout in Round 6. With the result, Joyce lost the WBO Interim belt and saw his professional record fall to 15-1 (with 14 of his wins having come via knockout). The clashes with Parker and Zhang, similar to Joyce’s bout with rising heavyweight Daniel Dubois in 2020, were risky affairs on paper. But in a business in which the best rarely do battle with one another, Joyce has shown no trepidation in confronting tough combatants. At 37, he cannot afford to waste time on tune-up fights or meaningless match-ups. “I’m not out here just to earn money or be heavyweight champion of the world,” he insists. “It’s about taking them challenges on and overcoming them. I think some of that can be lost in the sport. It’d be good to bring back those good times of everybody fighting everybody. People don’t wanna lose their ‘0’. I don’t know where that mentality came from... Maybe from Floyd Mayweather? That’s why a lot of the [big] fights don’t happen.” It is a trend that is at odds with what fans want – one that goes against basic fighting instinct, Joyce argues. “There’s that excitement when you’re at school, and someone in the playground shouts, ‘Fight!’ It kicks off, and the whole school gathers around... It’s that primordial excitement that people get, it’s that kind of raw entertainment. When I was in primary school, I had quite a few fights – two on one, or they’d start the fight and I’d finish it. I was always a head taller than everyone. Early days of rugby, there’d be five or six guys hanging on to me, trying to slow me down.” Ironically, a criticism of Joyce has been his perceived lack of speed, but if that is a valid critique then it has not prevented the Juggernaut from building momentum in fights through his pressure and the volume of his output. Before Joyce’s meeting with Zhang, there was a clamour for the Briton to face the likes of Tyson Fury and fellow Olympian Anthony Joshua. The visual of Joyce being scaled by school students on the rugby pitch, coupled with discussions around Fury and Joshua, leads us naturally onto whether Joyce would rather fight five smaller Furys or one gargantuan Joshua. “Five little Furys would be a pain in the ass, wouldn’t it?” he laughs. “That’d be so annoying, being surrounded by them! They’d be coming from all angles, you can’t hit them, the head movement... But imagine the punch on a massive-sized Joshua... ” Before long, Joyce might not even have to imagine the punch on a life-sized Joshua, who – as the 37-year-old acknowledges – is an intriguing enough proposition as is. Joyce’s eagerness to embrace such challenges is an endearing element of his personality – and of his approach to his profession. That dichotomy, between the gentle Juggernaut’s personality and profession, will only make his journey all the more enthralling. Read More Joe Joyce arrives at boxing’s top table with brutal knockout of Joseph Parker Tyson Fury: Joe Joyce ‘couldn’t lace my boots’ but beats Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk Tyson Fury to record ‘Sweet Caroline’ cover for mental health charity Jake Paul agrees to new stipulation in Nate Diaz fight Josh Taylor says move up to welterweight is ‘imminent’ after first career defeat Teofimo Lopez and his father share emotional exchange during Josh Taylor fight
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