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      Lewis Hamilton reignites rivalry with Max Verstappen as he suggests radical rule change to stop runaway F1 leader

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      LEWIS HAMILTON has suggested a radical rule change to Formula One in order to close the gap to runaway championship leader Max Verstappen. Two-time world champion Verstappen has won six out of eight races this season, with only Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez able to claim race wins over him this season.
      Lewis Hamilton has suggested a radical rule change to bridge the gap to Max VerstappenCredit: Getty
      Hamilton has been chasing the Dutchman’s tail all seasonCredit: Splash
      The dominance of Red Bull since the return of ground effect car designs has been plain to see, but Hamilton has lobbied for a radical change to level the playing field.
      Speaking ahead of the weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull’s home race – Hamilton suggested selecting a set date to allow teams to work on next season’s car development.
      He said: “Red Bull are already focusing on next year because they’re so far ahead and don’t need to change this year’s car.
      “So the FIA should set a time when everyone is allowed to start developing next year’s car. 
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      “Say August 1, so that no one can get an advantage, because that sucks.”
      When Hamilton was quizzed about his own era of domination at Mercedes, which saw him win six world titles from seven, he replied: “We never started as early as them.
      “It needs to change because what we have now is why you get dominance for so long, and they keep allowing it to happen. 
      “Ferrari were ahead and the same thing happened there, the same with Red Bull and Seb (Vettel) back in the day.
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      “They start earlier so they are always ahead.”
      However, Verstappen – who is well on his way to a third title in a row – hit back at the suggestion.
      The 25-year-old shot back by saying: “We were not talking about this when he was winning his championships, right, so I don’t think we should now.
      “That is how Formula One works. When you have a competitive car it is great, but at some point you have to look ahead to the following year.
      “A lot of things in life are unfair. You just have to deal with it.”
      Hamilton, 38, recently made a shock appearance in a Stormzy music video.
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      Lewis Hamilton makes shock appearance in Stormzy music video as he shows rapper incredible Mercedes F1 car

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      LEWIS HAMILTON has made a surprise appearance in rapper Stormzy’s latest music video.The seven-time Formula 1 world champion, 38, was briefly seen alongside the musician for the track “Longevity Flow”.
      Lewis Hamilton is preparing for the British Grand Prix this weekendCredit: Getty
      He made an appearance in Stormzy’s latest music video for the song ‘Longevity Flow’Credit: YouTube @stormzy
      In the footage, he is showing Stormzy a Mercedes F1 car outside what looks to be a huge country house.
      And fans were left baffled by the unexplained cameo from the British racing driver.
      Reacting on social media, one person said: “Lewis Hamilton has a cameo in Stormzy’s new song and it’s so random.”
      Another added: “The ‘Longevity Flow’ video is such a massive flex. Lewis Hamilton is there giving Stormzy a private viewing of his Formula 1 car 😭.”
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      And a third replied: “Shows up in Barcelona. Goes to Glastonbury. Appears in Stormzy’s latest track. Lewis Hamilton is NOT a real person lmao 💀.”
      The shock collaboration comes as Hamilton gears up for the Austrian Grand Prix, followed by his home British Grand Prix.
      It has been more than 18 months since the Stevenage-born racer claimed the top step of the podium in an F1 race.
      But he is an eight-time winner at Silverstone – three more than any other driver has managed in the history of the sport.
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      Add to that the fact he has won seven of the last nine British Grands Prix.
      However, Red Bull have clinched each of the eight races in 2023 – with reigning world champion Max Verstappen claiming six of them.
      Heading to the Red Bull Ring, the Dutchman, 25, boasts 195 points, meaning he is 69 ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez in the drivers’ standings.
      Hamilton has picked up 102 points, leaving him fourth in the championship, 15 behind Fernando Alonso but 37 clear of fellow Mercedes man George Russell. More

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      Mercedes boss Toto Wolff opens up on tragedy of losing his dad to cancer at just 15 and says it motivated him to succeed

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      MERCEDES boss Toto Wolff has opened up about the tragedy of losing his dad to cancer when he was just 15 – and says it has motivated him to become the successful F1 boss he is today.Wolff, 51, was born in Vienna, a two-hour drive from the venue for this weekend’s Austrian GP.
      Toto Wolff has opened up on losing his dad at 15Credit: Reuters
      His net worth saw him announced as a billionaire by Forbes earlier this year – but it was a far cry from the financial hardship and loss he experienced as a child.
      He said: “There is a certain genetic predisposition that you have, you are good at things, bad at others.
      “You have a certain degree of talent but there is a big influence obviously through your childhood and I believe that there were many effects in my life — humiliation and trauma — that were beneficial for my later career.
      “I would rather that they did not happen. So it is a mix in my opinion.

      “Talent needs to meet hard work, there needs to be ambition, particularly with children and teenagers who grow up, the right support network and then a big portion of luck.
      “It [his father’s death] has an impact until today. Since I can remember my father was ill with the brain cancer and suffered with it for 10 years and then eventually died when I was 15.
      “That is a time when as a boy you need the father. That wasn’t the case with me. We were in financial difficult circumstances that didn’t help either.
      “So that certainly is part of how I am today with all the bad sides that come with it, the trauma, but also on the other side, I think ambition and eagerness to do well.”
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      The death of his dad has motivated Toto Wolff to succeedCredit: Alamy
      Wolff had a short-lived racing career in the Austrian Formula Ford, but it ended after a few years when his main sponsors pulled out of racing.He shifted his focus from racing to the business of racing, and he enrolled in the Vienna University of Economics. pic.twitter.com/kZiELuaPgb— Polina M. Pompliano (@polina_marinova) October 6, 2021

      Wolff started his career in motorsport as a driver in 1992 competing in the Austrian Formula Ford Championship.
      He had some success and in 1994, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in his category.
      His involvement in F1 started in 2009 when he bought a share of the Williams Formula One Team and joined the board of directors.
      In 2012, he was named executive director of Williams F1 but a year later had left the team to become an executive director of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team.
      Since then he has won eight constructors’ titles with the Brackley-based team, forming a strong partnership with Lewis Hamilton.
      And Wolff says he has always wanted to be a leader of a team that comes out a feeling of protection.
      Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton have had significant success together at MercedesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      Speaking on Secrets of Success, which is available on Sky Sports and Sky Documentaries, he added: “I always had that desire of protecting the ones around me — my family and my friends.
      “Also the organisation that I am lucky enough to lead, it’s that professional family, that tribe and if somebody tries to do bad then it’s my full force I will give it to protect them.
      “First of all, you need to create a safe environment. If somebody is scared to lose his or her job then they are not going to speak up.
      “So you need to prove that safe environment. Here it is allowed to make mistakes.
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      “On the contrary, mistakes make us improve as tough as the situation may be. And eventually that is going to trickle down into the organisation that you can do that.”
      Secrets of Success is available on Sky Sports and Sky Documentaries from Wednesday June 28. Toto Wolff was speaking with Nasser Hussain, the former England cricket captain. More

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      I beat Lewis Hamilton to an F1 world title before abruptly retiring to run festivals for worthy causes

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      NICO ROSBERG was once on top of the F1 world but after suddenly retiring he has started running green technology festivals.The German-Finn beat childhood friend and rival Lewis Hamilton to the world championship in 2016 but left the sport just five days later.
      Nico Rosberg is now a sustainability entrepreneurCredit: Getty
      He won the F1 World Championship in 2016Credit: PA:Press Association
      He beat Mercedes team-mate Leiws Hamilton to the title by five pointsCredit: Getty
      Rosberg, 37, admitted that the main reason behind his retirement was down to being “afraid” he would not be fast enough and eventually left without a team.
      He has since gone on to become a success in the sustainability world and established the Greentech Festival for technology in 2019.
      He told the Sustainability Mag: “While I was still an active F1 driver, I was fully concentrated on my career.
      “This changed drastically when I ended my racing career and began to show interest for other technologies, particularly in the space of sustainable mobility.
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      “Through my former employer Daimler, I was introduced to the latest powertrain developments and future technologies in their R&D, which I thought were fascinating.
      “So I began to invest in e-mobility start-ups and later moved on to other sustainability projects.”
      Rosberg has overcome being judged for his career in F1 in the sustainablitiy world and has argued that motorsport has helped road cars become more efficient.
      He added: “In the beginning, the shift from F1 to sustainability certainly seemed like a bold move, but people quickly understood that we need to have a positive view on innovation and technology in order to advance on matters of climate protection.
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      “Motorsport has played a big role in making our road cars more efficient and continues to be an important platform for new technologies.
      “The mindset in F1 is, there is no ‘can’t do’.
      “This is precisely what we need to fight climate change.”
      The technology festival takes place annually and has featured in Berlin, London, New York and Singapore.
      After his retirement, Rosberg also worked for Sky Sports as a pundit during the F1 season.
      During his career behind the wheel Rosberg claimed 23 wins in his 206 races and finished on the podium 57 times.
      He suffered a huge crash in Abu Dhabi in 2012 when he collided with Narain Karthikeyan.
      Luckily, Rosberg came away unscathed from the incident, but reflecting on moments such as these make him all the more pleased he stopped when he did. More

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      F1 star Lewis Hamilton flies to Glastonbury in helicopter to watch Elton John with his husband David Furnish

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      LEWIS HAMILTON joined Sir Elton John’s husband backstage to watch the music legend at Glastonbury last night.The seven-time Formula One world champion was flown to the mega Somerset music festival in a helicopter.
      Lewis Hamilton took a selfie with David Furnish as he watched Sir Elton John last nightCredit: Getty
      The F1 star jetted out of Battersea in a helicopter to Glastonbury on SundayCredit: Click News and Media
      Hamilton was all smiles as watched the icon perform from the side of the stageCredit: Getty
      Hamilton joined Elton’s husband and family to witness the stunning headline actCredit: Getty
      Elton was pure gold at Glastonbury on Sunday nightCredit: Getty

      And the 38-year-old Mercedes star was pictured taking a selfie with David Furnish on the edge of the stage as Elton delivered what’s being billed as the finest headline set in Glastonbury history in the final show of his last ever UK tour.
      Guests including actors Taron Egerton, Andrew Garfield and Paul McCartney descended on the Pyramid Stage’s backstage area for the ultimate festival finale — as Britain’s finest songwriter performed his last concert.
      The Rocket Man hit the stage in a gold suit and opened with Pinball Wizard in what must have been one of the most-anticipated shows in the festival’s history.
      He followed this with a stirring rock ’n’ roll rendition of The Bitch Is Back and fans’ favourite Bennie and the Jets.
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      Partner David Furnish as well as pals David Walliams and Spice Girls were among celebrity guests enjoying the performance from the side of the stage — and now photos have emerged of Hamilton enjoying the performance too.
      He was firstly seen taking a selfie with Furnish before he burst into laughter as the latter showed him the result of their snap.
      Then Hamilton, dressed in a grey jacket, waved to those in the crowd that had spotted him as he pulled on his black shades.
      Hamilton had already enjoyed a break from the chaos of Formula One last week by partying with Kim Kardashian and Pharrell at a star-studded Louis Vuitton show.
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      He jetted to France for Paris Fashion Week with England stars Jude Bellingham, Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold also spotted at the A-List event.
      It comes after he had earlier posted a shot of his incredible abs in a message to suggest he was gunning for Max Verstappen ahead of next week’s Austrian Grand Prix.
      Hamilton captioned the snap: “Sometimes I fall but I always come back.”
      Although current world champion Verstappen claimed Red Bull’s 100th win in Formula One at the Canadian Grand Prix, progress was made by Mercedes and Hamilton.
      Hamilton finished in third, earning a second successive podium finish.
      Those recent results leave him in fourth spot in the leaderboard, behind Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and Verstappen.
      But, with 13 races to go there’s still plenty of time for Hamilton to claw back Verstappen’s 93 point lead.
      Hamilton was just one of the A-list names in the Pyramid Stage’s backstage areaCredit: Getty
      Festival organisers struggled to contain the masses as more than 100,000 gathered to see the music icon’s farewellCredit: AP
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      F1 legend strips naked in lake to celebrate summer as fans tell Lewis Hamilton’s old team-mate ‘please stop’

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      VALTTERI BOTTAS gave Formula One fans an eyeful after stripping naked to celebrate summer. The Alfa Romeo driver took to Instagram to share how he was relaxing following the Canadian Grand Prix.
      Valtteri Bottas stripped naked as he dipped into a lakeCredit: Instagram @valtteribottas
      Bottas now drives for Alfa RomeoCredit: Getty
      However, the Finn proceeded go full monty with his look as he went for a skinny dip in a lake wearing nothing but a swimming cap.
      Reacting to the pic on Twitter, the official Mercedes account responded cheekily by saying: “Cracking shot, VB.”
      IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward remarked: “I can tell you’re a skinny dipping fan.”
      On Instagram one fan begged: “Valtteri please stop my mom uses this app.”
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      A second wrote: “Some people are going to wake up to this image 😭.”
      While a third joked: “He’s back at it again 😭.”
      Indeed, Lewis Hamilton’s former Mercedes team-mate has a history of shedding his clothes.
      Last year Bottas shared a post of him preparing for the Singapore Grand Prix with nothing but a reindeer hat on while sitting in a sauna.
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      Bottas also gifted Hamilton a NUDE picture of himself when they reunited at the Monaco Grand Prix last season.
      That pic, which saw Bottas bearing all in a riverbed, raised over £50,000 for charity within the first 24 hours of it being on sale.
      Bottas is no stranger to making fans do a double-take on his looks, revealing a new mullet and moustache combo in February which left fans comparing him to a “porn star”.
      He picked up a point at last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix after a 10th place finish, but he has found points finishes more difficult to come by this season due to Alfa’s performance issues.
      He currently ranks 15th in the driver standings having scored just five points so far.

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      Mick Schumacher to drive dad Michael’s Mercedes in emotional event as F1 star looks forward to ‘spectacular’ ride

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      THE Schumacher name will return to the seat of a Mercedes after it was announced Mick Schumacher will drive his father’s old Formula One car.Michael Schumacher made a U-turn on his retirement by joining the Silver Arrows from 2010 until 2012.
      Mick Schumacher will drive his father’s old F1 car at the Goodwood Festival of SpeedCredit: Rex
      Michael Schumacher drove the W02 in 2011Credit: PA:Press Association
      Schumacher raced against Lewis Hamilton, left, in the W02Credit: PA:Press Association
      The car he drove in 2011 – the W02 – is set to return to the track at next month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
      And it has now been announced by Mercedes that reserve driver Mick will be in attendance at the event for the first time.
      On the chance to drive the car once raced in by his father, he said: “It’s going to be spectacular to run in my dad’s 2011 car, the W02, even if it is only a short run.
      “Just experiencing this generation of cars will be mega. Knowing that he raced this car makes it extra special, and there will be many emotions coming with it.
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      “I have been lucky enough to drive one of his Benetton cars and some of the Ferraris he raced.
      “But this will be the first time behind the wheel of a Mercedes he drove. I am sure I will get out of it with a big smile on my face.”
      Schumacher, 24, lost his place with Haas on the F1 grid last season after scoring just 12 points.
      He drew praise from Lewis Hamilton and George Russell for his work in helping to prepare Mercedes before their first double-podium of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix.
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      And he will likely be in the simulator a lot in coming weeks as Mercedes prepare to bring two new upgrades, including a “big one” at Silverstone.
      The W02 was the second car designed and built by the Brackley-based constructor following their buyout of Brawn – who won the Constructors’ title in 2009 with Jenson Button winning the drivers’ title.
      It was a regular points scorer en route to a fourth-placed finish in the constructors’ standings that season, with Schumacher scoring 76 points and 2016 champion Nico Rosberg 89.
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      People are just noticing Lewis Hamilton’s bizarre steering wheel technique as F1 mechanic gives explanation

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      FORMULA ONE fans have just noticed Lewis Hamilton’s bizarre steering wheel technique.And a Mercedes mechanic even felt the need to give an explanation.
      Hamilton has a unique technique at the start of racesCredit: Getty
      Mercedes mechanics have explained why Lewis Hamilton holds the steering wheel the way he does at the start of every raceCredit: https://twitter.com/ahmed_baokbah/status/1671788678056751104?s=20
      Most drivers grip their steering wheels with one hand either side, holding onto the handles.
      But eagle-eyed fans on Twitter have noticed that Hamilton does thing differently.
      In a clip, seven-time World Champion Lewis is seen with his left hand OVER the wheel.
      An F1 enthusiast on Twitter said: “I don’t think much has been said about this, but Hamilton’s first lap gear shift holding arrangements are unique.
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      “No other driver adopts this position – not even his team-mate.”
      In response to the tweet, fans who were given a tour of the Mercedes pit showed a video where his unconventional grip is explained.
      The mechanic says: “Do you know why Lewis starts like that?
      “Why? What do you think?
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      “Is he showing you something? Or is he holding [the lower gear paddle] so he can’t go down a gear.
      “If you put your hand there, you can’t go down a gear.”
      Hamilton uses this grip only at the start of races, where shifting up the gears is vital – he then returns to a conventional set-up.
      Hamilton is the only driver currently using this grip, and it is apparently because he favours a much thinner shift paddle compared to other drivers.
      It is a recent change in technique for Hamilton, with the driver only adopting the grip during the 2020/21 season.
      Hamilton placed third in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix behind Fernando Alonso in second and Max Verstappen in first.
      Verstappen is running away with the drivers championship, sitting 69 points ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
      His win in Canada saw him match Ayrton Senna’s 41 race wins. More