Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix after McLaren’s Lando Norris lost out because of the bad timing of a virtual safety car.
Norris was leading comfortably from pole position when the VSC was called on lap 15. The timing was terrible for the world champion – he had already passed the pit exit when the VSC was called.
That meant Antonelli and Verstappen were able to pit under the VSC, saving time, while the caution period ended before Norris could make it around to the pits again.
He did then come in but, to make matters worse, the stop was slow and he rejoined in fifth place.
Norris was able to recover only to third around this track where overtaking is next to impossible.
Antonelli’s eighth win in 14 races this year puts an even tighter stranglehold on the championship for the Italian.
He is now 81 points ahead of team-mate George Russell, who finished fifth after a difficult race on a confusing strategy, and 101 clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who retired early on with brake failure.
The key stories of the maiden race on the new Madring were:
Norris’ terrible luck with the VSC depriving him of a likely third victory this year after a brilliant pole on Saturday
Antonelli’s fortune in a season that is surrendering to him as well as him grabbing it by the throat with his performances
The difficulty of overtaking on a new track designed from a clean sheet of paper, yet without obvious overtaking places
Norris knew that holding on to the lead would be tough from pole but he robustly defended from Antonelli into the first corner.
The Mercedes driver cut the chicanes at Turns One and Two, and again at Turns Five and Six, each time getting into the lead, each time having to give it back.
After that, Norris set about building a lead and looked to be in control of the race as he extended his lead progressively, moving 5.6 seconds clear 10 laps in, and 6.2 when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped at Turn 20 with brake failure.
The VSC was called, but Norris had already reached the pit straight, while Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had not and could come in.
Norris came in the next time around, but the VSC ended a couple of corners before he reached the entry to the pits, allowing the cars still on track to get back up to racing speed – a stop under a safety car saves a driver about 10 seconds over one under green-flag conditions.
To make matters worse, McLaren’s mechanics had trouble with both the right-hand side wheels, and the stop took seven seconds rather than the usual two.
Norris came out in fifth place, 6.3secs behind Russell, and his hopes of winning were gone.
The world champion said: “I’m shocked. I’m a little bit surprised to be here. It was probably one of the best laps I’ve done ever in my career.
“One of those laps when everything came together. I had a good idea of what I wanted to do, it was whether it came together but my brain let me do it almost perfect. It’s one of those laps when you look at the time and go: ‘Oh, that was pretty good.”
The session had started with predictions of a crash-fest, after drivers had been warning about the high-risk nature of the new Madring street circuit, with tricky entries to corners and walls coming back at the drivers on the exits.
Two red flags during final practice had led some teams to have private sweepstakes as to how many stoppages there would be in qualifying, but the session ran cleanly, with no incidents.
Pole looked to be a battle between Antonelli and the Ferraris, with Verstappen perhaps in the mix.
In the end, the Ferraris faded, as they so often have this year when it really matters, and Norris rose to the front with a breathtaking performance.
“The adrenaline was high on the last lap,” he said. “You have to relax and let it all flow.
“It’s easy to get tense around here. There’s a lot of walls that come at you pretty quickly. I have been feeling pretty good, I just wasn’t relaxed.
“I was pretty much perfect apart from the last corner, where I thought I was in the wall. Everything I wanted to achieve I achieved and it’s one of those moments when I was in that flow state.”
Hamilton, who had crashed at the final corner in practice and missed the final half of the session, did improve on his last lap, but only by 0.06secs and it was not enough to prevent him falling backwards.
He edged Leclerc by just 0.006secs as Ferrari rued yet another tantalising chance slipping through their fingers.
Hamilton said: “I felt pretty awesome in Q3 run one, and then just didn’t have any more grip or power in the last one.”
F1 faces a fresh challenge this weekend at the first Spanish Grand at the new Madring, a hybrid street circuit built on the Ifema complex near the city’s international airport.
Hamilton said: “It’s a massively challenging circuit. Of all the new tracks that I’ve gone to, this one, maybe Saudi, are the two closest in terms of how difficult it was to get on top of the car and find the right lines and such.”
Mercedes driver George Russell said: “It’s a crazy circuit, I would put it. Arguably one of the most risky circuits of the whole calendar.
“Because you have real high-speed corners, sort of Jeddah-esque, the walls are very close, so there’s no margin for error, but then you have other corners… where you’re coming from a high speed into a slow braking zone, you’re braking and turning at the same time, so locking tyres are going to be easy and if you lock up you’ll be straight in the wall.
“So, excited to try that out, I think it’s going to be really challenging for us as drivers, the race is going to be challenging to overtake, so on the whole it’s not an easy one.”
Russell heads into the race 66 points behind team-mate Kimi Antonelli after the Italian’s landmark victory in Monza from 19th on the grid.
The Briton acknowledged that his title hopes with nine or 10 races left, amid uncertainty about the end of the season, were fading fast.
“I would definitely need some luck and I need some good performances,” Russell said. “It’s not really something I’m thinking about, because he’s performing better than me, so he deserves to be leading the championship.
“There’s still a long way to go, but he’s yet to have a bad weekend in terms of performance.
“So he’s performing exceptionally well, my performances are better, but if I want to win this championship, I’m going to need some luck on the way. But it’s not something I’m focused on. I’m focused on driving faster and just finding more performance.”
Antonelli said: “I don’t really want to try thinking about the championship. I think Monza was the proof that I wasn’t driving thinking about, or worrying about the championship. I was just driving to win, to do my best. So that’s the mindset.”
The Italian said his win in Monza was “so far the best day of my life and definitely one I will remember forever”.
He said a day karting with Mercedes on Monday helped him move on from the excitement of the day before.
“After Monza, that night, that day overall, I was very excited. But then going karting on Monday helped me to go back to earth, just go back to the ground.
“It was a good day, good fun day with the team. It was also a way to remind myself where I came from, all the journey that was done.
“And then about pressure, I try to embrace it as much as possible. And I try to see it as a positive thing and try to see it as an opportunity too. That’s also what is helping me to stay calm under difficult situations.”
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is demanding testimony before a Florida grand jury in an investigation aiming to establish an intelligence community conspiracy against President Trump, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
New subpoenas being issued to former government officials represent an escalation in the yearlong investigation as the Justice Department pursues a loosely defined theory that members of the intelligence community who scrutinized Trump over the last decade, including over Russian interference in the 2016 election, conspired against him and violated his rights.
Investigators in recent days contacted some defense lawyers for witnesses advising them of forthcoming grand jury subpoenas. It was not clear how many, as of Tuesday, had received a subpoena or were still waiting to receive one, and the identities of the witnesses receiving subpoenas were also not immediately clear. The people who confirmed the subpoenas spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a secretive grand jury investigation.
The investigation has focused in large part on the Trump-Russia probe
The contours of the conspiracy investigation aren’t fully known, but agents and prosecutors over the last several months have focused intensely on one of Trump’s chief grievances: the U.S. government response to Russian interference in 2016 and an intelligence community assessment that Moscow meddled on Trump’s behalf at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump, who spent much of his first term shadowed by an investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to sway the outcome of the election, has for years lashed out at the intelligence community finding and cast it as a “deep state” conspiracy to undermine the legitimacy of his win.
Investigators searching for potential crimes in connection with the intelligence community response have conducted numerous voluntary interviews, but the subpoenas prepared for witnesses in recent days represent an apparent effort to lock down sworn testimony before a grand jury.
It remains unclear whether anyone will be charged or for what offense, though lawyers for former CIA Director John Brennan have said they have been informed that he is a target as investigators examine whether he falsely testified to Congress — something he has repeatedly denied. The Justice Department last spring subpoenaed witnesses before a Washington grand jury as part of an investigation into Brennan but swiftly withdrew the subpoenas in favor of voluntary interviews.
The investigation is being run out of Florida, with the Justice Department in April bringing back into government service a top prosecutor from the Reagan administration, Joe diGenova, to serve as a counselor to the attorney general and help lead a team of agents and prosecutors.
DiGenova, who had previously asked then-Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to appoint him to the job and has openly and repeatedly claimed Trump was the victim of an intelligence community conspiracy, declined to comment Wednesday when reached by the Associated Press.
In an indication of the wide-ranging nature of the investigation, the AP reported last month that DiGenova’s team has sought interviews with law enforcement officials involved in the 2022 FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla., which recovered a trove of classified documents.
Concerns from defense lawyers about a ‘favored’ judge
Investigators have set up shop in Fort Pierce, Fla., the home court of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed jurist who repeatedly appeared skeptical of the classified documents case against him and ultimately dismissed it after concluding that the prosecutor who filed the charges was illegally appointed.
Lawyers for Brennan last year asked the chief judge of the federal court in Florida to prevent the investigation from being steered to Cannon, whom they described as a “favored” Trump judge. They have since sued the Trump administration, demanding a court order requiring prosecutors to preserve records from the investigation so that Brennan could challenge any potential prosecution of him as vindictive.
Trump came to office in 2017 under scrutiny from the intelligence and law enforcement community about whether his successful campaign had colluded with Russia, which stole politically damaging Democratic emails and orchestrated their release through WikiLeaks as part of a wide-ranging interference scheme.
The FBI and Justice Department investigated but found insufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign, though investigators did find the campaign eagerly hoped to benefit from Moscow’s help.
Subsequent investigations by an inspector general and Justice Department prosecutors identified errors by agents who conducted the Russia probe but found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by senior law enforcement officials or an anti-Trump conspiracy like what prosecutors are now hoping to prove.
Deeply frustrated by those outcomes, Trump has amplified his demands for retribution, which the Justice Department heeded last year by directing that prosecutors utilize a grand jury. Last year, Bondi directed prosecutors to put evidence before a grand jury after the release of documents aimed at calling into question the legitimacy of the Trump-Russia inquiry.
It will mark the ninth Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area across three venues: the Coliseum (two), Rose Bowl (five) and SoFi (two). But in some ways, all those previous games were a drumroll leading up to this one — Super Bowl LXI, in a futuristic $5-billion stadium, absent the lingering restrictions of a pandemic.
“Super Bowl LVI was an amazing experience, but it was still on that tail end of COVID, and it was not everything that this Super Bowl LXI could be,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events.
“We didn’t do a Super Bowl Opening Night — it was virtual — and there were a lot of things we were still adjusting. … It was absolutely spectacular during the weekend and on game day, but I do think this Super Bowl gives us all the chance to do it full-on, in the way an L.A. Super Bowl can and should be.”
In the weeks leading up to the first Super Bowl at SoFi, there were misguided rumblings that the game might be moved to Dallas, because the NFL had secured that city as a backup. But those type of contingency plans are in place for every Super Bowl, and the game was not in serious peril of being moved. Still, there was a cloud of public doubt lingering over the event.
“Those rumors created a lot of havoc and uncertainty in our market,” said Kathy Schloessman, chief executive of the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee for both games. “It was hard to get the excitement going because people didn’t know if the city was open or closed. I almost hate to say it because I don’t want to jinx anything, but this is our first normal Super Bowl planning.”
Super Bowls can take over a city. Look at the games played in New Orleans, Indianapolis or Houston. Seemingly every resident was aware the game was happening. But in some of the bigger cities — New York, Los Angeles, Miami — there aren’t reminders everywhere you turn.
Something that might offset that this season is ESPN is broadcasting the game for the first time, and has been hyping it ever since the most recent Super Bowl ended.
“It’s a year of the Super Bowl for them that ends in Los Angeles,” O’Reilly said. “That feels natural and poetic. I can’t say enough good things about the way they’ve embraced it.”
South side view of the field at SoFi Stadium.
(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)
Disney is the parent company of ESPN, and likewise has embraced the game, which feels like a true confluence of the sports and entertainment industries.
“When I think about L.A. and brands coming together — Disney, SoFi Stadium, the Rams — I think it takes advantage of what the NFL had always hoped when bringing a Los Angeles team back,” Rams president Kevin Demoff said. “SoFi Stadium is that marriage of the NFL and entertainment.”
Whether they play in the game or not, the Rams are intimately connected to this Super Bowl, as they are the host team. That means they have a degree of financial responsibility to make good on the commitments made to the NFL when Los Angeles was awarded the game. They also are allotted more tickets to the game than the other franchises not hosting (or playing in) the event.
Although the Chargers were co-hosts for the first Super Bowl at SoFi, they opted not to host this one. According to a Chargers spokesman, they chose to cede the stage to Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose vision they credit for the stadium and Hollywood Park development, but will make a “significant seven-figure financial commitment” to the host committee in the run-up to the game.
Part of Kroenke’s vision in moving the Rams and building the stadium and surrounding campus was to shift the center of gravity of the sporting world to Los Angeles. It’s worth noting that SoFi was a central location of the World Cup — the first U.S. goal was scored there — and will play host to swimming events in the 2028 Olympic Games.
“[SoFi] is now established as one of the world’s greatest sporting stages, which the Super Bowl helped put on the map the first time,” Demoff said. “But now it’s in the middle of this global run.”
It isn’t just the Super Bowl. SoFi will also play host to the NFL’s first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game — Rams versus Green Bay Packers — on Netflix.
“If you’re looking at the arc — not as a Super Bowl but how the NFL wanted to come back to Los Angeles — you have Disney, a longstanding, old-school entertainment partner,” Demoff said. “And then you have this element of streaming and new media and where the NFL is heading. It’s a really interesting juxtaposition.”
The siblings changed the face of the sport when they emerged as precocious teenagers in the 1990s, going on to dominate the sport with a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 doubles victories as a pair.
Three decades later, the sport remains captivated by them.
Serena, a 23-time Grand Slam women’s singles champion, coming out of retirement this summer sparked excitement among those who saw her in their prime and those too young to have witnessed it.
Seven-time major winner Venus has never “evolved away” from the sport – the words chosen by her younger sister when she last played in 2022 – but instead continued her career with the help of sporadic wildcards.
While that has proved controversial in some quarters, there were few objections about the sisters being invited to play once again at Flushing Meadows.
Their planned return at Wimbledon was scuppered by the knee injury which Serena suffered in her singles match there – ironically a defeat by 20-year-old Joint – before they finally reunited at the WTA event in Cincinnati.
The comeback ended in a match tie-break defeat by Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and her American partner Peyton Stearns, with the same fate befalling them in New York.
When the Williams sisters last played on Ashe four years ago, they suffered a straight-set defeat by Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the first round.
It looked like being a similar outcome as they meekly surrendered the first set against Chan and Joint, then batted off four break points in the fifth and seventh games of the second set.
But once Serena upped her level to match her impressive sister, they managed to switch the momentum back in their favour and level the match.
An absorbing contest featuring some sensational points saw the Americans fight back again in the decider, only to falter from a commanding lead in the tie-break.
Overall it was a more than credible performance from the veteran pair. Their solid groundstrokes, sharp movement and never-say-die attitude caused problems for their opponents, who deserve huge credit for staying focused in a partisan environment.
“The atmosphere was surreal,” said Joint.
“It was something we’ve never experienced before, and to play against such legends of the game was super special.”
Antonelli’s penalty is caused by using too many engine components this season after reliability problems earlier in the year. Russell will take one at a subsequent race, most likely the Azerbaijan Grand Prix later this month.
Mercedes have chosen this race because they hope the long straights will give him a decent chance of recovering a strong result.
And the Italian, who leads Hamilton and Russell in the championship by 59 points, was the quickest on the race-simulation runs towards the end of the session.
The race runs were inconclusive as Mercedes used the hard compound tyres, Ferrari the softs and Verstappen the mediums.
Antonelli was more than 0.2secs quicker than Russell on average. Norris, also on the hard tyre, was just under 0.2secs slower than Russell.
Meanwhile, F1 has announced that it will host a three-day event for fans before next season in Milan on 18-20 February.
A successor to the F1 Live event in London’s O2 Arena in 2025, it will feature all 11 teams and their drivers as well as music and entertainment.
Viewers tuning in to the new series of The Grand Tour have been left curious about the title card
The Grand Tour’s new series has finally landed on Prime Video(Image: PRIME VIDEO)
The Grand Tour fans have been left intrigued by a title card featured in one episode.
The six-part series premiered on Prime Video today (September 4) with a fresh set of hosts: Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman and Thomas Holland. The trio replace veteran stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, who gladly handed over the baton to the newbies.
The new series of The Grand Tour even saw the former Top Gear trio make appearances throughout the episodes. Jeremy appeared in the opening episode as he gave some blunt advice to the newbies, while Richard helped to judge a competition to find the toughest car, and James hosted the line-up in his pub.
Episode five of The Grand Tour featured an exciting race between Thomas in a hypercar against Francis and James on a train as they tried to get from the UK to the Belgian Grand Prix. The instalment titled A Relaxing Spa Weekend also featured James delving into the incredible history of the BMW Isetta and its Cold War history.
The episode ended with a title card which featured two images of Klaus-Günter Jacobi, who built the smallest-ever escape car used to cross the border between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Many are curious about the figure mentioned in the title card. Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Klaus-Gunter Jacobi?
Klaus-Günter Jacobi was a mechanic who helped his best friend escape from East Berlin into West Berlin, crossing the heavily guarded border crossing of Checkpoint Charlie. He hid his best friend Manfred Koster in a tiny and concealed compartment in the BMW Isetta.
Manfred was trying to escape East Germany as he was set to be drafted into the army. Thankfully, his friend Klaus came up with the cunning plan.
Klaus-Günter modified the Isetta, reduced the fuel tank to a bare minimum and managed to build in the hiding space. He had also removed other unnecessary components and provided heat protection.
However, they only had an hour to cross the border before it closed for the night. The men were delayed and almost didn’t make it, with sniffer dogs checking for anything suspicious.
If they had been caught, the pair might have paid with their lives for trying to leave. The guards inspected the vehicle thoroughly and let Klaus through without suspecting what he was carrying.
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Klaus’ story was immortalised in the mini-film The Small Escape, which was produced by the BMW Group. After word spread of the escape, the Isetta was used by other defectors to escape East Berlin.
The BMW Isetta was conceived post-WWII by Italian refridgerator company boss Renzo Rivolta and his company Iso Spa. The car essentially had the engine of a scooter, the door of a fridge and seating for two people. BMW was on the verge of bankruptcy when they licensed the design from Iso Spa and set about making it more into one of their cars, thus saving the firm from ruin.
After sharing the unbelievable true story, James then asked Thomas to try and get into a similar-sized space. Despite his best efforts to assume a foetal position, Thomas was unable to get into the space and this illustrated just how tiny this compartment was.
Later in the episode, the two men stopped at a pedestrian crossing as Klaus walked across and waved at them. He now serves as a tourist guide at the Berlin Wall Museum in Friedrichstrasse.
In the opening moments of the first episode, the trio were seen paying a visit to a familiar farm.
The new Grand Tour hosts met their predecessors at the premiere event (Image: PRIME VIDEO)
The new Grand Tour hosts witnessed Jeremy Clarkson in action behind the meat counter at Diddly Squat Farm.
The Grand Tour is back on Prime Video with three new hosts taking the wheel – train enthusiast and social media star Francis Bourgeois, and YouTube hosts James Engelsman and Thomas Holland. The streamer announced the new series would feature cameos from the original trio, but the extent of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond’s involvement was kept under wraps.
Now, it has been revealed that the new hosts visited Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm, featured on the hit Clarkson’s Farm, to get Clarkson’s seal of approval. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, host Holland said it was a “weird experience”. He shared: “About two years earlier, I went to the farm as a tourist, just for fun, I just happened to be here.
“I went into the tent and had a beer and did whatever you do when you are there, and the next time I was back there it was to talk to Jeremy Clarkson, so that was a bit weird.” Engelsman enlightened viewers by revealing “Jeremy does 9-5 shifts behind that [meat] counter”. While many fans already know Clarkson had warned the new trio “don’t f*** it up”, it was actually another part of his testimony that resonated most with the new hosts.
Engelsman explained: “It was strange, we have seen the footage now and after we left, he delivered that message to camera. That slightly longer, more sincere message, I think, for me at least, it resonated a lot harder than just the brief piece of advice.” What Clarkson had told viewers once the trio had walked away was: “I have got to be honest with you, I have actually been watching what they have been up to for the last year and a half, and they are very, very good, I think you are going to love it.”
Holland expressed to The Mirror: “We didn’t see that in the moment, we didn’t know that happened until much later on, so seeing that played back was like ‘Oh, that’s nice’.” Bourgeois agreed, adding: “It means a huge amount to us and also gives us quite the superpower, to have his blessing is just a phenomenal start for us.”
In the opening moments of the first episode, the trio were seen driving through the English countryside when they pulled into Diddly Squat Farm. They paid a visit to The Farmer’s Dog, which featured the original Grant Tour sign hanging from the tent ceiling.
Nervously, they approached Clarkson, who was behind the butcher’s counter. “Hey, how’s things?” he said with a smile. “So, how can I help?” Francis joked: “We have come to ask, please may we use the tent for our studio?”
Clarkson looked at the three blankly before saying: “Not really. I mean, you could, but it’s got a butcher’s in it now, and a bar, and a shop, and an off-licence. It’s usually quite busy as well, so it wouldn’t be an audience so much as customers. I want to help, but look, it’s been repurposed.”
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The joke referred to a Clarkson’s Farm moment when Jeremy called on the help of his old Grand Tour boss to supply a tent to house various projects like the farm shop and butcher’s counter. Following the skit, Clarkson got serious, saying: “Listen guys, seriously, have fun with this. I mean it, good luck, and don’t f*** it up.”
Speaking directly to viewers, it was then that Clarkson gave his heartfelt speech that resonated with the new hosts, who had been totally unaware of his kind words.
The Grand Tour’s new lineup is filled with “testosterone-fuelled petrolheads” again, and it’s certainly not a progressive apporach to things, says Nicola Methven
James Engelsman, Francis Bourgeois and Thomas Holland are the new hosts of The Grand Tour (Image: Danny Martindale/Shutterstock)
‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ the old adage goes, and that’s certainly what they’ve gone for with The Grand Tour.
Perhaps you can’t blame them. Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond proved enormously popular after they de-camped from the BBC’s Top Gear and so having three white blokes is a tried and tested formula that no one can argue with.
Andy Wilman says it’s ‘comfort food’ for the audience. But progressive? It certainly isn’t. And the notion that sticking a female car expert into the mix would somehow turn the show into a box-ticking exercise does rankle. What is this, the 1990s?
On the question of whether a male presenter could have infiltrated the fashion world formerly occupied by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine (20 years ago!) I’m going to say, yes, he could. Let’s ask Gok Wan what he thinks.
This whole gender-based stereotyping is just incredibly tedious and without anyone ever pushing back, will never change.
But when it comes to the trio they have chosen, Wilman is not wrong when he says they are likeable. They really are.
Between them, James, Francis and Canadian Thomas have about a trillion followers across every platform imaginable. They eat, breathe, and sleep the one same thing: cars.
Watching the first episode as they race around in motors worth more than some people’s houses, you can feel the passion oozing out of them. Their interaction with guest driver Jenson Button is also very funny.
None of them can hide their glee at being let loose on some of the fastest vehicles on the planet. But they show just as much enthusiasm when it comes to winning races in clapped out old bangers worth £100.
The secret to their imminent TV success is their authentic joy for what they are doing, which is contagious for the viewers. After a few minutes of watching, everyone at home will have adrenaline levels that are sky high, to match theirs. Also, they look so damn happy, you can’t watch without getting a bit of that feel-good glow.
Of course, a woman would be capable of all this too.
When it comes to moving forwards, this show is stuck in a rut. But will it be a car-crash? Absolutely not.
Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc have both won one race this season, with the Briton 59 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes.
“To win this weekend, the whole collective has to come together. Everything has to flow from the beginning,” said Hamilton.
“There is a first ahead of me, in the sense of if I was to win I go into new territory winning for the first time in Ferrari at Monza. It would be phenomenal.
“The pressure’s high. You want to do it for the team. Many of them will come to this race. The tifosi come out in huge numbers with a passion that’s unmatched.
“And my mum’s here. I don’t think she’s been to Monza, and certainly not (while I was) with Ferrari. I wanted her to experience this and bring any lucky dust she can bring.”
Ferrari’s hopes of a home victory are boosted by the fact that Italian Antonelli will have a grid penalty for exceeding his permitted number of engine parts and is likely to start at the back.
Hamilton said: “There is big gap between the top teams and the rest. Kimi will start from the back but with the power he has, and the performance he has, he should slide through that pack pretty easy and it’s probably why they chose this race to do that.
“So achieving eighth or sixth should be relatively easy. We have to focus on maximising our weekend and try and take the energy from the tifosi to hopefully push us to the front.”
Antonelli’s grid penalty was inevitable at some point after reliability problems earlier in the year meant they would need to exceed his allowance of four engines for the season.
They chose this weekend because they calculated it was the most optimal race to do it, both in terms of the effect of a new engine on a track dominated by straights, and managing their engine pool through the rest of the year.
Team-mate George Russell will also have an engine penalty, most likely in Azerbaijan in two races’ time.
Antonelli said: “I am very much looking forward to this weekend despite starting from the back. I will be able to enjoy it more than I did previously and hopefully we will still be able to have a good race.
“In some ways it helps to release pressure, although I would very much rather fight for pole and start at the front.
“It makes me a bit more relaxed going into the weekend. I think this track can be very good for us but we have to take into account that McLaren, Ferrari, even Red Bull can be good this weekend.
“There are other tracks where it is possible to overtake but this one is very energy starved and there are a lot of places where you can race differently and it gives us the best chance to climb through the field.”
Antonelli referred to energy starvation because the hybrid engines will be without their battery power for a higher percentage of the lap in Monza than at most races this year, because of the long straights and the lack of opportunity for recovery.
Drivers are expecting a difficult and frustrating weekend, and for slipstreaming, which saves energy by reducing drag, to become a major feature in qualifying and the grand prix.
Antonelli said he expected speed would flat-line on the straights but not drop significantly, and that the situation would be “better than many expected”.
The Italian Grand Prix has been declared a heat-hazard race as high temperatures continue in the country following the summer heatwave.
A heat hazard is an official designation for an event where it is forecasted that temperatures will be more than 31C at some point during the race on Sunday.
The ambient temperatures around Monza, north-east of Milan, are expected to be in the mid-30C region all weekend.
They peaked at 36C on Wednesday afternoon near Milan’s Linate airport.
The ruling means drivers can use a system that flows cooled liquid, such as glycol, through a system of pipes in a fireproof top worn under their overalls.
The cooling kit is not mandatory, but any driver who chooses not to use it has to carry 5kg of ballast in their car to ensure they do not have a competitive advantage.
Sabalenka’s pace and power was too much for world number 160 Iatcenko, who managed just three winners compared to the 24 put away by the top seed.
Iatcenko looked a bundle of nerves in the biggest match of her career, but composed herself to get on the scoreboard for 5-1 and immediately broke out into a relieved smile.
It was merely respite as Sabalenka held to love in less than 90 seconds to clinch the opening set.
Despite only being on court for 24 minutes, Iatchenko decided she wanted a bathroom break to change her kit – but more likely for a mental reset than anything else.
Sabalenka kept loose while she waited by practising her serves and maintained her rhythm as she surged a double break ahead for 3-0 in the second set.
It was not all plain-sailing for Sabalenka as she lost serve in a sloppy fourth game, but reasserted her authority with two more breaks as Iatchenko was taught a harsh lesson.
The Russian can console herself with the knowledge she has gained valuable experience against the world number one on the biggest court on the planet – and a bumper paycheck.
Coming into the US Open, she had earned $300,000 (£220,000) in her career but takes another $190,000 (£140,000) home from New York to reinvest into her future.
Earlier on Wednesday, third seed Pegula continued her quest for a maiden Grand Slam singles title with a comfortable victory over fellow American Sofia Kenin.
Pegula also has a shot of replacing Sabalenka as world number one if she wins the title, as does fourth seed Coco Gauff, and kept her dream alive with a 6-3 6-1 win.
There were also straight-set wins for Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova, two-time major semi-finalist Marta Kostyuk and teenage American sensation Iva Jovic as the patten of few shocks in the women’s draw over the opening two rounds continued.
Jeremy Clarkson has reunited with Richard Hammond and James May at the premiere of the latest series of The Grand Tour after qutting the long-running programme two years ago
Jeremy Clarkson has reunited with Richard Hammond and James May at the premiere of the latest series of The Grand Tour(Image: James Manning/PA Wire)
Jeremy Clarkson has reunited with Richard Hammond and James May at the premiere of the latest series of The Grand Tour. The TV star, 66, famously fronted the motoring series with Richard and James in the years after they found fame fronting Top Gear.
But Jeremy, James and Richard were still out in full force at the launch of the world premiere of the new series of The Grand Tour as it all took place in London on Wednesday night. The guys all looked in good spirits as they walked the red carpet and greeted their successors.
In the first series, the team will tackle some big motoring questions, such as what’s the most unbreakable car in history and can you travel across Colorado undetected in a trio of Japanese microcars.
F1 World Champion Jenson Button also makes a special appearance in the trailer, whilst it also shows the trio head to Malaysia to see all about the country’s rich car culture as well as how little someone can spend on a sports car without it immediately blowing up.
In the new series, they travel through Angola in track-cars, which are quite unsuited for the job. They even test out the greatest American cars including the the Ford Mustang GTD, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and $2.75m, 2000-horsepower Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evolution against a bunch of fighter jets.
Francis Bourgeois said of joining the show: “Since completing the filming of the series, I haven’t stopped replaying every moment in my head. It has made me laugh, made my heart race and my stomach turn…remembering the tent
“I shared with Thomas and James filled with sulphuric farts whilst Angolan jackals snooped around outside. It feels as though it was a dream but knowing we will get to share our adventures soon makes me so incredibly excited!”
James Engelsman added: “We took on the West African Desert. We contended with fighter pilots. We even decided to challenge an entire nation’s legal system by protesting from the mountain tops. In doing so, the three of us learned our true strength: How to accept defeat gracefully.”
Thomas Holland shared: “I figured someone would be there to hold our hand the whole time. Nope. We were on our own in some absolutely wild environments in very, VERY questionable cars. What did we learn from this experience? Only that we have very poor decision-making skills. When you watch in September, expect a good laugh. And maybe a few butt clenches…”
The Grand Tour will launch all six episodes exclusively on Prime Video on Friday 4th September.
Sept. 1 (UPI) — A North Carolina grand jury has indicted a 17-year-old girl as an adult on charges of murder stemming from allegations that she aided and abetted two other teens who killed three people in a hate-filled attack on a San Diego mosque before taking their own lives.
Caleb Vazquez, 18, and Cain Clark, 17, are alleged to have shot and killed three people, including a security guard, at the Islamic Center of San Diego in California on May 18. Their bodies were found dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshots in a car parked near the scene.
On Monday, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neil told reporters during a press conference that a 17-year-old girl was arrested last week in North Carolina and that a grand jury indicted her on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, on allegations that she livestreamed the attack, disseminated the recording afterward and released the manifesto the attackers authored to justify their crime.
Court documents identified the suspect as 17-year-old Sarah Lindsey Santiago.
“Today’s indictment sends a clear message: physical distance from an attack does not place someone beyond accountability for the role they allegedly played in making it happen,” Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office said in a statement.
“In today’s threat environment, individuals may believe they can encourage or facilitate acts of violence from hundreds of miles away without facing consequences. This case demonstrates that law enforcement will aggressively investigate those connections and pursue accountability wherever the evidence leads, including when juveniles are involved.”
According to the indictment, she is also alleged to have purchased a “Sonnenrad” patch for Vazquez, which he wore during the attack. According to the advocacy organization Anti-Defamation League, the Sonnenrad, which translates to “Black Sun,” is a symbol associated with White supremacy and was adopted by the Nazis in the 1930s.
The court document states that the conspiracy charge stems from allegations that she, Clark and Vazquez planned to murder worshipers at the Islamic Center of San Diego but also worshipers at Kehilat Ariel Messianic Synagogue, which is also in San Diego, and Black students at an unnamed public high school.
O’Neil, in the press conference, said that aiding-and-abetting charges in North Carolina come with the same penalties as if the accused had perpetrated the crime.
“So, she didn’t have to be in California. She’s in our jurisdiction. And today, a grand jury indicted her and held her responsible for her actions,” he said.
According to police, the shooting occurred at about 11:42 a.m. on May 18.
Shortly before, at about 9:40 a.m. that morning, San Diego police received a call from Clark’s mother reporting her son was suicidal and that several of her weapons and her vehicle were missing. Her son was with a companion, both dressed in camouflage, she said.
San Diego police were working to locate the teens when the first calls of the shooting at the mosque came in.
The suspects parked in the Islamic Center’s parking lot, ran past security and opened fire, hitting 51-year-old Amin Abdullah, who exchanged gunfire, wounding Clark. Abdullah has been heralded as a hero who saved lives by initiating lockdown protocols before dying from his injuries. O’Neil said there were 140 children on the premises at the time of the shooting.
The two suspects entered the building, but then exited through the back door and into the parking lot, where they encountered Mansour Kazhia, 78, and Nadir Awad, 57, whom they shot and killed.
The suspects fled the scene in their vehicle, from which they shot at a gardener who was uninjured, before dying by suicide.
Searches of residences associated with the suspects uncovered more than 30 guns and a crossbow, including rifles, along with ammunition, tactical gear and electronics.
“There exists in our world an underground subculture. It’s an echo chamber of intense hate against different cultures and religions. Cain and Vasquez, by what is contained in their manifesto, seemed to hate everyone, regardless of skin color, politics, religion or ethnicity,” he said.
“And this underground subculture of hate, they listen to each other, they talk to each other in encoded platforms. It radicalizes one another to the point where they carry out these horrific crimes of violence and murder.”
One person has died and 15 remain missing or unaccounted for after flash flooding swept through parts of the Grand Canyon, the National Park Service (NPS) has said.
The flood hit Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area on Saturday afternoon, wiping out footbridges and propelling boulders downstream.
The body of a 46-year-old man was found on Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River, the park service told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. Sixty-two people have so far been airlifted out of the area.
“The whole thing was terrifying,” said Nikki Baggs, 41, who was among those to be airlifted out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon with her two friends.
“It was a beautiful day and then people were screaming, running,” she told the BBC.
Baggs said she and her friends had just dropped off their belongings at a cabin in Phantom Ranch – a remote lodge at the bottom of the Grand Canyon – when they decided to venture out to enjoy the nice day. Before they knew it, a flood of water was sweeping through the area.
As soon as the rain hit, Baggs and her friends headed toward higher ground, where they sat at a picnic table, before rangers yelled to them to run again to a different ledge, where they waited with others for hours before they were evacuated at around 21:30 local time (04:30 GMT).
Baggs said she and her two friends had been looking forward to a steak dinner at Phantom Ranch – but were now just grateful to be alive thanks to a swift response from park rangers.
“It was a really uniquely co-ordinated effort,” she said. “That’s what made us feel safe about all of it in an unsafe situation.”
Baggs said she and her friends watched from higher ground as bridges were swept away.
British qualifier Toby Samuel broke more new ground with a dominant victory over Tomas Machac on his US Open main-draw debut.
The 23-year-old came from a set down in each of his three qualifying matches in New York this week to guarantee a third Grand Slam appearance of the year.
However, he had no such issues against former world number 20 Machac, wrapping up a 6-2 6-3 6-2 victory in just over 90 minutes to register his first win at a Grand Slam.
“It means everything to me. It’s what I dreamt of as a kid watching these big tournaments,” Samuel told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Being able to win my first Grand Slam match is unbelievable.”
Just two years ago, Samuel fell to almost 2,000th in the world rankings as bone bruising in his right arm ruled him out of much of the 2024 season.
He now sits inside the top 100 in the live ATP rankings, along with earning $140,000 (£103,000) in prize money in the biggest payday of his career so far.
Samuel won 36 of 39 matches on the ATP Challenger Tour to return to the top 300 last year, but has reached new heights in 2026.
The Winchester native came through qualifying to make his Grand Slam debut at the French Open, having never previously contested a single match on the ATP Tour.
He continued that momentum with a run to the semi-finals at Eastbourne, a Wimbledon wildcard, and a third Challenger crown of the year on Winnipeg’s hard courts.
Samuel’s new ranking would secure automatic qualification for next January’s Australian Open, completing the set of major appearances a year after making his top-250 debut.
He is joined in the second round in New York by compatriot Katie Boulter, who battled past American wildcard Carol Young Suh Lee 6-4 3-6 6-0.
The Phantom Ranch area of Grand Canyon National Park. Officials said more than 20 people are missing following flash flooding in areas of the park. Photo courtesy Parth Desai/National Park Service.
Aug. 30 (UPI) — More than 20 people are missing after “significant” flash flooding struck areas around the Grand Canyon, officials said Sunday.
The National Park Service asked for those who know of hikers or backpackers who were in the Grand Canyon National Park areas of Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch when the flooding hit to contact park officials.
“Grand Canyon National Park staff, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, are continuing evacuation and response efforts and working to account for individuals who may have been in the affected area,” NPS said in a statement.
The NPS said it is also searching for anyone who may have been on the North Kaibab Trail from the North Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch, staying at Bright Angel Campground, or traveling or staying in the area known as “the Box” north of Phantom Ranch.
Officials said at least 62 people had been evacuated after significant damage was caused by the flooding.
Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground, Phantom Ranch Canteen, the North Kaibab Trail, the Black and Silver bridges and traffic to the Colorado River in the area are closed “until further notice,” officials said.
A reopening date has not been announced.
Officials warned thunderstorms and heavy rainfall were possible Sunday and Monday that could “result in additional flash flooding, debris flows, rockfall and rapidly changing trail and river conditions.”
People were encouraged to stay away from the closed areas.
Grand Canyon National Park is the country’s fourth-most visited national park, with 4.4 million visits last year.
Pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa hit his first career grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies roared back for a 5-3 victory over the Angels on Friday night.
Sosa connected just two batters after Wade Meckler reached deep into the right field stands to rob Bryson Stott of a three-run homer.
After J.T. Realmuto drew a walk that loaded the bases and chased shaky closer Ben Joyce (0-2), Sosa crushed a low changeup from Sammy Peralta 404 feet to center, far beyond Mike Trout‘s reach.
Alex McFarlane (4-1) pitched the eighth for the Phillies. Jonathan Bowlan got the ninth instead of closer Jhoan Duran, and he put two Angels on base before he struck out Adam Frazier to finish his second save.
Bryce Harper extended his on-base streak to a career-high 30 games with a bunt single in the fourth for Philadelphia, which improved to 2-2 on its nine-game West Coast trip. The Phillies also moved one game behind the Cubs for the top NL wild-card spot.
Reid Detmers yielded one run and eight hits over six resilient innings, but the AL-worst Angels lost their fifth straight with yet another bullpen implosion.
After Alec Bohm and Justin Crawford reached base without a hit off Joyce, Meckler appeared to save the game for the Angels with his spectacular running catch on Stott’s sinking fly, putting his body onto the waist-high wall of the short porch and sticking his glove in among the fans.
Instead, Sosa connected for the Phillies’ first go-ahead grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning since Shane Victorino did it in 2009.
Meckler drove in a run on the first pitch he saw in his return from the concussion injured list during a three-run first inning for the Angels, who managed just three singles — one after the first.
Andrew Painter recovered nicely from that 28-pitch first in which he threw two wild pitches that brought home Trout and Meckler, facing the minimum 15 batters during five hitless innings afterward.
Up next: Phillies All-Star Cristopher Sánchez (16-4, 2.62 ERA) takes the mound Saturday against the Angels’ Ryan Johnson (3-7, 5.75 ERA).
But the much-anticipated release of the game has been disrupted by a flurry of leaked scenes — such as a plane flying over a metropolis and the interior of a strip club — that has flooded the internet in the last week without the consent of its publisher, Rockstar Games.
Rockstar has not confirmed the videos’ authenticity, but its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, is taking action. The New York-based company late last week issued subpoenas to Microsoft, Discord, X and Google to track down the alleged hackers.
The requests were filed in the Southern District Court in New York under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The filings involve the unauthorized use of copyrighted material such as “audiovisual content, artwork, images, dialogue, or other creative elements” from proprietary software owned by Take-Two, according to the documents.
Take Two is asking for identifying information associated with the online profiles and activity tied to the leaks, which have generated considerable buzz in the gaming world.
Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar did not respond to a request for comment. Here’s what to know:
Who’s behind this hack?
The online persona Cyberleek appears to be closely associated with the ongoing leaks, according to court documents. The hackers claim to be leaking these gameplays as an act of protest and have a list of demands, which include a physical disc of the game, which Rockstar previously said it would not release. The other demands include no paywalled solo player content and full offline access.
“Publishers sell licenses and call them purchases. They ship unfinished games and call them living services,” Cyberleek wrote on its website. “They lock content on discs and call it DLC. They kill games and keep the money. Every year anti-consumerism tightens its grip, and every year gamers get less for what they pay.”
The group also claims to have obtained a playable build of the game and asks users for cryptocurrency donations.
What does this mean for ‘Grand Theft Auto’?
The first “Grand Theft Auto” was released in 1997 by BMG Interactive. Before it was even released, the action-adventure game was met with a wave of controversy, as the game was centered around illegal activities such as stealing cars and running people over.
The game started to gain real traction in the early 2000s, when Rockstar took over its development. Rockstar is based in New York and maintains California offices in Santa Monica and San Diego. The “Grand Theft Auto” franchise remains its hallmark title and continues to grow a loyal fan base.
The new release of “Grand Theft Auto VI” is slated for Nov. 19 for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It marks the first major release in the franchise since 2013. The standard version will cost $79.99, while the ultimate version will cost $99.99.
These leaks, which include several maps, video from a gas station and a car wash, come just days before the game is set to have an exclusive preview on Netflix. On Thursday, Rockstar and the media giant are set to share an exclusive extended look at the game on the streaming platform.
So will the leaks hurt sales of the game?
That’s hard to say. Investors appear to be nervous about the potential effect on the company’s business. Since the leaks first started to pop up last week, Take-Two’s stock has continued to plummet. On Monday, the stock closed at $233, down 10% over the last five days.
Although investors appear to be uneasy about the leak, some analysts don’t think it will dampen sales of the game.
“This game is gonna crush every record ever,” said Michael Pachter, a video game industry analyst. “This game could sell 10 million units in the first minute. I think it could do 20 million in the first day and a half.”
Are leaks in the gaming industry common?
Unauthorized leaks aren’t as commons as they are in the music and movie industries, but they do occur. In the last few years, several games and sensitive information have been leaked. One of the largest instances was in 2023 when developer Insomniac Games was targeted for data surrounding the upcoming “Marvel Wolverine” game.
But it’s rare for hackers to get a hold of a playable version of the game, which might have happened in the “Grand Theft Auto” incident, said Sanjay Madhav, a technology professor at USC.
“If you compare it to something like a movie being leaked, that’s a little bit different because presumably if you watch the whole movie, you’re not really compelled to watch it again,” Madhav said. “But I think in this case, unless they release the playable build for other people to download, I don’t think that it’s going to have a noticeable impact on their sales.”
Washington, DC – Over the next two days, a portion of the United States capital will transform into a seven-turn professional-grade track for the city’s first-ever IndyCar race.
The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, championed by President Donald Trump, is one of several special events held to commemorate the country’s 250th birthday.
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But the race, which has been billed as a means of “celebrating American greatness”, is not coming without a heavy dose of criticism.
Questions have been raised about potential disruptions to life in the capital, as well as Trump’s ties to the event’s sponsor, the transportation company Penske.
Here’s what you need to know about the weekend’s automobile tournament:
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House during a showcase for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race in Washington, DC [File: Alex Brandon/AP]
Why is this taking place?
In January, Trump signed an executive order establishing the race as a means of celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary and its history of motorsport.
“This will be like no other race ever,” Trump said in July. “It’ll be one of the most unforgettable racing events the world has ever seen.”
Trump, who has described himself as a racing fan, has participated in several high-profile motorsport events since returning to office in 2025.
Last year, Trump attended NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race, after serving as the grand marshal during his first term. A few months later, in April 2025, he hosted NASCAR and IndyCar drivers at the White House.
Have similar events been held?
The Grand Prix is one of several sporting events being held in honour of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Earlier this month, as part of the festivities, high-school athletes were invited to participate in the inaugural Patriot Games, broadcast on the sport channel ESPN. And in June, Trump hosted an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn, dubbed the UFC Freedom 250.
But members of the Trump administration have compared the race to early moments in US history as a means of highlighting its historic nature.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Washington, DC, has not seen a competition like this since Thomas Jefferson, the third US president, helped mark the country’s 25th birthday in 1801 with horse races.
Is the IndyCar race part of Freedom 250?
Not officially. While the Grand Prix bears similar branding to Trump’s Freedom 250 initiative, they are separate entities.
Trump’s Freedom 250 task force was a public-private partnership that put together events like the Patriot Games and the Great American State Fair, which took place in June on the National Mall.
But critics argued that the task force undermined America250, a separate bipartisan organisation created by the US Congress to arrange festivities for the anniversary. There was also a backlash to the perception that Freedom 250 would be a vehicle for Trump’s political agenda.
The Grand Prix, meanwhile, is being “administered by INDYCAR in coordination with the America 250 Task Force”, according to the District of Columbia government website. IndyCar is a subsidiary of Penske.
Protective panels surround a sculpture outside the National Gallery of Art ahead of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, DC, on Monday [Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA]
What response has the race received?
The race is arguably the most ambitious of all the events Trump has hosted for America’s 250th celebration. It has also drawn concern from preservation experts.
A temporary track for the race will run 2.7 kilometres, or 1.7 miles, including through the National Mall. Part of the race will therefore take place near several buildings that contain priceless historical works and documents.
Immediately adjacent to the motor speedway will be the National Gallery of Art, featuring paintings spanning the history of Western civilisation, and the National Archives, which includes the original Declaration of Independence and US Constitution.
With race cars set to pass by at speeds nearing 321km/h (200mph), the National Gallery has boarded up some windows on its building and put barriers around several of its outdoor works.
A preservationist group has also warned that historic New Deal-era murals in the nearby Cohen Federal Building could be damaged “due to vibratory impacts”.
A Freedom 250 Grand Prix spokesperson told The Associated Press (AP) news agency that IndyCar has “tremendous respect for the history and the structures” surrounding the track.
But the race’s impacts are being felt by Washington’s residents and travellers as well.
In the days leading up to the race, commuters were plagued by hours-long congestion caused by the closure of some of the city’s popular thoroughfares as organisers prepared for the event.
The Federal Aviation Administration also announced that flights at the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington national airport will be paused for three hours on Sunday so flyovers associated with the event can take place.
Workers set up barriers ahead of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Wednesday [AFP]
Who’s paying for this?
With an expected price tag of $35m, the 147-lap race will be among the most expensive on IndyCar’s calendar.
Bud Denker, the president of Penske Corporation and chairman of the race, told AP his company will pay for the “vast majority” of the event, while the city will cover some “very limited” costs to repave streets and seal manhole covers.
A spokesperson for Washington, DC’s transportation department, German Vigil, told Al Jazeera the city “will be getting reimbursed” by the Grand Prix for those repairs.
The Freedom 250 Grand Prix website explains that the event is supported “by a group of key partners”, including Harbinger, a production company with ties to at least one previous Trump-hosted event.
CNN previously reported that the firm was hired to solicit corporate sponsors for the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll.
The race’s website identifies Harbinger as an “official event partner” that will “coordinate logistics and the fan experience” for the Grand Prix. A spokesperson for Harbinger told Al Jazeera it was only handling “production”.
Several of the race’s sponsors have government contracts, including the aerospace firm Boeing and the telecommunications firm Verizon.
One, the building manufacturer WillScot, was in discussion with the second Trump administration about leasing mobile structures to house detainees slated for deportation, according to the publication Semafor.
Another, the aircraft company Gulfstream, was the recipient of nearly $200m in a controversial deal Trump’s Department of Homeland Security undertook to buy luxury jets for executive travel.
WillScot and Gulfstream did not return Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks speaks with US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy on the Freedom 250 Grand Prix track in Washington, DC, on Thursday [Finn Gomez/Getty Images via AFP]
How much does it cost to attend?
A reported 100,000 general admission tickets have already been given away for free, while premium viewing of the race comes at a steep price.
Tickets for the Champions Club, which offers views of the racetrack, cost $5,000 per person, while luxury suites are priced upwards of $250,000.
Will Trump attend?
Media reports have indicated that Trump himself is likely to attend the event.
The New York Post reported that the president may take a lap on Sunday around the track in his motorcade, to kick off the last day of the race.
But Trump’s involvement raises concerns, including from IndyCar drivers, that the event could be politicised. McLaren Racing’s Pato O’Ward, IndyCar’s only full-time racer from Mexico, has said it would be “ironic” if he won, given the president’s aggressive political stance towards immigration and Mexico itself.
The Grand Tour is back for a new series, the first since former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May stepped down
16:42, 19 Aug 2026Updated 16:42, 19 Aug 2026
The Grand Tour official Amazon Prime trailer
The Grand Tour is back in a matter of days – and there’s the perfect mix of drama and fast cars for fans of the hit Prime Video show.
The show – previously fronted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – has had a complete refresh, with trainspotter and secret petrolhead Francis Bourgeois replacing the iconic trio alongside James Engelsman and Thomas Holland, who are behind the popular YouTube show Throttle House.
In the first series, the team will tackle some big motoring questions, such as what’s the most unbreakable car in history and can you travel across Colorado undetected in a trio of Japanese microcars.
F1 World Champion Jenson Button also makes a special appearance in the trailer, whilst it also shows the trio head to Malaysia to see all about the country’s rich car culture as well as how little someone can spend on a sports car without it immediately blowing up.
In the new series, they travel through Angola in track-cars, which are quite unsuited for the job. They even test out the greatest American cars including the the Ford Mustang GTD, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and $2.75m, 2000-horsepower Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evolution against a bunch of fighter jets.
Francis Bourgeois said of joining the show: “Since completing the filming of the series, I haven’t stopped replaying every moment in my head. It has made me laugh, made my heart race and my stomach turn…remembering the tent I shared with Thomas and James filled with sulphuric farts whilst Angolan jackals snooped around outside. It feels as though it was a dream but knowing we will get to share our adventures soon makes me so incredibly excited!”
James Engelsman added: “We took on the West African Desert. We contended with fighter pilots. We even decided to challenge an entire nation’s legal system by protesting from the mountain tops. In doing so, the three of us learned our true strength: How to accept defeat gracefully.”
Thomas Holland shared: “I figured someone would be there to hold our hand the whole time. Nope. We were on our own in some absolutely wild environments in very, VERY questionable cars. What did we learn from this experience? Only that we have very poor decision-making skills. When you watch in September, expect a good laugh. And maybe a few butt clenches…”
The Grand Tour will launch all six episodes exclusively on Prime Video on Friday 4th September.
