Oscar

The contrast to the outcome of a very similar incident in Canada two races ago between Mercedes’ George Russell and Verstappen was notable.

In Montreal, after the stewards took no action, Red Bull lodged a protest, but it was dismissed out of hand.

Piastri said: “Going back to Canada, I think he had to evade more there than he did today. So, yeah, I’m a bit confused to say the least.”

There was also the feeling within McLaren that Verstappen may have ‘gamed’ the system by exaggerating how much it affected him.

“I don’t think he had to evade me,” Piastri said. “He managed the first time.”

Team principal Andrea Stella said: “We’ll have to see also if other competitors kind of made the situation look worse than what it is.

“Because we know that as part of the race-craft, some competitors definitely have the ability to make others look like they are causing severe infringement when they are not.”

Verstappen said: “The thing is that it happened to me now a few times, this kind of scenario. I just find it strange that suddenly now Oscar is the first one to receive 10 seconds first.”

Was that because because there was no difference from what Russell did in Canada?

“Well, to the stewards, yes, (there was),” Verstappen said.

The end result was that Norris has moved himself on to four wins for the season, one short of Piastri.

“I felt like I drove a really strong race,” Piastri said. “Ultimately, when you don’t get the result you think you deserve, it hurts, especially when it’s not in your control.

“I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later.”

Both have two weekends off to reset and refresh before battle recommences at the Belgian Grand Prix, the start of the second half of the season.

The race started on a wet track after a soaking wet morning, but with the sun out and more rain heading towards Silverstone.

Verstappen held the lead through a brief challenge from Piastri off the line but he could not shake the McLarens, and Piastri was soon challenging him hard for the lead.

Before he could try a move, though, a virtual safety car was deployed after Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto crashed at Turn Two on lap four.

The race was restarted on lap seven, and Piastri was past Verstappen on the Hangar Straight before two laps were over, building a 2.9-second lead after just one lap.

It was then Norris’ turn to challenge the Red Bull, but Verstappen gifted him the position when he slid off at Becketts on lap 11, just as heavy rain started.

That brought the drivers into the pits for fresh intermediates. By then, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had gained time by an earlier change to soft tyres when the track was drying and emerged in fourth place, with Hulkenberg in fifth after stopping for inters on lap 10, so benefiting when others had to drive on a wet track on slick tyres and then pit.

The rain became heavier and a safety car was deployed on lap 14. The race restarted on lap 18, but a second safety car was sent out within a lap after Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar ran into the back of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes at Copse because he could not see him in the spray.

When the race restarted for the last time on lap 22, with Verstappen spinning from second down to 10th, Piastri started to try to build a lead but he was not able to get more than four seconds ahead before Norris came back at him – he was less than two seconds back by the time Piastri pitted to serve his penalty with nine laps to go.

Stroll was unable to hold on to his third place, soon being passed by Hulkenberg and then Hamilton and eventually dropping down to seventh place.

Behind Verstappen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who was fifth at the restart, lost places to Hamilton and the Dutchman but was able to secure sixth place.

Williams’ Alex Albon was eighth, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was frustrated by his team’s strategy costing him places in the topsy-turvy early part of the race, and then pitted a couple of laps too early for slick tyres as the track dried in the closing stages.

That dropped him to last, but he recovered to take ninth, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, who also stopped early for slicks for the final time.

Verstappen said he “had to commit a lot” in the high-speed corners because of the low-downforce set-up the team had chosen, which made the car on edge in the demanding corners.

The low wing levels come with pros and cons – it gives faster speed on the straight but makes the car more difficult through the corners and potentially increases tyre wear.

Verstappen said: “We looked a bit slow on the other wing plus it was understeering to the moon, and I needed to get rid of that understeer. It was light on downforce but it seemed to work.”

Piastri was quickest after the first laps of qualifying but he failed to improve on his second lap, at least partly because of a couple of slides of the rear out of the final corner, Club.

The championship leader said: “I was happy with the first lap. It was mega, to be honest. I was trying to think of how I would go faster and I didn’t.

“The second lap was a bit messy but it has been tight all weekend; a little on the table, but we’ll never know if it’s enough.”

Piastri said he was “not that surprised Max is quick here”, it’s quite similar speed and conditions to Suzuka,” where Verstappen won from pole.

Norris, who trails Piastri by 15 points going into the race, which marks the halfway point of the season, said: “Good qualifying. I am not going to be unhappy with third, would love to be pole but Max did a good job, a fun qualifying today. Not the top but still a good day.

“It’s going to be fun tomorrow, a good fight, with the three of us, and probably with Lewis and Charles and George as well.”

June 27 (UPI) — The USNS Harvey Milk is being renamed after Oscar V. Peterson, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Friday.

“I am pleased to announce that the United States Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson,” Hegseth said on X, in a post accompanied by a video.

“We are taking the politics out of ship naming. We’re not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration,” Hegseth said in the video Friday.

Peterson received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in World War II, after the Navy chief petty officer was wounded in battle.

“During the Battle of the Coral Sea in May of 1942, Chief Watertender Peterson led a repair party on the USS Neosho. The ship was severely damaged by Japanese dive bombers, and the entire repair party was either killed or severely wounded,” Hegseth said Friday.

“Peterson himself was gravely wounded, yet he managed to single-handedly close the bulkhead stop valves, thereby helping to keep the ship operational.”

Hegseth previously confirmed he had ordered the U.S. Navy to rename the replenishment oiler, which bears the name of Milk, a gay rights activist assassinated in 1978. The Defense Secretary at the time said the move was being made to align “with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of re-establishing the warrior culture.”

A Defense Department official said at the time the renaming was intentionally done during Pride month.

Milk won a San Francisco supervisor seat in 1977. The U.S. Navy veteran served in the Korean War and became the first openly gay person in the country to be elected to public office. His name has remained synonymous with the LGBTQ movement.

Milk was assassinated the year after taking office and was in 2009 posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

The decision to remove his name from one of the six John Lewis Class ships was met with protest from Democrats. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at the time called the decision “shameful.” Pelosi’s Congressional District includes San Francisco.

The ship was first named after Milk in 2016, becoming the first naval vessel named after an openly-gay person. It was launched in 2021.

Oscar Branning is set to make a return to Albert Square since his last appearance in 2017 and Max Branning’s son is set to turn the life of his sister Lauren upside down

EastEnders is known for bringing back characters to Albert Square. And this time is no different as Oscar Branning is set to make a return to Walford after eight years away.

Oscar is the son of Tanya and Max Branning but the mum of three fled Walford to get away from her toxic husband, with her young son in tow.

Oscar has not been seen on screen since 2017 when he made a brief appearance on the BBC soap to celebrate Father’s Day with his elated dad, in full view of other residents at the Queen Victoria pub.

And while Oscar, who is now 17, has always been a little on the quieter side leaving the family drama in the hands of his parents and elder sisters, Lauren and Abi, it seems sparks are set to fly this time round.

Speaking about Oscar’s upcoming appearance played by Pierre Moullier, Executive Producer Ben Wadey said: “I’m very excited to bring Oscar Branning back to Walford and introduce viewers to him now that he’s all grown up.”

He added: “Oscar is very much a Branning which means there’s going to be plenty of drama in store this summer. We’re delighted to welcome Pierre as he takes on the role and can’t wait for viewers to see him bring Oscar to life.”

And when asked how he felt to be joining an iconic soap, actor Pierre explained: “It’s pretty surreal to join EastEnders – it keeps hitting me that I’m actually on Albert Square!”

He went on to explain: “When I found out I was joining the Brannings, it was so exciting as they are such an iconic family, and I love that there are so many skeletons in the closet.”

He added: “Oscar is so much fun to play, and the audience should be prepared for the unexpected as he’s a complex guy!”

But Oscar’s character is not the only one to have made a comeback, so too has Zoe Slater played by Michelle Ryan.

Twenty years has passed since Michelle was last seen in Walford. And her most memorable scene was in 2001 when she screamed at Kat Slater in the middle of the square “you ain’t my muvva.” To which Kat emotionally responded: “Yes I am.”

But according to the BBC website, Michelle claimed that returning to the show was “like coming home.”

Ben Wadey said that before taking on the role of Executive Producer, Michelle’s character Zoe was on his wish-list.

He admitted to the website: “I was absolutely delighted when Michelle agreed to return, and I’m thrilled to welcome her back to Walford.”

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This season Piastri is in another league compared to his team-mate. The incident in Canada was a direct result of Lando making yet another mistake. McLaren need to prioritise Oscar for the rest of the season, surely? – Anon

To describe Piastri as “in another league” from Norris this year is a bit of a stretch, to say the least.

There’s no doubt Piastri has had a better season than Norris so far, and been the more convincing of the two McLaren drivers. Hence his advantage in the championship and in their head-to-head stats in both races and qualifying.

But in terms of outright performance, there is little between the two, and they are more or less swapping the position of the faster McLaren driver each weekend.

The key this year so far is that Piastri is delivering his best on a more consistent basis than Norris. The Australian is beating Norris, not only on the weekends when he is quicker, but also on some of the weekends when the Briton looks like he probably is, because of the errors he is making.

Canada was a case in point. Had Norris strung his qualifying together, he would probably have been ahead of Piastri on the grid, in which case he would likely have finished ahead of him as well.

The same could have been said of Saudi Arabia and Miami. In Jeddah, Norris crashed in qualifying, trying too hard. In Miami, he qualified ahead but tangled with Verstappen on the first lap, allowing Piastri past.

There is no doubting Norris’ speed, but it’s also undeniable that he is making too many mistakes this season. He knows it; the team know it. And they’re trying to help him with it.

Of course, the question is, why is this happening? Is he feeling the pressure from Piastri? Of being in the best car and this being his best chance of a world title so far in his career? A combination of both, and perhaps other factors as well?

Whatever it is, he certainly needs to get out of the headspace he is in and find a way to get into a place where things flow more naturally for him. Where, essentially, he is not over-striving.

As for the question of prioritising Piastri, that goes back to the first answer. Other than in specific circumstances, that’s not how McLaren go racing, and it’s hard to see a strong argument for it at the moment.

The McLaren is not the fastest car every weekend. But it is consistently the fastest car so far this year.

Their drivers are one and two in the championship, and relatively comfortably so. What would be the argument for them to prioritise Piastri in those circumstances?