Red Bull are reverting to a conventional rear wing for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix following high-speed crashes for Max Verstappen in the previous two races.
The move has been confirmed to BBC Sport by Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, who said the team had discovered a problem with their previous wing in tests since the race at Silverstone.
Red Bull are reverting to a wing that opens for straight-line mode in standard fashion, Mekies said.
Verstappen said at Spa on Thursday: “It’s quite obvious why. We will go back on the old one and see whenever the new one is ready again to be used by us.”
Red Bull and Ferrari have this year pioneered a new design where the rear wing opens into straight-line mode by the top flap rotating more than 180 degrees.
This gives a bigger opening, greater drag reduction and therefore increased straight-line speed.
However, Verstappen’s crashes – one during the British Grand Prix and one in qualifying in Austria – were related to the way the wing closed on entry to two high-speed corners.
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Four former Kings elected to our Hall of Fame
The next ballot we sent out for the L.A. Times Sports Report Hall of Fame was the Kings/Ducks ballot, with 20 names appearing. People were able to vote for up to 10 candidates.
Reminder: Whoever is named on at least 75% of the ballots will be elected. The five people receiving the fewest votes will be dropped from future ballots for at least the next two years. A person must be retired to appear on the ballot.
There were 4,183 ballots cast in the Kings/Ducks voting, and four candidates received at least 75% of the vote.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
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Inductees
Wayne Gretzky, 90.4%
Marcel Dionne, 87.5%
Luc Robitaille, 83.7%
Anze Kopitar, 76.1%
Didn’t make it, but will remain on ballot
Jonathan Quick, 70.2% Rogie Vachon, 69.7% Bob Miller, 66.5% Teemu Selanne, 53.3% Dave Taylor, 50.2% Rob Blake, 48.2% Paul Kariya, 41.4% Dustin Brown, 39.9% Ryan Getzlaf, 21% Bernie Nicholls, 19.7% Darryl Sutter, 18.4%
Bottom five, dropped from ballot for two years
Scott Niedermayer, 15.4% Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 13.1% Charlie Simmer, 12.9% Nick Nickson, 12.8% Randy Carlyle, 1.8%
Thanks to everyone who voted! There is still time to vote in our other active categories.
To vote in the other sports/teams ballot, click here.
Inductees so far
Dodgers/Angels Don Drysdale Clayton Kershaw Sandy Koufax Vin Scully Fernando Valenzuela
Lakers/Clippers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Elgin Baylor Kobe Bryant Chick Hearn Magic Johnson Jerry West
Rams/Chargers/Raiders Eric Dickerson Deacon Jones Merlin Olsen
UCLA Lew Alcindor Arthur Ashe Ann Meyers Jackie Robinson Bill Walton John Wooden
USC Marcus Allen Cheryl Miller
Kings/Ducks Marcel Dionne Wayne Gretzky Anze Kopitar Luc Robitaille
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
A fine place to stop for a milk tea-centered breakfast or lunch after exploring the labyrinth of African, Indian and other international shops and food stalls inside Chungking Mansions — one of the last remaining film locations in Wong Kar-wai’s iconic “Chungking Express,” where Brigitte Lin’s drug-dealing retired actor is seen conducting her business in a blond wig, trenchcoat and sunglasses. Lan Fong Yuen, in the basement of Heath Mall (which is technically part of Chungking Mansions but has a separate street entrance), has its own historic pedigree. Late founder Lam Muk-ho is credited with originating silk-stocking milk tea (it’s strained through a long cloth filter), and possibly yuenyeung (milk tea mixed with coffee), at the still-operating Gage Street stall he opened in Central in 1952. He’s also said to have popularized the thick-cut Hong Kong-style French toast and pork-chop buns so familiar in our own San Gabriel Valley cafes, as well as “lo-ding” instant noodle dishes, especially the chicken-chop version. The Tsim Sha Tsui location opened in 2009 but has an older diner aesthetic that attracts tourists and locals who line up for the scene and affordable Hong Kong comfort food.
Heath Mall basement, Shop No. S09, Chungking Mansions, 44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
In the first round of Tuesday night’s NBA draft, the Lakers made a trade with the New York Knicks, acquiring Cameron Carr, who the Knicks had selected with the 24th overall pick in the first round.
The Lakers then took guard Sergio De Larrea from Spain with the 25th pick and traded him to the NBA champion Knicks, along with cash considerations. The Lakers went to Spain recently to watch De Larrea work out.
Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka didn’t talk about the trade because the NBA had not made it official as of late Tuesday night. Carr was in New York at the draft, but he also didn’t speak with the media.
In need of athletic wing players on a team that could have up to nine free agents, the Lakers got one with 21-year-old Carr.
The 6-foot-5 Carr averaged 18.9 points per game at Baylor, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Carr shot 49.4% from the field and 37.4% from three-point range.
Most NBA draft boards had projected Carr to be selected between 15th and 21st in the first round. But he slipped to the Lakers, who like the idea that Carr is so athletic, is a three-and-D player with a 7-2 wingspan and has a 42.5-inch vertical.
He set a record at Baylor during his sophomore year with 642 points during the 2025-26 season. That ranked him fifth in program history, regardless of class.
Carr has been compared to Knicks wing player Mikal Bridges, a two-way player who just won the championship with New York.
The draft will continue Wednesday with the second round, but the Lakers don’t have a pick.
The Lakers needed to add a player such as Carr because they have so many roles to fill.
LeBron James is a free agent and is looking for a contract from the Lakers. Austin Reaves is expected to opt out of his deal that will pay him $14.8 million. The Lakers can pay Reaves the most, a five-year deal for $241 million. Marcus Smart, the best defender on the Lakers, has a player option for $5.3 million. People around the NBA expect him to opt out and sign a deal for more money. Rui Hachimura is an unrestricted free agent and will have many teams after him. Luke Kennard is a free agent and will have a few teams after him because of his three-point shooting.
So, essentially, the Lakers need players on their roster and Carr is a player that the Lakers felt fell to them when so many draft boards had him going earlier.
The Lakers will seek to use their 25th pick in Tuesday’s first round of the NBA draft on a player who fills a need on a roster that could have up to nine free agents this summer. Yet the Lakers also are aware that picking that late in the round could leave them selecting the best player available.
They probably will be in search of a center who can be a lob threat or an athletic wing who can play defense and knock down three-pointers, two positions the Lakers crave as they try to build a team around star Luka Doncic that fits best with his style of play.
The Lakers spent time in Spain looking at 20-year-old guard Sergio de Larrea, but many NBA scouts see him going later in the first round or even in the second. According to people not authorized to speak publicly, the Lakers were impressed by their workout with Purdue point guard Braden Smith. But he’s on the smaller side (6 feet) and played four years in college, leading scouts to believe his upside is not that high and that he’ll be drafted in the second round.
The Lakers don’t have a pick in Wednesday’s second round.
After the Lakers were swept by a deep and athletic Oklahoma City team in the second round of the playoffs, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka outlined what it takes when trying to compete in the uber-tough Western Conference against the likes of the Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, who became the second-youngest team to reach the NBA Finals.
Pelinka looked at how Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell was drafted in the second round and how he flourished in just his second season, especially in the playoffs, in which he averaged 15.1 points and 4.3 assists in 11 games.
“Depth is really important, athleticism and youth. We have a lot of components of that on our roster, but we need to add to it,” Pelinka said last month during his exit interview with the media. “I think those are some of the key North Stars that we need to look at.
“One of the players that they had who played really well, Ajay Mitchell, they got in the second round. So there’s ways to add to your roster if you commit to doing the hard work and commit to the process of adding the right pieces. … We’ll be doing that through the draft and free agency and through trades. We’ve gotta find a way to have a roster that will compete with any team in the NBA. That’s what we do here.”
The Lakers do have three tradable first-round picks — 2026, 2031 and 2033 — but the latter two can’t be moved until after the draft.
Lakers star LeBron James is an unrestricted free agent and is looking for a deal from the Lakers, while Austin Reaves is expected to opt out of his $14.8-million deal so he can sign a contract with them for up to five years and about $241 million.
Still, the Lakers have to proceed with the draft to find a player.
Texas forward Dailyn Swain, left, vies for a loose ball against Purdue guard Braden Smith during an NCAA tournament game in March.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
Swain (6-7) and Evans (6-6) are the kind of athletic wings the Lakers could use, but both might be chosen before the Lakers make their pick.
The 6-9 Quaintance could slide to the Lakers because of health concerns. He played in only four games last season at Kentucky because the team was being cautious following knee surgery after he tore an anterior cruciate ligament when he played at Arizona State.
Scouts still view him as mobile, athletic and young enough — he turns 19 next month — to develop. But, Quaintance will need to rehab his knee and probably won’t be ready for the upcoming season. When healthy, scouts said, he can be the lob threat and defender that Doncic yearns to have.
Welcome to the Sports Report, our weekday morning newsletter covering L.A. sports. To sign up to receive it via email (it’s free), go here.
The second ballot we sent out for the L.A. Times Sports Report Hall of Fame was the NBA ballot, with 24 names appearing. People were able to vote for up to 10 candidates.
Reminder: Whoever is named on at least 75% of the ballots will be elected. The five people receiving the fewest votes will be dropped from future ballots for at least the next two years. A person must be retired to appear on the ballot.
There were 12,725 ballots cast in the NBA voting, and six candidates received at least 75% of the vote, and a worthy six they are.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Inductees
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, appeared on 99.3% of ballots
Magic Johnson, 96.2%
Jerry West, 94.7%
Kobe Bryant, 90.1%
Elgin Baylor, 76.2%
Chick Hearn, 75.8%
Didn’t make it, but will remain on ballot
Shaquille O’Neal, 72.8% Wilt Chamberlain, 59.9% Pat Riley, 58.4% Jerry Buss, 53.3% James Worthy, 49.5% Phil Jackson, 41.6% Gail Goodrich, 24.4% Jamaal Wilkes, 12% Michael Cooper, 10% Pau Gasol, 8.1% Jack Kent Cooke, 7% Blake Griffin, 5.2% Ralph Lawler, 4.4%
Bottom five, dropped from ballot for two years
Chris Paul, 4.1% Derek Fisher, 3.8% Byron Scott, 3% Elton Brand, 2.5% Stu Lantz, 1.9%
Thanks to everyone who voted! There is still time to vote in our other active categories. The next ballot will be released Thursday morning.
To vote in the Rams/Chargers/Raiders ballot, click here.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Aki has agreed a new one-year deal to stay with Connacht but there has not been any progress with Lowe, who is contracted by Leinster rather than an central contract with the Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU].
Lowe did not make the squad for the Champions Cup final defeat by Bordeaux despite having returned from a hamstring injury sustained in the Six Nations win over England.
However, his two record-breaking tries on Saturday show he is still a threat when fit and available.
While Cullen declined to comment on his future, he did praise the impact Lowe has made since he moved to Ireland nine years ago.
“He’s been a great character in the group. Very, very different, you know, what he brings, great energy,” Cullen said after the game.
“Internally, we had a video there just in terms of some of the stuff that he’s done in a Leinster jersey over his career.
“There’s not many James Lowes running around the streets that we’ve come across so far. He’s been a great addition to the group over the years.”
