Lewis Hamilton was back at the center of attention again on Thursday when he arrived in the paddock of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to face questions about his rivalry with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
Appearing at a routine prerace news conference, the 29-year-old Briton made light of suggestions that the pair’s relationship was damaged and stressed that they were friends “just as they always had been.”
Looking calm and relaxed ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in which he hopes to win again to regain the lead in the drivers’ world championship, Hamilton said they had cleared the air in talks after the Monaco Grand Prix.
“Me and Nico spoke, with the team and individually,” he said, adding that their apparent fallout in Monte Carlo was “no different to others we have had in many years of racing together.”
Hamilton had suggested that Rosberg had deliberately left the track, prompting yellow flags, during the final minutes of qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The incident meant 28-year-old German Rosberg started the race from pole position, after a brief stewards’ inquiry had cleared him of any wrongdoing.
However, Hamilton simmered with resentment throughout the weekend and suggested their friendship was over.
On Thursday, Hamilton insisted that there are no lingering tensions with Rosberg as they resume battle at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
“We spoke after the race and, like friends, we have ups and downs,” said Hamilton, who trails Rosberg by four points in the title race.
“We have known each other for a long time and it is done and dusted. We look forward to working together to help the team win the constructors’ championship,” he added.
Mercedes held a team dinner in Montreal on Wednesday that both drivers attended. Hamilton said the atmosphere in the team is upbeat and positive and not affected by the drivers’ rivalry.
“Collectively with the team, me and Nico spoke and we individually spoke to the team, nothing has really changed,” he said. “The team has done a great job in supporting us in the way it is run with Paddy [Lowe] and Toto [Wolff]. Their support for both of us is great.”
“We are full steam ahead. We had dinner together with the team yesterday and things are better. We are going from strength to strength. People have ups and downs so it is no different from years we have been racing together,” Hamilton added.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but