ADULT CHAT LINE
RUGBY LEAGUE SUPER LEAGUE HALF A CHANCE FOR BIG LEAGUE START Hamilton puts struggle behind him to lead from start to finish PREMIERSHIP EXIT THE DRAGON WITH FRANCIS’ EXETER DEAL
LEWIS HAMILTON admitted it was “psychologically challenging” to put last week’s misery behind him as he revved up his world title defence with a dominant victory at the Styrian Grand Prix.
After romping to one of the finest pole positions of his career in rain-hit qualifying on Saturday, the six-time world champion delivered again in the dry to take his first win of the season.
Such was his dominance that the Briton led from start to finish to take the chequered flag a mighty 13.7 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas, the winner of the seasonopening Austrian GP at the same Red Bull Ring circuit last week, made it a Silver Arrows one-two with a late-race lunge to beat Max Verstappen.
But while Bottas was unable to repeat his race-winning exploits from seven days ago, Hamilton bounced back from an error-strewn curtainraiser which saw him handed two penalties and miss out on a podium.
Yesterday he barely worked up a sweat as he kick-started his quest to equal Michael Schumacher’s record haul of seven world titles with a flawless performance.
“With great difficulty,” Hamilton said when asked how he put last week’s disappointment behind him. “But when there is a will there is a way.
“The last weekend definitely was psychologically challenging.
“But there is nothing you can do about the past. To have a performance like this today – I’m over the moon, so happy. I also know though that there is a long way to go.”
Beforehand the Briton took a knee again alongside 11 drivers as he continues to lead F1’s fight against racism. And as soon as the lights went out, the Mercedes star showed why he is a winner on the track as well as off.
The same cannot be said of Ferrari, whose woes continued after Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel collided on the very first lap, forcing both drivers out. That was arguably the standout incident from a largely underwhelming race compared to last week’s chaotic season opener.
But Hamilton won’t have too many complaints as he cruised to his 85th win, leaving him only six short of Schumacher’s all-time win record.
HALF of the Super League clubs have still to agree pay-cut terms with their players as some squads return to training this week ahead of the August 2 restart.
Castleford, Hull KR, Salford, Wakefield, Warrington and Wigan are the six clubs in question, with all due for talks with players union, the GMB, this week.
A seventh club, Leeds, have verbally agreed terms and are in the process of receiving signed confirmation.
Wakefield chief executive
Michael Carter says that the average loss for players in net pay would be 11.5 percent over the year with the highest loss being 16.7 percent, but has confirmed one senior member of Trinity’s squad has been calling for a strike.
Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell (above) says there is no dispute with his squad, but that they will speak to them and the GMB again this week.
Hudgell said: “Our players have been very understanding of the position. We hope to relax some of the cuts over the next few weeks.”
TOMAS FRANCIS has turned his back on Wales by signing a contract extension with Exeter.
The 28-year-old tight-head, back to fitness after a serious shoulder injury at the World Cup, has effectively frozen himself out of selection for his country.
Wales have a 60-cap eligibility rule for players agreeing new deals with clubs outside the Principality and Francis falls short on 48. It means that unless Dragons coach Wayne Pivac secures an exemption, Francis (above) will be unavailable for selection.
He is one of 30 players to agree new terms with the Premiership leaders, including England internationals Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Henry Slade , and Scotland captain Stuart Hogg.
“I’m delighted with what has happened,” said Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter. “It seems strange really, because there’s been an awful lot of news coming out from other clubs in regards to what is happening around pay cuts, players leaving, players staying, yet we have got on with our business pretty quickly.
“It’s meant us having individual discussions with players and agents, but in the end I feel like we’ve all got what we need out of it.
“They’re not all four-year deals, nor are they all one-year deals, but we feel we have done the right thing in kind of backing this group of players.
“We feel they will continue to improve and we will indeed get their best rugby years out of them.”