SportsNews

Ferrari ‘hurting’ as it misses out on F1 title to McLaren

Published

12 months ago

December 9, 2024

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24 © Autosport.com

Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclercadmitted they were left ‘hurting’ to miss out on the 2024 Formula 1 constructors’ title.

Both Ferrari and McLaren were in the running for the teams’ title this year, but ultimately McLaren claimed the crown by 14 points courtesy of Lando Norris taking victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The second McLaren of Oscar Piastri was restricted to fighting back to 10th having been hit by Max Verstappen at the start, with Sainz finishing second and Leclerc recovering brilliantly from 19th to also make the podium.

Despite taking second and third place, Ferrari’s 16-year wait for a constructors’ championship goes on.

“Obviously, it is a bit of a bittersweet feeling, in the end,” said Sainz, who took second place in his final race for Ferrari ahead of his move to Williams.

“P2 I think was the maximum we could do today, given the pace of Lando in the McLaren. Yeah. I gave it everything, especially the first stint it looked like, we could hang on to them.

“Then as soon as we put the hard tyres, they just seemed to be that one or two tenths quicker per lap, like we’ve seen all weekend, and they just got a bit out of out of reach.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“But yeah, congratulations, first of all, to McLaren. They deserved this championship. They’ve been rock solid in the last two-thirds of the championship, and they’ve been incredible from our side, I think we can be proud of the effort and the championship we put together.

“It’s been a tough year, but definitely a year where we need to be proud of and hopefully be back here soon.”

Leclerc’s impressive drive through the field began as he avoided the first-lap drama to pick up plenty of places, with the speed of his Ferrari ultimately allowing the Monegasque to battle through to third place.

Leclerc’s weekend was compromised on Friday when he was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for a new battery pack that was outside of his allocation for the season.

“I knew I had to be very aggressive. So I knew that in lap one I had to take all the risks possible in order to gain as many places as possible to then be in a good position for the rest of the race, which was achieved,” he explained.

“But then, unfortunately, we were just starting too far back to do anything better than what we’ve done today. I think we’ve done the maximum.

“It hurts, obviously, because when, the season is so close until the end, and it was a hard hit on Friday when we knew we had the penalty, we still gave it all, and we just come short of our goal, which is a shame, but at the end, we’ve tried everything.

Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, 3rd position, congratulates Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, in Parc Ferme
© Autosport.com

Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, 3rd position, congratulates Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“If we look [at] our first part of the year, we were nowhere near being in the fight for the constructors’. Then the second part of the season was really good, and the team has done an incredible job.

“I think Carlos and I have done a really good job as well together. So yeah, we ended strong, and I’m sure that next year will hopefully start as strong as what we have ended this year.”

SportsNews

EPL: Fulham must move on from defeat to Manchester City — Iwobi

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Alex Iwobi says Fulham must stay positive despite their 5-4 defeat to Manchester City at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.

Marco Silva’s side put up a spirited display in the encounter, and were unlucky not to get at least one point.

Iwobi started the fight back by scoring the second goal for Fulham early in the second half.

The versatile midfielder’s compatriot, Samuel Chukwueze then rose from the bench to score two more goals for the Cottagers.

Manchester City, however, held on to go home with maximum points.

Iwobi stated that they deserved more from the game.

“I feel disappointed because we didn’t get anything out of the fighting spirit that we showed, but I think we have to take the positivity from the game,” Iwobi told the club’s official website.

Fulham will be away to Crystal Palace in their next Premier League game on Sunday.

SportsNews

EPL: Guardiola names team that impresses him everyday

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has named the Premier League club that has impressed him so much this season.

The Spaniard said that Enzo Maresca’s side have really impressed him with the improvement they make everyday.

Speaking after Manchester City beat Fulham 5-4 in the Premier League on Tuesday night, Guardiola pointed out that a team must remain consistent to win the title.

Pep Guardiola’s side closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to just two points behind Arsenal with the victory over Fulham, but the Gunners could maintain their five points lead with a win over Brentford on Wednesday night.

“Chelsea impresses me more and more every day with Enzo [Maresca], but it’s long,” he told reporters after the win.

“Premier League is so long, many things will happen. We won six Premier Leagues, four or five when we in December, January or February we were behind.

“The team who wins the Premier League is the team who grows during the months and this is what we try to do. No injuries, it’s so long.

“But at the same time, if we push, we will be better and push ourselves and control the situations better, the emotions and we will see what happens.”

SportsNews

Outrage As ‘Biological Male’ Wins World’s Strongest Woman Event in Texas (Photos)

Published

1 week ago

November 26, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The 2025 World’s Strongest Woman final has sparked outrage after an alleged transgender athlete won gold.

American Jammie Booker, who is accused of being a biological male, beat Great Britain’s Andrea Thompson to victory at the event in Arlington, Texas.

According to Mail Online, Thompson walked off the podium, appearing to say ‘this is bulls***,’ while Booker celebrated. The Brit has since been crowned the ‘true World’s Strongest Woman’ by her coach and some of her peers.

Rebecca Roberts, a three-time winner of World’s Strongest Woman, has sensationally claimed that no one – not even the organizers – knew about Booker’s background.

Details on the American are not clear, but the publication sighted a YouTube video – uploaded to what appears to be Booker’s YouTube channel in September 2017, with Booker saying: ‘Everyone is dying to tell their own story and I am obviously no exception to that.

‘I’m 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.’

On Monday night, Roberts posted a picture on Instagram that read ‘Protect Women’s Sports.’ She wrote alongside the picture: ‘I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth.

But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women’s strength sports. Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category.

This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else. Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.

‘What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack.

‘My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only.

‘I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever. Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman… the true World’s Strongest Woman 2025’