SportsNews

Williams to “compromise” next season ahead of 2026 rules overhaul

Published

1 year ago

October 10, 2024

Williams team principal James Vowles has warned that the 2025 Formula 1 season will prove tricky for the British outfit as it focuses on the new regulations for the following year.

F1 cars will be overhauled from 2026 onwards, with smaller dimensions, reduced weight, simplified aerodynamics and toned-down downforce and drag.

Having failed to finish a race in the top five since 2017 – other than the controversial 2021 Belgian Grand Prix – as it struggled financially under the Williams family, the Grove-based team has been getting the budget it needs from new owners Dorilton Capital and catching up with rival squads in terms of both performance and infrastructure.

2026 will therefore be a major opportunity for Williams to leap up the pecking order with drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, and the team is ready to sacrifice the upcoming campaign to do so.

“It’s the message that Alex and Carlos both know: 2025 will be a struggle, I think,” Vowles told Autosport.

“It’s not that you’re going to see us moving forward, we’re going to move back a little bit.

“And if we are, I’m okay with that, because it simply says that I’m investing at the right rate for ‘26 compared to those around me. That’s what we should be expecting from it: we are going to compromise ’25. That doesn’t mean we’ll be tenth, but it’s going to be a hard year.”

Alex Albon, Williams FW46

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Following a 2023 season in which Williams narrowly beat AlphaTauri [now RB] for seventh position – with 28 points to 25 in the constructors’ championship – the team struggled early this year with just four points before the summer break.

However, its campaign really took off in Monza and Baku – with Albon and team-mate Franco Colapinto both finishing in the top eight in Azerbaijan – which is down to the ponderous FW46 finally losing crucial weight.

“I think we were fortunate to finish seventh last year,” Vowles added. “RB was bloody quick at the end of the year, and it was really just a matter of one strategic call, almost, that defined who finished ahead in the championship. We still finished seventh.

“This year’s car was performing. I think I was quite open in how overweight we were. Just take that time off and you’ll see that we shouldn’t be where we are in the championship. Now that we’ve had the performance, taking the weight off the car, we’re back to where I would have expected us to be – which is therefore not a step backwards.”

Vowles now advocates for a trial-and-error approach in the next 12 months as he considers this to be the best way to learn amidst the 2026 technical revolution.

“We are trying to do leaps – not steps forward, not inching forward, not minimal gains, or marginal gains even, but leaps in the technology and what we’re doing,” the Briton explained. “And in doing so, we’re going to trip ourselves up. And I’m comfortable with that, because we can’t unlearn what we’ve learned.

“I give you almost a guarantee: unfortunately, we’re going to trip ourselves again. I don’t think it’d be in ‘25, for what it’s worth. I think we’ve got enough of a good pathway to lead us there. I think in ’26, what we’re asking of the organisation is more than we can deliver. So we’ve got to make it fit or perhaps trip up a little bit along the way.”

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’