Lewis Hamilton believes his first win for Ferrari is on the cards after a second-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, with the seven-time champion committed to chasing down the Formula One world championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, who won again in Monte Carlo.

After the race there was also a furious reaction from France’s Pierre Gasly, who crossed the line believing he had secured third and a place on the podium, only to find he had two penalties for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him to seventh.

Antonelli won for Mercedes after a dominant drive and maintaining his lead through a safety-car restart and another standing restart. With his teammate George Russell finishing in 13th, one of five drivers penalised for speeding in the pit lane, the 19-year-old Italian now leads the title race by 66 points from Hamilton, who has surpassed Russell and is two points ahead of him in second place.

“I can’t believe I am second in the championship,” said Hamilton. “It is still very early days in the season and we have to keep chasing. It is actually easier to chase than it is to defend and while these guys [Mercedes] are very quick, we are going to keep pushing, keep chasing and I have no doubt that at some stage we will get that [Ferrari win].

“Kimi is doing a phenomenal job but it just encourages me to level up and it encourages everyone else to level up, too. I am going to do my best to try and chase him down for the rest of the year.”

Hamilton was among five drivers who were penalised for speeding in the pit lane, an unusually high number. Alongside Russell, Gasly and Hamilton, Oscar Piastri and Franco Colapinto were also punished.

Gasly had driven a superb race from ninth on the grid, passing Lando Norris at the start and then Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar at the standing restart. He crossed the line and celebrated his third place enthusiastically on his in-lap, not knowing he had two five-second penalties to be added to his time.

He was left angry, convinced his podium place had been unfairly denied. “I don’t think there is anything that could hurt me more right now,” he said. “It’s 10 years I’m fucking working my ass off for this type of moment. We did everything right today [for] standing on that podium in front of all the fans that turned up.

“This is the type of moment that for me can’t be taken away from us by unfair reasons. What’s going on right now is not right and hopefully they can make the right choice.”

His Alpine team have requested the right to review the penalties. The drivers involved all believed they had employed their pit speed limiters correctly and the issue appears to have come about when marginally cutting the line where speed measurement begins on pit entry, an issue the FIA had warned against.

Russell has seen his title hopes take a serious blow in not scoring at the last two races and was let down in Monaco when Mercedes failed to impose his five-second penalty during his stop, for which he was given a drive-through, demoting him from third to 13th. He was bereft at his poor fortune.

“I’m beyond frustration now. Just struggling to comprehend how this season has panned out,” he said. “The team tell me there’s nothing I did wrong with the speed in the pit lane, software issue.

“I’m in a very weird state of mind because I’ve had very low moments in my career where I’ve maybe had a run of two bad races or three bad races on my own personal performance. I’ve never had a run of bad luck like this.”

THE GUARDIAN

The 2026 World Cup may not kick off until Thursday, but the fashion tournament has already begun, as teams arrive at training camps across the US.

Fashion moments range from the outfits players wear to get to training, to the suits worn on planes and their training gear. The French team’s training camp in Clairefontaine became something of a catwalk this week thanks to the style of players such as Jules Koundé and Kylian Mbappé. Meanwhile, brands including Loewe, Gabriela Hearst, Patta and the rapper Drake’s Nocta have worked with teams on suiting and training gear.

Since the last tournament in 2022, fashion’s influence on football has skyrocketed, with brands working with players and clubs, and the personal style of players influencing what young men wear, often thanks to carousels of images on Instagram and the outfits photographed when they arrive at training. This is set to increase further at the World Cup, with players including the Spanish ace Lamine Yamal, the Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Koundé already posting outfits to their Instagram accounts.

“Fashion has been given a currency that it hasn’t had before,” says Mahalia Chang, the style editor of GQ. “We’re seeing more of the players and, unconsciously or not, we’re putting more weight on what they wear, and I think they’re aware of that.”

Chang points to Yamal – who wore a Chanel jacket recently – and Van Dijk as players to watch for the tournament. “[Yamal] takes a lot of courage to step outside the box and you can tell he feels great,” she says. “[Van Dijk’s style] is elevated, classic but it still has a nice edge to it.”

Ahead of the tournament, here are the teams and players who are so far winning the style games.

Netherlands

It makes sense that the Dutch streetwear brand Patta would work with the Dutch team at the World Cup. The bold orange and black prints featuring lions and chains – shades of 80s Versace – have already been worn by the team captain, Van Dijk on the cover of Fantastic Man magazine and for a pre-tournament friendly against Algeria.

United States

As manager of the US team, Mauricio Pochettino regularly wears a relaxed-fit suit, with an open jacket and jersey underneath. When the US players were revealed this tournament, they were dressed in a similar manner – a clever mirroring that signals the synergy between boss and players, and also flashes forward to their potential post-playing careers as managers themselves.

England

Jude Bellingham has never been the kind of guy to take huge fashion risks. But, like his Real Madrid teammate Mbappé, he always looks pristine. While other teammates are in slightly crumpled sportswear or the regulation not-grey-and-not-blue-either England tracksuit, which as Sports Direct vibes, he turned up in tasteful beige co-ords and made sleeveless knits seem like a viable option in near 30-degree heat.

Spain

The Spanish brand Loewe has the kind of fashion pedigree usually reserved for catwalk shows. But it’s now also working with the national team on suits. The designs in question, worn by players including Nico Williams and Pedri, are therefore distinctly more fashion forward than most footballers’ suits– with wide trousers and one-button jackets. Classy.

Germany

Germany’s plane outfits were varied but all variations on the theme – whether slackets, chinos, tasteful knits or fresh white tees, all in a colour palette of navy, beige and white. The dads-on-tour look is not dissimilar to the designs that the England team wore when outfitted by Marks & Spencer for Euro 2024. Simple, approachable and wearable – think clothing equally at home at the school gates or a weekend barbecue.

France

Much has been made of the French team’s off-duty style prowess when arriving at their training camp Clairefontaine. While sadly they now have to wear their regulation training kits most of the time, there are still details to note. These Nike Air Max Plus sneakers – a current favourite with twentysomethings – ensure Les Bleus make their mark, even in uniform.

Japan

When departing Japan for the World Cup, the Samurai Blue wore pristine suits, with slightly asymmetrical waistcoats. The stand out player was defender Yuto Nagatomo, who added a traditional hachimaki headband, to symbolise fighting spirit. A different mood arrived when they reached Monterrey in Mexico – and the governor Samual Garcia handed the team cowboy hats.

Could have been a contender: Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai

Liverpool fans well know Szoboszlai’s ability to change games on the pitch. Although Hungary failed to qualify for the World Cup, his arrival at the team’s recent training camp in white just-below-the-knee culottes had a similar effect off it. GQ’s Chang describes his look as “a high-risk, high-reward kind of outfit”. Hermès bag aside, it has more in common with the looks found in east London than on most footballers, and has already spawned memes to that effect. Although he’s been mercilessly mocked by the football community for it, he’s top of the league for fashion.

THE GUARDIAN

Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal has been named LaLiga Player of the season, the Spanish ​league announced on Friday.

The 18-year-old helped Barca retain ‌their domestic crown, became the first player to win the league’s Player of the Month award three times ​in one season and finished as the ​club’s top scorer in La Liga with ⁠16 goals and 11 assists.

Regarding ​Yamal, Barca said in a statement: “He is the proverbial headache for opponent defences, who have to make a real ​effort to try to stop the blaugrana’s ​attacking threats.

“Beyond the intangibles, the young Catalan scored 16 goals ‌and ⁠provided 11 assists, with no other LaLiga player providing that many passes leading to goals.”

Yamal, who has been sidelined with groin issues multiple times ​this term, is ​expected to ⁠be fit for Spain at the World Cup starting next week in ​Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

He missed ​the ⁠last six games of the season for Barcelona due to a hamstring injury.

Yamal exploded onto the scene at ⁠16 ​and was an integral part ​of Spain’s record fourth European Championship triumph in 2024.

 The Thomson Reuters