One of Formula 1’s most iconic figures climbed to the top step of the podium Sunday at Silverstone, as Lewis Hamilton finally broke through into the winner’s column in the British Grand Prix. It was the seven-time champion’s first victory since the penultimate race of the 2021 F1 season.
However, another transformative figure in the sport was left to wonder where things went wrong as he came across the line down in 13th.
Daniel Ricciardo, who was on the back foot almost the entire week in Silverstone, finished outside the points Sunday at the British Grand Prix. Speaking after the race, the Australian driver — and one of the most popular figures in the sport — was left to ponder what might have happened.
“It was a mixed conditions race which was exciting; ultimately grabbing some opportunities, but unfortunately, we were not competitive,” said Ricciardo in the team’s post-race report. “It was one of those days where we struggled more than we should have, so we’ll try to get into it and figure out why. In the last three weekends, I think we have lost out a little bit on the latest upgrades battle compared to some of our competitors in the midfield, so we’ve got some work to do looking at the next races.
“It’s good now to have a week off for all of us to reset and come back to Budapest which is a completely different circuit.”
Speaking with Lawrence Barretto in the television pen after the race, Ricciardo elaborated on how he felt in the car, highlighting how the pace was simply not there for his RB01 this week in Silverstone.
“I felt like we struggled more than we should have,” said Ricciardo. “I know that this isn’t necessarily going to be a real competitive circuit for us. But I still felt [relatively speaking] we struggled more. [So we’ll] try and get into it and figure out why that was.”
Looking ahead to the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ricciardo outlined how the team needs to “rectify some weaknesses” before the grid is back in action in Budapest.
“I think compared to some of our competitors in the midfield, we have lost out a little bit in the latest upgrade battle,” said Ricciardo. “I think Budapest is [a] completely different circuit. So let’s see.
“But yeah, it’s not enough for us just to be like ‘that track will suit us and we’ll be ok.’
“We obviously got to rectify some weaknesses and I’ll obviously look at my race and figure out where I lack the pace, but there were times we were like missing about eight-tenths a lap and I didn’t really feel like that was there.
“So, yeah, just one of those days.”
And with that, Ricciardo was off, left to ponder where he and Visa Cash App RB F1 Team can find those critical eight-tenths.
A week ago at the Austrian Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo delivered a bold statement despite missing out on the third segment of qualifying. Ricciardo outlined how the RB01 was a “top ten” car despite his elimination in Q2, and he backed up that proclamation with a points finish at Red Bull Ring.
There were no similar proclamations from Ricciardo following Saturday’s qualifying session at the British Grand Prix.
Ricciardo and teammate Yuki Tsunoda were both eliminated in Q2, with Tsunoda set to start 13th in the main event Sunday, and Ricciardo behind him in 15th. To hear the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team driver tell it, he was not “happy” with how things unfolded on Saturday at Silverstone.
“I’m not particularly happy with today’s qualifying; it wasn’t a good session, and this is something we need to figure out,” said Ricciardo. “Both runs in Q2 didn’t go as expected, and we struggled to get the lap in, leading me to do some overtaking in the last corner, which is something I hate when people do it to me.
“I started my last push lap a couple of seconds behind Zhou [Guanyu], and with the dirty air, you’re never going to get a good lap. The last three weekends haven’t been easy, but we found a way to make it work,” added Ricciardo. “Coming into Silverstone with the same struggles has also added to today’s frustrations because we don’t have the luxury to be able to get things wrong. We’ll address all we need during tonight’s debrief and look ahead at the race.”
While Ricciardo was frustrated with how Saturday played out, his teammate was a bit more pleased with the session.
“I’m happy with how we handled today; the team and I worked well together and communicated during qualifying to adapt to the changing weather conditions,” described Tsunoda. “We knew it would be difficult coming into quali because we’ve been lacking pace throughout Free Practice, and it’s a shame we haven’t been able to quite turn it around as much as we would’ve liked to, but the field is tight, and anything can happen.
“We’re struggling with pace in the high-speed corners at this track, which is similar to last week, but we’ll work hard to maximise our performance tomorrow. We had good pace in the wet and we’ll adapt based on the weather conditions and communicate, that’s the key.”
VCARB Technical Director Jody Egginton noted that the team might not have put Ricciardo in the best position during Q2, but that there is potential for the team on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t put Daniel in good enough conditions for his final run in Q2 which got him caught up in a lot of traffic, altering his position for tomorrow,” said Egginton. “We find ourselves slightly back from where we want to be, but laps time deltas to the cars around us are small and the team is pushing hard to extract everything from the car.”
Salvaging something on Sunday could be critical for the team in their fight with Haas in the F1 Constructors’ Championship. VCARB currently sits in sixth place in the standings, 11 points clear of Haas. But with Nico Hülkenberg starting sixth on Sunday Haas has tremendous potential to cut into that lead. If Riccardo and/or Tsunoda can find a way to forge into the points, it would be a massive step for the team.
And it would perhaps ease some of the frustration Ricciardo is feeling this Saturday at Silverstone.
The first big wave of player movement in the 2024 NBA offseason has come and gone, and a few things are starting to crystalize. The Oklahoma City Thunder look like the class of the West after adding Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to last year’s No. 1 seed. The Boston Celtics remain a strong favorite in the East, but the New York Knicks with Mikal Bridges and Philadelphia 76ers with Paul George are ready to push them.
Some teams have set themselves up for improvement this offseason even if they aren’t at the top of the championship picture. The Dallas Mavericks did well to add more shooting and defense around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and it will be fascinating to see how Klay Thompson performs away from the Bay. The Orlando Magic won’t sneak up on anyone this year, and have a chance to be an emerging Eastern Conference powerhouse.
Then there’s the teams who haven’t done enough. While there’s plenty of time left in the offseason to make moves, these six teams should be feeling the heat to do something or they are going to get left behind by their rivals.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets could have retained Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency if they wanted to. Instead, Denver was too afraid of looming penalties for entering the ‘second apron’ of the luxury tax, and decided it could replace the veteran two-guard’s production with younger players. Either that, or ownership just cheaped out.
This is the time that Denver should be going all-in around Nikola Jokic. The three-time MVP is in the prime of his career at 29 years old, yet the team around him continues to lose talent over nothing but money. The Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green last year after winning the 2023 championship, and now it’s lost an even bigger contributor in KCP. This decision puts a ton of pressure on Denver’s untested young bench — Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther — to perform at a high level immediately. The Nuggets’ depth was already an issue last year, and it’s an even more glaring need now.
The Nuggets will still be very good. They may even still win the title. But the team got significantly worse by losing Caldwell-Pope for no good reason. The young guys are going to have to take a major leap, or the Nuggets have failed Jokic this summer.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers were a pretty good team last year that only won one playoff game and never had a realistic chance of winning the Western Conference. It would seem to behoove a team like that to make some major moves in the offseason, especially when it has three first round picks to trade at its disposal. Instead, the Lakers have been content to draft Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, and do nothing else.
Knecht can help the Lakers next season as a rookie with his off-ball shooting, but that won’t be enough to make a major push up the standings. LA is betting on internal development of their young players, but if they make a real veteran addition, chances are they will be worse by proxy. LA got very good health out of LeBron James and Anthony Davis last season, and who knows if that will be the case this year. The West keeps improving, and the Lakers are doing nothing as LeBron James sets to enter his age-40 season.
The Lakers are preparing for life after James instead of going all-in while he’s still an elite player. LA doesn’t want to trade its future draft picks and take on penalties from entering the second-apron. The Lakers are kind of just chilling, and that shouldn’t be good enough when they employ the superstar with the longest prime in league history.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks were supposed to be a championship contender after acquiring Damian Lillard last season. Instead, the team looked underwhelming out of the gates, fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin to replace him with Doc Rivers at midseason, and then saw Giannis Antetokounmpo suffer a season-ending injury just before the playoffs.
It feels like it’s now or never for the Lillard-Antetokounmpo pairing entering the 2024-25 season, but the Bucks have done absolutely nothing to improve the team this summer.
It’s true that the Bucks are capped out and light on future assets, but other teams have found a way to get creative in similar situations. Milwaukee’s big plan appears to be praying for good health from their four veteran stars. That doesn’t seem like a wise move when the 76ers and Knicks went all-out to add top-end talent, while the Celtics remain the class of the conference. If Milwaukee disappoints again this season, it’s only a matter of time before Antetokounmpo trade rumors pop up again.
Miami Heat
The Heat missed out on Damian Lillard last summer, and they never had a chance at Donovan Mitchell this summer before he re-signed with Cleveland. Miami is a franchise known for taking big swings, yet they’ve done a whole lot of nothing heading into the 2024-25 season.
Jimmy Butler is entering the final year of his contract without an extension in place. Bam Adebayo is locked up on a long-term deal, and there are some nice young pieces on the roster in Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware, and Tyler Herro. For now, the Heat feel like a team stuck in two-timelines: one not good enough to win with Butler as a centerpiece this season, yet without a foundational player if he leaves in the summer of 2025.
Miami would be wise to look at Butler trades and prioritize their future, but this organization typically doesn’t operate that way. Unless the Heat can find a way to make a move for an impact talent, it feels like they’re stuck at the bottom of the East playoff picture.
Los Angeles Clippers
This one is self-explanatory. The Clippers lost Paul George in free agency without getting assets back for him. LA responded by making some bargain signings in Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Nic Batum, and Mo Bamba, but those guys aren’t going to make up the loss of an All-NBA caliber player like George.
The Clippers still have Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on the roster, but that isn’t a reliable duo at this point in their careers. The scary thing for LA is it doesn’t control its own first round pick until 2030. Right now, this looks like a low-end Western Conference playoff team at best with the arrow pointing downhill and very few assets to course correct.
Phoenix Suns
At least the Phoenix Suns didn’t cheap out. Despite a massive luxury tax bill looming, the Suns re-signed Royce O’Neale to a $44 million contract. Phoenix also added Mason Plumlee to bolster its front court depth. We’ll applaud those moves on the margins, but it isn’t enough to really make a difference for a team that just got swept out of the first round of the playoffs.
Phoenix was supposed to be competing for championships when it acquired Kevin Durant. The all-in move for Bradley Beal last summer has backfired, and now Phoenix has an enormous payroll, three ill-fitting stars, and zero tradable future draft picks until 2031.
If the Suns don’t look great to start the season, it’s probably only a matter of time before they need to start thinking about trading Kevin Durant. At that point, Devin Booker’s future would become a major point of speculation, too. The Suns don’t have many moves left to make, and their team still isn’t good enough.
Sergio Garcia has failed to qualify for The Open Championship.
The LIV Golf star headlined the final qualifying event at West Lancashire Golf Club in Liverpool—one of four final qualifiers across the United Kingdom—but Garcia shot a 3-under 141 over 36 holes, missing out on one of the four spots available by two strokes.
“I tried my hardest to get into The Open; it would have been nice to make The Open my 100th major,” Garcia said on the radio broadcast after his round.
“I love The Open, and I love playing majors. But it’s tough when you’re that close and finish right on the edge. But unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it.”
Garcia attempted to qualify for last year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool by way of West Lancashire Golf Club as well. But he said the course played tougher this year, thanks to more challenging conditions. That said, Garcia felt comfortable making his way around these seaside links, thanks to his experience from a year ago. He knew his lines and where to miss shots, but the conditions—and other factors seemed to have got the best of him.
The Spaniard expressed frustration midway through his first 18 holes, when R&A officials put Garcia on the clock for slow play, per Ben Parsons of Bunkered.
Sergio Garcia furious at his slow play warning at Final Open Qualifying – saying fans are causing the delays. Here he is taking his anger out at two R&A officials.
Garcia said that all the fans following him disrupted the pace of play, not his routine and deliberations.
“The marshals were trying to do the best job they could do, but obviously, we had to stop pretty much on every tee for two to three minutes to hit our tee shots because people were walking in front of the tee and on the fairway,” Garcia said per Parsons.
“Unless we wanted to start hitting people, we couldn’t hit. I don’t think they took that into account, and that was unfortunate. It made us rush. On a day like today, when the conditions are so tricky, and you might need a little bit of extra time here and there, it doesn’t help out. Because of that, I made a couple of bogeys that might cost me getting to Troon.”
He tied for fifth at the 2016 Open Championship, the last time Royal Troon hosted golf’s oldest major. That year, Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson staged a duel for the ages, with the Swede fending off the American during an epic final round that saw Stenson win by three at 20-under-par. Stenson’s score of 264 remains the lowest aggregate score in Open history.
As for Garcia, the Spaniard could only make it back to Royal Troon via qualifying because of his LIV Golf affiliation, which has consequently plummeted his Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to 312th in the world. The R&A invites only the top 50 players to round out its 156-man field, meaning Garcia did not receive an automatic bid.
His exemption into this championship expired in 2022—five years after he won The Masters.
“You come out here, you play as hard as you can and hope it’s good enough,” Garcia added on the radio broadcast.
“If it’s not, then we’ll keep trying. Then, you know, The Masters will be my 100th major next April. That’s also a good choice.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
India took home the Cricket World Cup on Saturday with a nail-biting victory over South Africa in the final. The match came down to the wire, and there’s a very real chance that India could have lost without these heroics from SuryaKumar Yada.
In cricket the ball must always be in the field of play to be ruled as a catch. If Yada caught the ball and stepped out it would have been ruled as six runs. If he batted the ball down inside the field of play it would have given the batsmen ample time to record runs as well. So the only option was to catch the ball, throw it back inbounds, the run in and make a double catch — without stepping out.
It’s easier said than done, and requires incredible focus as well as processing speed. It’s not something you see very often, especially at a moment this important. At this stage in the final a full six runs would have put South Africa in the driver’s seat to win. Instead they lost a critical batsman that helped propel India to win the World Cup.
On Feb. 1, 2024, the two-time Masters champion ruptured his Achilles while playing pickleball and miraculously returned to the PGA Tour Champions three months later. This injury typically takes 12 months to recover, but the 66-year-old German has insisted on returning to competition.
Since his three-month hiatus, Langer has played in five events, recording a pair of top 10s at the Regions Tradition and the Principal Charity Classic, where he finished third. He most recently tied for 21st at the Dick’s Open, but if not for a second-round 3-over 75, he would have fared better.
Yet, Langer, who uses a golf cart to get around, still has lingering issues stemming from the injury. He admitted as such ahead of this week’s U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club, where he will defend his title.
“My leg and my ankle are swollen. It’s fatigue. I don’t have the range of motion in my foot,” Langer said.
Bernhard Langer during the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
“There are various things that aren’t there yet. My balance is not where I want it to be, and my strength. My calf muscle is probably one or two inches smaller than the other leg. I can’t get on my tiptoes. Right foot, I can do that. Just my right foot. I tried it on my left and nothing. I’ve got a ways to go, but I’m happy to be playing golf. The good thing is I can get carts in tournaments because right now, I can’t walk four or five days, 18 holes. It’s impossible. I tried to walk nine holes, and that was a stretch. That’s where we are at the moment—hopefully improving every week.”
No doubt that Langer has seen improvement since his Achilles injury, but he can still compete because of his health, which he takes great pride in.
“You have to be reasonably healthy because if not, you can’t do what you want to do and can’t swing the way you want to swing,” Langer added.
“I was born with a competitive nature, so I have a healthy drive and live a disciplined life, which probably helps. And the willingness to put in the work. I’m 66, and many people say, ‘Why don’t you retire?’ I guess I could, but I love the game of golf, and I love to compete. I’m still good enough to compete and be up there where I can win tournaments. When that changes, when I feel like I’m going to finish in the bottom third of the field every week I compete, then it’s probably time to quit. Hopefully, I will know when that is.”
Langer continues to finish in the upper tier of PGA Tour Champions events, despite many of his competitors being 10-to-15 years younger than him. But he has no plans to slow down, which can be attributed to his healthy lifestyle.
He does not drink alcohol. He does not smoke.
Instead, Langer, like Gary Player has done for years, continues to exercise and stretch every day. He has done so for as long as he can remember.
“The body functions better when we move the body,” Langer explained.
Bernhard Langer hits a chip-shot during the Dick’s Open.Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
“If we become too sedentary, you’ll pay the price for it sooner or later. I talked to my physical therapist, and he said, ‘If you lay two weeks in the hospital, just two weeks, don’t do anything, guess how much strength you lose? 50 percent.’ I was shocked. That only encourages me to do more, do something every day instead of just lying around for a few days in a row.”
Despite his impressive health regimens, did Langer have concerns about how his body would function after his injury?
Of course, he did.
But two months after his operation, Langer’s surgeon and physical therapist approached him and said, “I think you can try and putt a little bit and chip.”
He then progressed to hitting 50-yard and 100-yard shots. A week or two later, his medical team gave him the green light to try full swings with his driver and irons.
“I hit some wedges, no problem. If I can hit a full wedge, I can hit a full 7-iron. Hit a full 7-iron, no problem. Grabbed the 3-iron, no problem. The next day I grabbed the driver and had no problem swinging the club,” Langer said.
Bernhard Langer at the Principal Charity Classic.Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
“But I was very concerned at the beginning that I would change my swing because of my injury, and I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to come back sooner and create a new swing that probably wouldn’t be as good, and then I’d have to spend weeks and months redoing later when I’m better at what I taught myself.”
Langer then brought in his swing coach and went to the driving range.
“I don’t want to change my swing,” Langer said to his coach.
“I want to swing the way I did before, and if my body doesn’t allow me, I’m not going to play.”
Well, Langer and his coach looked at his swing, and it looked perfectly fine.
“That was very encouraging because that meant now I can practice and compete if I can get a golf cart because I couldn’t walk,” Langer added.
“As long as they give me a golf cart, I can actually play in tournaments.”
Not only can he play, but Langer continues to compete with some of the best senior players on the planet—almost as if he did not sustain this injury in the first place.
Yet, he believes he can win the U.S. Senior Open, which would mark an incredible feat given the circumstances. It would likely go down as the most improbable win in U.S. Senior Open history should Langer go on to win.
But would you be surprised?
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25507620/2158052868.jpg "U.S. Senior Open: Bernhard Langer’s injury issues not holding him back u,s,senior,open,bernhard,langer,s,injury,issues,not,holding,him,back,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-champions-tour,golf-news")
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25507621/2155746022.jpg "U.S. Senior Open: Bernhard Langer’s injury issues not holding him back u,s,senior,open,bernhard,langer,s,injury,issues,not,holding,him,back,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-champions-tour,golf-news")