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Antonelli seeks to extend sensational start | The Express Tribune
Kimi Antonelli leads George Russell by 20 points after four rounds of the 22-race championship. Photo: AFP/File
LONDON:
Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli seeks a sensational fourth consecutive victory to boost his F1 drivers’ title bid this weekend, but expects a robust response from Mercedes team-mate George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old rising star of Italian sport leads the Briton, nine years his senior and the pre-season favourite for the title, by 20 points after four rounds of the 22-race championship as Mercedes unveil a major upgrade package.
For Russell, it is important to re-establish his authority in the team after two fourth-place finishes allowed his team-mate to revel in being the sole Silver Arrows man, astride the top of the podium.
“I am expecting George, for sure, to be super-strong again in Canada,” said Antonelli, whose precocious talent, wide smile and curly hair have become an image Italian sporting optimism following their football team’s failure to qualifying for the World Cup.
“He’s always been strong in Montreal and he won last year so I have to be ready and be fully focused. I will do my best.”
In addition to his hat-trick of pole, victory and fastest lap last year, Russell took pole at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2024 and will fancy his chances of winning both Saturday’s sprint race and Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Last year, Antonelli was fourth on the grid and finished third, his first podium finish.
This time, he hopes to be the first Italian since Alberto Ascari in 1952 to claim four straight wins, when he reeled off six.
Mercedes’ team chief Toto Wolff has side-stepped frenzied talk of Antonelli’s prospects to concentrate on keeping balanced and cool.
“Performance is only performance when it is delivered on track,” he stressed.
“We are just four races into the season and there is a long year ahead. It is an important race for us, but it does not decide anything. So, we stay balanced, keep learning and execute as well as we can.”
Mercedes’ challengers hopeful
The championship-leading Silver Arrows men are likely to be challenged by Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, with four-time champion Max Verstappen, who took part at the Nurburgring 24-Hours race last weekend, aiming to add to his three previous wins for Red Bull.
World champion Lando Norris won the sprint last year ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, but the pair collided in the Grand Prix which ended up finishing behind a safety car.
Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc will also be strong contenders despite team boss Fred Vasseur grumbling about rule changes, notably to the starting procedures, that have negated an advantage they enjoyed.
“It was a bit harsh for us,” he said of the introduction of a blue light five-second warning to ensure teams spooled up their turbos.
“I understand what they did, for safety grounds, but the other option would have been to ask the others to start from the pit-lane if they think it’s not safe.”
Lance Stroll will be the only Canadian in the race, but like team-mate Fernando Alonso has little optimism as Aston Martin have struggled for performance with an uncompetitive Honda engine.
Alonso has hinted he is likely to retire from F1 and will decide his future during the summer months of the European leg of the season.
Sports
Logan Paul’s WWE success as an outsider ‘messed it up’ for everyone else, Austin Theory says
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Austin Theory and Logan Paul have one of their biggest tests as world tag team champions this weekend as they defend their titles against The Street Profits at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Theory and Paul are members of The Vision – the top faction on “Monday Night Raw” featuring the future of the WWE. Bron Breakker may be the in-ring leader of the group as he made a thunderous return to the roster at WrestleMania 42 and then defeated Seth Rollins at Backlash. Theory and Paul are the ones with the gold while Paul Heyman is the mouthpiece for the next generation of superstars.
With the tag team title around his waist, Paul has now held gold twice in WWE since making his debut with the company in 2021. Paul has the tools that any pro wrestler dreams of – the athletic prowess in the ring coupled with immense heat from the crowd along with his skills on the mic.
Theory told Fox News Digital that Paul’s rise in the WWE has made it tougher for any outsider to come in and have success, suggesting the YouTube sensation has set the bar enormously high.
Austin Theory and Logan Paul speak during WWE Backlash at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla., on May 9, 2026. (Michael Owens/WWE)
LOGAN PAUL’S JAW-DROPPING SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT WOW FANS AT WWE MONEY IN THE BANK
“I say with Logan Paul, with his athletic ability and his skills in wrestling and how he’s been able to just develop it so quick,” he said. “It’s impressive to me – somebody who’s wanted to be in WWE since I was eight, started training at 18, signed with the WWE at 22 and took that longer path. But I have to give Logan his respect. This is a dude, as a young kid, started with YouTube and streaming and pretty much – dude created YouTube. He put it on the map, his whole streaming thing.
“Kind of both of us building our dreams in different ways and kind of meeting in the middle. I just think he kinda just messed it up for everybody on the outside that wants to come into WWE and thinks like, ‘Oh wow, this is easy. Like, I can pick up a mic and talk trash and I can do these cool moves off the ropes like Logan Paul,’ but you can’t. There’s an art to it. Logan Paul is exceptional on the mic. In the ring, he does things even highflyers we have in WWE couldn’t even do. He’s just a phenomenal athlete. When it comes to me and Logan Paul, we’re freaks of nature. That’s why I say we’re gonna motivate everybody this Saturday at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Fort Wayne.”
The Vision, which also includes an injured Bronson Reed, is under the tutelage of Heyman, who has been a “wiseman” and an “advocate” for many young talents in WWE.
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Theory had the utmost confidence that Heyman was sending him and his stablemates in the right direction.

World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory enters the arena during Monday Night RAW at Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, N.C., on May 18, 2026. (Michael Owens/WWE)
“With Paul Heyman, you know, this history with him having Brock Lesnar, having Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins – you know, before he realized he was a loser,” he said. “Paul Heyman, man, he’s the ‘wiseman.’ I think anything that comes out of his mouth is gold and especially kind of molding The Vision and sending us in the right direction. I couldn’t ask for more. It’s just sitting under the knowledge tree of history. He’s from back in the 80s to present day. The dude’s done it all. I’m very grateful for the wiseman, Paul Heyman.”
Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins will challenge for the tag titles. The two returned to “Monday Night Raw” after WrestleMania 42 after a prolonged absence.
Theory gave them credit where credit is due. They are three-time WWE tag champions and won the tag titles at NXT and Evolve. However, Theory made clear that Ford and Dawkins are running into “the greatest tag team champions of the world.”
“Well, the Street Profits. They’ve been in the WWE a very long time,” he said. “Feels like too long, like 60 years. I do realize every time I have a title, they’re around, which makes sense because they’re irrelevant and I’m relevant. But not to push them too low down, they’re very athletic, they have a great resume. But it’s just that comparison to Austin Theory and Logan Paul – The Vision. The greatest tag team champions of the world, of the universe. You can’t really compare.
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World Tag Team Champions Austin Theory and Logan Paul stand alongside Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman during Monday Night RAW at Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, N.C., on May 18, 2026. (Michael Owens/WWE)
“Unfortunately, yes, I said unfortunately, the show is in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I look at this match as more of a big motivational moment for those people because they’re gonna see two guys that don’t look like anybody from Fort Wayne. We look like freaking superheroes. We’re really there to inspire everybody and then after the match, get the hell out of there.”
Saturday Night’s Main Event will take place Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana, much to Theory’s chagrin. And, it’s a loaded card.
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Aside from the tag team title match, read below for how the rest of the card looks.
- Paige and Brie Bella (c) vs. Nia Jax and Lash Legend for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
- Becky Lynch vs. Sol Ruca.
- Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab.
- Penta (c) vs. Ethan Page for the Intercontinental Championship.
Sports
Alexi Lalas dreading thought England could win World Cup on America’s 250th birthday: ‘Cannot have that’
Alexi Lalas previews 2026 FIFA World Cup, ‘Summer of ’94’ film
U.S. Soccer legend Alexi Lalas joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Lalas highlights the event’s cultural significance and reflects on the 1994 US World Cup team. Fox Sports announces a $250,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, matched by Fox Corporation, aimed at growing soccer grassroots.
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There is no clear-cut favorite heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but if you ask Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas who he believes will lift the trophy at the end of the tournament, he’ll give you one answer.
“I don’t care who wins as long as it’s not England,” he said during Fox Sports’ FIFA World Cup 2026 Media Day on Wednesday in New York City. “I can abide by a lot of things happening this summer, but one thing I cannot is having England come over on our shores, on our 250th birthday of what I feel is the greatest country in the world, and for them to win a World Cup.
“If you think they’re insufferable now, could you imagine they came over and won that World Cup and it’s coming home through our country. I cannot have that, so anybody but England.”
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Alexi Lalas, Fox Sports soccer analyst and U.S. men’s national team legend, appears animated on stage at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on April 14, 2023. (Michael Janosz/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
The U.S.-England rivalry in soccer was in full force in 2022, when they were pitted against each other in their group stage in Qatar. It was a 0-0 draw in a hard-fought match for both sides, but in 2026, they’ll have to get out of their respective groups if they are to meet in the tournament.
But Lalas couldn’t imagine England taking home its first World Cup since 1966 — the country’s only victory in the tournament of all tournaments.
US SOCCER GREAT THINKS AMERICAN TEAM CAN SHOCK THE WORLD AT UPCOMING WORLD CUP
There is no denying, though, how great the English squad will be this year, as Lalas knows.
“They’re really good,” he said. “As much as it pains me to say, they are very, very good. The soccer gods have a wicked sense of humor. Please not England, anybody but England.”
Lalas’ Fox Sports colleague, host Rebecca Lowe, is a West Londoner who has dreamed of her country winning it all since she can remember.
“Every four years of my play since 1990, I think about England winning the World Cup,” she said after Lalas’ rant. “So, I’m now getting to a stage where if I now go against them, they’re going to do it.
“I’m going to be courageous. It is going to come home.”

Commentator and former player Alexi Lalas looks on before the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2025 final between the United States and Mexico at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on July 6, 2025. (Omar Vega/Getty Images)
Lowe and Lalas said that they will have a bet in place once the tournament begins where, if England does indeed win it all, the latter will have to do something and vice versa.
Carli Lloyd, Stu Holden, and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez also gave their predictions about who would win. Hernandez was on Lowe’s side believing England could win it all, though he hopes his home country, fellow host site Mexico, can do so instead.
Lloyd and Holden both think France, which fell in penalties to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup Final, will get the job done at MetLife Stadium in July.
“The French, I just look at this team, they continue to get stronger. When they go down a generation, the next generation comes,” Holden said.

Soccer analyst Alexi Lalas speaks at the FOX Sports 2018 FIFA World Cup Celebration on Sept. 26, 2017, at ArtBeam in New York City. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for FOX Sports)
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“I’m going to go with France as well,” Lloyd added shortly after. “The depth, the experience. I know firsthand losing in 2011 at the World Cup, coming back and really having that desire to really want to win in 2015. There’s something about that.”
The panel was hopeful the U.S. men’s national team can make a run on home soil, but it’s hard to deny the talent level elsewhere as the best players and countries in the world converge on North America in just a few weeks.
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Sports
Pakistani climber Salman Ateeque summits Mount Everest
ISLAMABAD: Renowned climber Salman Ateeque on Thursday successfully scaled Mount Everest, becoming the 13th Pakistani to reach the world’s highest peak.
Ateeque reached the 8,849-metre summit at approximately 11:39am during the ongoing 2026 Himalayan climbing season, which has drawn hundreds of climbers from across the world.
Around 464 climbing permits were issued this season to mountaineers from 80 countries, with the largest contingents coming from China and India, said sources privy to the matter.
Ateeque was reportedly the only Pakistani climber to obtain an Everest permit this year.
The climber, who has a professional background in electrical engineering and over two decades of experience in the telecommunications sector, previously summited Mount Manaslu — the world’s eighth-highest mountain — in Nepal last year.
Officials familiar with the expedition said Ateeque successfully navigated the hazardous Khumbu Icefall and made his summit push during a favourable weather window.
His ascent adds another chapter to Pakistan’s growing presence in high-altitude mountaineering.
It is pertinent to mention here that Nazir Sabir became the first Pakistani to summit Everest in 2000, while Samina Baig made history in 2013 as the first Pakistani woman to reach the top of the mountain.
Other notable Pakistani Everest summiteers include Hassan Sadpara, Mirza Ali Baig, Abdul Jabbar Bhatti, Shehroze Kashif, Sirbaz Khan, Sajid Ali Sadpara, Naila Kiani, Wajidullah Nagri, Abdul Joshi and Saad Bin Munawar.
Sirbaz Khan is recognised as the first Pakistani to scale all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, while Sajid Ali Sadpara became the first Pakistani to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen.
The Pakistani mountaineering community and sports enthusiasts are now awaiting Ateeque’s safe descent to Everest Base Camp following the successful summit.
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