Briton George Russell's dwindling hopes of competing for the Formula 1 World Championship title have received a new blow, as the British driver prepares to start from the bottom of the standings in the Singapore Grand Prix this week.
The British news agency, PA Media, reported that the sudden power unit failure that Russell suffered in the final stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix last Sunday left him a huge 84 points behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli, with only 7 races remaining in the season.
The British driver admitted that his hopes of winning his first world title were now “very weak.”
But his slim chances of turning the situation around have suffered another blow, as the 28-year-old is expected to have to use a new power unit in this weekend's race.
Russell will thus exceed the permissible limit for a number of components of the power unit, and the resulting penalties are likely to lead to him starting from the bottom of the rankings on the streets of Singapore.
Antonelli won the Italian Grand Prix last month, despite being subjected to a similar penalty, and Russell will need a similar miracle if he wants to maintain his hopes of competing for the title.
Today, Tuesday, a solution was reached that allows Giovanni Malago to continue leading the faltering Italian Football Federation, despite a procedural irregularity in his election this year.
Despite being stripped of the position of president, Malago was appointed interim commissioner of the federation, until new elections were held.
This compromise solution came during a last-minute meeting between Malago and Luciano Bonfilio, President of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), before the Olympic Committee voted on the matter.
The violation is that Malago was not registered as a member of the Italian Football Federation at the time of the elections last June.
Malago received 68.58 percent of the votes in the elections, far ahead of former federation president Giancarlo Abete, who received 29.17 percent and was the only other candidate in the elections.
Elections were held to choose a successor to Gabriele Gravina, who resigned after the Italian national team, a four-time World Cup winner, failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for the third time in a row.
New elections are likely to be held next January, with expectations that Malago will run again.
Malago previously served as president of the Italian Olympic Committee and the organizing committee of the Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, and is also a member of the International Olympic Committee.
Aleksander Ceferin, President of the European Football Association (UEFA), had warned the Italian authorities against political interference if Malago was removed.
In addition to the faltering national team, which showed improvement under the leadership of returning coach Roberto Mancini in the European Nations League, Malago also inherited Italy's problematic preparations file for hosting the European Nations Cup in 2032.
Last week, the Italian Federation submitted to UEFA a list of 14 stadiums in 13 cities that could host matches in the tournament, which Italy organizes jointly with Türkiye. But only one of these stadiums, Juventus' Allianz Stadium in Turin, is actually ready to host matches.
Serbian Novak Djokovic scored; Ranked 11th in the world, on Tuesday, in Beijing, for the 102nd title of his career, after his Australian competitor, Alex de Minaur, withdrew. 9, in the final match at the beginning of the second group.
The owner of the 24 titles in the four major tournaments has not won any title since the “Athens Tournament (250 points)” in November 2025. Djokovic is now one title away from the Swiss Roger Federer’s tally of 103 titles, and 6 titles away from the record of the American Jimmy Connors (109), and he also won his 7th title in “Beijing” with his 7th participation in the tournament.
The Serbian qualified for the final match on Monday, after Russian Daniil Medvedev was excluded in the second group, after a spectator was hit by a ball he hit with his racket. The Serbian won; The 39-year-old played in Tuesday's match in the first group with a 7-6 (7-3) tiebreak, and he was a game behind in the second when the Australian ended the match by withdrawing.
Djokovic said: “I always make sure to imagine myself holding the cup, especially here in (Beijing). But I was also fully aware that reality is a little different these days,” he said, adding that he had had a difficult year due to “physical and health problems.” He continued: “I was just trying to get back the good feeling on the field.” The first group witnessed a physical battle that lasted more than an hour, and the two players needed two periods of treatment before the start of the second.
De Minaur won the first half of the second set before withdrawing, while the reason for his withdrawal was not immediately clear.
With this victory, Djokovic increased his perfect record in Beijing to 34 victories in 34 matches, achieving his seventh title in the Chinese capital, and his first there since 2015.
"I don't feel well," De Minaur told the fans after the match. The player added; The 27-year-old: “I want to apologize to the wonderful fans who came to watch the match... I did not want it to end this way.”
De Minaur qualified for the final after his Polish competitor, Hubert Hurkacz, withdrew from their semi-final match on Monday. Due to injury.
