McLaren boss Zak Brown has called on Formula One’s governing body to ensure the track-limits fiasco which overshadowed the Austrian Grand Prix never happens again.

Drivers were penalised throughout the weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg for crossing the white lines – with the final classification for Sunday’s race only settled five hours after the chequered flag.

Eight of the 20-strong grid were dealt post-race sanctions by the FIA, with Lewis Hamilton demoted from seventh to eighth.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz slipped two places to sixth, while Frenchman Esteban Ocon was handed an extraordinary half-a-minute’s worth of combined penalties for track-limit infringements.

Earlier in the weekend, world champion Max Verstappen accused race director Niels Wittich of making the grid’s stars look like “amateurs”. In all, more than 100 laps were deleted during Sunday’s race.

“It definitely wasn’t ideal what happened, and that’s stating the obvious,” said Brown.

“Where we need to do a better job is that we knew this was going to be a problem on Friday and yet we just kind of watched it happen.

“We need to make sure it never happens again, and that we do a proper debrief and understand how we could have prevented it in the first place or handled it differently.”

McLaren driver Lando Norris benefited from Sainz’s post-race penalty to be promoted to fourth to take his best result of a difficult season for the British team.

Brown, speaking at the reveal of a one-off livery for McLaren’s home race at Silverstone this weekend, continued: “I’ll take my hat off to the FIA for addressing the issue and I think it would have been easy to say, ‘this is going to cause a lot of noise, let’s just kind of get it right next time’.

“For them to put their hands and say there were some penalties that needed to be addressed, I thought that was a brave decision.

“But we can’t have it again. We can’t have a race and then five hours later you have that degree of change in the result.”

Cadan Murley has been analysing prolific Manchester City striker Erling Haaland to sharpen his own finishing as he targets a place in England’s World Cup squad.

Murley is happy to put his support for Manchester United on hold in the belief that even though Haaland plays a different sport, his predatory instincts provide a valuable insight into scoring.

Haaland recently set a new goalscoring record in a Premier League season with 52 – 36 in the top flight – as he helped City complete the treble, while Murley proved equally deadly in the Gallagher Premiership by ending 2022-23 at the top of the try chart with 15.

“Every sportsman looks at other sports to see how they can improve and you’ve just got to look at Haaland’s goalscoring record this season – it’s been absolutely incredible. As a United fan that’s a pretty tough thing to say!” Harlequins wing Murley said.

“For a lot of those goals he’s been called a tap-in merchant, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. A lot of that is down to his relationships and his understanding of the players around him.

“He’s got some of the best assisters around him – Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez – but he still has to be in the right place at the right time to know what they are going to do and how to finish.

“Watching him play, he’s always so alert, he’s always live in the play and looking around for where the opportunity is going to come.

“And a lot of wingers these days, that’s where their tries come. You need to read the game early and know who is around you.

“At Quins, we’ve got Andre Esterhuizen and Alex Dombrandt and they are the two who are going to look for the offload the most, so if I can flood in around them, I know that’s when the touch is going to come.

“I know Marcus Smith prefers to kick one way, or when he looks a couple of times that’s when he’s going to do it. Little things like that, having those relationships with the players around you, is massive.”

The task now facing Murley is to rapidly develop his familiarity with his England team-mates having been picked in a 41-man World Cup training squad that will be reduced to 33 on August 7.

The uncapped 23-year-old has been working on his aerial skills to improve his all-round game, but it is understanding the nuances of playmakers such as Owen Farrell and George Ford that will be key to securing his place at France 2023.

“Haaland joined Manchester City and fitted in seamlessly, which is a skill in itself. It’s about working on how you can come in and and do that as quickly as possible in this environment,” Murley said.

“We’re all chucked together from different clubs and all play a different way. Getting to know people on and off the pitch firstly will help.

“Then going through different clips from training, watching different clips of people during the training and analysis – what they are thinking at different points – that can help as well.

“I’ve got those relationships with the Quins lads already, but we don’t know who’s going to get picked for the World Cup, so I need to have relationships with all the 41-man squad at the moment.”

Lando Norris has told Just Stop Oil campaigners that they would be “stupid and selfish” to put lives in danger by protesting at the British Grand Prix.

The climate activists have already targeted the Lord’s Ashes Test, the Premiership rugby final and the World Snooker Championship so far this year.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s race, British driver Norris, 23, said: “Of course, it is a concern because is a stupid thing to do to put your life in danger with cars driving around.

“It is also a very selfish thing to do because of the consequences it could have on the person that drives the car.

“Everyone has a right to protest and I guess there are good ways of doing it and worse ways.

“I just hope people are smart enough not to do it. There are much safer ways to get just as much attention.”

Five protesters invaded last year’s British Grand Prix after they stormed the Wellington Straight – the fastest point of the Northamptonshire track – before sitting down during the opening lap.

The contest had already been suspended following Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu’s high-speed crash, but a number of cars sped by the group before they were dragged away by marshals. The protesters were handed suspended jail sentences in March.

Silverstone has worked alongside Northamptonshire Police to beef up security ahead of this year’s event, with a record 480,000 people expected to attend over the weekend, and more than 140,000 fans in place for the race.

Speaking to the PA news agency earlier on Monday, Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said: “The fundamental difference here is that you are not putting your life in danger when you run on the pitch at Lord’s.

“You are not putting your life in danger when you sit on a snooker table or protest at a flower show.

“A motor racing track is not the place to go. It is extraordinarily dangerous and people will be putting lives at risk if they go there, and any sensible, right-thinking person can extrapolate what the ultimate risk here is.

“My strong, strong message is: ‘Do not put your life in danger. This is not the place to go and sit on a floor’. It is absolute madness if someone climbs on to a live racing track.

“We have no specific intelligence, but we will plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

Lewis Hamilton is gearing up for his home race following a disappointing Austrian Grand Prix where he finished seventh and was then demoted to eighth after a post-race penalty for exceeding track limits.

Hamilton was also dealt a public rebuke by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. The Austrian told Hamilton to “just drive the car” following a number of complaints by his driver over the radio.

“There are days when I can say I’m truly proud of myself, and days like today when frustration takes over,” said Hamilton on his Instagram account.

“In a race it can feel like you’re hanging off a cliff and losing the strength to hold on.

“It’s confusing for us to have such strong performances one day and then be nowhere the next.

“But when you really care about what you’re doing, you brush it off and keep fighting. Heads down for Silverstone.”

Brendon McCullum believes the furore over Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s could be the turning point for England’s Ashes campaign, and predicted Australia would come to regret their part in the controversy.

Alex Carey’s opportunistic stumping of his fellow wicketkeeper during a dramatic conclusion to the second Test sparked unprecedented fury from fans and members at the home of cricket and the row showed no signs of slowing down on Monday.

Ex-players and pundits from both countries weighed in on the incident and the matter even reached the door of Number 10 Downing Street, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declaring it a breach of the spirit of cricket via his official spokesperson.

But when it comes to the battle for the urn, which Australia lead 2-0 with three to play, how it affects the players in each dressing room is the only issue which really matters.

McCullum believes the flashpoint could stiffen England’s resolve to mount a fightback, with captain Ben Stokes providing the template when he responded to Bairstow’s untimely exit by unloading a brutal 155 in what felt like a personal revenge mission.

And for those involved in the dismissal, the England coach expects a sense of remorse may one day creep in despite current protestations to the contrary.

“I imagine it will affect things, it has to,” he said, as he cast an eye to Thursday’s third Test at Headingley.

“In the end, they made a play, they’ve got to live with that. We would have made a different play but that’s life. In time, we’ll see, but I get the feeling that it might have an effect on them.

“I don’t know if it’s anger, but our unit is galvanised. There are times as a coach where you’ve got to reduce emotion because it’s going to bubble over and you can make poor decisions, but there’s times when you allow emotion to go because it’s going to galvanise the unit.

“That’s what I felt this emotion did for the side. I looked around the group and the guys were a little upset. If that helps us to win those key moments in the next Test, then I’m all for it. (Winning) 3-2 has a nice ring to it.”

On Stokes, who said he would have withdrawn the appeal in the same position, McCullum was effusive: “Not just is he a tremendous cricketer, and what he did at Lord’s was out of this world, but his leadership is something that you just cannot over-estimate.

“Not just the moves he makes on the field, but the way he carries himself, the way he talks to the team, his conviction, his belief in all of the guys, his morals. Not just for the team but the game moving forward.

“We are so lucky to have him as our leader.”

McCullum’s initial reaction in the aftermath of Australia’s 43-run victory was to cast doubt on taking part in the traditional post-series drinks between the rival teams.

He was criticised for being hypocritical in some quarters, with instances from his own playing days held up as evidence.

McCullum’s run out of Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan as he celebrated a team-mate’s century in 2006 was cited by some, but the New Zealander says he long ago accepted that was poor judgement.

“I’ve made an apology to Murali in my Cowdrey Lecture (in 2016). When I was a younger man I didn’t quite understand the significance of what the game and the spirit of the game means,” he explained.

“It’s what the defining point of the game is compared to others, and it’s only with the benefit of time and experience that we’re able to learn that and cherish it.

“I think with the benefit of time and maturity as a player you understand how vital the spirit of the game is to this great game that we play, and you make decisions that you sometimes look back on and say did I get that right?”

England will continue to check on Ollie Pope’s injured shoulder as they look to keep their Ashes hopes alive at Headingley this week.

The vice-captain hurt his shoulder while fielding in the first innings of the 43-run defeat at Lord’s and went on to aggravate the problem when a misunderstanding with the match officials led England to believe they could not use a substitute fielder later in the game. He made 42 and three in the match, batting in his regular spot at three.

The 25-year-old has been retained in a 15-man squad for Thursday’s crucial third Test, which England need to win to stand a chance of overturning a 2-0 deficit, but it is not yet clear if he will be passed fit.

Essex batsman Dan Lawrence, who won the last of his 11 caps in the West Indies 16 months ago, is the spare batter in the squad and would be in line for a recall if Pope is forced to pull out.

Head coach Brendon McCullum said: “We will check Ollie and work it out. We will see how he is.

“I was so proud of Ollie, to do what he did (at Lord’s). He’s a tough kid to bat at number three and want to make an impact.

“That 40-odd in the first innings, he was suffering a lot of pain, but he was able to invest in the team and put that to one side and operate.

“He’s obviously our vice-captain as well and a fantastic leader in the group, albeit at a young age.”

England could look to freshen up their bowling attack after a brief three-day turnaround, with James Anderson and Ollie Robinson the likeliest to make way.

Spinner Moeen Ali, who was not risked for the second Test due to a nasty wound on his right index finger, is in contention to return and Mark Wood will bring his express 90mph pace to the side if the medical staff are confident he can get through the match.

Wood has not played competitive red-ball cricket since December and could not guarantee he would be able to operate at top speed consistently at Lord’s. Chris Woakes is also available and brings a strong home record with the Dukes ball as well reliable lower-order batting.

Liam Broady made French magician Constant Lestienne disappear to reach round two at Wimbledon.

Lestienne is a part-time conjurer who performs at weddings and parties, but was unable to pull a rabbit out of the hat against British wild card Broady.

The 29-year-old from Stockport produced a spellbinding display to win 6-1 6-3 7-5.

Broady broke the world number 74 twice, either side of a brief rain delay, to race away with the first set in 27 minutes.

A pair of winners gave Broady another break and the advantage in the second.

Lestienne’s hopes vanished when Broady edged a nip-and-tuck third set to book his place in the second round in just over two hours.

Jodie Burrage made it third time lucky as she registered her first Wimbledon win by beating American Caty McNally.

British wild card Burrage had suffered first-round exits in the previous two years at SW19.

But the 24-year-old, who reached the final of the Nottingham Open last month, swept aside world number 67 McNally 6-1 6-3 to march into the second round.

Victory also means Burrage has likely broken into the top 100 for the first time.

McNally was clearly hindered by a problem with her right thigh, which was heavily strapped.

Ruthless Burrage broke her three times as she wrapped up the first set in only 22 minutes.

McNally received treatment on her thigh at the changeover and instantly improved, forcing a break after Burrage stopped to challenge a call which had clearly hit the baseline.

But Burrage hit back with a double break, and converted a match point at the sixth time of asking to wrap up victory in an hour and four minutes.

Goalkeeper Jon McCracken said “it feels great” after joining Dundee from Norwich on a season-long loan deal.

The 23-year-old began his career at Hamilton before joining the Canaries in 2016.

McCracken, who has had loan spells at League of Ireland side Bohemians and more recently Stevenage, was recruited by Dundee boss Tony Docherty and the former Scotland under-17 keeper told the club’s official website: “It feels great, there has been a bit of interest for a while now, so I’m glad to get it done and to be here.

“I spoke to the gaffer quite a few times over the last couple of weeks and once I spoke to him my mind was pretty much made up on where I wanted to go and it was just a matter of getting the green light from Norwich to come up.

“The gaffer said ‘you’ll come in and fight for your jersey’ and that was my mind made up. I am hoping for a successful season for me personally and the club.

“I am aiming to get as many games as I can and hopefully help Dundee to get as many clean sheets as possible.”

McCracken trained with his new team-mates on Monday morning and will travel with the Dundee squad to their training camp in Ireland.

Docherty said: “We are delighted to have him in the building, he is an extremely talented young goalkeeper from Norwich who they rate very highly.

“He now just needs to get to that next stage in his career in terms of his development, so we are delighted to have him on board.

“He’s a big character, a great personality and from what we’ve heard and seen of him we are very impressed.

“He’ll be coming to Ireland with us to integrate with the boys. I’ve said to Jon he’s in a fight for the jersey and that number one spot and that’s what I want all over the squad that competition, because that healthy level of competition keeps everyone on their toes and improves the standard.”

We Never Stop broke his maiden in the British Stallion Studs EBF Spindrifter Novice Stakes at Pontefract to highlight a double for Shane Gray.

Placed at York twice previously, the Cotai Glory colt had finished almost three lengths behind John Quinn’s reopposing Twilight Romance most recently but did have a 4lb pull.

Perhaps more in his favour, though, was his draw in stall four of the five runners, which on most days at Pontefract would be a disadvantage but at this meeting the usually favoured inside rail was almost shunned throughout.

Gray was able to get Kevin Ryan’s youngster over to the stands’ rail first and he held off his old foe by half a length to win at 10-1.

Gray said: “We’ve always thought a lot of him but he grew a lot between his last run and this one.

“He’s a fine stamp of a horse and I think he’ll make a fine three-year-old. He’s so big, whatever he does at two he’s only going to improve on it next year.

“He showed some pace at York and travelled very strong. I’d almost say you could come back to five furlongs but he’s only going to get quicker with age, so six is fine for now.

“They came over in the first race, I’d walked the track and you can see by the colour of the grass there’s a difference in the ground, it’s a good advantage today.”

Gray was also on Mick and David Easterby’s So Grateful (15-2) who was winning for the first time on turf in the Napoleons Casino Bradford Handicap and another to take the favoured rail early.

That came after Serena Brotherton had charted an almost solo run up the stands’ side on the Easterbys’ Unplugged (13-8 favourite) in the 21st Wilfred Underwood Memorial Handicap.

It appeared a bold move by the veteran amateur rider, but it proved inspired, especially as only one other followed her, and she revealed a pre-race course walk made the decision much easier.

“I walked the track and I thought the fastest bit of ground was either right on the inside rail, which I didn’t think I could get to because of my draw (10), or the outside rail,” said Brotherton.

“I did have a moment of doubt when we turned in and I could feel him thinking ‘what are you making me do?’ but he was fine.

“He wants top of the ground so it worked out.”

David Easterby, speaking after the win of So Grateful, said of the ploy: “It’s OK having these plans but you’ve got to be able to carry them out and he (Gray) didn’t go too fast. It’s easy to get the fractions wrong but he didn’t do that.

“Unfortunately for me, Serena likes to get to the track nice and early so I walked the track with her. I think the only reason we won today was because of the tactics, so the handicapper should drop him!

“They are running well this summer, so long may it continue.”

The Royal Ascot-winning duo of Tom Clover and Danny Tudhope teamed up to win the Wayne Conway Memorial Handicap with Rogue Tornado, a first success at the track for Clover.

Sent off the 4-5 favourite, he briefly looked in a bit of bother before his stamina kicked in and he went on to win by two and a half lengths.

Simon and Ed Crisford’s Laser Guided (4-1) clearly thrives in the Yorkshire air as having dead-heated at Ripon earlier this season, he won the “89 And Reunited” Memorial Handicap off bottom weight under Oisin Orr.

Orr then doubled up himself on Gannon Glory (13-2) in the Northern Commercials Service, Sales And Parts Handicap, making all for his boss, Richard Fahey.

Novak Djokovic eased into the second round of Wimbledon amid farcical scenes on Centre Court.

The four-time defending champion defeated Argentinian debutant Pedro Cachin 6-3 6-3 7-6 (4) but the clash was delayed for nearly an hour and a half after the first set because of a damp court despite the roof being deployed.

Djokovic had begun to complain about the surface but officials waited until the end of the set to cover the court, which proved to be a major error.

While play resumed under the roof on Court One, Djokovic and Cachin came out to inspect the court with referee Gerry Armstrong, but it was clear the world number two in particular was not happy.

Playing in his first official match on the surface since last year, it was no surprise that Djokovic, who described trying to move on grass in the early stages of the tournament as “like walking on eggs”, was being extremely cautious.

The Serbian maintained good humour about the situation and re-emerged with a towel, which he proceeded to rub on the court to laughter from the crowd, before members of the ground staff used leaf blowers to try to dry the surface.

But it was not until the skies cleared and the roof was opened again that play was able to resume, rendering the expensive covering redundant.

Had it not been for the delay, this would have been pretty much the ideal start to Djokovic’s campaign for a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles title and eighth Wimbledon crown.

Cachin only played his first tour-level match on grass in Majorca last week and was never likely to prove too much of a test.

There was some early rust from Djokovic, who double-faulted to give Cachin a break for 2-1, but he hit straight back and manoeuvred himself into a 5-3 lead.

Djokovic is on a 28-match winning streak on grass having not lost on the surface since a final defeat at Queen’s Club back in 2018.

He convincingly won the second set but Cachin earned applause from his opponent for his efforts in the third, which he pushed to a tie-break.

Djokovic had won all his tie-breaks at the French Open without making a single unforced error. That streak ended with a double fault here, and he netted a backhand on his first match point, but he took his third chance, winning it 7-4.

Stiffer tests will surely await, perhaps in the second round against Australian grass-court lover Jordan Thompson, but the defending champion is off and running.

Former Republic of Ireland international Steven Reid has returned to Nottingham Forest as first-team coach a year after leaving for a new challenge.

Reid, 42, left Steve Cooper’s staff 12 months ago after playing his part in the club’s return to the Premier League to become a specialist coach offering support to players around mental well-being, confidence and leadership.

However, the former Millwall, Blackburn, West Brom and Burnley midfielder has now rejoined Forest, where he served briefly as interim manager following Chris Hughton’s departure in September 2021.

Reid told the club’s official website: “It is a club that has stayed close to my heart for many reasons, firstly because of the amazing journey to promotion, but also because of the support I felt from within the club and the amazing fanbase when stepping away from football to do some work around mental health and well-being.

“I have remained close to Steve and many of the coaching staff and players and cannot wait to get going again.”

Cooper added: “I’m delighted that Reidy is returning to the club. He had a massive impact in our Championship promotion-winning season, but he also has experience of working and playing in the Premier League and knows what it demands.”

RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol has expressed an interest in joining Manchester City, the German club’s sporting director has revealed.

Max Eberl has told a German newspaper that the Croatia international has informed the Bundesliga outfit of his desire to move and that “talks” are ongoing.

There is no indication City have officially submitted a bid for the player and the treble winners have not commented on Eberl’s claims.

Eberl told Leipziger Volksnachrichten: “Josko and his advisers have submitted the wish to us for a transfer to Manchester City.

“We are in talks with Manchester. There is nothing more to say about it at this moment.”

Gvardiol, 21, has long been linked with City and caught the eye when he scored against them in the Champions League last season.

Leipzig reportedly value Gvardiol at around £86million (100million euros) but are under little pressure to sell as the player is contracted until 2027.

The club have already sold one key player this summer, with Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai moving to Liverpool for £60million at the weekend.

City have already made one new signing, with £30million midfielder Mateo Kovacic arriving from Chelsea.

Andrey Rublev believes Wimbledon was wrong to ban him and his fellow Russians last year and said the only loser was the event itself.

The All England Club this year overturned its controversial decision to not allow players from Russia and Belarus to compete in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

“I think that, I mean, we were talking, and I think we could find the solution,” said world number seven Rublev after becoming the first man into the second round at this year’s Championships.

“Yeah, if we really want to help or do what is better for tennis and for the people, I think obviously there were better options. Not just to ban. Because in the end, (there) was no difference. They did only worse to themselves.

“So in the end, I think that there were options to do much better for everyone.

“Now we are here, I’m really happy to be back and to compete.”

The ATP and WTA tours subsequently stripped Wimbledon 2022 of ranking points in response to the ban.

This year, Russian and Belarusian players have all signed declarations stating they will not express support for either regime and that they are not receiving any direct or indirect government support.

Rublev, 25, recovered from 2-5 down in the second set on his way to beating Australian Max Purcell 6-3 7-5 6-4.

His victory set up an all-Russian clash with Aslan Karatsev in the second round.