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Lewis Hamilton: F1 star returns to social media weeks before new season

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Lewis Hamilton has returned to the public eye for the first time in two months following the controversial end to last year’s world championship. Hamilton has not spoken since losing out on a record eighth world title to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in last December’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver posted on Twitter saying: “I’ve been gone. Now I’m back.” There is doubt over Hamilton’s return to Formula 1 this season having lost faith in the sport’s governing body. Hamilton’s message, accompanied by a picture of the 37-year-old at the Grand Canyon wearing typically flamboyant trousers, was preceded

Michael Masi: FIA may end spell as race director after Abu Dhabi controversy

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Formula 1 could have a new race director in 2022 following the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the FIA’s head of single-seaters says. The sport’s governing body is conducting a review into 2021’s final race, when the safety car rules were not followed correctly by race director Michael Masi. Peter Bayer, newly appointed as the FIA’s head of F1, said: “Michael did a super job in many ways. We told him that. “But also that there is a possibility there could be a new race director.” Bayer, who has long held the role of the FIA’s secretary general for motorsport,

Formula 1 to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for all personnel this year

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Formula 1 is to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for all personnel this year. The move will mean no-one will be able to work within the paddock – F1’s inner sanctum where the teams operate – without being fully vaccinated. The policy will apply to all personnel working within F1, including drivers, teams, media, hospitality workers and any guests who attend the races. It is not expected to have an impact on any of the drivers’ ability to compete as all are understood to be vaccinated. Double vaccination was a requirement of entry to the USA for last year’s US Grand

Formula 1 sprint races: 2022 compromise proposed in attempt to break impasse

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Formula 1 has put forward a compromise proposal in an attempt to break the impasse over sprint qualifying races for this season. F1 had agreed in principle with the teams to double the number of sprint events to six in 2022, but a stand-off developed over the financial terms. F1 has now proposed to hold only three sprint weekends on similar commercial terms to last year’s inaugural events. The new plan will go ahead only if eight of the 10 teams approve it. The ‘sprint’ format was a new approach to an F1 weekend that was trialled at the British,

Interest rates rise again in bid to cool soaring prices

Interest rates have risen for the second time in three months as the Bank of England tries to curb a rapid rise in the cost of living. The hike to 0.5% from 0.25% came as the Bank warned that price rises could speed up. Prices are expected to climb faster than pay, putting the biggest squeeze on household finances in decades. It comes as the chancellor unveiled a support package to help households cope with a 54% jump in energy bills. Rising gas and electricity costs are the main factors pushing up prices across the economy. Inflation, as measured by

Backlash after Bank boss says don’t ask for big pay rise

Unions have reacted with fury after the Bank of England boss urged workers not to ask for big pay rises, to help stop prices rising out of control. Andrew Bailey told the BBC wage rises needed to be moderate with firms showing “restraint” in pay talks. When asked whether the Bank was asking workers not to demand big pay rises, Mr Bailey, said: “Broadly, yes.” Downing Street and the Treasury distanced themselves from Mr Bailey’s comments. The GMB union branded the comments a “sick joke”, while the TUC said calls for pay restraint were “ill-founded”. “Telling the hard-working people who

Amazon raises US price for Prime as profits jump

Amazon is raising the price of its Prime service for US customers after reporting record sales and profits. The e-commerce giant said it was hiking the price by 17% to $139 for annual membership. The firm, which cited increased wage and shipping costs, said it had no announcements to make about other countries “at this time”. It is the first increase since 2018 for Prime, which gives subscribers access to benefits like faster shipping. More than 200 million people globally pay for the service, many of them in the US. Amazon shares soared almost 15% in after hours trade on

Facebook owner Meta sees biggest ever stock market loss

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Facebook’s owner Meta Platforms saw its stock market value slump by more than $230bn (£169bn) on Thursday, in a record daily loss for a US firm. Its shares fell 26.4% after quarterly figures disappointed investors. Meta also said that Facebook’s daily active users (DAUs) had dropped for the first time in its 18-year history. The company’s share price slide saw chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth fall by $31bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The drop in Mr Zuckerberg’s personal fortune was equivalent to the annual gross domestic product of Estonia. Even after that drop, Mr Zuckerberg has an

US jobs growth stronger than expected as economy shrugs off Omicron

The US saw strong hiring last month, despite disruption caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus. Employers added 467,000 jobs, the Labor Department said. That was far better than analysts had predicted. The jobless rate inched up from 3.9% in December to 4%, but that was due to more people looking for work. Analysts said the robust job creation was likely to add to the pressure on the US central bank to raise interest rates next month. The monthly survey also revised up its estimates for hiring in December, providing more support for those who say the economy will remain

Can tourism ease the inflation pressure in Turkey?

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Inflation is a battle people all over the world are fighting. But the struggle is particularly acute in Turkey where people are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. They are making tough decisions about what they can afford and how they budget. A mix of soaring inflation and a currency that’s lost nearly half its value has created a cost of living crisis in the country. Inflation surged to 48.7% in January, after reaching 36% in December. But some economists think the actual rate could be much higher. “There are groups of academics who have come up with

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