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Lewis Hamilton described Max Verstappen’s dominance of Formula One as being like “he is having a smoke and a pancake” following the Dutch driver’s eighth straight win at the Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished fourth and trailed Verstappen by 49 seconds at Spa-Francorchamps. During the 44-lap race, Verstappen even goaded his rivals by calling on Red Bull to change his tyres for “some pit-stop training”. And when asked if it was too easy for Verstappen at the front, Hamilton replied: “What do you want me to say? I have not spoken to him,” before adding with an accent: “He is having a smoke and a pancake. You know the film?” The seven-time world champion was referencing the 2002 Austin Powers movie in which Dutch villain Goldmember asks the main character if he would “like a smoke and a pancake”. Hamilton is now 35 appearances without a victory – the longest streak of his career. Across the same period, Verstappen – the man who beat him to the title in the contentious season-ending Abu Dhabi race of 2021 – has triumphed 25 times. Hamilton was demoted to seventh in Saturday’s sprint race after he was penalised by the stewards for tangling with Sergio Perez. He failed to make an impression on the podium places on Sunday. Hamilton also bemoaned the unexpected return of porpoising for Mercedes which last season plagued the grid’s once all-conquering team. “It was not bouncing a little bit, it was bouncing like last year,” said Hamilton. “It was bouncing everywhere. “They (Mercedes) don’t know (what caused the bouncing) and to me it is a concern. I know what I want and I am praying for it. I am just waiting for the day that we get it.” Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the season, and while both he and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, say an extension to his £40million-a-season deal will be struck, it may not be concluded in the near future. Asked if he expected Hamilton’s contract to be signed during Formula One’s four-week summer break, Wolff replied: “I don’t want to give you a date. It is lawyers speaking to lawyers. It is no material thing anymore. We have to give it time. And I don’t want to commit to a date.” Reflecting on Mercedes’ porpoising, the Austrian added: “The car was bouncing on every straight, and even Blanchimont was a corner that Lewis was having to lift, and that is usually an easy flat. “You bounce on the straight, you overheat the tyres on braking, and that is a vicious circle. “It is frustrating to check out for the holidays like this but we will understand more tomorrow.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen taunts F1 rivals with ‘pit-stop training’ offer Max Verstappen beats Oscar Piastri to sprint race pole in Belgium How Max Verstappen and record-breaking Red Bull compare to Formula One greats

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A Russian warship fired warning shots at a dry cargo ship in the Black Sea on Sunday, after the Russian defence ministry said it intercepted the Palau-flagged “Sukru Okan” ship heading towards Ukraine. Issuing a statement, Russia said its Vasily Bykov patrol ship open fired with an automatic weapon at the vessel after its captain did not respond to their request to halt for an inspection. "To forcibly stop the vessel, warning fire was opened from automatic weapons," the Russian defence ministy said. A Ka-29 helicopter carrying Russian soldiers was then scrambled to inspect the ship. While Russia claims the ship was heading towards Ukraine’s port of Izmail, Refinitiv shipping data showed the ship was heading north towards the coast of Bulgaria, reported Reuters. "After the inspection group completed its work on board, the Sukru Okan continued on its way to the port of Izmail," the Russian defence ministry said. Shipping databases list the Sukru Okan as a Palau-flagged vessel with a tonnage of 2155 whose home port is Istanbul. The Black Sea handled about 95 per cent of Ukrainian grain exports before Russia’s invasion, according to Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Earlier last month, Russia ended a UN-brokered grain deal that ensured Ukraine could get its agricultural produce to market via the Black Sea and Moscow cautioned that it would deem all ships heading to Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons. Ukraine, a major supplier of corn, wheat, barley and vegetable oil to the world, shipped 32.9 million metric tonnes of grain under the nearly year-long deal designed to ease a global food crisis. It has been able to export an additional two million to 2.5 million metric tonnes monthly via the Danube River, road and rail through Europe. Those are now the only routes to ship Ukrainian grain, Mr Glauber earlier told the Associated Press. Ukraine’s response including sea-drone attacks on a Russian oil tanker and a warship at its Novorossiysk naval base, next door to a major grain and oil port, has added to these new dangers for transport in the Black Sea. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Russia vows retaliation after Ukraine launches attack on key Crimea bridge Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting rescue workers in latest missile strikes Moment sea drone ‘hits Russian tanker’ near Crimea captured in dramatic footage The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary