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How George Russell finished second in Bahrain Grand Prix with malfunctioning car

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How George Russell finished second in Bahrain Grand Prix with malfunctioning car

As the Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded and George Russell raced in second place, messages slowly came through on his radio that different systems were failing. Team principal Toto Wolff put it simply: “The car was wounded.”

The Mercedes driver suddenly suffered a brake-by-wire failure, and it took time to find the settings to reset the system, Wolff said. He lost the GPS, and he experienced onboard Drag Reduction System (DRS) issues, which led to his race engineer having to tell him over the radio when he could use the system.

The fear arose that the Briton “would lose the whole dash — which would have meant no buttons, no way to turn any of the settings,” Wolff added. All while navigating the final stint on the soft tire for over 20 laps and keeping a surging Lando Norris behind him, not once losing his concentration. But Russell pulled off the feat.

Sunday’s race might have been Russell’s greatest Formula One drive to date, a performance that Wolff described as “an unbelievable drive” to reporters. And while he did face an investigation after the race for an alleged DRS infringement, the stewards found he gained no sporting advantage, meaning Russell kept his second-place finish — a crucial points haul in a season where Mercedes doesn’t expect to be in contention for the championships.

But each millisecond, each point gain, matters when the margins are this thin throughout the grid. As Wolff said to Sky Sports, “I think it’s the driver who saved the result today.”

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What happened to Russell’s car?

Russell admitted during the post-race news conference that he was pleased to see the chequered flag. The Briton had essentially driven in the dark (no pun intended, considering the Bahrain GP is a night race).

The Mercedes driver overcame the initial setback of the one-place grid drop from qualifying and passed Charles Leclerc at the start, holding onto second throughout the race. It didn’t come into question until the final stages as Norris navigated around the Ferraris and started closing the gap to Russell, all while Russell experienced a multitude of issues in his car.

All may have seemed well externally, but internally, a series of failures unfolded.

“It felt all under control for a moment, and then suddenly we had a brake-by-wire failure. So suddenly the pedal was going long, and then it was going short,” Russell explained, meaning he needed to push the pedal further or shorter than normal to get braking action.

“I didn’t know what was going on. The steering wheel wasn’t working properly, so it was really hard fought to keep Lando behind. I think one more lap, he would have got me pretty comfortably.”

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A brake-by-wire failure essentially is when the electronic system that controls the rear brakes fails. When that malfunctions, the brakes are done manually by the driver rather than going through a system, which can make it harder to control the car under braking. Wolff likened it to when the power steering system fails in a road car, and to “imagine you have to adjust between one corner having it and the next one not having it.”

“That was just very good skill,” he said.

Then there was the GPS issue. Russell suddenly disappeared from the timing screens soon after the safety car period, a clear sign that something was wrong. His transponder stopped working, and not having that GPS data affected how he could use DRS. Without the data, it became harder to judge the gaps — not just from his side in comparison to other cars, but also for those around him, like Norris.

According to Wolff, the DRS beacon failed, which meant Russell needed to open the system manually. He tried “an override on the DRS,” Russell said, adding, “On one lap, I clicked the radio button and the DRS opened, so I straightaway closed it again, backed off — nothing gained.

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“I lost more than I gained, it was only open for a split second, so kind of goes to show you the amount of issues we were having.”

The stewards did investigate the alleged DRS infringement, and they stated, “The connection between the automated DRS activation system and the car failed due to issues with a timing loop provided by an external party.” Manual activation was authorized.

“At the time, the driver was experiencing a brake-by-wire issue and other electronic issues,” said the stewards. “He was at that time advised to use an auxiliary button in the cockpit which serves as a backup radio button but also serves as a manual DRS activation button.”

The stewards confirmed what Russell had shared — that when he tried to use the team radio, DRS was “accidentally activated” when navigating one of the straights. According to the stewards, the telemetry confirmed the following: “The DRS was activated for a distance of 37 metres on a straight of approximately 700 metres. Whilst he gained 0.02 seconds, he gave up 0.28 seconds at the next corner to compensate.”

To be clear, that is a breach of the sporting regulations; however, no sporting advantage was gained so no penalty was handed to Russell or Mercedes.

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All of this happened while finishing out the race and holding off a McLaren, arguably the fastest car on the grid so far this season, while on soft tires. Russell shared to Sky Sports how he didn’t have data on his steering wheel during the final stint, making it a compromised run.

“I’m not too sure how that one worked as well,” Russell said. “I saw Charles behind me on the hard and I saw 24 laps to go. I thought, ‘Jeez, how the hell are we going to make this work?’ But we did.”

Russell may have been able to pull this drive off, putting him within six points of Max Verstappen in the driver standings, but why these issues arose was unknown to Mercedes immediately post-race.

“We don’t know, probably some wiring looms in the car or anything else,” Wolff said. “Maybe it was triggered by the failure in the F1 system, and then it caused our system to go a bit bananas.”


Russell limped home with a second-place finish (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

What does the result mean for Mercedes’ season?

McLaren may be dominating this season, with Oscar Piastri pocketing a second win and Norris having one of his own, but Mercedes has been consistently at the front, with Russell sometimes being the closest challenger, like on Sunday.

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Across four races — all different types of tracks — Russell has secured three podium finishes, bringing home third in Australia and China. That type of performance is enough to build confidence within a team, particularly after the difficult stretch Mercedes has experienced with trying to find consistency in the current regulations.

“This was the real sort of test for us. We knew that our car likes the cold conditions, and the competitiveness we showed in China and Suzuka was no major surprise,” Russell said. “But this was going to be the question mark — here in Bahrain. And we’ve had another strong weekend. So it bodes well for the season.”

The Briton said Mercedes didn’t anticipate being close to McLaren in Bahrain, at a track where many expected the Woking-based team would thrive. But then Russell qualified second and teammate Kimi Antonelli fourth, before the one-place grid drops, and Russell said, “​​Qualifying on the front row was a real surprise.

“And then seeing Lando right up there on lap one behind me, I thought, ‘He’s going to fly off into the distance here.’ Oscar did an amazing job to control the race, but to keep Lando at bay, I was really, really pleased about.”

Mercedes sits 58 points off McLaren in the constructor standings, thanks to Russell’s podium finish. When asked if McLaren was catchable, Wolff shared that he felt the team was missing “a few tenths” on Sunday and wanted to see how future tracks unfolded. He pointed toward how the tide turned last season, with McLaren having a big momentum swing several races after finishing sixth and eighth in Bahrain.

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But when Russell was asked if the Silver Arrows were title contenders, he cautioned against the suggestion.

“I’d love to say so, but I don’t think we are, to be honest. McLaren are just too dominant right now. I think this is probably going to be their peak performance — what we saw this week in Bahrain,” the 27-year-old explained. “And what we saw in China and Suzuka is probably their worst-case scenario and they still obviously got one victory from those two races.”

Russell added about the importance of capitalizing on moments and picking up points when possible, like they did in Australia and Bahrain.

When the battles are this close, being in the right place at the right time is crucial. We’ve seen that with Mercedes, as well as the battles in the midfield, so far this season.

“I don’t expect this to continue for many races to come,” Russell said, “but who knows.”

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Additional reporting: Luke Smith

(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

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Navy tops Army with late touchdown as Trump’s attendance in Baltimore sparks protests

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Navy tops Army with late touchdown as Trump’s attendance in Baltimore sparks protests

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For the second year in a row, the Navy Midshipmen have won the Commander-in-Chief Trophy.

The Midshipmen earned a gutsy 17-16 victory over Army in one of the greatest rivalries in sports.

Navy got out to a scorching-hot start, as they scored a touchdown on their first drive, with Blake Horvath rushing for 45 of the 75 yards on the drive and running in for the score. He also had an 11-yard pass.

 

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President Donald Trump greets players after the coin toss and before the start of the 126th Army-Navy Game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen at M&T Bank Stadium, Saturday, in Baltimore, Md. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Army, though, answered right back with an identical drive, going 13 plays for 75 yards — this one ended with Cale Hellums punching one in.

Navy’s offense was stalled for a long while after, as their next three drives ended in a punt, fumble, and interception. In the meantime, the Black Knights were able to tack on three more field goals to go up, 16-7. Late in the third, the Midshipmen finally added more points on the scoreboard with a field goal that cut their deficit to three.

Early in the fourth, Navy forced an Army interception. Navy had the ball at the goal line but fumbled on a quarterback sneak, losing seven yards. Horvath hit Eli Heidenrich in the end zone, though, and the ensuing kick gave the Midshipmen their first lead since the first drive of the game. 

Navy promptly forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with less than five minutes to go. Navy lost a fumble when trying for a first down that would have iced the game, but the play was reviewed, and the call was reversed. Thus, Navy had a fourth-and-1 and kept the offense on the field. They got the first down that iced the game.

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US President Donald Trump tosses a coin before the college football game between the US Army and Navy in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 13, 2025.  (Photo by Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images)

CHICAGO RADIO HOST RIPS CUBS PLAYER FOR TURNING POINT EVENT ATTENDANCE, LIKENS IT TO ‘NAZI-ADJACENT PEP RALLY’

With the win, Navy earned the Commander-in-Chief trophy by also defeating Air Force earlier in the year.

The game was its usual old-school ground-and-pound style of football, as there were only 24 pass attempts compared to 86 runs.

President Donald Trump attended the game for the seventh time, and his second in as many years since being elected again. Trump participated in the coin flip, but not before protesters wielded lewd signs opposing Trump on the street leading up to the stadium. 

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Protests were expected for the game in the blue city, as Trump has suggested sending the National Guard to Baltimore to help address the city’s rampant crime. Baltimore consistently ranks among U.S. cities with high crime rates, often appearing in the top 5 for violent crimes, especially homicides and robberies. 

U.S. President Donald Trump (2nd-L) walks onto the field for the 126th Army-Navy Game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen on Dec. 13, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. The teams are competing for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, with President Trump attending the rivalry for the second consecutive year.  (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The protests against Trump also come on the same day that officials said two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. interpreter were killed in an ambush attack in Syria. 

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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Jarred Vanderbilt hoping for an opportunity to help Lakers on defense

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Jarred Vanderbilt hoping for an opportunity to help Lakers on defense

Perhaps Jarred Vanderbilt and his ability to defend can help the Lakers and their reeling defense.

Perhaps Vanderbilt can return to the rotation to help the Lakers’ defensive woes while guard Austin Reaves is out for approximately a week because of a mild left calf strain.

And perhaps Vanderbilt and the Lakers can get some immediate results for shoring up their defensive shortcomings when they face the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.

The 6-foot-8 Vanderbilt is hopeful that his opportunity will come against the Suns and he turns that into a positive for the Lakers.

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“Oh, yeah, I’m pretty eager,” he said after practice Saturday. “I mean, obviously, I think a lot of the stuff we lack, I think I can help provide on that end.”

In the last 10 games, Vanderbilt had only a three-minute stint against the Philadelphia 76ers because Jake LaRavia took a shot to the face that loosened a tooth.

The return of LeBron James and Vanderbilt’s offensive deficiencies left him out of the rotation. During much of that time the Lakers were winning, which meant Vanderbilt spent time on the bench.

In 15 games, Vanderbilt is three for 10 (26.6%) from three-point range. He was asked how he has been handling things.

“Good,” Vanderbilt said. “Controlling what I can control. Keep showing up to work, doing my part, supporting the team.”

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Vanderbilt was asked if coach JJ Redick or any assistants have spoken to him about his role.

“Kind of here and there, I guess,” Vanderbilt said.

Vanderbilt was seen after practice Saturday working with an assistant coach on his shooting, just like he did after practice Friday and like he has done while not playing.

Redick said Reaves, who played against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, wasn’t sure when the calf became an issue, and “we’re obviously gonna be cautious with it.”

“It’s a mild strain, Grade 1, and he’ll be out for a week,” Redick said, adding, “I would venture to say every player is a little bit different, but players now are becoming more cautious — to use that word again — more cautious when they get those diagnosis with the calf. Everything looks clean. It’s not in the deep part.”

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The Lakers have looked at the last 10 games during the film sessions as a barometer for their defensive problems. But in reality, the Lakers have not been very good on defense all season while producing a 17-7 record because of their stellar offense.

“It’s been a trending thing even when we was winning, so I think like you said, the defense still wasn’t there, but we was just outscoring everybody,” Vanderbilt said. “So, I think obviously during the loss, it’s an appropriate time to address certain things just so it won’t keep lingering and get worse.”

The Lakers are 18th in the NBA in points given up (116.8), 22nd in opponents’ field-goal percentage (48.1%) and 27th in opponents’ three-point shooting (38.2%).

They will face a Suns team that defeated them Dec. 1 at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers were unable to stop Collin Gillesipie, who had 28 points and was eight for 14 from three-point range, and Dillon Brooks, who had 33 points.

It hasn’t gotten better in the ensuing days. The Spurs loss was the Lakers’ third in the last five games.

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“Nobody likes to go watch film after you get your ass kicked,” guard Marcus Smart said. “It’s tough because the film never lies. And it exposed us a lot, which we already knew. We were just winning a lot of games. So it was mitigated that way, but it was straight to it: We have to be able to guard.

“The scouting report against us is we’re not guarding people. And if we want to be great in this league and do what we’re trying to do, you have to be able to guard, especially in the West. These guys are no joke, and they’re coming. And especially [if] you got the Lakers across your jersey. They’re definitely coming with everything they have. So you can’t be expecting any surprises. And that’s what it was. It wasn’t no sugarcoating anything. It was, ‘This is what we got to do.’ We’ve been asked. Let’s fix it.”

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Michigan football staffer who had alleged affair with Sherrone Moore still employed by university

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Michigan football staffer who had alleged affair with Sherrone Moore still employed by university

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The football staffer who allegedly had a romantic relationship with fired head coach Sherrone Moore is still employed by the University of Michigan.

The woman has served as Moore’s executive assistant. 

“There is no change in her employment status,” a Michigan spokesperson told Fox News. 

The woman received a massive pay bump between 2024 and 2025.

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Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore appears via video in court in Ann Arbor, Mich., Dec. 12, 2025. (Ryan Sun/AP Photo)

The individual allegedly linked to Moore, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as an executive assistant to the head football coach at the University of Michigan, made just over $58,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to public payroll information. In the 2025 fiscal year, though, her salary jumped to $99,000, according to a salary disclosure report from the University of Michigan.

During Moore’s arraignment Friday, prosecutors alleged he and the staffer had been in an “intimate relationship for a number of years,” which they say the woman ended on Monday. Prosecutors further claim Moore sent multiple text messages and made phone calls that prompted the woman to report the situation to the university and cooperate with its investigation.

Moore was released from jail Friday on $25,000 bond, according to police records obtained by Fox News Digital. 

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However, it’s unclear whether Moore will be returning home to his family. 

Moore’s attorney, Joseph Simon, declined to say whether the coach will be going home to his wife and three children while speaking to reporters at an Ann Arbor courthouse Friday. 

FIRED MICHIGAN COACH SHERRONE MOORE ACCUSED OF STALKING VICTIM ‘FOR MONTHS’ IN POLICE DISPATCH AUDIO

“I’m just going to not answer that question,” Simon said when asked if Moore was “going to be able to go home.”

Moore has been married to wife Kelli since 2015, and they have three daughters together — Shiloh, Solei and Sadie. Simon also declined to comment on the “mood” of his client after Moore was charged. 

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The conditions of Moore’s release require him to wear a GPS tether and continue mental health treatment and forbid him from communicating with the victim.

Moore was fired Wednesday, and the University of Michigan quickly announced it found credible evidence he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a staffer. Moore was then detained by police Wednesday after news of his dismissal broke. 

Moore was arraigned in court Friday on stalking and home invasion charges. According to prosecutors, he faces a felony charge of home invasion in the third degree and two misdemeanor charges of stalking and breaking and entering without the owner’s permission.

Both misdemeanor charges are related to a “domestic relationship.”

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Michigan Wolverines head football coach Sherrone Moore during warmups before a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field in Chicago Nov. 15, 2025. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

When Moore was fired from his position as head coach, prosecutors said, it prompted him to visit the woman’s home. 

Moore then allegedly “barged” his way into the residence, grabbed a butter knife and a pair of kitchen scissors and began threatening his own life. According to prosecutors, Moore allegedly told the staffer, “My blood is on your hands” and “You ruined my life.” 

Prosecutors claimed Moore “terrorized” the staffer and that they believed him to be a “risk to public safety.” 

Fox News’ Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.

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