Apr 28, 2026 10:20am UTC

The April break between the Japanese Grand Prix and the Miami Grand Prix offers a chance to examine the highly individualistic details of Newey’s AMR26. Those details show that, even by Newey’s standards, this is an extreme design — perhaps the most audacious of his career — though it is not yet performing to a high level given Aston Martin’s much‑documented struggles so far in 2026.

Claudio Braga has told Sky Sports News that Hearts players have been high in Premiership title confidence for much of this dramatic campaign.

The Jambos have led the way for most of the season and are three points clear of current champions Celtic, with Rangers a further point behind.

Monday 4th May 5:00pm — Kick off 5:30pm

Braga, who is one of the nominees for PFA Scotland Premiership player of the year, knows the Jambos’ first title since 1960 is within their grasp.

“We just wanted to face it game by game and that was really important,” the Portuguese forward told Sky Sports News.

“Now we know that we are in a place that if we win every game, we win the title. That’s something that the city is expecting, the club is expecting and the fans are expecting.

“We need to be calm, and we have a very important game Monday night [vs Rangers], and hopefully we get there with three points.

“We started to believe a long time ago, but just couldn’t say nothing like that. Now, just four games to go, it’s on us.”

The 26-year-old joined Hearts from Norwegian second-tier side Aalesunds last summer and is the club’s current top scorer this season with 17 goals.

“I was thinking is it possible to win silverware, some kind of cup. That was my expectation, and maybe fight for top three.

“That was definitely the expectation when I came to Hearts and tried to fight for my spot.

“I wasn’t even sure if I can maybe start or not. The level was different from what I was, so that was a big step for me.

“I wasn’t expecting anything that happened this year, so it’s just a big surprise, but I’m so glad for it.”

Hearts’ next Scottish Premiership match is at home to Rangers on May 4, live on Sky Sports.

VOTE: Sky Sports Scottish Premiership Goal of the Season

With the 2025/26 season nearing a dramatic conclusion, fans can vote for the Scottish Premiership goal of the season so far.

The shortlist features: Marko Lazetic (Aberdeen), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Callum McGregor (Celtic), Hyun-Jun Yang (Celtic), Sebastian Tounekti (Celtic), Ethan Hamilton (Dundee), Zac Sapsford (Dundee United), Kyrell Wilson (Falkirk), Alex Kyziridis (Hearts), Ben Brannan (Kilmarnock), Jayden Meghoma (Rangers) and Youssef Chermiti (Rangers).

Click the Sky Sports link to see all 12 goals and vote for your favourite.

Nat Sciver-Brunt will captain England on home soil at her seventh T20 World Cup. Also new to a T20 World Cup squad are Surrey’s Corteen-Coleman, Warwickshire’s Issy Wong and Durham’s Lauren Filer. Surrey’s Danni Wyatt-Hodge is selected for her eighth T20 World Cup. Somerset’s Charlie Dean is vice-captain, and Hampshire fast bowler Lauren Bell is set to lead the attack.

England Squad
– Lauren Bell, Bowler
– Alice Capsey, All-Rounder
– Nat Sciver-Brunt, Captain and All-Rounder
– Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Batter
– Lauren Filer, Bowler
– Amy Jones, Wicketkeeper
– Heather Knight, Batter
– Freya Kemp, All-Rounder
– Sophia Dunkley, Batter
– Sophie Ecclestone, Bowler
– Charlie Dean, All-Rounder
– Linsey Smith, Bowler
– Dani Gibson, All-Rounder
– Tilly Corteen-Coleman, Bowler
– Issy Wong, Bowler

Head coach Charlotte Edwards said: “There is no doubt that it has been incredibly tough to get to these 15 names. This is the hardest set of selection meetings I have been a part of because the pool of players to choose from is so strong and so many talented players have put their hand up to be a part of the squad, which is exactly what we want. That is the nature of world-class sport, and it is a privilege we don’t take lightly to be able to make these difficult decisions. An ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 on home soil is a special moment for the game in this country, and we are all really motivated by what could be ahead for this group of players and what they can achieve this summer.”

Sciver-Brunt added: “It is a huge honour to be leading England into a T20 World Cup at home in front of family and friends and all our passionate supporters. We have all been looking forward to this summer and this tournament for some time now and the naming of the squad means it is almost here and we can’t wait to get out onto the field and give it everything to win this World Cup again. I know how much winning in 2009 meant to the players and to Charlotte Edwards as captain, and being in the team under Heather Knight’s leadership for the 2017 ODI World Cup win was incredibly special. Now the aim is to do something similar with this fantastic group of players who I know are putting their heart and soul into achieving our goal, and that hard work will continue right throughout the summer as we start with games against New Zealand and India before that tournament begins.”

Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton highlighted Sciver-Brunt and Lauren Bell as players to watch: “I’ve got to go with the captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt. It’s very important at a home tournament, with a lot of scrutiny, a lot of pressure, a lot of expectation. The captain and the leader as a driving force and obviously one of the best players as well, which Nat Sciver-Brunt is. Opening bowler Lauren Bell, in English conditions, opening bowling, it’s very important to find that movement with the new ball.”

England’s Women’s T20 World Cup record
– 2009: Winners
– 2010: Knocked out in group stage
– 2012: Runners-up
– 2014: Runners-up
– 2016: Semi-finals
– 2018: Runners-up
– 2020: Semi-finals
– 2023: Semi-finals
– 2024: Knocked out in group stage

Heather Knight told Sky Sports England’s ambition at their home Women’s T20 World Cup is to “create a real legacy for women’s cricket in this country,” citing changes in the landscape of women’s sport since 2017 and pointing to the Lionesses and Red Roses as examples of teams that created national impact. “It’s a chance to have a real impact on the sport in your country and leave a legacy. If we do our job right and have success this summer we can leave a real legacy on the sport of women’s cricket in this country,” she said.

ODI and IT20 series against New Zealand
Selectors also named squads for the Metro Bank One Day series against New Zealand and two Vitality IT20 series against New Zealand and India. At the start of a new ODI World Cup cycle, five players are added to the T20 World Cup squad for the three-match Metro Bank ODI series, with first international call-ups for Kira Chathli and Jodi Grewcock.

Sophia Dunkley, Charlie Dean and Danni Wyatt-Hodge will miss the ODI series to manage workloads; Wyatt-Hodge is also expecting her first child. Sarah Glenn was not considered due to continued recovery from a broken finger.

England Women’s Metro Bank ODI Squad v NZ
– Nat Sciver-Brunt, The Blaze (Capt)
– Em Arlott, Warwickshire
– Lauren Bell, Hampshire
– Alice Capsey, Surrey
– Kira Chathli, Surrey
– Tilly Corteen-Coleman, Surrey
– Charlie Dean, Somerset
– Sophia Dunkley, Surrey
– Sophie Ecclestone, Lancashire
– Lauren Filer, Durham
– Mahika Gaur, Lancashire
– Dani Gibson, Somerset
– Jodi Grewcock, Essex
– Amy Jones, The Blaze
– Freya Kemp, Hampshire
– Heather Knight, Somerset
– Emma Lamb, Lancashire
– Linsey Smith, Hampshire
– Issy Wong, Warwickshire
– Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Surrey

The squad for the Vitality IT20s versus New Zealand and India is the same as the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup squad.

Watch the Women’s T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports, with selected games streamed for free via the Sky Sports App.

“Getting our young players into the first team gives everybody hope,” Schaffran tells Sky Sports. As Dortmund’s academy director, speaking at their hotel in Liverpool before a development fixture, he sees Reggiani as part of a broader trend.

Samuele Inacio, another 18-year-old Italian, made his Bundesliga debut against Bayern Munich in February. “He has already showed he is ready.” The 16-year-old Mathis Albert debuted against Freiburg on Sunday. Mussa Kaba, 17, will not have to wait long.

“Inacio came from Atalanta, while Reggiani arrived from Sassuolo. The idea is to build players from scratch but you need both pillars,” Schaffran says. “They know there is a pathway here.” He points out that in Italy the average age of centre-backs is high, making it harder for an 18-year-old to earn minutes there.

Dortmund’s reputation as a finishing school is well known — Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham used the club to fast-track their careers — but recent demands for first-team results and external competition pushed Dortmund to target even younger talent. That increased responsibility for the academy to prepare players, prompting a wholesale shift in mentality.

“We changed our vision, our style of how we want to develop players,” Schaffran explains. “In the past, we pretty much focused on winning. But winning a game at under-17 level means nothing to me if we are not developing a Bundesliga footballer.” Now the approach is the opposite: give players the hardest challenges possible at youth level so it becomes easier to succeed later. “It is a massive change in our thinking.”

Dortmund now fields the youngest under-17 and under-19 squads in Germany and had the youngest side at the Premier League International Cup. That is deliberate. “We are not doing it just because it is nice to be the youngest but because you need to be over-challenged to reach the next level,” Schaffran says. If players are under-challenged, they won’t adapt or develop as they could. Adapting to faster, more physical and more complex football often reduces short-term efficiency and winning, but increases long-term development.

A major element of this refocus has been the introduction of bio-banding. Dortmund use ultrasound analysis to determine players’ true skeletal ages to ensure they face appropriate challenges. The results were eye-opening. Six years ago 35% of their academy were early developers, 60% normal and just 5% late developers — a skew driven by selection bias rather than talent.

“The biggest learning from bio-banding was not for the players, it was for the coaches and scouts,” Schaffran says. It educated staff to view players differently, rather than being swayed by those dominating physically within an age group. “That 14-year-old kid who is being bullied off the ball but has the talent? In the long term, it is going to be okay.”

Schaffran cites one unnamed player who would have been rejected under the old system because he was slower than his peers. Given time to develop at his own pace, there is now hope he could reach the highest level. Rather than imposing quotas, Dortmund focused on education; this year they achieved a more balanced distribution: roughly 15% early developers, 70% normal and 15% late developers.

Prioritising individual development can be tough for teams. Inacio and Albert were key scorers for the under-19s, and Luca had been a leader, but they were moved on because they needed greater challenges. “If I just wanted them to win they would have stayed. That is not how we judge our academy.”

Albert’s season highlights the club’s approach: he featured at the Club World Cup, played for the United States at the Under-17 World Cup, and competed across Dortmund’s under-19s and under-23s in different competitions. “So many environments. He keeps stepping up,” Schaffran notes.

There is institutional support for the pathway. Lars Ricken, a former academy chief now making first-team decisions, has helped bring many young players to the club, and Schaffran is closely involved in planning. “If there is a squad planning meeting for the first team, I am always invited to those meetings. We talk about the youth players.” That connection increases the chances for academy graduates to find opportunities.

Seeing Reggiani celebrate his Bundesliga goal was a proud moment for Schaffran. “Luca was back at the academy celebrating with the under-12-to-15s the other day,” he says. With a clearer vision, bio-banding, and a willingness to accept short-term losses for long-term gain, Dortmund’s conveyor belt of talent looks to be running again.

Flagg set a host of records for an NBA teenager in an otherwise difficult season for the Mavericks. He became the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. That and other teenage accolades were enough to secure the award, while Knueppel powered the Charlotte Hornets to a 25-win improvement that nearly delivered a playoff berth.

The 19-year-old Flagg and Knueppel finished first and second in rookie scoring, the first former college teammates to do so since UConn’s Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon in 2004-05. Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe was the other finalist.

“I see the games every night. I can check the box scores,” Flagg said when asked how closely he followed Knueppel during the season. “I think also I was watching Kon just because that’s one of my brothers. We had such a good connection, and we’re gonna be there for each other for the rest of our lives. I was watching him as a fan as well, but there was obviously that competition at the same time.”

The rookie award was the sixth NBA award announced since the regular season ended.

The others
– San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year.
– Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes to win the Clutch Player of the Year award.
– San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson won Sixth Man of the Year.
– Boston’s Derrick White won the Sportsmanship Award, which is selected solely by active players.
– Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player.
– MVP (between Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver’s Nikola Jokic) and Coach of the Year (between Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson or Boston’s Joe Mazzulla) announcements are still to come.
– The NBA will announce Executive of the Year, the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year and the Hustle Award later this week.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City into the Western Conference semi-finals, scoring 31 points as the Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 131-122 on Monday night, completing a four-game sweep in the first-round series. Chet Holmgren added 24 points.

The Thunder, who have gone 12-0 in the first round over the past three seasons, will face the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers–Houston Rockets series in the Western Conference semi-finals. The Lakers lead that series 3-1, though the Rockets claimed Game 4.

Chelsea believe there will be a bigger pool of high-calibre managers available this summer than there were last time they appointed a manager between seasons. When Enzo Maresca got the job in June 2024, Kieran McKenna was the other candidate on their shortlist and neither manager had Premier League experience at the time.

Chelsea now want someone with Premier League experience and/or someone with a proven track record at a high level. Iraola has said he is leaving Bournemouth this summer, Alonso is out of work and Silva’s Fulham contract runs out in two months.

Chelsea are not in a rush to make an appointment and Calum McFarlane will remain in charge until the end of the season.

Paul Merson doubts a ‘top manager’ will become the new Chelsea boss, saying the next head coach will be ‘grateful’ to manage the club rather than the other way round. Merson, a Chelsea fan, believes the days of the club appointing big-name managers like Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti are over.

When asked who he would like to see given the Chelsea job, Merson said he would take Eddie Howe. He added that top managers will be wary of the scale of the task: Chelsea have been outrun in every match this season despite having one of the youngest squads in the Premier League, and turning that around will require significant work, including adding experienced players.

Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky stunned the crowd during the Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets game by sinking a backwards halfcourt shot while perched atop two ladders.

At halftime of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ visit to the Denver Nuggets, a corgi race provided the entertainment. The half-time corgi race in Denver went down to the wire.

The Saudi-backed circuit has been working with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s office and state economic officials to find a new date, potentially in September or October, according to people familiar with LIV operations. The event is currently set for June 25-28 at Bayou Oaks at City Park. The World Cup runs in the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

LIV Golf, Governor Landry and Louisiana Economic Development are expected to issue a statement on the matter on Tuesday, the sources added.

The comments come less than two weeks after LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said the breakaway circuit’s 2026 season would proceed as planned amid reports the series could be at risk of losing funding. Rumours have circulated that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) might reduce backing after LIV was not mentioned in the fund’s four-year investment strategy.

The Louisiana event is the only LIV tournament currently scheduled during the World Cup. LIV Golf Virginia at Trump National Golf Club is scheduled to begin May 7 in Washington, DC.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp says the American circuit is considering pathways to reinstate LIV players, as speculation continues about the breakaway league’s future.

Sky Sports Golf analyst Paul McGinley warned that any LIV players seeking to return to the PGA Tour or DP World Tour could face significant obstacles. “Over the last four years since LIV has been going, all of the spots these 56 players have had on the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour have been filled,” McGinley said. “You can’t just muscle your way back into what is going to be smaller fields than the bigger fields that they left. It’s not going to be an easy way back in, should they be allowed to do so.

“There’s a lot of negotiation to be done between the main tours and the LIV players, if LIV is going to fold, in terms of what the future may be. There are a lot of roadblocks in the way. There would be suspensions, there would be fines… It’s not going to be plain sailing for the LIV guys.”

Mercedes have dominated the opening three rounds, building a 45-point lead in the constructors’ standings, while Antonelli holds a slender nine-point advantage over Russell in the drivers’ championship. A long break before the Miami Grand Prix, caused by the cancellation of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has given rivals time to close the gap, but the Silver Arrows remain favourites.

Asked how his experience managing past intra-team title battles — notably Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg — might help, Wolff stressed the importance of team values and responsibility. “The oddity in Formula 1 is that the two team-mates are also the biggest competitors, and we’ve learned a lot over the last 10-plus years in how to best handle these situations,” he said. “But ‘best handle’ means also letting them race and acknowledging the fact that they race. There are certain values that we stand for in the team. The team is always bigger than the drivers.”

Wolff underlined Mercedes’ legacy and the expectations that come with wearing the brand. “It is Mercedes, so one of the most formidable brands in the world, the best car brand in the world. We race for 150,000 people that work for us, a company that exists for more than 120 years. And having the opportunity to race, to be one of the few selected racers for Mercedes, also comes with a responsibility for racing for Mercedes.”

He added a clear warning on attitude: “The moment a driver feels like this is all about him, that’s not the mindset that we would ever allow or accept in the team. And we’ve done that in the past. I would rather have only one car driving if that wasn’t clear, that wasn’t happening. But I think it will never come to that point because our drivers, they’ve been so long in the Mercedes family, that they are part of that mindset and this philosophical approach and the legacy that they represent.”

On track, the intra-team scrap has been intense. Russell won the opening round in Australia, but 19-year-old Antonelli responded with victories in China and Japan to leapfrog his team-mate in the standings. The teenager has admitted the strong start has altered expectations for him personally, but says he is keeping his focus race by race.

“Definitely, I think it’s been a better start than what we all anticipated and hoped for, at least on my side,” Antonelli said. “Expectations automatically they’re a bit different now, but at the end of the day, I still try to keep the same mindset that I had in the first three races, just trying to keep focusing on what I have to do, on the goal and just trying to put myself in the best position as possible to then achieve a great result. What I don’t want to do is, now that obviously we’re in a good position, start to think about the final result, or long-term results. I just really want to focus on the present, and how I can maximise every time I go in the car.”

Russell, frustrated by a run of bad luck that contributed to being beaten in China and Japan, said he always expected Antonelli to be a challenger. “I knew he was incredibly fast,” Russell told Sky Sports. “These last two races have been slightly unfortunate from my side, and I think that’s just how it goes sometimes, but I always knew he’d be keeping me on my toes.”

Russell noted how the 2026 regulation changes have altered the competitive dynamics. Where a small deficit in qualifying last year could cost several grid places, the performance spread this year provides a buffer that has helped Mercedes lock out front rows and convert starts into strong results. “We’ve had four starts with the Sprint in China as well, and we’ve been one-two in each. The first two were sort of three tenths in my favour, the last two a couple of tenths in his favour, and we were both still there (on the front row), so I hope that continues,” he said. He added that he was eager for the season to resume and for the European part of the calendar, where back-to-back weekends will intensify the title fight.

Formula 1 resumes May 1-3 with the Miami Grand Prix, the season’s second Sprint weekend.