A nine-year-old boy from Cardiff is stuck in Romania after UK border control denied him boarding at Milan airport despite being born in Wales

A nine-year-old boy from Cardiff is stuck abroad after his distraught family were told he was not able to return home to the UK after a routine family trip.

David Toropu and his mum are now stranded in Romania waiting to find out when they might be able to return home following a recent UK government rule change.

David, his mum Christina, and her husband and stepson had been on a rugby tour to Venice in the first week of the Easter holidays. After a four-night stay the family then arrived to check in at Milan airport on Thursday (April 2) for their return flight to London Gatwick.

They expected to travel smoothly through all the airport checks, as they had done on the way out, but were met with an unexpected problem – they were told David could not board a flight to the UK as the UK border control held no record of his UK residency.

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Despite being born in Cardiff and spending his entire life in Wales, David holds a Romanian passport, with his parents having relocated to the UK a year before his birth. His mum explained that both she and David’s father are Romanian nationals – his father holds settled status while his mother has pre-settled status.

Christina said: “I wasn’t aware that I needed to apply for his own status because since he was born in 2016 after seven years of continuous residency he was supposed to get automatic British citizenship.

“Because I thought that was given automatically to him he wouldn’t need to have his own settled or pre-settled status since he would have dual citizenship. However, the rules have changed since Brexit and I wasn’t aware of that.”, reports Wales Online.

With her son unable to return home, Christina had to stay in Italy with him while her stepson and husband returned to the UK to allow him to go to school and her husband to return to work. The mum and son spent two further nights in Italy before travelling to Romania, where they are staying with family until David is able to travel home.

Christina said: “The UK border said they didn’t hold any record of David ever being in the UK but he goes to school, he’s enrolled in many public things like football, his GP is in the UK, his whole life is over there. He’s only left the UK once when he was two years old for two weeks.

“Since he was denied I’ve had multiple panic attacks, I’m losing my head and I can’t stop crying. He’s used to his routines, his comfort in his house and everything that is his normal life. He heard the whole conversation of him being refused at the border and he was asking what was going to happen to him. In his mind he was thinking they were going to take me back to the UK and leave him in Italy.”

At the airport, Christina tried to rectify the situation by applying for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) but because the visa is intended for travel to the UK rather than residency and his registered address is in the UK, immigration officials insisted he was unable to return.

Christina is now worried that resolving the situation could result in David missing substantial amounts of school and her missing vital health appointments in the UK. She is also concerned about the substantial costs she has faced as a result of the mix-up, having spent around £2,000 on hotel rooms, flights and applications in less than a week.

She said: “We have made a really big dent into our savings and the rugby team my stepson plays for has created a gofundme to try and help us with the costs. In the Italian hotel we had the cheapest and smallest room and it cost £157 a night by itself.”

David’s constituency MP, Alex Davies-Jones, told Wales Online: “I’m really concerned to hear about David’s situation, and I’ve been in contact with his family to offer support. This is clearly a very distressing experience for both David and his mum.

“My office is doing everything we can to assist the family in resolving this as quickly as possible, and I will continue to support them in any way I can to help bring David home safely.”

In February, the UK government rolled out a new travel system changing the rules for many visitors and dual nationals entering the UK. The system means dual nationals are required to either show a British passport or a new digital version of the certificate of entitlement to the right of abode or they risk being denied entry.

Dual nationals used to be able to travel to the UK without such a certificate using their non-British passport. Certificates of entitlement are not automatically issued meaning some people have spent decades living in the UK and have never needed to apply for them before.

The government is therefore urging dual nationals to apply for either a British passport, which costs around £100 for an adult, or a certificate of entitlement, which carries a fee of £589.

A spokesperson from the Home Office said the necessary documentation has now been granted.

Una Crown was found dead in her bungalow after a ‘ferocious’ knife attack, but her death was not initially treated as a murder

A popular Channel 4 show is set to feature a Cambridgeshire cold case involving a ‘ferocious’ knife attack on an elderly woman. Two episodes of 24 Hours in Police Custody follow Detective Superintendent Iain Moor and his colleagues at the Major Crime Unit after they re-opened the case of the 2013 murder of Una Crown.

The body of the retired postmistress was discovered by family members and a neighbour in her bungalow in Magazine Lane, Wisbech. Una, 86, had died from stab wounds to her neck and chest.

Her clothing had been set alight by the killer to hide her injuries and destroy the evidence. The two-parter called “The Last Roll of The Dice” follows the detectives as they try to piece together more than a decade’s worth of evidence and uncover new information to catch her killer.

They show how new forensic techniques revealed male DNA under Una’s fingernails, protected under her body, and in her clenched fist when she fell to the floor. The DNA matched a man, David Newton, who was now in his 70s and still lived close to her bungalow.

Detectives had to rule out other male relatives in Newton’s paternal line by travelling over the country and piecing together the DNA breakthrough with new evidence to form a strong prosecution case. Newton was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 21 years in February last year.

Judge Justice Neil Garnham said Newton had launched “a ferocious and sustained knife attack on a defenceless old lady in her own home”. The two episodes of 24 Hours in Police Custody: “The Last Roll of The Dice” will be shown on Channel 4 on Monday and Tuesday (April 13 and 14).

Det Supt Moor said: “For more than a decade David Newton thought he had gotten away with this most horrendous crime. He was hiding in plain sight, but jurors saw through his lies and as this programme highlights, you cannot hide forever.

“Also demonstrated in the two episodes is the police commitment to continually reviewing unsolved cases and seeking new lines of enquiry. No unsolved murder case is ever closed.

“When I joined the Major Crime Unit, the first thing my wife said to me was, ‘you’ve got to solve this murder’. I’m immensely proud of bringing Newton to justice after more than a decade, and finally getting justice and closure for Una’s family. Una, by the actions she took on that night, solved her own case as she fought her attacker.”

EVERY day Jim Moir goes for a walk – and he observes the other world that most of us take for granted and barely even notice.

The otherworldly world of birds has fascinated him since childhood. Ask him why and he shrugs: “You’d probably have to speak to a psychiatrist about that.”

“They’re just weird, birds, in a good way,” adds Jim, standing in the David Hockney Gallery at Bradford’s Cartwright Hall, surrounded by birds he has immortalised in a variety of art styles. “Lots of people are drawn to birds because they’re strange, and they have superpowers. They can do things we wish we could do, like fly, and so much more.”

Jim is a prolific artist. He started painting long before he became comedy legend Vic Reeves, and he has always worked between painting and performance.

Now his artwork has gone on display in Bradford in a striking exhibition. Neo Fauna. It’s a vibrant, intriguing showcase featuring a bewildering range of styles, from brightly coloured, funky portraits to poignant pencil drawings and atmospheric watercolours. At the heart of the exhibition are British birds, including magpies, ravens and robins, captured on canvas using experimental techniques. Jim uses a variety of mediums – paints, pencil, charcoal and other materials to add layers and texture to his works.

“I’m easily bored so I’m always seeking different mediums. I use mud sometimes, bits of the landscape,” he says. Bringing nature literally into the painting? “You could say that,” he smiles.

Jim became interested in birds as a boy when his dad gave him an old pair of binoculars. He started bird-watching. “Kids don’t do it so much now.” Because of the internet? “Yes – although apparently there’s a resurgence.”

Jim paints every day; it’s a discipline, not just when the muse takes him: “I paint from 5.30am until about 12, then Nancy and I go out and walk. We look at what’s out there. For me it’s just as important as time in the studio because you’re looking at things and you’ve got to experience things, you’ve got to feel it.”

A colourful robin in Jim’s Jazz Birds collection

Jim’s daily walks are integral to his creative process. Just as the way to identify a bird when birdwatching is to see how it moves, the painting process for Jim comes from observing birds in their natural habitat and learning about their behaviour. He gets to know their character, their ‘personality’, and that leaps from his paintings – inviting us to see birds in new ways.

His passion for ornithology and art converges in Sky Arts series Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir, in which Jim and his wife travel across the UK painting native birds. Jim hopes Neo Fauna will encourage people to head into Lister Park to check out the birdlife. “I don’t think you get much in Bradford that you don’t get in other cities in the North. You’d have to go a long way to find a gannet. But if you take the time to look, sometimes you’re surprised what you see,” he says.

The highlight of his exhibition is a series of large, colourful bird paintings of garden birds – long-tailed tit, tree creeper, firecrest, magpie – which he painted while listening to jazz. Materials such as masking tape are layered on the paint, adding new textures.

Often Jim will start a sketch then apply watercolour, then charcoal, then rub it out until he finds the picture he’s happy with. “I do the same with the big paintings – allowing the paint to dry, then repeating up to seven layers until I get the effect I’m looking for,” he says.

There are so many different art styles in this exhibition, it’s incredible that it all came from one artist. The anarchy and eccentricity synonymous with Jim and his comedy is evident in his bold, often surreal paintings of animals and humans.

A series of paintings of American couples, inspired by photographic portraits, are accompanied by back stories he created. ‘Rhett Bugler and Cindy Clout: Rhett is an ex male exotic dancer and suggestive contortionist. Now Governor of USP Hazleton. Cindy is a rattlesnake wrangler for movies.’ ‘Wilson Hodd 4th and Spin Windle. Wilson is chief harmonica with the Knoxville Philharmonic. Spin was Wet Hair Look Queen 1983’.

“It’s not a deliberate thing, to do lots of different styles. I just paint what I know and what I like,” he says.

Jim works with a variety of different art styles and mediums

Born in Leeds in 1959, Jim moved with his family to Darlington at the age of five. As a school-leaver with a passion for drawing, he was keen to go to art school but his dad had other ideas. ‘Who ever made any money out of a career in art?’ he asked. ‘Andy Warhol’ came young Jim’s reply. He ended up doing an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering.

Despite coming from an ‘arty family’ and visiting art galleries with his mum, Jim wasn’t encouraged to pursue art as a career and says it’s still not widely pushed as a serious subject at school: “People tend to think it’s a bit of fluff, something to do when you’ve been at work all day, not a career option. When I was 15, if I’d known that one day I’d be doing this I’d have been so excited,” he says, gesturing around the gallery. “I’d be going: ‘I can’t wait to get old!’”

Mechanical engineering wasn’t for Jim and he finally got to study art, at the Sir John Cass Art School in London. In the 1980s he was a cult comedy hero, as Vic Reeves, later becoming a household name in British comedy, with TV shows including Vic Reeves Big Night Out, Shooting Stars and The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer.

But art remains his first love, and his work has been exhibited widely, including the Saatchi Gallery and Royal Academy and a major series of bird paintings at Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight last year.

* Jim Moir: Neo Fauna runs until August 31 at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Lister Park, Bradford.

All his artworks are available to buy, with a portion of the proceeds supporting Bradford and District Museums and Galleries.

The UK’s sixth-largest supermarket chain said it was investing £600 million

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Lidl has announced plans to open more than 50 new stores over the next 12 months as part of a £600 million investment drive. The UK’s sixth-largest supermarket chain confirmed the expansion is set to generate nearly 2,000 jobs across the country.

Among the new locations due to open this summer are Abbots Langley near Watford, Warrington in Cheshire, and Thornbury in Gloucestershire. Lidl also revealed it will be hosting more than 150 property partners and agents later this month to outline its future growth ambitions, as it seeks new freehold, leasehold or long leasehold sites across Great Britain.

The discount retailer currently operates more than 1,000 stores throughout Britain, with a workforce exceeding 35,000 employees.

Ryan McDonnell, chief executive of Lidl GB, said: “As we grow, we want to positively impact our British communities. We’re not just opening doors, we’re unlocking regional growth.”

He added: “Our expansion translates directly into high-quality jobs and gives British suppliers the certainty they need to invest in the future. Above all, it advances our social purpose of making affordable, healthy food accessible to everyone.”

Employment minister Kate Dearden said: “This kind of investment is exactly what we want to see from big employers – creating thousands of good jobs that pay fair wages and boost the standard of living in communities across the country.”

This follows Lidl announcing a 10% jump in sales during a “record-breaking” Christmas period, which attracted almost 51 million shoppers through its doors in the run-up to the festive season.

A former Apprentice contestant has shared strict rules, suits budget secrets and what really happens in the infamous “losers cafe”

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The Apprentice has graced our television screens for more than 20 years.

The beloved BBC programme first aired in 2005 and the 20th series is presently broadcasting.

Estate agent Kieran McCartney was eliminated from the competition last week following the failure of his “win or walk” agreement with business magnate Lord Alan Sugar.

Having narrowly missed securing a place in the Final Five, Kieran has revealed what audiences don’t witness on screen.

Viewers may be unaware that candidates are required to provide their own clothing and there are stringent behind-the-scenes regulations and “unspoken” customs that guarantee everyone appears suitable for television, reports the Mirror.

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Producers firmly recommend candidates wear striking, solid colours as they photograph better. Audiences frequently notice female candidates in eye-catching primary-coloured bodycon dresses and men in smart suits.

The “uniform” generally comprises pencil skirts, fitted trousers and high heels for women, while men maintain sharp suits, although some venture into colourful socks.

Kieran confirmed: “You have to bring your own suits. They give you £500 towards suits but you got to bring everything else yourself.”

Weekly, the losing team make their way to the notorious Bridge Street café where the unsuccessful candidates reflect on their shortcomings over tea while the victorious team return home.

The café is an operational business situated in Acton, London and a well-known destination for enthusiasts of the programme. Reflecting on his time in the iconic “losers cafe”, Kieran revealed: “You’re in there for about an hour.

“It’s not the best coffee I’ve ever had. It’s instant coffee.”

While viewers follow the process unfold over a 12-week broadcast, the actual production schedule is considerably more compressed.

Lord Sugar’s adviser Karren Brady previously confirmed that the entire series is squeezed into five weeks, and Kieran has disclosed that candidates are given days off between filming.

He explained: “The task is two days, the Boardroom is one day and then you have a day off so it’s three days filming then one day off and then start again.

“On the days off we could go for a little wander but we were accompanied by a member of the team so you got no freedom really. We’d get haircuts or sit in a café somewhere and have a coffee but never alone.”

Kieran McCartney was speaking to BestBettingSites.co.uk – the leading comparison site for casino sites and The Apprentice is available to watch on BBC iPlayer

Dunelm’s Peacock and Gold Carousel Parasol is a bohemian dream, with a vivid blue canopy and white and gold embroidered detailing, as well as beaded fringing for added movement

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One of the greatest advantages of working remotely is being able to take your laptop into the garden when the sun’s shining. That said, dealing with intense screen glare can be challenging, making a parasol an essential addition to your outdoor setup this spring and summer.

Dunelm has just launched an impressive collection of garden umbrellas, featuring this 2.85m Peacock and Gold Carousel Parasol that’s ideal for those warm days spent in the fresh air. While numerous parasols can appear rather plain or lacklustre, this Dunelm piece certainly stands out, bringing a lively bohemian aesthetic to your garden.

Living up to its description, the £100 Peacock and Gold Carousel Parasol features a striking vivid blue canopy and features white and gold embroidered accents around its edges. Decorative beads hang around the entire circumference, providing not only a sense of luxury, but also creating sparkle and movement.

Its substantial size measures 2.85 metres in height with a 2.74-metre diameter, offering plenty of coverage whether you’re working outside or enjoying a meal in the open air. The Carousel Parasol includes a crank mechanism for easy opening and an aluminium-alloy tilt system that enables you to modify the umbrella’s position in various directions for continuous shade. The parasol can be positioned freely among your outdoor furniture, or inserted through a parasol opening in a table. It’s worth noting the base needs to be purchased separately, although Dunelm offers an extensive selection of base options to suit different garden styles and budgets.

For an all-in-one solution with base and weights included, take a look at this 1.8m Fringed Parasol from JD Williams, which comes with a weighted base and is currently on offer at £32, reduced from £49, with the code HOPPY providing an additional 25% discount. It features fringed detailing in cream, offering that same bohemian feel as the Dunelm option but with a softer more subtle colour scheme, reports OK!.

As another option, this Christow Portable Garden Parasol With Tilt can be purchased for just £39.99 at Amazon, available in six different colours to coordinate with any outdoor area. With its 2m diameter, it’s perfect for sheltering a small bistro set, and while it accepts a parasol base, it also includes a screw-in base for securing into softer surfaces such as sand.

Having said that, Dunelm shoppers are absolutely delighted with the Peacock and Gold Carousel Parasol, with one customer stating: “Stunning parasol it’s really boho style, I love it.”

Another shared: “Gorgeous parasol, lots of compliments of the colour and beading,” while a third enthused: “Great size and looks good. Easy to open and close via the handle.” However, one shopper observed: “It’s huge and top heavy so difficult to handle. Some of the beads are coming undone. That said it provides good shade and looks beautiful. I love it!”

One disappointed buyer complained: “Looked absolutely beautiful, and we had THREE days use out of it, until it collapsed on our heads, as the cord from the crank handle snapped.”

Ministers say they will accelerate the rubber stamping of Lighthouse Green Fuels, which will produce green fuel for aeroplanes at Seal Sands.

If approved, the project would become Europe’s largest sustainable aviation fuel plant for fuels made from sources such as agricultural waste, forestry residues, municipal solid waste and used cooking oils instead of food crops.

It would produce enough fuel for 27,000 flights each year and create 2,000 construction jobs on Teesside, while supporting 3,400 supply chain roles.

It comes as conflict in the Middle East drives instability across global fuel markets.

Lighthouse Green Fuels is one of two sites to benefit, the other being nuclear project Sizewell C in Suffolk.

The Environment Agency (EA) will take the helm as a “lead environmental regulator” at the plant, acting as a single point of contact as regulators carry out checks.

The Environment Department (Defra) said the move will not lead to a watering down of green standards because the agency will co-ordinate with the other regulators on all the same assessments.

Usually there are delays in approving projects like this as developers have to work with multiple regulators, including the EA, Natural England, the Marine Management Organisation and the Forestry Commission. 

Saudi Arabian firm Alfanar, the developer behind the project, announced the £2billion investment plans for the plant last year. 

Noaman Al Adhami, UK country head for Alfanar, said: “We welcome the opportunity to support Defra’s lead environmental regulator pilot, which represents an important step forward in streamlining engagement with statutory bodies and accelerating the delivery of major infrastructure projects.

“By enabling earlier, more co-ordinated regulatory input, this initiative will help unlock investment and support the timely progression of projects like Lighthouse Green Fuels as we advance towards construction.”

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the Government was “taking back control of our energy supply”. 

She said: “Global shocks from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East show that relying on a volatile global fossil fuel market is simply not sustainable for Britain.

“These measures are a win-win for energy security, nature and for keeping bills down in the long-run.”

It comes amid the Government’s wider efforts to remove almost all fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity generation by 2030, as well as overhaul the planning system to speed up the rollout of new energy and infrastructure projects.

Ceasefires are often presented as moments of relief – pauses in violence that open the door to diplomacy. But sometimes they reveal something more consequential: who has actually gained from the war. The emerging ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran may be one of those moments.

On the surface, all sides are claiming success. Donald Trump has declared a “total and complete victory”, presenting the agreement as evidence that US objectives have been met. Meanwhile, Iran’s leadership has framed the ceasefire as a strategic achievement, with its Supreme National Security Council formally endorsing the deal on the condition that attacks stop.

But beneath these competing narratives lies a deeper reality: the content and structure of the ceasefire suggests that Iran may have emerged not weakened, but strengthened. While much of its senior leadership has been assassinated during the conflict, the regime’s ability to rapidly appoint replacements and maintain cohesion points to institutional resilience rather than collapse.

The ceasefire was not imposed by decisive military defeat. It was negotiated – and shaped – around Iranian conditions, delivering gains it previously did not have, with Tehran’s ten-point plan serving as a starting framework for negotiations rather than a finalised agreement being imposed on Iran.

Tehran’s proposals went beyond ending hostilities. They include sanctions relief, access to frozen assets, reconstruction support and continued influence over the Strait of Hormuz. They also include effective US withdrawal from the Middle East – and an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil transits, has been reopened under Iranian oversight, a clear signal of where leverage now lies. Control over Hormuz is not just strategic but economic. Iran has reportedly proposed continuing the charging of transit fees it begin during the conflict – creating a potential revenue stream at precisely the moment reconstruction is needed.

In effect, a war that involved sustained bombing of Iranian infrastructure may now leave Iran with new financial mechanisms to rebuild and potentially expand its regional influence.

The logic is paradoxical but familiar. Military campaigns are designed to degrade an opponent’s capabilities. But when they fail to produce decisive political outcomes, they often create new opportunities for the targeted state. Iran entered this war already adapted to pressure. Years of sanctions had forced it to build resilience by diversifying networks, strengthening institutions and developing asymmetric strategies.

What the war appears to have done is accelerate that process. Rather than collapsing, Iran has demonstrated its ability to disrupt global energy markets, absorb sustained strikes and force negotiations on terms that include economic concessions.

Illusion of victory

This is where the dissonance in US messaging becomes most visible. The US president may have framed the ceasefire as a “complete victory” but, tellingly, while the ceasefire deal will involve the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been the US president’s main demand in recent days, talks will centre on Iran’s ten-point plan rather than the original US 15-point plan, which centred on dismantling Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

The shift suggests an American search for an off-ramp. At the same time, Iran has maintained a consistent position: rejecting temporary arrangements unless they deliver structural outcomes such as sanctions relief and security guarantees.

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Iran war: the search for an ‘off ramp’

For Washington the ceasefire halts escalation and stabilises markets. For Tehran, it aims to consolidate the leverage offered by its control of the Strait of Hormuz. This asymmetry suggests the ceasefire is not a neutral pause, but a moment that could lock in a shift in regional power.

The most decisive dimension of this shift is economic. The war has destabilised global markets – with oil prices fluctuating sharply in response to disruptions of supply. But the ceasefire introduces a new dynamic. If sanctions are eased, Iran gains access to global markets at a time of sustained energy demand. Combined with potential transit revenues and reconstruction flows, this creates the conditions for a significant economic rebound.

In effect, the war risks producing the opposite of its intended outcome. Rather than weakening Iran economically, it may instead have strengthened it.

A stronger Iran, a weaker order?

This raises a larger question: what does this ceasefire reveal about power itself? For decades, US influence in the Middle East has rested on military dominance and economic pressure. This conflict suggests both are under strain.

Militarily, the US and Israel have demonstrated overwhelming capability, yet without decisive outcomes. Iran has retained its core capacities, maintained cohesion and leveraged its position to shape deescalation.

At the same time, US and Israeli legitimacy has eroded. The war’s contested justification, civilian toll and lack of broad international support have weakened their standing, even among allies. American soft power – long central to its global leadership – is diminished. Trump’s increasingly abusive social media posts have certainly alienated even its closest allies, most of whom stayed silent in face of US threats.

Economically, Iran’s ability to influence – and potentially monetise – global energy flows gives it a form of structural power that force alone cannot neutralise. The result is a paradox: a war intended to contain Iran may have reinforced its strength.

It is still early. Ceasefires can collapse, negotiations can fail, and conflicts can reignite. But if this agreement holds – even temporarily – it may mark a turning point. Not because it ends the war, but because of what it reveals about how wars are now won and lost. Victory is no longer defined by battlefield dominance alone, but by outcomes that are economically sustainable, politically legitimate and strategically durable.

On those measures, Iran appears well positioned. The US and Israel may have demonstrated military superiority. But Iran has demonstrated something different: the ability to endure, adapt and convert pressure into leverage.

That’s why this ceasefire matters; not just as an end to a phase of conflict, but marking the moment when a war intended to weaken Iran instead left it stronger – and exposed the limits of the power that sought to contain it.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull have experienced a disappointing start to the 2026 F1 campaign, and they have been rocked by more bad news involving rivals McLaren

Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s race engineer at Red Bull, has reportedly agreed to a stunning switch to McLaren from 2028. Lambiase, fondly referred to as ‘GP’ at the Milton Keynes-based outfit, will supposedly leave at the end of next season.

His deal with the energy drink giants doesn’t run out until next year, but once it does, it is widely believed the Frenchman will quit Red Bull to join the reigning World Constructors’ Champions – a decade after he originally signed up with Toro Rosso in 2016.

This represents a significant setback for Verstappen, who has had Lambiase in his ear over the radio ever since he was promoted 10 years ago.

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Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf believe Lambiase’s move to McLaren at the end of the 2027 season is tied to the anticipated exit of Andrea Stella, who has been strongly linked with a return to Ferrari. Lambiase had reportedly been offered the team principal position at Aston Martin during the off-season, but chose to decline.

He has previously stated he cannot picture himself as race engineer to any other driver beyond Verstappen. A team principal role, however, is an entirely different proposition.

The Dutch publication also believes Lambiase is set to pocket a substantial pay rise upon joining McLaren, with a ‘huge offer’ already having been accepted.

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The Frenchman will also enjoy several reunions of his own at McLaren. He will join forces with chief designer Rob Marshall and chief strategist Will Courtenay, both of whom departed Red Bull to sign up with McLaren in recent years.

The news also follows reports suggesting technical director Pierre Wache is facing mounting pressure.

A number of senior figures have headed for the exit at Red Bull over recent years. Christian Horner departed as team principal in the summer of 2025 after two decades in charge, while director of partnerships Julia George and group marketing director Simon Smith-Wright both left ahead of the 2026 campaign.

Prior to their exits, former group chief marketing and commercial officer Oliver Hughes and former group communications director Paul Smith had also moved on shortly after Horner.

On the paddock side, Guillaume Dezoteux, a key engineer at Red Bull for approximately 18 years, was swiftly snapped up by Ferrari. Then, of course, there is the question of Verstappen’s own future.

The Dutchman has appeared increasingly discontented as the new season has progressed. Following his disappointing result at the Japanese GP, he strongly hinted that he was weighing up his future in the sport altogether.

He has been vocal in his opposition to the new F1 regulations, repeatedly likening the new cars to “Mario Kart”, while also hinting at other ventures he wishes to explore.

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

Atletico Madrid have underlined their determination to keep hold of Julian Alvarez amid increasing transfer interest from Arsenal.

The Gunners are long-term admirers of the Argentina international who enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a sensational free-kick in his side’s 2-0 Champions League quarter-final win over Barcelona at Camp Nou last night.

Alvarez joined Atletico Madrid from Manchester City two years ago having grown tired of playing second fiddle to Erling Haaland for the Premier League giants.

The 26-year-old has blossomed into the complete centre forward under Diego Simeone’s tutelage and another stellar display last night has put Atletico on the brink of a semi-final place where they are, as things stand, likely to face the club that covet Alvarez most.

Arsenal spent heavily last summer on bolstering their attack and although Viktor Gyokeres is on course to register 20 goals in all competitions, he has failed to fully convince.

Gabriel Jesus, meanwhile, looks set to be deemed surplus to requirements while Kai Havertz’s durability remains an issue and, in any case, most of his appearances since his comeback from a knee injury have come in an attacking midfield role.

It would likely take a club-record fee for Arsenal to be able to prise Alvarez from Atletico, especially given the former City star still has four years to run on his current deal, a fact Atletico president Enrique Cerezo was only too keen to point out before the landmark win over Barcelona.

After the journalist replied that Alvarez is under contract with Atletico and that he himself is ‘under contract with God,’ Cerezo continued: ‘You’re under contract with life.

‘Don’t take it seriously, because there are things you shouldn’t take seriously. If a player has a contract and still has years left, tell me what could happen.

‘Now imagine I’m God and I’ll decide when he has to leave.’

Atletico’s immediate focus centre on finishing the season strongly and maintaining the significant advantage they established heading into next week’s second leg against Barcelona.

Alvarez’s stunning set-piece goal was the highlight of a stunning victory and compounded the home side’s misery following the sending off of Pau Cubarsi.

‘Yesterday we practiced free kicks,’ revealed Alvarez. ‘I took several, maybe five or six, and did not score any.

‘Today was the day. It came at a key moment, so I’m very happy’

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