Lucas Roehrig has signed a promotional deal with Zuffa Boxing and will fight on Sky Sports.

The cruiserweight talent, only 23 years old, has impressed in his rise through the cruiserweight ranks.

He will fight next on Zuffa Boxing 12 at the Copper Box Arena on November 7, live on Sky Sports.

His trainer and mentor is former world champion George Groves. Roehrig has been flawless so far in his professional career.

The young Londoner has won nine fights, never been defeated and has taken five of those wins inside the distance.

Roehrig made his pro debut in 2024, halting former English champion Joel McIntyre in three rounds.

Last year he shut out American prospect Brian Jones over six rounds. From then on, he’s continued to box and beat opponents with winning records.

His last two fights have been consecutive stoppage victories, over Adam Kolarik and Faton Tolaj, at York Hall.

“I’m really excited. This is a new chapter for me,” Roehrig told Sky Sports News. “Zuffa have come onto the scene and made a big splash, and for where I’m at in my career right now, that’s exactly what I want to do too.

“I’ve been through the levels. I’ve boxed on Sky shows and on other channels, but I’ve also boxed on the small hall shows – I haven’t skipped a step.

“I think now is the perfect platform, perfect time to fight other prospects – Zuffa have a lot of other undefeated fighters – for me to really make some noise not just in the UK but internationally too.”

Roehrig is now joining a promotional powerhouse that has a strong cruiserweight stable, including Jai Opetaia, Chris Billam-Smith, Ryan Rozicki and more.

“I’ve said numerous times that I’m aiming for world titles, that’s the main goal, that’s why I work so hard and that’s why we’re going to be taking risks,” Roehrig said.

“Our first fight will be November 7. Make a splash, and then from there keep building. There’s other belts that I’d love to collect along the way, but the Zuffa belt and the world titles are the end goal.”

Zuffa Boxing 11, headlined by Johnny Fisher vs Michael Pirotton, takes place this Saturday live on Sky Sports.

Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari’s season can still rank as a “huge achievement” if they finish in the top three of the Drivers’ Championship, asking critics to “look at the positives” of the team’s year despite recent setbacks.

Hamilton and Ferrari’s hopes of winning this years world title have faded in recent races, with the Briton not finishing on the podium since the British Grand Prix at the start of July.

A first race retirement of the season last time out in Madrid saw third-placed Hamilton fall over 100 points back on championship-leading Kimi Antonelli for the first time this season, with the seven-time champion all-but conceding the title.

Antonelli’s overall lead at the top of the standings is 81 points over Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

Asked about his own championship prospects heading into weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the season’s 15th of a scheduled 23 rounds, Hamilton said: “Well, I mean, he’s 101 points ahead of me.

“Just in two races he gained something like 40-odd points on me, and we’ve been working so hard to gain just a couple of points here and there.

“There is still a long way to go and I think the focus for me is, if we can hold on to second – if not somehow catch Mercedes – for the constructors’, I think that would be remarkable.

“I think it’s also just having to think about where we were last year and where we’ve come to this year and whilst it sometimes seems doom and gloom, you actually have to look at the positives.”

Ferrari endured a winless 2025 campaign and slipped to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, with Hamilton himself experiencing a difficult first campaign in red with no podiums for the first time in his career.

But he won for the first time at June’s Spanish Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc triumphing two races later at Silverstone.

Hamilton added: “We’ve been fighting, we’ve had wins and podiums, the team have done an incredible job in terms of bringing upgrades, so you really have to acknowledge the good things that we’ve done this year.

“I know lots of people focus on the negatives. For me, again, if I can battle with George and somehow get ahead of him, which would be very difficult as Mercedes are the leaders… if at the end of the year, managing to stay in the top three, even second, I think would be a huge achievement for us as a team.”

Hamilton is 20 points behind Russell, his former Mercedes team-mate, in the standings.

‘I believe we can make improvements’

Ferrari have consistently looked competitive early on in race weekends but the team’s recent results have often been compromised by operational and strategic issues within their own control.

“I think there’s positives to take out of the last few races, it’s just they haven’t been, I would say, the best in terms of execution and we’ve not had the best results,” said Hamilton.

“But the positives we take forwards and we try and learn from the areas we weren’t as good. I believe we can make improvements and I think we have.

“I’m excited for this weekend.”

Russell: I feel confident I can fight for victories again

The Spanish Grand Prix a fortnight ago also saw Russell fall a season-high margin behind Antonelli, who has won the last two grands prix to take his tally to eight overall in an extraordinary second campaign of F1 so far.

Russell, the pre-season title favourite, has spoken openly about his difficulties in meshing his natural driving style to the all-new 2026 cars but believes the situation is improving, saying in Baku on Wednesday that “I’ve been making very good progress and feel confident I can fight for victories again”.

He underlined the importance of continuing that trend all through the rest of this season ahead relatively stable winter of regulations into 2027.

“I think it is very important to try and resolve some issues, which, as I mentioned before, I think I’ve been pleased with that progress since the summer break,” said Russell.

“The race pace, which was a weakness, has been substantially better and has been in the mix every single race since the break.

“And I now feel more comfortable that I can fight for great results.

“Let’s see from now until the end of the season how the points could fall out. But next year is going to be pretty similar. Not much has changed with the chassis, not much has changed with the power units. Maybe the tyres are going to be slightly different from what we hear. So, it’s important I continue to build.”

Although he has effectively ruled himself out of title contention, Russell says his approach to each race weekend will not change.

“I’m going to keep fighting every single race until it’s mathematically impossible,” he stressed.

“But it doesn’t change how I go about my job. I want to try and win every single race and put it on pole every single race. That’s my goal.

“That’s what I’m working towards every single weekend, and what happens thereafter will be. And there’s obviously a huge deficit, but it’s not even really a consideration right now. It’s just the performance is the biggest priority.”

Sky Sports F1’s Azerbaijan GP live schedule

Thursday September 24
6.55am: F2 Practice
9am: Azerbaijan GP Practice One (session starts at 9.30am)*
10.55am: F2 Qualifying*
12pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
12.30pm: Azerbaijan GP Practice Two (session starts at 1pm)
2.15pm: The F1 Show

Friday September 25
5.10am: F2 Sprint*
9.15am: Azerbaijan GP Practice Three (session starts at 9.30am)*
11.10am: F2 Feature Race 1*
12.30pm: Azerbaijan GP Qualifying build-up*
1PM: AZERBAIJAN GP QUALIFYING*
3pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Saturday September 26
7.55am: F2 Feature Race 2
10.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbaijan GP build-up*
12PM: THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX*
2pm: Chequered Flag: Azerbaijan GP reaction*
3pm: Ted’s Notebook*

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Racing on a Saturday! The 2026 Formula 1 season continues live on Sky Sports F1 this week as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicks off a triple-header of races, with the Baku race taking place on Saturday at midday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell disagree on the Monaco Grand Prix becoming a Sprint weekend in 2027.

Last week, Formula 1 announced its 2027 calendar and revealed there will be an increase in the number of Sprint events from six to 10, with Monaco holding the alternative format that sees an extra qualifying session on Friday before a 100km Sprint on Saturday.

Monaco is one of the most difficult tracks to overtake at, but F1 highlighted the prospect of two qualifying sessions as an additional chance for “the drivers to show their world-class skill and precision on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo”.

“It makes no sense to me but I’m not making the decisions obviously,” said Hamilton, who is hoping to fight for the win at this week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“On the positive, we get another qualifying session, which is quite cool. But I’ve always said that Monaco needs something different. I don’t think it should be the same race formula that’s everywhere else. It needs to be something different.

“We’ve already included the Sprints, which I think have really brought something new to the sport. But I think we’ve got to come up with something new for somewhere like that because it’s a beautiful place, such a beautiful country, an incredible circuit to drive, but the race is as dull as it gets. I don’t know what that is, but a Sprint race is not the answer for it I would say.”

However, Hamilton’s former Mercedes team-mate Russell gave a contrary view when speaking earlier in the FIA press conference in Baku.

“I personally think it’s good because we’ve had Sprints for quite a while, normal race weekends feel quite long-winded and we all want to fight,” said Russell.

“As much fun as driving a Formula 1 car around the track is, the enjoyment comes from the competition and that adrenaline you get from a qualifying session.

“Of course the race isn’t going to be the most exciting one, but that will be compensated by having a more exciting Friday. Sprint Qualifying is way more exciting than FP2, so I think on the whole it makes sense.”

Verstappen: I don’t care where the Sprints are

Max Verstappen has been a strong critic of Sprint weekends in the past, stating in 2023 that he “won’t be around for too long” if F1 added more to the calendar.

Verstappen has been less vocal in recent years and says he’s made his feelings clear to F1 boss Stefano Domenicali.

He said: “Maybe Monaco wanted it [the Sprint], I don’t know. For me, I honestly don’t care where the Sprints are. I participate, and of course you try to do the best you can.

“I have no emotion attached to winning a Sprint race or not winning it. My focus is always from, when I was a kid, you look forward to the Grand Prix.”

Cadillac’s Sergio Perez revealed he discovered the Monaco news through the drivers’ WhatsApp group and said it was “a bit busy”.

“Monaco, I think you just make it a little bit more variable, to be honest. I think it was just a Saturday event in the last few years. Whatever happened on Saturday was basically done,” he added.

“I think right now it can mix things around a little bit more. I think it’s going to be an interesting weekend. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

Reigning world champion Lando Norris believes fans should have a say on Sprint weekends and where they take place.

“If the fans have a better time then I’m happy,” the McLaren driver said

“I think they could have picked better races to do it. I think there’s some races that could have been picked that you could actually have an exciting Sprint race. But it’s not our decision to make.”

Sky Sports F1’s Azerbaijan GP live schedule

Thursday September 24
6.55am: F2 Practice
9am: Azerbaijan GP Practice One (session starts at 9.30am)*
10.55am: F2 Qualifying*
12pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
12.30pm: Azerbaijan GP Practice Two (session starts at 1pm)
2.15pm: The F1 Show

Friday September 25
5.10am: F2 Sprint*
9.15am: Azerbaijan GP Practice Three (session starts at 9.30am)*
11.10am: F2 Feature Race 1*
12.30pm: Azerbaijan GP Qualifying build-up*
1PM: AZERBAIJAN GP QUALIFYING*
3pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Saturday September 26
7.55am: F2 Feature Race 2
10.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbaijan GP build-up*
12PM: THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX*
2pm: Chequered Flag: Azerbaijan GP reaction*
3pm: Ted’s Notebook*

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Racing on a Saturday! The 2026 Formula 1 season continues live on Sky Sports F1 this week as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicks off a triple-header of races, with the Baku race taking place on Saturday at midday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime