Lewis Hamilton crashed out of final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion lost control of his Mercedes through the right-hander Mirabeau and ended up in the wall.

Hamilton sustained front suspension damage in the low-speed accident with his Mercedes team now facing a race against time to repair his car for qualifying at 4pm local time (3pm UK).

“Sorry about that, mate,” said Hamilton on the radio, shortly before trudging away from his broken machine with his hands behind his back.

“No worries, we will sort it,” replied Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington.

Hamilton was running in eighth place before he crashed out with just five minutes remaining.

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell expects the unexpected as Dundee United travel to Fir Park needing goals galore to avoid the drop.

United must win at Fir Park and hope Kilmarnock beat Ross County while achieving an eight-goal swing against the Staggies to get off the bottom of the cinch Premiership.

Tannadice manager Jim Goodwin admits they would need a “minor miracle” which is all the more unlikely given United have lost four games in a row while Motherwell have only lost twice in 13 games under Kettlewell.

Nonetheless, the Well boss recognises the unusual circumstances make it harder to second-guess his opponent’s game plan.

“I have had a fair amount of thought about it since we all played on Wednesday, and it probably becomes a little bit unpredictable in terms of what Jim does with his team,” said Kettlewell, whose team are aiming to seal seventh spot.

“We just have to prepare as best we possibly can but we can probably all in this room have a stab at how they are going to set up, what they are going to do, and I don’t know if any of us would get it right.

“I don’t mean any disrespect in that, it’s just the situation they find themselves in.

“I think the one constant I would imagine, having played against Jim’s teams on more than one occasion, as long as there’s a chance they are going to be fighting and they are going to come here and try and win by a margin. We have to brace ourselves for that.

“I believe Dundee United players and staff will feel that they owe that to their supporters so that’s what we have to expect.

“It’s just important that we try to finish off the season with as best a performance as we can.

“Every single week we go out to win the game but it does become a slightly different situation to what we have faced in recent weeks.

“As much as teams have been fighting for their life, it almost gets to that point where you need an exact number of goals.

“So it can change the mentality a little bit but it’s my job to make sure it doesn’t change too much in our players’ approach and mindset.”

Boss Unai Emery admits Aston Villa’s final step to return to Europe will be their hardest.

Villa host Brighton on Sunday knowing victory would seal a European comeback for the first time since 2010-11.

It would book seventh in the Premier League and a Europa Conference League play-off spot but Emery knows it is a tough test.

“We have to be very ambitious and I am. I’m here trying to push everybody, to demand from everybody to get better playing and to take European places,” he said.

“We have to take each step being strong and being passionate about how to do it. We are in this way. We are progressing very well.

“I’m very, very happy with the players and their commitment, their character and they are responding very well. We are also connecting with our supporters.

“We are in the first step. If we achieve our objective on Sunday, we will be very, very happy.

“It’s the next step because we started by escaping from the bottom (of the table), we got into the top 10 and then we have the objective to be in the European places.

“The most difficult step is to get it, but we have our objective. And then if we don’t, it’s not changing our idea or our mind about how we want to improve.”

Brighton have already qualified for the Europa League, sealing sixth place with Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Manchester City.

Boss Roberto De Zerbi has impressed since replacing Graham Potter in September and Emery is an admirer.

He said: “Football is changing so quickly. I’m 51 years old, I started coaching at 32, so I’ve had 19 years as a coach and manager.

“Always I am very focussed on how I can improve each day to be today, better than yesterday, to be tomorrow, better than today.

“It’s not only about my work or my experiences or my analysis, it’s about trying to watch other coaches. One of them is Roberto De Zerbi.

“I like coaches who can show us something different tactically, offensively and defensively. In football, you have to be in the fast train because it moves so quickly.”

David Martindale insists Livingston’s poor recent form should not detract from their accomplishments over the course of the campaign.

There is a sense of deflation around the Lions at present as they have won only four of their last 17 games in all competitions and missed out on the top six in the cinch Premiership despite having been as high as fourth in January.

But Martindale was keen to point out that if they win their final match away to St Johnstone on Sunday – which could take them up to seventh place – they will equal the points tally of 49 they accrued last term, in what was widely deemed a positive campaign.

“If we win, we finish on the same points tally as last season and we’ve already won as many games (13) as we did last season, but last year was a fantastic season, so it’s about trying to put it all in perspective,” he said.

“We can’t finish any lower than eighth, there’s an opportunity to finish seventh. I’m at peace with all of that. It’s just about trying to pick up three points on Sunday.”

As disappointed as he remains not to have made the top six, Martindale insists Livingston – operating on the lowest budget in the league – deserve credit for not becoming embroiled in a relegation battle.

“We had a decent start, I was really happy with the start,” said the manager, reflecting on the campaign. “We’ve not been at our best probably since January onwards but we’ve still picked up points.

“The main objective is staying in the Premiership and we’ve done it quite comfortably. With the position we got ourselves into around the turn of the year, we’re disappointed we didn’t make the top six.

“But we went into the last game before the split, the same as last year, knowing that if we won we’d have gone into the top six so if we put it into perspective and take the emotion out of it, I’ve got to take my hat off to the players and staff for keeping Livingston in the Premiership.”

Steven MacLean has been handed a three-year contract as St Johnstone manager after leading the Perth side to safety.

The former Saints striker stepped up to replace Callum Davidson on a caretaker basis last month and has only lost one of his five cinch Premiership games in charge.

Steve Brown has rewarded him with an extended contract just before he steps down as chairman.

MacLean, whose side host Livingston in their final league game on Sunday, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be given this opportunity.

“I met with the chairman (on Friday) and we sorted things out very quickly. I thank him and the board for giving me this exciting opportunity.

“St Johnstone has a very special place in my heart. This club has been a massive part of my life and means so much to me.

“We have secured our SPFL Premiership status and that was my immediate goal.

“But the work for next season starts now and I will be giving my all to be a successful St Johnstone manager.”

Brown said: “I am delighted to get Steven secured on a three-year contract.

“I’ve known him for many years and I always had him down as a leader.

“As interim manager, he hit his targets very quickly and it became abundantly clear that he was the man I wanted to lead us on a permanent basis.

“He totally gets St Johnstone from top to bottom and has an excellent rapport with our supporters. We all believe good times are ahead for our club.”

Ross County manager Malky Mackay is adamant the clarity of his relegation-threatened team’s situation this weekend means there will be no lingering hangover from the concession of a last-gasp equaliser against St Johnstone on Wednesday.

The Staggies fought back from 2-0 down to lead Saints 3-2 in the closing stages, but the Perth side hit back at the death to equalise.

Fortunately for County, the late goal did not significantly alter their overall predicament, as even if they had held on to win, their inferior goal difference means they would still require a victory away to 10th-placed Kilmarnock on Sunday to leapfrog their hosts and get out of the relegation play-off spot.

As it stands, the 11th-placed Staggies are two points behind Killie and know that they need a win at Rugby Park to secure their cinch Premiership survival and consign their opponents to a play-off against Championship promotion hopefuls Partick.

“I don’t think anything changed with winning and not winning on Wednesday,” said Mackay.

“For us to come out of the bottom two spots, we need to go down to Kilmarnock and win, and even if we’d won on Wednesday we’d have needed to do that anyway.

“We go there knowing exactly what we need to do.”

County still have the lingering threat of being dragged back into bottom place and automatically relegated but that would require an unlikely eight-goal swing in favour of Dundee United, who are away to in-form Motherwell.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has described Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as the best coach in the modern era and an inspiration ahead of Sunday’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium.

City’s recent Premier League title win was their fifth under Guardiola’s stewardship and they will look to build on that in the FA Cup and Champions League finals next month.

Frank, whose side won at City in November, talked up treble-chasing Guardiola’s impact on the game which he admitted has inspired him during his managerial career.

“He’s top class, after the game he said it was well deserved (Brentford’s win). I only come across him when he shows class all the way through and I look forward to congratulating him on winning the Premier League,” Frank said.

“Many people have spoken about Pep Guardiola for good reasons. I think he is in the modern era, the best coach, most innovative, he’s developed the game massively.

“I studied him a lot when he was at Barcelona and followed him closely, I’ve been inspired by his work and he’s definitely an inspiration.”

Brentford will have to deal with record-breaking striker Erling Haaland, who has netted 36 Premier League goals in his debut campaign.

Frank lauded the 22-year-old for his impact on English football since his transfer from Borussia Dortmund.

“Haaland added a different dimension to City, he is so good in the box,” Frank added.

“If you see the disallowed goal against Brighton he makes four or five movements before the cross comes in, it’s very rare for me to see this from a striker.

“He’s always on the move which is so difficult to defend against, he is also always focussed and believes the ball will come in for every chance.

“A top finisher who can use the left foot, right foot and header but I think the biggest thing he’s given them is the pace in behind.

“I think it’s very impressive the amount of goals he’s scored which has destroyed the Premier League and there is probably even more to come.

“I know he broke the record this year and he’ll probably break it again next year.”

Frank highlighted the quality in City’s squad as he tried to predict which line-up Guardiola will pick.

He said: “They have 22 unbelievable players so who is the best? (Ruben) Dias or (Aymeric) Laporte? I don’t know that, I am not sure even Pep knows that, that’s two top players.

“Who’s on the wing? (Jack) Grealish, (Phil) Foden, (Riyad) Mahrez or (Bernardo) Silva? I myself wouldn’t know who to pick so they put world-class players out there and we need to top perform, our fans need to top perform and we need to finish off the season in style.”

Ryan Mason has trust in the key decision-makers at Tottenham to get the big calls right this summer.

Spurs’ acting head coach Mason will take his squad to relegation-threatened Leeds on the final day in what is set to be his last fixture in charge.

Eighth-placed Tottenham remain without a permanent manager or managing director of football and could miss out on Europe for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign unless they better Aston Villa’s result and match Brentford’s on Sunday.

Crunch decisions are required by chairman Daniel Levy and the board, with a promise already made to supporters over the style Spurs will try to play next season.

Last Saturday’s programme notes from Levy pledged the team will go back to “football you will love to come and watch” after the recent pragmatism and counter-attacking of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

Mason feels a stable brand of football will help, and he said: “We’ve probably had two or three different styles of football in the last two or three years and I don’t think that is good for any squad of players or for fans.

“When you lose people, lose coaches, lose players, lose members of staff, the impact is huge if you keep going from different things.

“Like I say, going forward it really is important and we see it in the Premier League, we see it across the leagues, I want people to know who Tottenham are, know what a Tottenham team looks like and certainly know what a Tottenham player looks like.

“This is just how I view the situation as it is. Obviously there will be loads of conversations in the summer about going forward.

“There is a lot of people here who really care and want the club to get back to where we want, where we expect and where we hope to be.

“Them conversations and decisions I am sure will be made in the summer. I trust the people making them decisions.”

Quizzed about how the managerial search could impact Spurs’ transfer business, Mason admitted the club need a new man in place before they can go after targets.

“There is work because we have a big squad, a lot of players on loan and decisions to make,” he said.

“The most important work is probably away from the transfer window right now because you need a manager in place, you need commitment, you need an idea to know where you go.

“You can’t do transfer business without a manager because it might not fit his idea. At the moment I believe we need an idea of what we want to do, who we want to be and stick to it. Recruit people for that and ultimately recruit players for that.”

There remains uncertainty over the future of Harry Kane, who is approaching the final year of his Spurs contract.

Mason would not be drawn on what next for the Tottenham forward but insisted it is imperative every club has a long-term plans in place.

He added: “For any player, manager, member of staff at this football club, when one leaves it’s important to have a succession plan in place.

“So, when people do leave, the next one comes in and the impact isn’t so big. That’s not just speaking about Harry. That’s speaking about other players.

“For me, it’s really important that there’s an identity in all departments.

“If you want to be successful on the pitch then everyone working for the organisation within the football club has to be on board with what we are and who we are.

“I hope going forward that’s definitely the case.”

Fulham boss Marco Silva insists Aleksandar Mitrovic has nothing to prove on his Old Trafford return following an FA Cup meltdown there in March.

Mitrovic was handed an eight-game ban after grabbing referee Chris Kavanagh during Fulham’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester United.

The Serbia striker has scored three goals in two games since returning from suspension – taking his total for the season in all competitions to 15 – and ends his best top-flight campaign on Sunday back at Old Trafford.

Asked if Mitrovic will be especially fired up against United, Silva said: “No, not at all. Mitro doesn’t need this type of incentive.

“I think he showed in 25 minutes against Southampton that it doesn’t matter the club that he is going to play against, (and) last week against Palace.

“He is Mitro, he doesn’t need to play against certain types of teams or in certain situations to be more motivated.”

Fulham will end the campaign 10th whatever happens at United – their first top-half Premier League finish since coming ninth in 2012 – but the Cottagers have a powerful incentive to finish the season on a high.

Victory will set a new Premier League points record for the club, a draw will match the 53 points achieved in 2008-09 under Roy Hodgson.

Silva said: “It’s a brilliant season for us, no doubts about it. For everything, not just because about the position we have to be proud of.

“The position we are going to finish, the way we achieve it. The way we keep improving the individual and collective of our squad. It’s been really good.

“We knew before this season started that it would be crucial for this club to remain in Premier League.

“Credit to the players because of the right mindset, they are always ready to learn and work.

“They bought our ideas and philosophy as well to the way we are going to play football.”

United secured a top-four finish and Champions League football next season by beating Chelsea 4-1 on Thursday.

Erik ten Hag’s squad will expect a rousing Old Trafford send-off on Sunday before next weekend’s FA Cup final date with neighbours Manchester City.

“They already played one final (Carabao Cup) and they are going to play another one,” said Silva, whose side have suffered late league and cup defeats to United this season.

“For a club like Man United it is really important that they are fighting for some titles. They changed some things (this season), they signed good players – two or three that made a huge impact in their squad as well.

“I think they’ve been showing this season that they’re a massive club.

“The individual quality they have, in my opinion, is clearly in the best teams in this league.

“They have players in the attack line and midfield line who can decide the game in one second if you switch off.”

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper is at a loss as to how Roy Hodgson has been able to navigate a near 50-year career in management.

Cooper comes up against the former England manager on Sunday as Forest close their Premier League season with a trip to Crystal Palace.

The pair were colleagues together at the Football Association as Cooper was in charge of the England Under-16s and 17s while Hodgson was the senior team boss.

And Cooper is full of admiration for his 75-year-old counterpart.

He said: “We have got to play Crystal Palace. We really want to end well. It’s not under the scrutiny of last week, (but) we should want to win every game that we play and Palace are going really well.

“What a job Roy Hodgson has done, an incredible man and an incredible career. Having done management for a couple of years to think of the longevity he has had is just something I have got so much admiration for.

“I don’t know how he has done it. I have got a huge amount of respect for him.”

Forest travel to Selhurst Park knowing their top-flight status is secure following last weekend’s win over Arsenal.

The City Ground club prepared for this season in haphazard fashion with a flurry of signings and Cooper says Forest need a “productive” off-season.

“What we do know now from this season is what it takes to compete at this level. We’ve got to maximise the opportunity we’ve given ourselves by staying in the league to improve,” Cooper said.

“June is a really important month for that.

“For me, as the days have gone by, it’s turned into motivation about how we have to improve. After Sunday, we need to have a really productive off-season.

“The players will rest and a lot of the staff around the players will rest, and rightly so, they need to do that. But we need to be busy in the off-season in really trying to continue to improve the club to what we want it to be, and that’s being able to really operate at a high standard in the Premier League.”

Sam Allardyce said Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani was “hugely frustrated and disappointed” as the club stand on the brink of relegation.

The Premier League concludes on Sunday and Leeds must beat Tottenham at Elland Road while hoping relegation rivals Everton and Leicester both drop points in their final games.

Majority shareholder Radrizzani boldly declared last summer that another relegation battle was “impossible” after Leeds had survived on the final day with victory at Brentford.

But the odds of pulling off another great escape are even bigger this time round and Allardyce said: “He’s hugely frustrated and disappointed.

“He didn’t expect at the start of the season that the club would be in this position.

“He didn’t expect he would have to employ three managers to get out of this position. He’s hugely frustrated.

“The only way you sort that out is at the end of the season, have a look at the whole structure of the football club, and do whatever needs to be done.

“But in the meantime the only focus is one big game, one massive game for the players and for us all in controlling the destiny of Leeds, only by winning and hoping that other people lose.

“It’s not what we wanted, but it’s the position we’re in.”

Radrizzani is reported to be part of a consortium poised to complete a takeover of Italian club Sampdoria, in partnership with Paris St Germain owners Qatari Sports Investments.

The Italian, who turned to Allardyce with four games left in a last-ditch bid to retain Leeds’ top-flight status, is expected to expedite the sale of his remaining shares to 49ers Enterprises.

The financial arm of NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers increased its stake in the club to 44 per cent at the end of 2021 and has an option to own 100 per cent by January next year.

Allardyce has taken one point from his three games in charge since becoming Leeds’ third manager of the season.

Marcelo Bielsa’s successor Jesse Marsch was sacked in February and his replacement Javi Gracia lasted 11 league games before he too was dismissed.

Allardyce, open to talks about staying in the role whatever Sunday’s outcome, said: “We’ll try and take advantage of the fact we’ve still got a small window of opportunity open.

“On the balance of where we are, there are two completely different avenues where the club goes down.

“You can pencil things in, but the only way you can put it in ink is whether you’re in the Premier League or you’re not.”

Allardyce invited in Leeds great Eddie Gray, plus former captains Gordon Strachan and Gary McAllister for inspirational talks with his players this week.

The former England boss added: “They had very successful times here and I think on the mentality side it’s about improving our mentality to deliver.

“So somebody speaking a different voice about football, about what they did at this club, how much they love this club, I think is really important.”

Eddie Howe has vowed to adopt a siege mentality once again as Newcastle prepare for a first Champions League campaign in 20 years.

The Magpies have dragged themselves from the thick of a Premier League relegation fight when the club’s new owners took control in October 2021 to Europe’s top table in the space of a remarkable 19 months.

They have done so with the help of a £250million-plus investment, provided in large part by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which holds an 80 per cent stake, and the source of that wealth has prompted concerted criticism, with human rights campaign group Amnesty International in particular voicing concerns over “sportswashing”.

That focus is only likely to increase as they strengthen further before taking to the European stage, but head coach Howe has insisted his mission will not be derailed as a result.

He said: “We’ve been used to that from day one, to be honest. There’s been that feeling that popularity-wise, I don’t think we’re high up on people’s lists for various reasons.

“You accept that, I’ve got no issue with that and almost we’ve tried to use that for our benefit and for our gain, really.

“I’ve said we’re not here to be popular, we don’t care, really, about outside opinion. We very much care about inside opinion, we care about what the people of Newcastle think of us and what our supporters think.

“We’ve tried to act in the right way and make them proud, that’s been our biggest focus.”

Newcastle will bring down the curtain on a season which has delivered far more than they might have expected back in August at Chelsea on Sunday, where they will face a club which has spent around £600million since Todd Boehly completed his takeover last summer, but will end the campaign in the bottom half of the table.

That tends to suggest that money alone is not the key to success, and the way Howe has blended his new arrivals with the players he inherited and has since improved markedly has been equally, if not more important.

Asked if he regretted the focus on finance, the 45-year-old said: “I don’t really take it personally as in my achievement because it’s not really my achievement, it’s the achievement of the players who have committed to this season and what they’ve given. That would hurt me for them.

“I think the players deserve huge credit individually for some of the seasons that they’ve delivered and collectively for what they’ve done.

“I’ve said many times sitting here, it’s not about money. Money has played a part, it’s been a contributing factor, of course it has.

“But we’ve seen teams up and down the Premier League spend similar amounts of money and not have the success and not be as consistent as we have.”