well, our chief formula one reporter andrew bensonjoins us. what more can you tell us about this potential move? well, it has been a fast—moving situation this morning but it seems like the hamilton move to ferrari is going to be confirmed at some point in the not—too—distant future. a number of sources have told us that the deal has been agreed. it is properly the biggest news story in formula 1 for many years and a huge shock given, as he said, he signed a mercedes contract this year and next year only a few months ago. we don't know why he has decided this yet. we don't know if he will say anything in the near future don't know if he will say anything in the nearfuture but don't know if he will say anything in the near future but hamilton to ferrari in 2025 seems like it is going to happen. ferrari in 2025 seems like it is going to happen-— ferrari in 2025 seems like it is going to happen. hamilton is 39 ears going to happen. hamilton is 39 years old- _ going to happen. hamilton is 39 years old- is _ going to happen. hamilton is 39 years old. is this _ going to happen. hamilton is 39 years old. is this possibly - going to happen. hamilton is 39 years old. is this possibly an - years old. is this possibly an attempt to get that elusive eighth world title before it is too late? well, since he lost the eighth title

in abu dhabi in 2021 in very controversial circumstances he has been driven by the desire to write what he perceives to be an injustice. obviously, red bulland max. and don't consider it the same way but the hamilton he feels he was robbed of that title and he would very much want the eighth title before he retires. it is interesting then that he seems to believe that ferrari is the place to get that because, you know, ok mercedes have been struggling for competitiveness in the last couple of years against the red bull onslaught since new rules were introduced a couple of years ago. but ferrari have also been struggling and actually mercedes beat ferrari narrowly to second place overall last year. but hamilton seems to have been convinced by ferrari and he has worked with the team principal before when he was coming up through the ranks stop that they are the place that is going to guarantee him success. so, you know, the move will be questioned but then his move to mercedes from mclaren was also questioned and that turned out to be an inspired move. he

questioned and that turned out to be an inspired move.— an inspired move. he got six of his seven titles _ an inspired move. he got six of his seven titles there. _ an inspired move. he got six of his seven titles there. and _ an inspired move. he got six of his seven titles there. and just - seven titles there. and just briefly, andrew, what is a feeling about the timing of this announcement?- about the timing of this announcement? well, it is interesting _ announcement? well, it is interesting he _ announcement? well, it is interesting he has - announcement? well, it is interesting he has a - announcement? well, it is interesting he has a whole j announcement? well, it is- interesting he has a whole year of driving for mercedes ahead of him, assuming the ferrari deal is announced later. it is not unprecedented for that sort of thing to happen. at the end of 2005 fernando alonso sign for mclaren but he wasn't starting racing there until 2007. he wasn't starting racing there until2007. he he wasn't starting racing there until 2007. he had another year with his renault team and he won the world championship in 2006. so unusual but not entirely without precedent in formula 1.- precedent in formula 1. andrew benson, precedent in formula 1. andrew benson. our — precedent in formula 1. andrew benson, our chief _ precedent in formula 1. andrew benson, our chief formula - precedent in formula 1. andrew benson, our chief formula 1 - precedent in formula 1. andrew- benson, our chief formula 1 writer, thank you so much for the update. manchester city manager pep guardiola believes that neither liverpool or arsenal will drop many points between now and the end of the season, as the title race intensifies. liverpool are five points clear at the top of the table, but have a game in hand over city, following their 4—1 win against chelsea at anfield. northern ireland's conor bradley was the star of the show, scoring

a goal and assisting two more. hejoined diogojota, dominic szoboszlai and luis diaz on the scoresheet. liverpool will take on arsenal at the emirates on sunday. city's next game is at brentford on monday and they'll go into it with confidence off the back of a comfortable 3—1 win against burnley. julian alvarez scored twice with rodri adding the third, on a night that saw the return of erling haaland. the norwegian's availability will likely be crucial in the closing weeks of an increasingly—tight title race. it looks like in february, a lot of games. in the premier league especially. everybody knows it is the same liverpool we are faced during seven or eight years and arsenal with mckellar tater —— mckellar tater...

arsenal with mckellar tater —— mckellartater... i arsenal with mckellar tater —— mckellar tater... i have the feeling that they won't drop any points. meanwhile, former us open champion bryson dechambeau says a merger between the pga tour and liv golf needs to happen to bring the sport back together. he says he is looking forward to the camaraderie again as he joins masters champion the teams. it has that feelin: masters champion the teams. it has that feeling of— masters champion the teams. it has that feeling of first _ masters champion the teams. it has that feeling of first day _ masters champion the teams. it has that feeling of first day at _ masters champion the teams. it 1:3 that feeling of first day at school. i feel i ifeel i i'm i feel i i'm finding my feet a little bit but i'm excited to be here and getting started on friday. i love the ryder cup. ifollow other sports outside of golf that our team sports outside of golf that our team sports and you kind of are envious of those guys having that team spirit week in, week out. and that was something that was very appealing for me to come and join.

just remind of our tops story before we go. bbc sport understands that lewis hamilton is poised to make a shock move to ferrari for the 2025 season. more on our website. goodbye. hello, you're watching bbc news. the bank of england is expected to leave the cost of borrowing unchanged when it announces its latest decision on interest rates in just under ten minutes, at midday. this is the seeing live outside the bank of england. a key economic and political story upcoming which is the decision from the bank of england on the base interest rate. we will be speaking to our economics editor as soon as that decision is announced. the base rate has stood

at 5.25% since last august. our money report has more. this at 5.2596 since last august. our money report has more.- at 5.2596 since last august. our money report has more. this is all about the cost _ money report has more. this is all about the cost of _ money report has more. this is all about the cost of borrowing - money report has more. this is all. about the cost of borrowing money. the rate the bank of england decides, well, that helps to determine our mortgage costs, credit card bills, savings if you're lucky enough to have some. at the moment, this is the number that matters. 5.25%. as i say, all the talk in monetary policy circles is that when this rate could come down. if you take a look at this, you will see why whenever that happens will be a big moment because the last time rates fell, that was way back in march 2020. a look at what has happened since then. after a period of record low rates when the economy was struggling during the pandemic we got this. it almost looks like a staircase doesn't it? as the cost of living went up, so did rates to try and limit ourspending living went up, so did rates to try and limit our spending limit price rises. but although the focus is on when rates from this high level here

are going to come down, it is important to remember that only some of this staircase has actually filtered through to you and me. and thatis filtered through to you and me. and that is because so many people are on fixed mortgage rates. as the deals come to an end, well, their mortgage repayments go up and it is taking well for that to happen. about 1.5 million fixed deals come to an end this year and those people could be in for a shock. rates are likely to come down a little this year but will it be today? most people think not but people like me who over analyse text messages and have a feel going through the —— feel they are going through the minutes of the bank's meetings, this figure has popped up and it is a key one. inflation, the key way we measure across a living. if that continues to come down there maybe rates can come down sooner rather than later. the first decision of the year at midday today. indie

than later. the first decision of the year at midday today. we are now “oined b the year at midday today. we are now joined by our — the year at midday today. we are now joined by our chief _ the year at midday today. we are now joined by our chief economics - joined by our chief economics correspondent, who is in the bbc newsroom. the general message from analysts is that they don't expect the bank of england to change interest rates. why is that was yellow it is interesting, isn't it? over recent months we have seen inflation coming down faster than the bank of england expected. so at midday we are not expecting any decision and despite all those pictures of that wonderful building you don't actually see anything happening outside. but as you heard there from peter, we will all be poring over the final details of its forecast, its thinking. because at the moment the idea is that even though we are not going to see a change in interest rates just yet there is likely to be a change in mood because of that more rapid fall in inflation. we are likely to hear the bank hint for the first time that the next move in interest rates is likely to be down but notjust yet. and why is that? because there are some parts of inflation that the bank is still worried about. and if you cut interest rates, you put more

money into people's pockets and the bank might be concern that re—inflates inflation once again. we should stress this is not a political decision by any means because the bank of england has been independent now for a few decades. but what they do is look at the economics of the situation and that is what concerning them. of course there are all sorts of expectations from politicians. this is an election year. but it is frankly borrowers who will be watching this with most concern. if they are taking out a new mortgage this year, those rates up into the expectations interest rates and as those come down we are seeing those gradually easing. but still a fairly tense time for those people. and for people who are watching at home today, when they hear of interest rates being held up at 5.25%. what does that mean for them when you talk about mortgages or paying off debts as well? it is talk about mortgages or paying off debts as well?— debts as well? it is really mortgages _ debts as well? it is really mortgages that - debts as well? it is really mortgages that we - debts as well? it is really mortgages that we have l debts as well? it is really i mortgages that we have to debts as well? it is really - mortgages that we have to think about here. as we heard from peter there, the bulk of mortgages in the uk are now tied to fixed rate loans.

what does that mean? people have to rearrange their mortgage deals. they are faced with those higher rates and already we have seen about half of households with a mortgage facing that. there is another 1.5 million this year but those mortgage rates are fixed rates are tied to the expectations for interest rates. so what you tend to seize those rates as they come off the old deals they are seeing ajump as they come off the old deals they are seeing a jump in repayments but thatjob might not be quite as pronounced as some feared a few months ago because the expectations amount of interest rates falling in the coming months, lenders are starting once again to actually offer slightly cheaper deals. so there is some hope for them. if you are a sabre however, that period of rising interest rates is likely to have been over. so i'm afraid to say not much there to reward them. so analysts are expecting the interest rate to be held in today's decision but when can people start to see interest rates coming down? well. interest rates coming down? well, economists —

interest rates coming down? well, economists who _ interest rates coming down? well, economists who are _ interest rates coming down? well, economists who are the _ interest rates coming down? well, economists who are the ones - interest rates coming down? -ii economists who are the ones really looking through the details of all this are still tearing apart all the small print on this. what they are saying is that if you look to what is happening on expectations of inflation because remember it takes a year or two for that to feed in to activity. so if you put all of that and the bank bringing's expectations, what it all hinges on is what will happen to wage growth, the service sector, eating out, restaurants. those areas are cooling off enough, we are likely, economists say, to see the first rate cut around the middle of the year with a few more to follow. it still means interest rates will be higher than the ultra low rates you sawjust higher than the ultra low rates you saw just a few years higher than the ultra low rates you sawjust a few years ago but higher than the ultra low rates you saw just a few years ago but there could be some relief in store there. just to say, it is about two and half minutes to that decision from the bank of england. of course we will bring that to you here as soon as it happens and we will also have analysis here on bbc news. in the

meantime, let's talk to the head of financial analysis at the online investment platform ajay bell. thank you forjoining us on the programme. what is your expectation for the bank of england today? irate what is your expectation for the bank of england today?- what is your expectation for the bank of england today? we are not exectin: bank of england today? we are not exoecting any _ bank of england today? we are not expecting any move _ bank of england today? we are not expecting any move at _ bank of england today? we are not expecting any move at all- bank of england today? we are not expecting any move at all from - bank of england today? we are not| expecting any move at all from back ring them. we are expecting rates to be held firm at 5.25%. after 1a hikes there now to a 15 year high and expected to stay that way. what markets are really going to be looking at today is to see exactly how the bank of england have voted this time around. have any of the members voted for a hike, like they did last time out? we have three members saying that they felt that interest rates should go up even further. have all of them voted to keep rates where they are? have any of them voted for a cut? that is what markets are looking for. they are looking for guidance from andrew

bailey to tell them when they can expect to see those cuts to start to come in. �* ., , i. come in. and what is your expectation? _ come in. and what is your expectation? because - come in. and what is your - expectation? because obviously come in. and what is your _ expectation? because obviously you can imagine people watching at home todayjust can imagine people watching at home today just wondering when can imagine people watching at home todayjust wondering when some of that pain will be taken away and interest rates will start to fall? well, markets have been getting very excited last year thinking that maybe as early as march we could start to see the first interest rate cuts. that has been tempered somewhat, not only because we saw that surprise jump in somewhat, not only because we saw that surprisejump in inflation somewhat, not only because we saw that surprise jump in inflation last month, taking us back up to 4%. but also because of ongoing disruptions in the red sea. we have had a lot of company executives warning that prices are likely to go up because of that. the boss of adidas and just today saying that disruptions are causing some supplies to be delayed and that is having a knock—on to costs. so that is something that markets are now weighing in. they are thinking that maybe we won't get that interest rate cut until much

later in the year, so potentially june, maybe even august. but then when they come, markets are expecting that they could come thick and fast. although the imf is suggesting that we willjust get two rate cuts this year, markets are still hopeful that we might get as many as four, taking us down to 4.25%. so there is a lot going on at the moment but another key issue of course is that it is an election year. will there be any kind of tax cuts, which could potentially have an impact on inflation? what will the vacancy numbers look like? we still have 930,000 vacancies here in the uk, which of course is keeping the uk, which of course is keeping the labour market incredibly tight. and that gives people power when it comes to asking for pay increases. so of course all of these things are being considered by the bank of england when they are making their decision. they want to keep their powder dry because psychologically, once they make that first cut, it

does have an influence on the way people think about their finances. on wednesday, we had a similar decision from the federal reserve bankin decision from the federal reserve bank in the united states, so we are expecting that announcement to just come in a moment. we will be sharing it with viewers. this is the announcement now that is coming from the bank of england. the interest rate decision has been held at 5.25%. this is breaking news coming in from the bank of england, that the interest rate has been held at 5.25%. in its turn to our chief economic correspondent. what is your reaction? tile economic correspondent. what is your reaction? , , ., economic correspondent. what is your reaction? , , , , reaction? no surprise. no surprise. i'm 'ust reaction? no surprise. no surprise. i'm just reading _ reaction? no surprise. no surprise. i'm just reading through _ reaction? no surprise. no surprise. i'm just reading through the - reaction? no surprise. no surprise. i'm just reading through the actual| i'm just reading through the actual note and we were talking about what happens to interest rate next. no

change for the moment. this is