Sport
Alonso, Aston, Perez: Wild F1 rumours before Brazil GP
Wild rumours are filling the short gap between the Mexican and Brazilian grands prix.
Wild rumours are filling the short gap between the Mexican and Brazilian grands prix.
Before leaving the Formula 1 venue near Mexico City, well-known Spanish journalist Albert Fabrega wrote cryptically on social media: “I don’t want to believe the rumour they have told me now in the paddock. No.”
Many of his followers immediately believed the rumour may have something to do with Fernando Alonso....Click Here To Continue Reading>>
“I’m just going to say one thing about the rumour that I told you yesterday,” Fabrega said in a follow-up post. “From the tone of the text it is understood that I would not like it to happen.
“From here, you can speculate as much as you want. And I hope it remains a rumour and not news.”
As is often the case in modern F1, the rumour then grew legs and people began making various connections with other goings-on in the world.
For instance, a huge $3 million stake in Aston Martin was sold on the London Stock Exchange on Monday – revving up rumours that Lawrence Stroll may be preparing to sell the carmaker as well as the Silverstone based F1 team.
“It’s just a wild rumour at this point,” said Polish journalist Daniel Bialy. “We will soon see to what extent it will be confirmed.”
It has all triggered speculation Alonso, 42, may also depart Aston Martin – to potentially swap seats in 2024 with Red Bull’s underperforming Sergio Perez.
That is despite Dr Helmut Marko’s repeated statements insisting Perez’s 2024 contract will be respected.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say it,” the Red Bull team advisor told Sky Deutschland. “He has his contract for 2024 and that will happen.”
But Canal Plus, the French F1 broadcaster, is also reporting that Mexican Perez, 33, will in fact not be Max Verstappen’s teammate next year.
The obvious candidate to replace Perez, however, is not Aston Martin’s Alonso but Daniel Ricciardo, who out-qualified Perez in Mexico at the wheel of Red Bull’s junior team Alpha Tauri.
“The many upgrades at Alpha Tauri had an effect,” said Marko, but he also said the Formula 1 world witnessed the return of “the old Daniel” with his impressive weekend in Mexico.
“He drove calmly and smoothly with a good overview of the race,” the 80-year-old added.
Marko defended Perez, who like Ricciardo is 33-years-old, after the Mexican’s turn 1 crash into Charles Leclerc on Sunday, but former F1 driver Timo Glock thinks the Mexican in fact will not have impressed Marko.
“This is the worst case scenario for Perez,” he said. “This (crash) will hurt him even more now.
“It was a glimmer of hope that he could build up his self-confidence in Mexico, but now the opposite has happened. (Lewis) Hamilton has picked up a lot of points because of it.
“It’s a difficult situation and the pressure is even greater now,” Glock added.
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...Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on captain Martin Odegaard amid his impressive form following the November international break.
The Norway international was sidelined with a hip problem last month and it was followed by another absence due to a head collision in training.
Odegaard made his comeback after the internationals. He had a quiet evening at Brentford last weekend, but was on the scoresheet against Lens on Wednesday.
He carried over the good form into the Wolves game, scoring the vital winning goal in the end.
Aside from his strike, the 24-year-old created three big chances for his teammates and was unlucky to not register an assist or two due to poor finishing.
Speaking after the 2-1 victory over Wolves, Arteta said that Odegaard has had two ‘very very good’ games and he is a ‘really consistent’ player.
The Gunners head coach added that the playmaker tends to fare best against high-pressing sides such as Wolves and he was ‘really good’ today.
He told Arsenal.com: “I thought he had two very, very good games and he’s a really consistent player, he gives a lot especially against teams like that, they didn’t want to defend very close to their own box and I think he was really good today.”
Odegaard has not played with the same creative freedom as last season, but he has still netted seven goals and provided two assists from 18 games.
The Norwegian appears to be picking up his form at the right time and he will be crucial to the Gunners’ chances of challenging for the league title again.
Today’s win has taken the Gunners to 33 points from 14 games. They are four points ahead of second-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.co
...Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was back to his best during the 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Gunners made it three league wins on the bounce after beating Wolves at the Emirates Stadium. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
A wonderful bit of team play contributed to Odegaard doubling the lead in the 13th minute.
Arsenal should have been out of sight with the chances in the final third, but they had a nervy finish in the end after Matheus Cunha scored, four minutes from time.
A defensive mishap from Oleksandr Zinchenko paved the way for the goal, but the Gunners managed to hang on for a well-deserved victory over Gary O’Neil’s side.
In our view, Odegaard was clearly the man of the match with one of his best performances of the season.
The Norwegian was inconsistent with his form earlier this campaign, but he appears to be finding his feet at the right time for the Gunners in their title pursuit.
Against Wolves, he had 97 touches with 77 passes at an accuracy of 89 per cent. He had no defensive work to do, but was brilliant with his attacking display.
Odegaard managed six key passes and created three big chances for Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah respectively, but they failed to extend the lead.
The Gunners should have been out of sight with at least a five-goal margin, but they were made to work hard for the victory after a late consolation strike from Cunha.
The win over Wolves has seen the club extend their lead at the top of the table to four points.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
Twenty-year-old Serbian sixth seed Hamad Medjedovic is crowned the Next Gen ATP Finals champion with a captivating victory over Arthur Fils in Sunday’s final.
Twenty-year-old Serbian sixth seed Hamad Medjedovic was crowned the Next Gen ATP Finals champion with a captivating victory over Arthur Fils in Sunday’s final.
Emulating the feats of his compatriot Novak Djokovic in November’s ATP Finals, Medjedovic brought home another trophy to Serbia with a 3–4[6], 4–1, 4–2, 3–4 [9], 4–1 victory in just after two hours.
Medjedovic’s success caps off a stellar breakthrough year for the 2003-born protege, who reached the first round of Wimbledon and the French Open for the first time in 2023 and came close to breaking into the top 100, getting as high as world number 102 in October....Click Here To Continue Reading>>
“I can’t believe I have won this title, but it’s going to give me a lot of confidence for 2024. Arthur is an amazing player; he’s Top 40 for a reason, so I’m really happy,” Medjedovic said on the court.
“It was tough after the first set. I changed my clothes and recovered and started to play good again. I didn’t play good when I had match points in the fourth set. I wasn’t relaxed, I was very stiff. Thank God I recovered and I was just trying to stay relaxed as much as I could and I managed to do it in the end.”
2023 ATP Finals Champion: Novak Djokovic 🇷🇸2023 Next Gen ATP Finals Champion: Hamad Medjedovic 🇷🇸Learning from the best 👀 pic.twitter.com/ie284rcZ3M— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) December 2, 2023
Making a name for himself throughout the tournament with his blistering serves, the Serbian fired 19 aces past Fils throughout the contest and won 88% of points behind his first serve in total.
Medjedovic also kept his mistakes to a minimum, only producing nine unforced errors and 32 winners, as well as saving all four break points he faced against his French foe.
The 20-year-old recovered from a couple of early unforced errors in the fourth-set tie-breaker to bring up two match points, although he failed to take either of them as Fils took the contest to the distance.
However, an inopportune unforced error from Fils on break point allowed Medjedovic to establish an early two-game lead in the fifth set, and the Serbian quintessentially confirmed his champion status with an ace on match point.
Alongside his Next Gen supremacy, Medjedovic also took home three Challenger level titles in the 2023 season, as well as getting to the semi-finals of the Astana Open and Swiss Open on the ATP Tour.
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