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Max Verstappen’s F1 Records
Lewis Hamilton has joined forces with the likes of Tiger Woods and Serena Williams by investing in new sports tech venture TMRW Sports.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion, alongside the likes of Williams, Andy Murray, Steph Curry and Gareth Bale, is investing in Woods and Rory McIlroy’s new company – with the first project a virtual pro golf tour scheduled for 2024.
Mercedes star Hamilton is not the only F1 driver involved too, with McLaren’s Lando Norris, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Williams’ Alex Albon also listed as investors.
While specific details on the project are few and far between at this early stage, TMRW’s overarching goal is merging technology with sports.
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F1 news: Lewis Hamilton joins forces with Tiger Woods and Serena Williams for new tech venture
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion, alongside the likes of Williams, Andy Murray, Steph Curry and Gareth Bale, is investing in Woods and Rory McIlroy’s new company – with the first project a virtual pro golf tour scheduled for 2024.
Mercedes star Hamilton is not the only F1 driver involved too, with McLaren’s Lando Norris, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Williams’ Alex Albon also listed as investors. While specific details on the project are few and far between at this early stage, TMRW’s overarching goal is merging technology with sports.
“You know, a lot of these athletes have really embraced technology, the way in which they train and prepare and that sort of thing,” Mike McCarley, founder and CEO, said.
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 14:32
F1 news: COMMENT – Red Bull’s self-made headlines take shine off Max Verstappen’s stardust
It’s now there in black and white: the supremacy of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team this season is officially unmatched. The world champion’s cruise to the chequered flag at the Mexico City Grand Prix – his 14th win of the season, Red Bull’s 16th – saw the flying Dutchman break Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s record for victories in a single season and, with two races to go, there’s every chance Verstappen will add to that tally and in doing so set a likely insurmountable haul for the future.
A mammoth achievement, no doubt, even if there are more Grand Prix than ever before. Yet for Verstappen’s triumph, the headlines afterwards were not on his record-breaking victory. Rather than all the focus being on his unflappable charge to the line, a fresh narrative was simmering.
News that Red Bull had boycotted Sky Sports in Mexico City reverberated quickly around the paddock. Seemingly a response to pit reporter Ted Kravitz’s claim in Austin that Lewis Hamilton was “robbed” of an eighth world championship in Abu Dhabi last year, Verstappen insists he felt the coverage had been “disrespectful.”
“It has been a constant kind of digging and being disrespectful, especially from one particular person,” he said. “At one point it is enough and I don’t accept it. You cannot live in the past and you have to move on. Social media a very toxic place and if you are constantly being like that live on TV then you are making it worse instead of trying to make it better.
Christian Horner, bullish as ever, added that it “won’t have done Sky any harm for us to lay down a marker.” What marker is that then? Kravitz, supremely popular with fans for his instinctive rambling and intrinsic technical knowledge of the sport, won’t alter his oddly captivating approach to broadcasting.
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 14:24
F1 news: Lando Norris reveals Red Bull talks before signing McLaren deal
McLaren have struggled to match the speed of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes this season though, yet Norris is the best of the rest and currently positioned seventh in the Driver Standings.
But before the weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, Norris divulged that he had indeed spoken to Christian Horner’s team before signing his extension, as well as “a few other people.”
“It’s more just I was coming to the end of my contract, and it wasn’t like we (Red Bull and I) were talking heavily,” Norris said.
“I literally said, it was just, everyone always tries to speak to all teams at some point, so I spoke to them, I spoke to a few other people. A chat’s a chat, it’s not like, ‘what we can do straight away?’ Just keeping in touch, things like that, it’s as simple as that sometimes.”
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 14:10
F1 news: Lewis Hamilton backed to ‘reinvent himself’ in ‘second or third career’ by Toto Wolff
Lewis Hamilton has been backed to “reinvent himself” in a “second or third career” after racing by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. Seven-time world champion Hamilton has endured a difficult season off the back of controversially missing out on a record eighth title in Abu Dhabi last year.
The 37-year-old is yet to win a race in 2022 and is currently fifth in the Driver Standings, with Red Bull and Ferrari producing a quicker car than Mercedes after a change in regulations.
While the Silver Arrows are hopeful of being back in the hunt in 2023, Mercedes CEO Wolff praised Hamilton’s “intelligence” in analysing his remaining years in the sport, with Hamilton himself saying that he can see himself continuing for another five years.
“Lewis is totally mature and conscious about where he stands in his career,” Wolff told the Performance People podcast. “He’s not being led by his emotions, like I’ve seen with sportspeople that think it can go on forever and trying to hang on to it.
“Lewis is rational and intelligent about it. He says ‘I know I have a shelf life as a racing driver’. Lewis knows that one day he will not be the best himself anymore. That hasn’t happened yet. But we’ve been talking about it. He said ‘I’d love to continue…do you think we can do another five to 10 years?’ But this is more jokingly.”
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 13:59
F1 news: Daniel Ricciardo will ‘struggle’ to land top seat in 2024, says ex-F1 world champion
The popular Australian was dropped by McLaren a year early, with compatriot and 2021 F2 champion Oscar Piastri replacing him next year. The 33-year-old, who has raced in Formula 1 for eleven-and-a-half seasons, will miss the 2023 season having been unable to land a seat elsewhere.
Ricciardo, an eight-time Grand Prix winner, has been heavily linked with a reserve driver role at Mercedes but admitted after Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix that he is still in the dark regarding his future. However 2009 world champion Button is concerned that Ricciardo’s approach – with the target of returning to a top seat in 2024 – may backfire.
“Most of this season Daniel hasn’t been on the pace of Lando [Norris] and quite a bit off at times, so it’s the right move for the team,” Button said, on Sky Sports’ Any Driven Monday show.
“For Daniel, it’s a tricky situation. I guess he didn’t want to drop too far down the grid and work with a team that’s more towards the rear because it’s difficult for a driver coming from a team that is almost winning races at times to suddenly know you’re fighting for points.”
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 13:44
F1 news: Lewis Hamilton set for new Mercedes contract to stay in Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton is set to extend his Formula One career beyond his 40th birthday after he revealed he will thrash out a new deal with Mercedes in the coming months.
Hamilton’s £40million-a-year contract with the team expires at the end of next season. But the seven-time world champion, who turns 38 in January, wants to continue his record-breaking journey in the sport, with a multiple-year extension set to carry him into his forties.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, Hamilton said: “We are going to do another deal. We are going to sit down and discuss it in these next couple of months.”
Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 after bursting on to the Formula One scene with McLaren in 2007. The Stevenage-born driver, who has the most victories and pole positions in F1 history – and shares the record of seven world championships with Michael Schumacher – has been supported by the Silver Arrows since his childhood.
Hamilton has endured a turbulent campaign in his uncompetitive Mercedes machinery this season, while there were question marks over whether he would even return to F1 following his contentious championship defeat against Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi last year.
However, Hamilton continued: “I want to keep racing. I love what I do. I’ve been doing it for 30 years, and I don’t feel that I should have to stop. I think I am currently still earning my keep. I still want to do better.
“I could stop now and I have lots of other things in the pipeline that I will be super-focused and super-busy with. I’m here for the sheer love of working in the organisation that I’m in. So you are stuck with me for quite a bit longer. My goal is to continue to be with Mercedes. I’ve been with Mercedes since I was 13. It really is my family.”
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 13:30
F1 news: Max Verstappen ‘incredibly proud’ of F1 season race wins record
In cruising to a 14th victory of the season in Mexico City on Sunday, Verstappen overtook the German duo to make history – and can stretch that haul of wins to 16 with victory at the remaining races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
It is another milestone in a historic year for the 25-year-old, who has strolled to the World Championship a year after claiming his maiden crown in controversial fashion in a thrilling title battle with Lewis Hamilton at Yas Marina.
“It’s just an incredible season for us as a team,” said Verstappen after the win in Mexico. “I never thought I would be able to win 14 races in a year. But yeah, of course, I’m incredibly proud.
“I just live in the moment. I just try to, of course, do the best I can every single weekend. I try to win the races and that, for me, is the most important. Every single weekend when I go home, and I can say to myself that I maximised or close to that I’m happy. But of course, a lot in Formula 1 depends on your whole package , right? And we are having a great package and I’m just enjoying the moment.”
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 12:59
F1 news: Christian Horner insists 2021 F1 title win was ‘fair’ despite Red Bull’s £6m cost cap fine
The FIA confirmed in Mexico City on Friday that Red Bull – the team which carried Verstappen to the most contentious title in the sport’s history – overspent by £1.86m. Red Bull have entered into a so-called Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) with F1’s governing body. In addition to the fine, Red Bull have had their wind tunnel time reduced by 10 per cent over the next 12 months – a punishment Horner called “draconian” and claimed will cost his team up to half-a-second in lap time.
The ABA – which ensures Red Bull lose any right to appeal – avoids the team risking a harsher punishment which might have included the deduction of points and Hamilton being instated as last year’s title winner.
Hamilton was denied a record eighth world crown when former race director Michael Masi fudged the safety car rules at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen took the title by eight points. McLaren boss Zak Brown wrote to FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem earlier this month to say a financial breach “constitutes cheating”.
However, the FIA concluded that Red Bull “did not act in bad faith, dishonestly or in a fraudulent manner” when it broke the £114m budget cap.
“I don’t think it has overshadowed Max’s achievements,” said Red Bull team principal Horner. “Inevitably there was so much noise about last year’s championship anyway. And when this comes up and you hear about it for the first time in Singapore and all the noise comes again.
“But Max Verstappen won last year’s world championship fair and square. He did what he had to do on the day. He did his job. The team did our job. He won the race. He is the world champion. What we are talking about here had no effect whatsoever on the performance of his car last year.”
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 12:45
F1 news: Lewis Hamilton believes ‘social media is getting more toxic’ amid Red Bull and Sky spat
Max Verstappen and his entire Red Bull team – including Christian Horner – refused to speak to the broadcaster on Sunday, a week after pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz said Hamilton was “robbed” of an eighth world championship at last year’s much-debated season finale in Abu Dhabi.
“Social media is a very toxic place and if you are constantly being like that live on TV then you are making it worse instead of trying to make it better,” said Verstappen when asked about the reasons behind Red Bull’s boycott. Hamilton, who finished runner-up to Verstappen in Mexico City, added: “Social media is getting more and more toxic as the years go on and we should all come off it, ultimately.
“Mental health is such a prominent thing right now. So many people are reading the comments, the stuff that people say, and it is hurtful. Fortunately I don’t read it, but the media platforms need to do more to protect people, particularly young kids and women. At the moment they are not doing that so I think this (online hate) will just continue.”
Hamilton, 37, is a regular user of social media. In Mexico, he posted a picture celebrating victory over Fernando Alonso at the United States Grand Prix during their fractious season together at McLaren in 2007. He accompanied the photograph with a thumbs-up emoji.
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 12:22
F1 news: Martin Brundle ‘fully supports’ Sky colleague Ted Kravitz after Red Bull boycott
Max Verstappen was unhappy after pit-lane reporter Kravitz claimed in his Notebook show the previous week that Lewis Hamilton had been “robbed” of an eighth world title after the controversial finish to last year’s Abu Dhabi GP.
The Dutchman, who claimed his first World Championship with a final-lap overtake on Hamilton after safety car and lapped car chaos, stated that Sky’s coverage had been “disrespectful”, resulting in the double world champion and team principal Christian Horner refusing to speak to Sky pundits in Mexico City.
But commentator Brundle, who has worked alongside Kravitz for over 26 years at ITV, BBC and now Sky, fully supported his colleague in a post on Twitter, adding that “face to face dialogue was the only way to sort issues and disputes” in a paddock he described as a “relentless crucible.”
“For the avoidance of doubt my friend and colleague for the past 26 years, Ted Kravitz has my full support,” Brundle said.
“Face to face dialogue is the only way to sort out issues and disputes in the relentless crucible of the F1 paddock. We all have opinions and different jobs to do, that’s life.”
Kieran Jackson2 November 2022 11:58
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