Norris will become the youngest British driver to compete in F1 and his reassuring maturity will be tested, given team’s plightWhen Lando Norris takes to the grid for the Australian Grand Prix next season he will, at 19, become the youngest British driver to compete in Formula One. It is a daunting enough prospect and one that is accompanied by a level of pressure, expectation and scrutiny that would weigh heavily on the most experienced drivers. Norris will take to the wheel of a McLaren as the team try to put a disastrous season behind them and begin the process of returning to the front of the grid.Having endured a woeful year with a car that was fundamentally flawed and...
The England striker is favourite to win Sports Personality of the Year but footballers do not have a great record in the eventEver since England reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, Harry Kane has been a smouldering favourite for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. The Spurs striker has already won the golden boot. No wonder many believe he is a shoo-in to lift the famous silver-plated trophy of a four-turret lens camera engraved with many legends of British sport.Yet history reminds us that footballers and Spoty do not always mix. For while 18 track and field stars have walked away with the award in its 64-year history – with Formula One drivers claiming it seven times...
Only the British Grand Prix will be on UK terrestrial TV next season as F1 cuts itself off from the massesWhile Lewis Hamilton performed his doughnuts in front of the grandstand and then removed his fireproof vest in order to display his tattoos on the podium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night, Channel 4’s lineup of commentators, presenters and analysts were packing their bags, having broadcast the race to an average audience of 2.3 million, as live grand prix coverage in Britain prepared to disappear behind a paywall. Related: F1’s halo device not under question after Nico Hülkenburg’s Abu Dhabi crash Continue reading...
Champion wants the sport to develop in established nations and overhauling Schumacher’s records appears part of the planLewis Hamilton believes Formula One should be looking to the European heartland if it is to add new races. It is an understandable viewpoint given he takes huge pleasure in racing on classic circuits packed with fans but much less so in front of empty grandstands. Yet that he should express his feelings having recently claimed a fifth title suggests a possible subtext. Hamilton is considering F1’s future and therein lies his final challenge: matching or beating Michael Schumacher. Related: Mercedes tribute to ‘exceptional’ Lewis Hamilton after F1 constructors’ title win Hamilton has never chased records but takes obvious pleasure in them once...
The feisty Dutchman cost himself victory in Brazil and caused a lot of trouble by not letting the Force India driver unlap himselfYoung, feisty, uncompromising, unapologetic and talented – we already knew that about Max Verstappen but it turns out he is sweary too and not adverse to being a tad fighty. If he is auditioning as a role model for teenage rebels, this wild one may as well be fitted for his “What’ve you got?” leathers now.Yet for all the uproar and condemnation of his altercation with Esteban Ocon at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the incident, a moment of public emotion increasingly rare in F1, should be the least of his regrets after Sunday’s race. Related: Max Verstappen hits...