Max Verstappen's runaway Red Bull train will take some stopping


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Can anyone stop Red Bull’s runaway locomotive charging to another world championship in 2023 as Max Verstappen continues his rampage through the record books?

After a record 15 victories in 2022, the pre-season testing time sheets (and acres of print that have emerged since) make the remarkable young Dutchman firm favourite yet again.

Paddock eyes reported a certain swagger down at the Honda-powered team after testing in Bahrain last week.

The Dutchman was so confident he only bothered to get in the car for two of the three days permitted.

Of course, pre-season’s time sheets can be fool’s gold. Some teams may be grandstanding to impress potential sponsors while others could actually be sandbagging.

But one fact appears to have cast iron credentials: Mercedes woes are set to continue. After their worst season in nine years they are struggling to understand their new car yet again.

Lead driver Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell both report balance issues.

The seven-time champion is in turmoil. Entering the final year of his contract without a new deal is a clear sign, some believe, of fears Mercedes will be uncompetitive yet again.

Russell described suggestions of Mercedes winning the opening race of the season in Bahrain on Sunday as “a bit of stretch”.

The team have been so desperate to save weight to improve competitiveness they are removing paint where they can. Hence the return to black carbon fibre.

Both Russell and boss Toto Wolf used the word “ultimately” when talking about the time scale for being competitive, suggesting it is somewhere over the horizon.

Some predict the Mercedes’ malaise runs so deep they may even fall out of the sport’s Big Three, overtaken by one of their own customer teams, Aston Martin.

Hamilton, Verstappen Bahrain testing - in pictures

That would be good news for double champion Fernando Alonso, who has switched to green. After a string of career moves that have gone wrong, could the talented Spaniard finally be on an upwards trajectory?

The time sheets suggest Ferrari will take on the mantle of Red Bull challengers yet again

Maranello remains the conundrum it has always been, ruled by short-termism and stuck in an unending political maelstrom of its own making.

The latest drama surrounds the dismissal of the one man who had led them back to the winner’s circle, team boss Mattia Binotto.

Taking them into championship contention after the worst seasons in 40 years was not enough to avoid being pushed out.

Having built the fastest car in the pit lane, it’s fair to say 2022 was a championship thrown away by Ferrari as much as one won by Red Bull.

It is a telling statistic that Verstappen won more races when Charles Leclerc started from pole than the Monegasque did himself.

The Maranello pit wall was guilty of apocalyptic (and repeated) strategy errors; the drivers, including Leclerc, threw away victories and technical issues played their part too.

If there is an A to Z of mistakes not to make when challenging for a championship Maranello went through it.

Twelve pole starts show Maranello clearly have the keys to a championship challenge.

But Red Bull’s fallow years have not cost Christian Horner his job. And Toto Wolff survived a bigger disaster at Mercedes in 2022.

For some reason, Ferrari chief executive Benedetto Vigna lacked the will to support Binotto as Italy’s media howled for blood.

So in January, the long-time Ferrari servant was replaced by Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur.

The Frenchman is a highly-regarded engineer who has made Nico Rosberg, Hamilton (and perhaps most significantly Ferrari’s golden boy Leclerc) champion in the junior categories.

Yet his F1 management CV is solid but unremarkable. After in five years in charge of Sauber/Alfa Romeo, his only achievement for over $400m spent was a single fastest lap.

Reputedly one of his earliest decisions – in fact made in his first week in charge – was to axe a proposed Honda engine deal (the engine that is currently dominating F1 remember).

So take as a comparison fellow F1 minnows Alpha Tauri. In the same period (2018-2022), they scored one win, four podiums, two fastest laps and 402 points. Vasseur’s operation managed just 181 when points are directly linked to prize money.

Vigna has said he will take closer personal control but only time will tell whether putting his faith in Vasseur is another Ferrari misstep or a pivotal swing towards a competitive new era.

A lot in F1 depends upon it.

Prop idols

Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.

Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)

An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.

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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)

Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.

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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)

Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.

23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees

Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.

Updated: March 02, 2023, 5:15 AM`