Red Bull definitely has wings in Formula One.
Sports
Stu Cowan: Max Verstappen shows how F1 isn’t a level playing field
Max Verstappen won Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix on Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, leading the 70-lap race from start to finish. The Red Bull driver finished ahead of Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, winning for the sixth time in eight races this season, including four in a row. Verstappen finished second in the other two races behind Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez.
Verstappen is running away with the drivers’ championship with 195 points, 69 more than Perez and 78 more than Alonso, who sits in third place. Red Bull is flying away from the competition in the constructor standings with 321 points — the same amount that second-place Mercedes (167) and third-place Aston Martin (154) have combined.
Verstappen is a fantastic driver — this was his second straight win at the Canadian Grand Prix and he won the driving championship the last two years — but he’s also driving what is by far the best car, powered by Honda.
During the drivers’ parade before Sunday’s race, Hamilton was asked about starting third on the grid, behind Verstappen and Alonso.
“I don’t know if this is the closest we can see Max in front of us, so hopefully we can try and attack today,” he said.
Hamilton and Alonso did try to attack Verstappen, but they couldn’t catch him — not even when the Red Bull driver made his one pit stop on Lap 43, which took only 2.7 seconds to change the tires. Verstappen won by nine seconds — an eternity in F1 — making this the closest race of the season.
“It’s not a frustration anymore,” Hamilton said. “It was. You know how it is and you know what you’re faced with, and there’s nothing I can do about their amazing performance. It’s likely that they will win every race going forward this year, unless the Astons and us (Mercedes) put a lot more performance on the cars or their car doesn’t finish.
“We’ve got some work to do,” added Hamilton, who recorded his second straight podium finish after placing second at the Spanish Grand Prix. “But it’s not as frustrating. I’m happy to firstly be back in the mix, and I’m just hoping at some stage we can have a little bit more level (playing field) so we can get back to some of the good races we had back in 2021, and to have all three of us (including Alonso) in a super-tight battle would be sick.”
Hamilton has seven driving championships — tied for the most with Michael Schumacher — and has won a record 103 races. But he has now gone 31 races without a victory, dating back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s domination this season brings back memories of 1997 when Jacques Villeneuve won the F1 championship and beat out Larry Walker for the Lou Marsh Award (now called the Northern Star Award) as Canada’s top athlete. That year Walker became the first Canadian to win an MVP award in Major League Baseball, voted the best player in the National League after batting .366 with 49 homers, 130 RBIs and 33 stolen bases for the Colorado Rockies.
TSN aired a terrific documentary in 2019 titled Man vs. Machine (it’s still available on Crave) as part of its Engraved on a Nation series looking at the debate surrounding Villeneuve and Walker’s rivalry for the Lou Marsh Award. In the documentary, Walker says his comment was blown out of proportion, leading people to believe he didn’t think Villeneuve was a real athlete.
“I’m not going to get behind a wheel like Villeneuve and, vice versa, he’s not going to hit a 97-mile-an-hour fastball,” said Walker, who started his major-league career with the Expos. “So I tried to laugh it off as best I could, but it got blown out of proportion, unfortunately.”
There’s no doubt F1 drivers are exceptional athletes, and Villeneuve explained why in the documentary.
Still, F1 isn’t always a level playing field.
Villeneuve, who left Williams and switched to the BAR F1 team in 1999, never won another race after earning the Lou Marsh Award 1997.
Walker won the Lou Marsh Award in 1998 and in 2020 became only the second Canadian — after Fergie Jenkins — inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Sports
PWHL MVP Spooner set to miss start of season for Toronto Sceptres due to knee injury
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
___
AP cricket:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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