Mercedes driver George Russell could face another engine penalty at next month's Las Vegas Grand Prix, at the same time his team-mate Kimi Antonelli is likely to clinch the Formula 1 championship.
Russell, who is ranked second in the drivers' championship standings but 102 points behind the Italian driver with six rounds remaining in the season, started from the back of the grid in the Singapore Grand Prix yesterday, Sunday, after exceeding his allotted quota of power units for this season.
The British driver said last week that he would receive another penalty before the end of the season.
“To be honest, the penalty will likely be later in the season,” he told Sky Sports after finishing ninth at the Marina Bay Circuit. Maybe in Las Vegas. “Now we have the option to apply the penalty whenever we want, and we will choose a circuit that is a little easier than this.”
Russell or his Mercedes team did not plan to use a new engine in Singapore, a track in which overtaking is difficult, but they were forced to do so due to a malfunction that led to the British driver’s exit from the previous round, which left them with no other option.
The Austin race in Texas will be the preferred option on October 25.
Antonelli (20 years old) has his first opportunity to become the youngest champion in the history of this sport in Austin.
However, the winner of eight races this year will have to win there to become the first Italian champion since 1953 with five rounds remaining in the season; The matter will remain dependent on Russell or Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton not obtaining enough points to remain in the competition.
It seems that Mexico, one week later, or Brazil, the next race, are the two most likely places to witness the championship being decided before Las Vegas.
There is no doubt that Antonelli will win the title in the end; Hamilton, third, is now 111 points behind with only 125 points available after Austin.
If Antonelli wins in Texas, Max Verstappen, driver of Red Bull, Charles Leclerc, driver of Ferrari, and defending champion Lando Norris, driver of McLaren, will be immediately eliminated from the title race.
Verstappen, the four-time champion and winner yesterday in Singapore, will seek to achieve his third consecutive victory in the next race in Texas.
The Pinarello Q36.5 cycling team announced today (Monday) its contract with rider Giulio Ciccone for a period of three years, following the Italian’s separation by mutual consent from the Liddell Trek team, in whose ranks he spent eight seasons.
Ciccone's last participation with Liddell Trek was when he finished third in the Lombardia race on Saturday, after the team announced his departure on the eve of the race despite three years remaining until the end of his contract.
“After eight years with the same team, this is a big decision, but it is a decision I sincerely wanted to make,” Ciccone (31 years old) said in a statement issued by the Pinarello team.
He added: “I feel that I still have a lot to offer, and I needed a new challenge, to renew my motivation, and to be in an environment where I feel at home.”
The mountain specialist, who won the mountain classification in France and Italy, will join Britain's Tom Pidcock in Pinarello.
“I have always admired him, not only because of his talent, but because he is a racer who thinks differently and is not afraid to do things his way,” Ciccone said.
The Argentine coach of Atletico Madrid, Diego Simeone, hoped on Monday that his fellow international striker, Julián Alvarez, would be able to regain his scoring sense, on the eve of hosting Manchester United in the Champions League.
United will be a guest of the Spanish capital club, seeking to build on its 4-0 sweep of Azerbaijan's Sabah in the first round of the unified group stage of the main continental competition, while Atletico lost its first match to the other English team, Liverpool 1-2.
Alvarez did not score any goal this season with Atletico, which refused to fulfill the desire of the 2022 World Cup champion to move to its local rival Barcelona.
Simeone told reporters on Monday: “I think that strikers who have Julian’s characteristics always need goals, not just him,” considering that Alvarez is “a team player, in addition to his ability to score, and he can link up very well and make decisive passes, and he has several tools, more than just scoring goals.”
Alvarez hit the post after coming on as a substitute against Alaves on Saturday, in the match that Atletico won 2-1 in the eighth stage, which allowed him to remain second in the league standings, 5 points behind Barcelona, the leaders and title holders.
Simeone added about the former Manchester City player: “He played a good second half in Saturday’s match, and we hope he will continue to develop and reach the place we all want to see him in.”
Alvarez scored a goal for Argentina during a friendly match against Burkina Faso during the last international break, but he did not score in 5 matches with Atletico.
The final match of the Champions League will be held next June at Atletico’s “Metropolitano” stadium, but Simeone confirmed that he is not thinking about that currently, saying: “The reality is that we work one day at a time, and one match at a time.”
Atletico won its last four matches, while United suffers from poor results, and has not achieved any victory in its last 4 matches in various competitions, since its victory over Sabah.
By collecting only 6 points from their first six Premier League matches, United made their worst start in 40 years.
Simeone said: “The match will be long and difficult, and we have to manage our efforts well in order to compete well.”
