Next week’s Singapore Grand Prix will show where the Formula One title is heading and whether McLaren can match Red Bull and Ferrari in the final races, according to world champion Jenson Button.
“I think it’ll give us a clearer idea of the destiny of the world championship,” the Briton, one of five drivers fighting for the title in a cliffhanger season, said in a McLaren team preview.
“The last time we were at a low-speed, high-downforce track was in Hungary back at the start of August,” he added.
“Our car wasn’t particularly competitive there and maybe we haven’t had a properly representative view of the top teams’ relative pace because we’ve just visited two high-speed circuits,” Button said.
Red Bull were dominant in Hungary, but had a harder time in Belgium and at high-speed Monza last weekend, with neither of their drivers on the Italian podium in a race won by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Despite that, Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber took the championship lead from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who retired on the opening lap at Monza.
Hamilton won in Singapore last year.
“I’ve already drawn a line under Monza. I’ve learnt from the experience and, while it was extremely disappointing, those things are sometimes what you need to sharpen your mind and raise your game and motivation at an extremely crucial time in the season,” the 2008 champion said.
McLaren have been working hard to improve their car and will be bringing new developments that should make it more competitive on slower circuits.
There are four more races after Singapore — Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
At the same time, the governing International Automobile Federation has tightened the rules to prevent the flexing front wings that were thought to be giving Red Bull an advantage.
“A lot has changed since that race in Budapest,” Button said. “Not least, some quite hefty revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility and, additionally, a lot of work by the engineers ... to ensure our car is now better suited to slower circuits.”
“Singapore will be interesting for all of us — we’ll not only get an idea of the speed of the Ferrari and Red Bull, but we’ll get to see for the first time whether all our efforts over the past two months have helped put us back in the ballpark at high-downforce tracks,” Button added.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two