Red Bull wrote off their drivers’ costly Turkish Grand Prix collision as a racing incident on Tuesday after earlier pinning the blame on championship leader Mark Webber.
Team principal Christian Horner said in an interview published by Red Bull that he and owner Dietrich Mateschitz had both had words with Australian Webber and German Sebastian Vettel since Sunday’s race.
“Dietrich has spoken with both drivers following the incident,” Horner said. “He has always supported both drivers equally and summed it up by saying: ‘We shouldn’t talk about the past, but concentrate on the future. The fact is that we not only have the fastest car, but also two of the best and fastest drivers.’”
PHOTO: EPA
MAKING SPACE
Helmut Marko, a close adviser of Mateschitz, had blamed Webber on Sunday for not making space for his team mate, despite the German turning in to the Australian’s car during the maneuver.
Horner, whose team have started all seven races on pole position but won just three this season, said no orders had been given during the race for Vettel to pass Webber and both would retain equal status.
The Australian had led from pole position until his German team mate tried to overtake on the inside 18 laps from the finish.
ACCIDENT
“Having looked at all the information it’s clear that it was a racing accident that shouldn’t have happened between two team mates,” Horner said. “After looking at all the facts that weren’t available immediately after the race, Dr Marko also fully shares this view.”
“The Turkish Grand Prix has been a costly lesson for both drivers and we are confident that this situation won’t happen again,” Horner added.
Webber leads the championship by five points ahead of next week’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the eighth of 19 races. Vettel is fifth overall, 15 points adrift.
Horner said the drivers would clear the air before they went to Canada.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS