Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1001069
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 JULY 2018 23 SPORTS FORMULA 1 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Cloudy and possibly with seafog patches at first, becoming partly to rather cloudy VISIBILITY: Moderate and locally poor in seafog WIND: Variable force 2 to 3 SEA: Slight, locally slight to moderate at first SWELL Negligible, locally low South Southeast at first A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. PARTLY CLOUDY 32 º C /22 º C UV INDEX: 9 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku A B C D E F G H Pursuits Across 1. Reprimand (5) 3. Graph (5) 6. Limbs (4) 7. Arm cover (6) 9. Cuban ballroom dance (5) 10. Lather (4) 11. Writing fluid (3) 13. Study hard (4) 15. Eskimo dwelling (5) 18. Dwells (6) 19. Young horse (4) 20. Murders (5) 21. Indistinct (5) Down 1. Join together (6) 2. Keyboard instrument (5) 3. Hide of a calf (8) 4. In front (5) 5. Golf mounds (4) 8. Woman who waits on tables (8) 12. Covered with mould (6) 14. Spin (5) 16. Weaving machines (5) 17. Bundle (4) c7+ Kc8 Bd7# DANIEL Ricciardo is set to stay with Red Bull next season unless Formula One world champion Lewis Ham- ilton suddenly announces his retirement in the next few days, team boss Christian Horner said yesterday. The race-winning Aus- tralian, who turned 29 last Sunday, is out of contract at the end of the year and has been mulling his options for months. He has had Mercedes and Ferrari in his sights but, de- spite potential vacancies at both teams, neither has seemed interested. "We've now got to the point where there is a desire from both sides to continue the relationship," Horner told reporters at the Red Bull fac- tory ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix. "So it's just a matter of now really going through the de- tail and coming to a conclu- sion which will certainly be done prior to the summer (August) break." With Mercedes winning the last four drivers' and con- structors' championships, and trading the lead with Ferrari this year, Horner rec- ognised the champions could have lured Ricciardo away. "I think that had Mercedes put a serious offer on the table, or an offer, he would have been potentially inter- ested," said the Briton. "He's impatient to try and challenge for a world title so I think he would have had his head turned in the event of a Mercedes or a Ferrari offer but I think those two teams look pretty set where they are." Mercedes have yet to con- firm either of their drivers for 2019, with Hamilton ex- pected to agree a lucrative new deal imminently and Finland's Valtteri Bottas also expected to stay. Ferrari have Ricciardo's for- mer team mate, Sebastian Vet- tel, a four times world cham- pion who is leading Hamilton by a single point ahead of Silverstone, confirmed with Monegasque rookie, Charles Leclerc, favourite to replace Kimi Raikkonen. Horner said the ever-smil- ing Ricciardo suited Red Bull's brand image and was a popular member of a team set to trade Renault engines for Honda power next year. Asked whether Ricciardo would get equal money to 20-year-old Dutch hotshot Max Verstappen, winner in Austria last weekend, Horner said only that each had their own value. "Obviously, one of the things he was waiting to un- derstand was where we were going with engines as well. He's seen and understood the decision-making be- hind where we've gone," said Horner. "Hopefully, the rest of it becomes a formality, unless Lewis announces his retire- ment at the British Grand Prix this weekend." Ricciardo set to stay at Red Bull, says Horner Daniel Ricciardo