MaltaToday previous editions

MW Budget 13 Oct 2015

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/585015

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 20 of 23

21 Sport maltatoday, TUESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2015 FORMULA 1 FOOTBALL Red Bull may quit F1 says designer Newey ADRIAN Newey has accused Red Bull's rivals of being afraid to sup- ply them with engines for 2016 and warned there was a real risk of the four times world champions walk- ing away from Formula One. "We're possibly going to be forced out of Formula One -- Mercedes and Ferrari have refused to supply us out of fear," Newey, the sport's most successful designer, told Reu- ters in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The Briton, whose cars have won 10 constructors' titles, also criti- cised the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) for allowing Ferrari and Mercedes to establish a de facto duopoly. Red Bull, using Newey-designed cars, won four successive con- structor and driver titles with Se- bastian Vettel and Renault engines in 2010-13. Renault have struggled to be competitive in the new V6 turbo hybrid era that came in last year, however, while Mercedes have been dominant and clinched a sec- ond straight constructors' crown in Russia on Sunday. Red Bull are currently fourth. "Unfortunately, our relationship with Renault is pretty terminal -- there's been too much of a mar- riage breakdown, so we have no en- gine," said Newey, who was in Abu Dhabi as head judge for the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy. "Improvement is needed, but there has been no clear direction on how to achieve that," he said, adding Renault had rebuffed Red Bull's attempts to help improve the engine and also bring in outside expert help. "Red Bull should not be put in a position where they're only there to make up the numbers." Red Bull's engine predicament has become the talk of the Formu- la One paddock, with the energy drink company owning two of the 10 teams but potentially having no power units after this season. While sister team Toro Rosso are confident they can do a deal with Ferrari to run 2015 engines next year, if the regulations allow them to, Red Bull appear to be far from any agreement despite the sport's commercial supremo Bernie Ec- clestone's assurances that the sup- ply was 'sorted'. Mercedes have ruled out a deal while Ferrari have indicated they would struggle to supply Red Bull with the same engines as their works team. "You can understand the position with both Ferrari and Mercedes. If they happen to give Red Bull the same sort of engine that they have, they will show up the people that are supplying the engines," Eccle- stone told the BBC at the weekend. "I don't want them to stop. I hon- estly think any of the engine sup- pliers would be OK for them." Newey said Red Bull would not be able to compete next year unless the situation was resolved quickly, with 700 jobs at stake at the Milton Keynes factory. He said a decision was needed "well before" year-end "because design and manufacturing lead times are such that you need to know what you're putting in" the car. The Briton, who has also de- signed winning cars for Williams and McLaren over the years, said Mercedes and Ferrari had re- neged on promises to provide Red Bull with engines because "they became concerned we would beat them with their own engine". McLaren could also veto Red Bull using the much-maligned Honda engine, he added. Newey said Mercedes, who are already committed to four teams including their own, were able to control Formula One with Fer- rari because of the FIA's refusal to step in. "Within the regulations, the en- gines can be balanced somewhat so that there's less of a perform- ance disparity then there is at the moment, but the FIA has been unwilling to do this," he said. "We need to get back to the po- sition where all teams have ac- cess to an engine which is there or thereabouts -- if it's a couple of percent behind then okay, but when it's 10 percent behind it's too big a gap," added Newey. "As an engineer, I'd liked to see more f lexibility in the chas- sis regulations so that teams can find benefit through ingenuity and creativity." Adrian Newey Zen Ruffinen asked to stand for FIFA presidency FORMER FIFA secretary-gener- al Michel Zen Ruffinen has been asked to stand for the presiden- cy of soccer's governing body and is studying the situation, he said on Monday. "I am simply studying the situ- ation following some requests that I have received to (be a) candidate for the position," the Swiss told Reuters. "I will monitor the situation, see how it develops in the next days and check the feasibility (to see) if it makes sense." Zen Ruffinen, a former referee, did not say who had suggested he stand. He served as FIFA's secretary general from 1998 to 2002. FIFA is due to choose a succes- sor to Sepp Blatter at an extraor- dinary Congress on Feb. 26. Embroiled in a corruption scandal, Blatter was suspend- ed for 90 days by FIFA's ethics committee on Thursday along with UEFA president Michel Platini, pending a full investiga- tion. Until recently, Platini had been the favourite to replace Blatter. Michel Zen-Ruffinen Croatia without Luka Modric for crucial Malta clash THE Real Madrid star hurt his hamstring in Croatia's 3-0 tri- umph over Bulgaria on Saturday and will miss the team's final qualifying game in Ta' Qali to- night. The victory in Zagreb assured Croatia of at least a play-off place in Group H but they still have a chance to clinch direct qualifica- tion to next year's tournament in France. Ante Cacic's team will do so if they beat Malta and second- placed Norway fail to win at pool leaders Italy. Croatia are two points adrift of Norway but have the advan- tage on head-to-head record should both teams finish level on points. "The win against Bulgaria has kept us alive in the fight for sec- ond place but now we have to win at Malta in order to make these points count," Cacic said on his federation's website. "I believe that the result from It- aly will play in our favour, but we are only focused on our match. "Other teams have struggled at Malta as well." The triumph over Bulgaria gave Cacic a winning start as national team coach. He took over last month following the sacking of Niko Kovac. Malta have not won in 23 com- petitive home matches and will finish bottom of the group after taking just two points from their nine qualifiers. Modric is nursing a hamstring problem

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MW Budget 13 Oct 2015