Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/647574
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 MARCH 2016 23 Sport Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Partly to rather cloudy with some isolated showers becoming partly cloudy later on for sometime VISIBILITY: Generally good WIND: West Northwest force 5 to 6 SEA: Rough SWELL: Low West Northwest Sea Temp.: 16°C 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 17 º C / 12 º C UV INDEX: 4 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits Across 1. Wept 3. Not hollow 6. Egyptian river 7. Violin 9. Beyond what is usual 10. All time 11. Long-tailed rodent 13. Floating ice 15. Indian tent 18. Marked with rings 19. Timber 20. Eyeglasses 21. Line of people Down 1. Ember 2. Very small island 3. Short dagger 4. Flat shelf 5. Animal 8. Heedless 12. Interfere 14. Sudden forward thrust 16. Examine thoroughly 17. Weapons e7 d8=Q e8=Q+ Qd8 Qe6+ Kb8 Qb3+ Qb6 Qxb6+ Ka8 Qb7# FORMULA 1 'Very tricky' to challenge Mercedes - Bottas VALTTERI Bottas reckons it will be "very tricky" for any team to challenge Mercedes in 2016, given its pace in pre-season testing. Mercedes has spent the track time so far at the Circuit de Bar- celona-Catalunya racking up huge lap totals, and sticking to harder- tyre runs. As the second test began on Tuesday, Rosberg set the pace on Soft tyres, with Williams driver Bottas two tenths back on Ultra Softs. "At the moment it looks like they're in a really strong position," said Bottas, when asked about the possibility of challenging Mer- cedes in 2016. "Where we are right now, it's quite tricky for anyone to chal- lenge them at the beginning of the season. That is the fact at the mo- ment, but let's see what happens. "I sure we'll still progress a lot. We know there's plenty more to come." Bottas expects Williams to be scrapping with Ferrari and Red Bull behind. "I have one day left [in the car in testing], so what I have so far is progression from last year, and what I've said before is it's so dif- ficult in fine detail to say where we are," Bottas commented. "Mercedes looks strong but I hope we can fight with Ferrari and Red Bull." Haas 'not desperate' to get sponsors GENE Haas says his new Formula 1 team is "not desperate" to attract sponsors. Haas F1 Team rolled out its maid- en car - the VF-16 - last week in Barcelona, and aside from the name of its eponymous owner's machine- tools company and watchmaker Richard Mille, the livery was lacking partners. By contrast, Stewart-Haas Rac- ing's NASCARs are effectively bill- boards, promoting different brands across different races. "We have lots of people who want to sponsor us - they just don't want to pay us the money we want!" Haas joked, when asked about the spartan livery of his F1 car. The American has entered F1 partly to promote his company, be- lieving the 350 million people who watch will enable him to go global. For now, Haas believes other brands on his car could prove detri- mental on that front. "Having the car branded under our name is actually good for our product line," said Haas. "But we're not a consumer product, which is something that may have more at- tention in terms of marketing, but it works well for our brand. "If the right sponsor came along, and wants to sponsor us, we're defi- nitely going to listen to that. "But at the same time, we're not desperate. We don't need sponsors to do what we are doing. We're very efficient at what we do, our budget is very reasonable for what we are attempting to do. So when the right partner comes along, that's when we'll make that change." Haas recognises that until his cars perform on track, sponsors are likely to hold fire to ensure they are not associated with a back-of-the-grid team. "The biggest problem is we don't have a product yet, we've never been on a track, so we have noth- ing to really sell to anybody," added Haas. "People would be a little bit afraid of going out on the track and embarrassing their name. If you go out there and you look bad they are probably not going to want to spon- sor you. "But I'm optimistic that when we go out there we're going to look pro- fessional, we're going to be able to compete on a level other teams will be able to respect. That should make sponsors say 'OK, there's a product, we can see it, it can deliver', and that should make them feel more com- fortable about wanting to sponsor us." Ideally, Haas would like an Ameri- can consumer brand to join his F1 journey.