Teams already eyeing 2024 Formula 1 calendar as season ends at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

26.11.2023 - 11:55 arabnews.com

ABU DHABI: After 22 races, the 10 teams who started in Bahrain have experienced mixed fortunes. All except Red Bull Racing, of course.

But for some of the others, what looked like early-season promise has melted away, while others who started less-than-optimally have found performance and points as the calendar has unfolded.

Aston Martin flew out of the traps in the first six races, with Fernando Alonso’s five podiums seeming to signal a change in fortunes for the Silverstone-based outfit.

The next eight races, however, saw them slipping slightly as the season moved to tracks that rewarded more efficient aero packages.

Football tennis ABU DHABI soccer 2024 1 as Calendar Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Mikel Arteta Kai Havertz Carlos Sainz Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Bundesliga Britain Qatar Austria Saudi Arabia Bahrain county Union

LONDON: Saudi Aramco has signed a new five-year agreement to become the exclusive sponsor of the Aston Martin Formula One team starting from the 2024 season, it was announced on Thursday.

Euro 2024 draw ceremony interrupted by noises in German concert hall in claimed social media prank

HAMBURG, Germany: The draw ceremony for the European Championship in men’s soccer was disrupted by unexplained noises that competed for attention with the team names being read out on stage on Saturday. The interruption, which seemed to sound like sexual noises, was clearly heard for several minutes on the ceremony broadcast from a concert hall in Hamburg. A British prankster claimed credit on social media for the stunt and posted footage of himself making cell phone calls to activate a ring tone in the venue which has excellent accoustics. UEFA director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti noted the noise in his commentary before continuing with the draw for the last five places for lower-ranked teams in the 24-nation tournament lineup. The sound continued sporadically until the draw was completed. Similar noises disrupted a BBC live broadcast of an English soccer game in January between Wolverhampton and Liverpool.

UEFA sets $360 million prize fund for 24 national teams at Euro 2024

HAMBURG, Germany: UEFA said Saturday it will pay 331 million euros ($360 million) in total prize money to the 24 national teams at the men’s European Championship that is expected to earn about 2.4 billion euros ($2.61 billion) in commercial revenue. The team prize fund is in line with the pandemic-delayed Euro 2020 and 20 times more than UEFA’s prize fund for the women’s Euro 2022. The national federation of the Euro 2024 title winner can get a maximum of 28.25 million euros if the team wins all three games in the opening group stage, the European soccer body said ahead of the tournament draw. Each of the 24 teams gets a minimum of 9.25 million euros for playing at the month-long tournament in Germany that starts June 14. Clubs will share in a further 240 million euros from UEFA for releasing their players to national-team duty. They get a daily rate of several thousand euros per player while they are with national teams for qualifying games and at Euro 2024 itself. FIFA paid prize money of $440 million to the 32 men’s teams at the 2022 World Cup, four times more than the $110 million shared among 32 women’s teams at their 2023 World Cup. The Euro 2024 winner will be paid more than the total 16 million euros prize money fund for the 16 women’s teams that played at Euro 2022 in England.

Max Verstappen triumphs at season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Max Verstappen triumphed in the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after battling to a hard-fought victory in the Formula One season's big finale.

Max Verstappen completes majestic season with record-breaking triumph

ABU DHABI: Max Verstappen completed a majestic and record-breaking season in familiar style on Sunday when he cruised to a record-increasing 19th win of the year for Red Bull at an action-packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The three-time world champion came home 17.993 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc whose bold drive was not enough for the Italian team to claim the runners-up place in the constructors’ championship. That went, finally, to Mercedes by just three points as although Sergio Perez came home second behind Verstappen on the road he was relegated to fourth with a five-second penalty, for a mid-race clash with McLaren’s Lando Norris, which promoted George Russell to third. Norris was fifth ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes. Verstappen ended the season as the only driver to complete every lap of the season, more than 1000 laps led, and also broke Jim Clark’s 1963 record for the highest percentage of laps led in a season. “An incredible season,” said Verstappen, who also paid tribute to retirement-bound Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost who nurtured his early F1 career. “I felt quite emotional on the in-lap as it’s the last time in this car that has given me such a lot. Russell said: “It was really tense at the end as the tires were dropping off, but it’s a massive relief to bring the car home P3.

Liverpool hit back to hold Man City, end Etihad winning streak

MANCHESTER, UK: Liverpool snapped Manchester City’s 23-match winning run at the Etihad as a clash between the Premier League’s top two ended 1-1 on Saturday. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s fine strike 10 minutes from time salvaged a point for the visitors after Erling Haaland’s 50th Premier League goal put City in front. A share of the spoils means there remains just one point between the sides and that Arsenal can now take top spot from City if they win at Brentford later on Saturday. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp made his displeasure clear at the early kick-off time on the back of an international break where both sides had players in World Cup qualifying action in South America little over 72 hours ago. Fatigue appeared a factor as the expected fireworks failed to materialize. “Preparing for the most difficult game of the season with one (training) session is really a challenge,” said Klopp. “We’re still in a process. If we’d played really well today, we could have won — we didn’t.