FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019 16

Hamilton focused only on winning Leclerc vows to shut out hype 1,000th race Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is hoping to win his maiden race in AFP | Shanghai

ast-rising Ferrari star BETTER Charles Leclerc said yes- Fterday that he must shut AFP | Shanghai out the growing hype surround- KNOW ing him if he is to win his maiden ewis Hamilton sounded Formula One race. La warning ahead of the The 21-year-old from Mona- 1,000th grand prix, saying co goes into the Chinese Grand Charles Leclerc’s finished he was focused only on vic- Prix on Sunday -- the 1,000th third in Bahrain Grand tory, adding: “I’m not one world championship race -- Prix because of technical for special days like this.” widely touted as the next big issues The Mercedes star from thing to grace the sport. Britain is facing multiple He came an agonising third challenges this season, pri- last time out, in Bahrain, after two weeks ago, so people put a marily from Ferrari, who leading for much of the race un- bit more of the face to the name, go into the third race of the til his Ferrari lost power, allow- which is nice to see, it’s good.” season with the fastest car. ing Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton The upbeat atmosphere sur- But that did not stop the to snatch victory. rounding Leclerc is in stark con- 34-year-old winning in Bah- Speaking in Shanghai, the trast to that of Vettel. rain two weeks ago after the third race of the season, Leclerc The 31-year-old has made a se- Ferrari of Charles Leclerc conceded that getting himself ries of unforced errors stretch- lost power towards the end. on the podium for the first time ing back to last season and there Hamilton, a five-time had propelled him into the have been growing questions world champion, was dis- spotlight. Ferrari’s German driver (R) and Ferrari’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (L) walk in the paddock ahead about his driving and temper- missive yesterday of the “After the first race (Australia, of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai ament. party atmosphere sur - where he was fifth) nobody sees Vettel cut a relaxed figure rounding this weekend’s me as a title contender,” he said. the results will come.” his Ferrari team-mate and four- bit,” he said, adding that he was however ahead of practice in milestone Chinese Grand “After the second race, every- Leclerc, in only his second time world champion Sebastian now getting widely recognised Shanghai on Friday, when Fer- Prix in Shanghai. one sees me as a title contender season in F1 and first with the Vettel in Bahrain, with the Ger- back home in Monaco. rari will look to show off their “I’m not one for birth - so things can go (change) very famed Ferrari team, added: “The man coming fifth. “Formula One is one of the unrivalled straight-line speed. days, I’m not one for anni- quick in Formula One. win was very close (in Bahrain) Leclerc smiled when put to sports in which you don’t actu- Vettel, who struggled with the versaries, I’m not one for “I need to keep the focus on and hopefully I’ll get my first him by reporters that he was on ally see the face of the athletes balance of his Ferrari in coming special days like this,” said what I’m doing in the car, work win soon. the brink of becoming a sporting until you go to the podium (be- fourth in the season-opening Hamilton, who is a point be- as hard as possible and try to do “That’s the target and that’s household name. cause of their helmets) or do race in Melbourne, admitted hind his team-mate Valtteri the best job in the car and out- what I’m working for.” “The people seeing your face something good. that he was still not entirely at Bottas at the top of the early side the car, and I’m pretty sure Leclerc comfortably trumped on the podium changes quite a “That did not happen before home in the car. drivers’ standings.

Eldar is bringing the Brave world title home: Kooheji Haas learned ‘interesting’ lessons TDT | Manama tough fight for both, but I feel like Eldarov’s grappling will in Bahrain test: Magnussen oming off two straight vic- be the difference and he will Ctories, Bahrain MMA su- become the world champion”, Autosport | London perstar Hamza Kooheji doesn’t said Kooheji. have a bout lined up for his Eldar and Hamza are more evin Magnussen says Haas Brave Combat Federation re- than coach and student, as Klearned some “interesting” turn. the Featherweight contender lessons from Formula 1’s Bah- He’s focused on helping El- describes his wrestling men- rain test, which he thinks was dar Eldarov, who fights for the tor as a family member. They “lucky” to have immediately inaugural Super Lightweight have been friends for more after its miserable grand prix title at Brave 23: Pride and than four years, and Kooheji there . Honor, on April 19th, against feels that Eldarov has helped Magnussen lamented a Mounir Lazzez. And he’s ex- change the landscape of MMA “hopeless” race in Bahrain in cited about his head coach’s in Bahrain and deserves the which he finished out of the chances in Brave CF’s upcom- success coming his way. points, having qualified sixth ing return to Jordan. “When His Highness Sheikh and within touching distance Hamza was complimentary Khalid was beginning to of Max Verstappen’s Red of Mounir Lazzez’s fighting form the KHK MMA team, we Bull. style but guaranteed that “The thought of Eldar as our wres- The two-day test at the Sakhir Sniper” would be no match for tling coach. We were very ex- circuit in the week after the race Eldarov’s relentless wrestling cited to have him because our afforded Haas an immediate and pressure. Kooheji is con- level in wrestling wasn’t very opportunity to establish what fident that Eldar will become good. Since he came here, he went wrong. the first-ever Bahraini MMA changed that. My opponents “To have a bad weekend when world champion. think I’ve been a wrestler all we have a test straight after is Haas F1’s Danish driver Kevin Magnussen speaks with an engineer “Mounir is probably one of my life, but I’ve only begun kind of lucky I guess,” said Mag- the best fighters from the Arab working on that with Eldar. nussen, when asked by Auto- did not think it needed to have pace,” he said. region. He’s tough and durable. We’ve been through a lot, and sport if Haas had understood the wing it has for this week- “Both on downforce level, He showed in his last fight that I feel like he’s family to me. its problems. end’s Chinese Grand Prix. tyre management, the whole he can take a punch. Lazzez He has helped change MMA in “We were able to kind of rep- To have a bad weekend “We simply didn’t have that set-up on the car was probably had good stand-up skills, and Bahrain for the better, no one licate it and directly learn the when we have a test lower step, medium-downforce wrong for a long stint. Eldar is a great grappler. I can dispute that. And now he’s problems we had on the same straight after is kind of package,” he said. “We didn’t “It was very difficult but as I think Eldar’s grappling is on going to make history for our track and a couple of days after. lucky I guess. We were have it. said I think we found some in- another level. It’s going to be a country”. “I think we found some in- “We have it this weekend. But teresting things in the test. “We teresting things that could be able to kind of replicate it wasn’t ready. I didn’t expect know the car is good, it qualified reasons. it and directly learn to be needing it as badly as we sixth on Saturday. “I don’t think it’s just one the problems we had were. “It was bad on Sunday but thing, I think it’s a combina - on the same track and “It was OK in qualifying be- that can only be tyres and kind tion of things that kind of went a couple of days after. cause you have DRS and the dif- of the set-up.” wrong and that wasn’t in the I think we found some ference becomes less than in Team-mate Romain Grosjean window, which often it is when interesting things that the race when you’re running also said the team had found you have such a bad weekend, without DRS and suddenly you some “interesting” set-up pa- unless you’ve broken something could be reasons need efficiency much more.” rameters the team should have on the car. KEVIN MAGNUSSEN The addition of a third DRS applied in the race. “It was good to have that test zone would not have helped “You shouldn’t qualify twice and it seems the team found with this problem, although in the top 10 if you don’t have a some interesting stuff. duck on the straights in Bah- Magnussen conceded it was fast car,” he said. “Hopefully we can be better rain, where a higher-downforce about more than just too much “Right now what we need if we find a similar situation package left the Haas drivers downforce. is a bit of luck on our side and again.” vulnerable. “In the end our car was just make sure we go through the Hamza Kooheji and Eldar Eldarov during a training session Magnussen was a sitting The Dane explained that Haas way too dialled towards one-lap race with no incident or issue.”