Category: Sports

Manama, Kimi Raikkonen has created headlines in F1 far beyond his 2007 world title. Now the popular 42-year-old Finn is set for his last race.

Kimi Raikkonen is the last world champion to date for cult team Ferrari but the Finn himself is a cult figure as he leaves Formula One racing after two decades on Sunday.

The 2007 world title for the Scuderia in a dramatic finale against the McLaren duo of two-two reigning champion Fernando Alonso and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton was the highlight of Raikkonen’s career.

But Raikkonen made himself immortal when he told his then Lotus team via radio to “just leave me alone, I know what I am doing” while en route to victory at the 2012 Abu Dhabi race.

His current Alfa Romeo team duly wrote “Dear Kimi, we will leave you alone now” on his car for his farewell on the same Yas Marina course, said dpa international.

That same year 2012 he tried to get through an escape route after sliding off the track at the Brazilian Grand Prix, only to find himself in front of a locked gate and having to turn around.

“You can get back on the track by going through the support race pit lane but you have to go through a gate. I knew this as I did the same thing in 2001 and the gate was open that year. Somebody closed it this time,” he said at the time.

That year 2001 marked his debut season in F1 at Sauber, after just 23 previous races.

He also drove for McLaren 2002-06, Ferrari 2007-2009 and 2014-2018, returned after a two-year F1 break at Lotus 2012-13, and ended his career at Alfa Romeo 2019-21, winning 21 grands prix, climbing 108 podiums and st for his 349th race Sunday.

Now 42, Raikkonen has competed against Michael Schumacher and his son Mick as well as Jos Verstappen and his son Max who is fighting for the title against Hamilton on Sunday.

“I don’t consider this funny, I like it,” Raikkonen told dpa ahead of his finale. “It is quite nice, I don’t feel old. You only start to feel old when you are old in the head. But I am not feeling old.”

Raikkonen is not known for many emotions and is commonly known as The Iceman.

But he was always popular in the paddock – for his hard racing but also for famous images such as walking through the Bahrain desert in his red Ferrari suit after his car failed, or leaving a Monaco race after a retirement and watching the rest of the race from a yacht.

“It is unbelievable what he has done,” Williams driver Geroge Russell said of Raikkonen, and his former Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel said: “If you have it (a problem with Raikkonen) then he isn’t the problem – it’s you.”

Raikkonen said Thursday that probably “my wife will be more emotional than me,” as wife Minttu and their two children are in Abu Dhabi for his farewell.

He has also said he had no immediate plans for the future at the end of a career in a sport he never took too seriously.

“I always considered my life outside Formula One much more important than Formula One itself. It takes up a lot of your time but Formula One was never the most important thing in my life,” he told dpa.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton entered Yas Marina Circuit chasing history Thursday dressed head-to-toe in purple with a graffiti-styled expletive scrawled across the back of his sweater, reports AP.

Asked if he was sending a message, the seven-time champion claimed he was unaware of what it said until he was getting dressed. Pure coincidence, Hamilton said, but it sure looked as if he was ready for the finale of his title fight with Max Verstappen.

Both drivers had spent the last three days relaxing in Dubai before making their way 75 minutes south for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where the championship will be settled Sunday.

They are tied in the standings — the first time since 1974 the title contenders entered the deciding race equal in points — and the championship battle this season has been the most dramatic in at least a decade.

As Hamilton and Verstappen sat next to each other for their joint news conference, the F1 championship trophy strategically placed between them, the race was already on.

No, not for the F1 title, but rather which driver could more convincingly appear as if they didn’t have a care in the world headed into the climactic conclusion.

Verstappen, just 24 years old, is trying to become the first Dutch world champion. He had a pretty decent hold on this title race until last month. Hamilton reeled off three straight victories to cut all 19 points off Verstappen’s lead in three action-packed races against his new rival.

Hamilton now has a record eighth F1 title in reach. The only Black driver in the global series can break his tie with Michael Schumacher by finishing ahead of Verstappen on the 16-turn, 5.28-kilometer (3.28 miles) track.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

London, Eight Tottenham players and five members of staff at the club have tested positive for the coronavirus, manager Antonio Conte said Wednesday.

“Every day we are having people with COVID,” Conte said at a news conference a day before a match against French team Rennes in the Europa Conference League.

Conte said he has 11 players available for the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

UEFA rules state a game must go ahead as long as a club has at least 13 senior players available, including at least one goalkeeper.

Conte said “everyone is a bit scared” at the club because people are coming into contact with others who have tested negative but who later test positive.

“At the end of the training session today, again one player is positive, another member of staff is positive,” he said. “Tomorrow, who? Me? Another player? Anther member of staff? We continue in this way but the situation is serious.”

Conte said he is concerned players and staff members at Tottenham might be passing on the virus to their loved ones.

“We have families, we have contact with our families when we come back home,” a visibly emotional Conte said. “It is a situation that makes me upset.

“Now for sure we are bit scared, because tomorrow we don’t know what happens.”

It has been reported in the British media that Tottenham has asked for its Premier League game against Brighton on Sunday to be postponed. Conte did not confirm that at the news conference.

Six Premier League matches were postponed last season because of virus outbreaks at clubs.

Tottenham is in second place in its group in the Conference League — the third-tier European competition — and is tied on points with third-place Vitesse. Rennes has already won the group with one game left to play.

The runner-up qualifies for a playoff for the last 16 against a team that will drop down from the Europa League.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Manama, HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of the General Sports Authority and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee has received at his office in Al Wadi Palace, Bahrain National Cricket Team members who won the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier which was hosted by Qatari capital Doha.

The event was attended by Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Vice President of the General Sports Authority, Dr Abdulrahman Sadiq Askar, CEO of the General Sports Authority, Mohammed Hassan Al Nusf, Secretary-General of Bahrain Olympic Committee and Hatem Abbas Dadabai, President of Bahrain Cricket Association and its Board members.

HH Shaikh Khalid affirmed that the victory in the event came thanks to the great performances showcased by the players, stating that this accomplishment represents a great start for the national team towards further successes.

HH Shaikh Khalid valued the exceptional efforts exerted by the Association under the presidency of Dadabai which have positively impacted the team’s performance and created ideal circumstances for the players to give their best. Finally, Shaikh Khalid congratulated the Association’s Board and members on the accomplishment.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Jeddah, The dust from the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix has to settle quickly over the next few days as Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team and Max Verstappen and Red Bull need to get ready for Sunday’s title-deciding season finale in Abu Dhabi.

It is the 30th occasion the title is decided in the last race but only the second time two drivers are tied ahead of the finale – the other occasion being in 1974 when Emerson Fittipaldi of McLaren won the title over Ferrari’s Clay Regazzoni.

Mercedes driver Hamilton will be bidding for a record eighth title, one more than Michael Schumacher, on the Abu Dhabi track where he has won five times in the past.

Red Bull’s Verstappen seeks a first career trophy on the Yas Marina Circuit where he came first 12 months ago, when Hamilton had already wrapped up his seventh title, said dpa international.

If both remain tied on points Verstappen will be crowned champion because he has one race win more than Hamilton, 9-8. Such a scenario could occur if both collide – which neither side wants.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “We want to win it on the track, not in the stewards’ room, not in a gravel trap … I hope it is a fair and clean race in Abu Dhabi.”

But, having lost a world title by one point to Kimi Raikkonen in his inaugural season 2007 and won it by one point a year later in the final lap in Brazil, Hamilton said he is ready for the big finale.

Hamilton has erased his deficit by winning the last three season races ahead of Verstappen, who for his part insisted he had only slowed down to let Hamilton pass after being told to do so.

Looking ahead, he named the big finale “really exciting for the whole championship and Formula 1 in general. “Hopefully we have a good weekend, so let’s see,” Verstappen said.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

HOUSTON, The World Petroleum Congress, the largest triennial gathering for the industry, kicked off yesterday in Houston, the largest city of south central U.S. state Texas, amid the shadow of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the uncertainty of global economic activity and energy consumption.

Topics include the role of U.S. oil and gas in global energy markets, shale revolution, digital evolution of oil industry, energy transition from oil, gas and coal to wind, solar and other clean technologies, and a future vision and perception of the industry, according to the organisers.

More than 300 speakers are likely to participate in strategic programmes and technical forums, with some 4,000 registered attendees from about 70 countries and regions.

Chief executives of BP and QatarEnergy have dropped out of the conference in the last minute, over concern about the Omicron variant, the Upstream reported yesterday.

The fast spreading Omicron sent oil prices plunging recently. Crude prices lost more than 15 percent within days, falling back around 65 U.S. dollars a barrel, according to media reports.

The World Petroleum Congress is organised every three years by the London-based World Petroleum Council, which includes 65 member countries, representing over 96 percent of global oil and gas production and consumption.

The international gathering this year, which will end on Thursday, hasn’t been held in the United States since 1987, when it was also held in Houston.

Source: Nam News Network

Munich, Barcelona’s Champions League group match away at Bayern Munich next week will be played without fans due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the German state of Bavaria, the LaLiga club said on Friday.

Barca, second in Group E behind Bayern, are due to face the German side on Dec. 8 at Allianz Arena, Reuters reports.

“Bayern Munich v FC Barcelona will be played behind closed doors,” the Spanish club said.

“The game corresponding to match day six in the Champions League will be played without fans in the stadium due to the serious increase in coronavirus cases in the German region of Bavaria in the last few weeks.”

Manchester City’s game at RB Leipzig on Dec. 7 will also be played behind closed doors after the German state of Saxony went into partial lockdown last month.

The German government on Thursday reintroduced restrictions for sports events amid rising cases of COVID-19 infections and ruled that Bundesliga matches can only have an attendance of up to 50% and up to a maximum of 15,000 spectators.

German authorities fear a fourth wave of COVID-19 risks overwhelming intensive care units. The countryrecorded 74,352 new infections and 390 deaths on Friday, as per Robert Koch Institute.

Two cases of the new Omicron variant were also detected in the southern German state of Bavaria last week.

Bayern said in a statement that their Bundesliga games at home to Mainz 05 (Dec. 11) and VfL Wolfsburg (Dec. 17) will also be played behind closed doors.

“It is a hard hit to play again in front of empty stands in the Allianz Arena,” Bayern board member Jan Dreesen said.

“Without fans football is only half as beautiful, not to speak of the financial consequences. But we have to accept the decision.”

Source: Bahrain News Agency.

Jeddah, Lewis Hamilton set the pace ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas as they completed a one-two for Mercedes on the opening day of practice for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc walked away from a heavy crash.

The 36-year-old Briton, who pipped 24-year-old championship-leading Red Bull rival Max Verstappen in the opening hour of running, went even quicker at night under the floodlights, lowering his benchmark to one minute 29.018 seconds.

Bottas was 0.061 seconds behind while Verstappen dropped behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly to fourth, 0.195 seconds slower than his Mercedes rival.

The top three were separated by less than 0.1 seconds, Reuters reports.

“I’m generally happy,” said Hamilton, who trails Verstappen by eight points in the overall standings and is gunning for a third successive win on Sunday to force a final-race title showdown with the Dutchman a week later in Abu Dhabi.

“As I said, made some changes between sessions.

“We’ll study through it tonight and work with the guys back at the factory and try and make sure we come with the correct set up for tomorrow.”

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the first of only two races left on this year’s Formula One calendar, with the hard-fought battle of the generations between Hamilton and Verstappen racing towards its conclusion.

Verstappen has his first shot at wrapping up a maiden title with a race to spare this weekend. Hamilton, his sights set on an unprecedented eighth world title, can keep the battle alive into Abu Dhabi so long as he finishes at least fifth.

The pair were separated by 0.056 seconds in the first session, with Verstappen wasting no time attacking and exploring the limits of the track.

But the Dutchman struggled to get heat into his soft tyres in the floodlit second hour of practice.

“There are of course a lot of things to work on and improve,” he said. “So we’ll see what we can do to get more pace out of the car overnight.

Mercedes could also wrap up a record eighth constructors’ title on Sunday if they score 40 points more than Red Bull.

Friday’s action around the Jeddah street track, its flat-out blasts hemmed in by walls, was not without incident.

Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari at high speed on the approach to the fast Turn 22-23 chicane, crashing backwards into the barriers. The Monegasque, winded, walked away but the crash halted the session five minutes early.

Several drivers, including Hamilton, also got away with near misses as they were nearly caught out by slower moving cars while on their flying laps.

The Briton said the difference in closing speeds was approaching a “danger zone.”

Teams carried a tribute on their cars to Frank Williams, co-founder of the Williams team, who died aged 79 on Sunday.

The team, among the sport’s most successful outfits which was sold to new owners last year but continues to race under the Williams name, carried the words: “I feel the need, the need for speed,” on the halo cockpit protection device.

The line was Williams’ favourite quote from the film Top Gun starring Tom Cruise.

Source: Bahrain News Agency.