TURIN, Italy: Valtteri Bottas has no intention of playing second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton and thinks the time is right for him to pip his Mercedes teammate to the title.
Bottas joined Hamilton at Mercedes at the start of 2017 to replace Nico Rosberg, following the world champion’s shock retirement days after beating Hamilton to the title.
The amiable Finnish driver was drafted in from Williams at short-notice. He was considered the ideal teammate for Hamilton, whose relationship with Rosberg was often sour during their four-year partnership and probably beyond repair by the end of it.
But although Bottas at times appeared consigned to a No. 2 role last season, as Hamilton went on to win his fourth title, he insists there is no seniority at Mercedes.
“People can always think what they think. Only what I care about is my own performance,” Bottas told The Associated Press in an interview. “I have high goals in Formula One, I know that I can do good things, I know that I can fight for the title, I can win races and we happen to work really well with Lewis.
“If someone thinks I’m only his helper that’s wrong because that’s not the case,” he added. “I’m here because I want to win and we’re starting the season with Lewis on equal terms, so it’s up to me and Lewis who will come out on top.”
Bottas finished third last season, 12 points behind Sebastian Vettel and 58 points behind Hamilton.
After winning three races last year — the first ones since he started in 2013 — Bottas is keen to challenge Hamilton all the way.
“I believe. I believe in myself,” Bottas said. “I always set very high targets and I was able to win a few races last year so I know I can do it. I just need to be more consistent and we’ll see.”
He appeared relaxed and determined as he responded to questions on the balcony of team sponsor Petronas’ new $60 million research and technology center in Turin. He is under pressure to perform, however, since he only has a one-year contract with Mercedes.
There are as yet no assurances he will keep his set for 2019, when other leading drivers are likely to be on the market.
“I want to win more races than last year. I want to fight for the title. I feel it’s my opportunity this year,” Bottas said. “I learnt so much with this team last season so if I can really learn from all the mistakes, especially from all the difficult races, I believe I can perform overall a lot better.”
Bottas had a frantic start to life at Mercedes, joining the team little over two months before the start of last season.
The 28-year-old has had a better preparation this year, and a relaxed offseason split between Finland and South Africa.
He Bottas believes that, coupled with a year’s experience under his belt, will stand him in good stead to mount a serious challenge.
“Everything is all set for the new year,” Bottas said. “Main thing I learnt last year is that I learnt that I had no clue how much I still had to learn. There were so many different things.”
Driving alongside Hamilton helped to speed up the process.
“I also learnt some things from Lewis,” he said. “It’s fine details and that’s what Formula One is about when you’re speaking about the hundredths/thousandths of a second.”
Valtteri Bottas ready to challenge teammate Lewis Hamilton for F1 title
Valtteri Bottas ready to challenge teammate Lewis Hamilton for F1 title
Jake Paul beats 58-year-old Mike Tyson as hits failed to match the hype
- Downdetector reported that the outage primarily impacted users in major metropolitan areas, including New York, Seattle and Los Angeles
ARLINGTON, Texas: Jake Paul won a unanimous decision over Mike Tyson as the hits didn’t match the hype in a fight between a young YouTuber-turned-boxer and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Friday night.
All the hate from the pre-fight buildup was gone, with Paul even stopping to pay homage with a bow to Tyson before the final bell sounded at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
The fight wasn’t close on the judge’s cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn’t try much else the rest of the way.
Even fewer rounds and shorter rounds couldn’t do much to generate action for a 58-year-old in his first sanctioned pro fight in almost 20 years, facing a boxing neophyte with hopes of fighting for championships somewhere in the future.
Paul was more aggressive after the quickly burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn’t very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses.
Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him, with a few exceptions. It was quite the contract the co-main event, another slugfest in which Katie Taylor kept her undisputed super lightweight championship with a decision over Amanda Serrano.
It was the first sanctioned fight since 2005 for Tyson. Paul started fighting a little more than four years ago.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20 but had to be postponed when Tyson was treated for a stomach ulcer after falling ill on a flight.
Kosovo players walk off in Romania game after ‘Serbia’ chants
Bucharest: A Nations League game between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest was suspended on Friday in injury time after fans in the crowd shouted “Serbia!.”
The Kosovo players left the pitch after the chants, leading to the game to be paused with the score 0-0.
Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.
Kosovo and Serbia do not play each other in UEFA and FIFA tournaments.
Football’s world governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia during the 2022 World Cup after the team hung a flag in their changing room depicting Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Kosovo joined FIFA and European confederation UEFA in 2016.
When Romania played in Pristina, they beat Kosovo 3-0.
Ronaldo shines as Portugal rout Poland to reach Nations League last-eight
PORTO, Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal staged a second-half supershow to crush Poland 5-1 and reach the Nations League quarter-finals on Friday.
Portugal join France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the last-eight while Poland’s hopes of going through from Group A1 were ended.
Having struggled to plant a shot on target in the first half, Portugal stepped on the accelerator after the break.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock in Porto just before the hour mark after starting and finishing the move.
The AC Milan striker raced away and passed to Nuno Mendes whose cross from the left was headed powerfully past Marcin Bulka in the Portugal goal.
Thirteen minutes later, skipper Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after Jakub Kiwior was penalized for a handball in the area.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 80th minute, scoring after a clever run by Vitinha.
Pedro Neto added the fourth three minutes later after Ronaldo’s fine pass which left the Polish defense stranded.
As Polish spirits sank, Ronaldo added his second and Portugal’s fifth in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick before Dominik Marczuk tucked away a consolation goal for the visitors.
Poland had enjoyed the better chances before falling behind but their potency in front of goal was blunted by the absence of record goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski who was sidelined with a back injury.
Moments before Leao’s goal, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa pulled off a fine save to deny Marczuk having also been alert to deny Nicola Zalewski in the first half.
Portugal’s best chance in the first 45 minutes had fallen to Ronaldo who fired a close-range effort over the bar from close range.
Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
- Miura will turn 58 in February
- He intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka
TOKYO: Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura is several generations older than his teammates. His contemporaries retired decades ago. Lionel Messi is 37, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 — mere youngsters compared to Miura.
Miura will turn 58 in February, and the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported this week that he intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka. It will be his 40th season playing in professional soccer.
Miura is widely listed as the oldest active professional soccer player.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.
He has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, a side made famous by Brazilian star Pelé.
Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
- Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round.
- Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have 6 points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with 3
JAKARTA: Japan defeated Indonesia 4-0 on Friday to move seven points clear at the top of Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Two goals in each half mean the Samurai Blue stays on course for an eighth successive World Cup appearance.
After a bright start from the home team, the 78,000 fans at a sold-out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium were silenced after 35 minutes as Daichi Kamada broke down the left and sent a cross which defender Justin Hubner put into his own net from close range.
Takumi Minamino then scored from inside the area off Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to extend the lead five minutes before the break.
Hidemasa Motira took advantage of an errant pass from Indonesia’s goalkeeper to make it 3-0 early in the second half and Yukinari Sugawara rounded out the scoring in the 69th minute.
Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round. Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have six points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with three.
The top two from each of the three groups will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the third- and fourth-place teams progressing to the next stage.
