Merhi gets Caterham practice drive as Kobayashi returns
Spain's Roberto Merhi will make his Formula One debut with Caterham in first practice at Monza on Friday, while Kamui Kobayashi will return to race duty, the team have confirmed.
Merhi will take Kobayashi's place for FP1, which will be the 23-year-old's first run in F1 machinery.
"I am delighted to be taking part in my first ever Formula One free practice session and I want to thank Caterham F1 Team for this opportunity - it's something I've wanted for a very long time," Merhi said.
"I've been working very closely with the team during the last few weeks and I feel ready for this opportunity; Friday is going to be a very special day for me and one I will never forget."
Merhi makes the step up to F1 racing having taken two victories so far - and a podium in the Monza season opener - in this year's Formula Renault 3.5 championship. He previously stormed to the 2011 European Formula Three title, before spending two seasons driving for Mercedes-backed teams in Germany's DTM touring car series.
"What a year it's been so far," he added. "Last Christmas I didn't really know if I was going to carry on racing and now I'm about to drive a Formula One car! I'm definitely going to make the most out of this weekend in Italy."
Kobayashi, meanwhile, returns for the Formula 1 Gran Premio d'Italia 2014 after sitting out the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps to make way for three-time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer.
"I am working for Caterham F1 Team and I always respect team decisions," Kobayashi said. "Now I am back in the car and looking forward to going racing again!
"We have worked hard as a team and added performance to the car as well as bringing new updates since I last drove in Hungary before the summer break, so I'm looking forward to feeling the updates on track here in Monza."
Alstair cook :We have played some bad cricket after the Tests
Cook: 'It was a very tough day. It is amazing how sport changes quickly. We have played some bad cricket after the Tests. I don't know why. No excuses for that. The pitch probably got better but we wanted to bat first. India batted, bowled and fielded better than us. We have to work incredibly hard. That is the only way to go. That is the bottomline. It is always tough to lose three games quickly, especially with the manner in which we have lost. People will have to be hungry and keep working hard. You know how it is like when your players are not performing. We will have to turn this around over a 6-month period. I don't know (when asked about changes in personnel for the last ODI). Moeen batted well. He gives us a different option. We have the potential but we are not delivering. When people do not score runs, when people do not bowl well, they get punished.'
F1 PRESS CONFERENCE LIVE : 2014 Italian GP press conference live
After their spat in Belgium Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will both face the media in Thursday’s Drivers’ Press Conference ahead of the Italian GP live on Sky Sports F1.
The collision between the Mercedes team-mates on the second lap at Spa-Francorchamps and any potential ramifications for the remainder of the season are sure to be key topics of discussion.
Joining the potentially feisty media session will be Max Chilton who also had an eventful weekend in Belgium. You could be forgiven for thinking the Briton was doing the Hokey Cokey as jumped in, out and back into the Marussia race seat over the weekend, putting his future in doubt.
Live on Sky Sports
Live F1 Drivers Press Conference
2014 Italian Grand Prix
September 4, 2014 2:00pm
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Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen complete Thursday’s line-up.
On Friday the attention shifts away from Mercedes with the man under arguably the most pressure this weekend, Ferrari Team Principal Marco Mattiacci, facing the press following Friday’s practice sessions.
He will be joined by Red Bull chief Christian Horner, Marussia’s John Booth, Gerard Lopez of Lotus and Pirelli Motorsport Director Paul Hembery.
FORMULA 1 : Lewis hamilton - 'I've not given up'
Lewis Hamilton insists he hasn't given up on winning this year's World Championship as he seeks to cut his 29-points deficit to Nico Rosberg with victory in this weekend's Italian GP.
A forlorn-sounding Hamilton admitted that "maybe it is just not my year" after falling further behind Rosberg in the wake of a hugely controversial - and, from Hamilton's perspective, luckless - Belgian GP two weeks ago when the German punctured his team-mate's race-leading Mercedes on the second lap.
The incident saw relations between the pair - frosty at the best of times this year - reach a new nadir with Hamilton claiming Rosberg admitted he deliberately didn't avoid a collision in an internal post-mortem. Rosberg belatedly apologised to Hamilton for his unpunished mistake five days later at a second Mercedes meeting at the team's Brackley headquarters.
Ted Kravitz says that Nico Rosberg has got away with the incident involving him and Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix, despite Mercedes publicly rep By poignant irony, the two friends-turned-bitter-title-rivals first met, and raced against each other during boyhood, at Monza, the scene of this weekend's reunion when all eyes will be fixed on the two Silver Arrows drivers and the next chapter of their compelling championship battle.
"The Italian Grand Prix is always a special one for me in terms of the memories I have there - going right back to my early career. The karting championships used to race in Italy quite often and it's also where I met Nico - so that's where our rivalry really began. Monza is such a historic circuit and to win there is a really special feeling. I had that experience in 2012 and I'd love to do it again in 2014," Hamilton wrote in an online blog for his personal website.
"Last season we really struggled at this race - but we have a fantastic car this year and I'm confident we can make up for it this time around. One thing I always love about racing at Monza is the fans. They're just so passionate about motorsport and the buzz around the place is unbelievable - particularly on the podium.
"Hopefully we can reward them with some exciting racing. My aim for the weekend, of course, is to claw back the gap in the Drivers' Championship. It's as big as it's been all season so I've got a lot of work ahead of me - but anything can happen in this sport. I won't give up until the flag drops in Abu Dhabi and there's still plenty of points to be won before then, so it's far from over yet."
With double points on offer in the season finale, the title race is certain to go down to the wire just so long as neither Rosberg nor Hamilton - or indeed championship outsider Daniel Ricciardo - hold in excess of a 50-point lead after the penultimate race in Brazil.
Hamilton has been on the backfoot for the vast majority of the season so far after being forced to retire from the curtain-raising Australian GP in March when a mechanical gremlin struck his pole-sitting W05 and has only led the championship during the two weeks between the Spanish and Monaco GPs in May following four consecutve victories.
CRICKET NEWS : RAINA - This knock is one of the most special ones for me
Suresh Raina came into this series with question marks over his place in the one-day outfit, having been left out of the squad when India last picked a full-strength side, during the Asia Cup in March. The counterattacking hundred on Wednesday, his first outside Asia and his first since January 2010, in the second ODI against England should give him a head start in the race for middle-order spots.
Raina was particularly pleased with his effort as it came after a dreadful run for India in the Test series, which ended with three one-sided defeats. "This knock is one of the most special ones for me given the circumstances and the conditions," he told the BCCI website. "We hadn't won the game in a long time and to help the team break that jinx with a century was very satisfying."
Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma had started India's recovery after a nervy start that has been a familiar sight all tour, but it was Raina's century off 74 deliveries propelled India towards a 300-plus total. "After I got my fifty, I got a bit conscious [about the score] because I hadn't scored a century since a long time and I wanted to finish well," he said.
"Rohit also got out after his fifty and I was determined to carry on till the end. So I played khadoos (doggedly) for a while. After a while I started to play my shots, which did disturb the bowlers' rhythm. They struggled with their field placements and bowling areas. That's when I knew that I was dominating them and was thinking one step ahead of them."
After India's disastrous showing in the Tests, the BCCI had installed Ravi Shastri as the team director, prompting speculation over head coach Duncan Fletcher's future. There have been conflicting statements over who remains in charge - Shastri, Fletcher or captain MS Dhoni - but Raina said the team environment was "very good" and that Shastri's appointment was already proving beneficial.
"Ravi Shastri gave us a lot of confidence," Raina said. "He came to the team meeting and said a few words to the team which were very inspiring. He was also sitting with me in the bus when we were on our way to the stadium and he told me, 'khadoos khelna hai (play a stubborn game)'. There is a different comfort level when you talk to a former Indian player; you can be free and honest. All the other coaches have been very supportive as well but Ravi Shastri set the tone for us and instilled confidence in the team."
Raina also credited the training he did in Mumbai with Sachin Tendulkar and former India batsman Pravin Amre, who has also worked closely with several other Indian batsmen including Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. "After all the work I had put into my game in Mumbai with Sachin paaji and Amre sir, I was determined to join the team and bring them some happiness, whether it is by scoring a hundred or taking a brilliant catch. I had to bring the smiles back on my teammates' faces. I am glad I could do that today."
WI sweep series with massive win
2014 Belgian GP: Daniel Ricciardo picks up the pieces after Rosberg & Hamilton clash
Daniel Ricciardo strengthened his outside chances of an unexpected late-season run at the championship by winning a dramatic Belgian GP after Mercedes' title-duelling drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finally came together on track – to the detrimental effect of the Briton’s title chances.
It has taken 12 races, and several near misses and off-track flashpoints, but the kind of on-track tangle that most - including Mercedes' management - had thought was an inevitable consequence of Rosberg and Hamilton's hitherto private title duel finally happened on the second lap of Sunday's action-packed Spa race.
Challenging Hamilton on the run to Les Combes having lost the lead to his team-mate into the first corner of the race, Rosberg attempted to go round the outside of the sister W05 at the right-hander, but only succeeded in pucturing the Briton's tyre as the race leader came back to take the racing line.
Hamilton immediately pointed the finger at the championship leader -
With Hamilton forced to the back of the field, and eventually out of the race after a fruitless persuit of points with a car that had sustained wider damage, Rosberg lost the lead after pitting for a new front wing.
In the end it was Ricciardo, for the third time this season and second time in a row who triumphed, as Rosberg battled back to second place to increase his championship lead over Hamilton back out to 29 points.
Hamilton: Missing pole could be 'a blessing in disguise'
Lewis Hamilton believes starting from second could actually prove an advantage in Sunday's 2014 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix.
The Briton lost out to Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg in Saturday's fight for pole, with the German shading the battle by just under a quarter of a second at a wet Spa-Francorchamps.
But while Rosberg will start from the front for the fourth consecutive race, Hamilton insisted he was not too disheartened - citing last year's race, when he started from pole but was picked off on the opening lap, as an example of why second on the grid could prove favourable.
"I'm not disappointed today actually," Hamilton said after qualifying.
"If you look at the previous years, P2 is the best place to start here. I started on pole here last year and Sebastian [Vettel] flew past me down the top straight, so I think it gives you the most opportunity here at the start.
"It may just be a blessing in disguise with the grid slot - I think (starting second) gives you the most opportunity here at the start."
Hamilton, who has not started from pole since Spain in May, admitted previous misfortunes on Saturday had played on his mind before qualifying.
"I'm just happy to be up here. I was nervous going into qualifying, not knowing if the car was going to make it through it," he explained.
"I'm grateful for all the hard work the team put in to make sure we have no problems. It's a great feeling to be back up here."
KIERON POLLARD : It's gonna be a white wash for sure.
After winning this year's CPL Kieron Pollard showed his confidence of winning the series against bangladeshi's by saying " it's going to be a white wash for sure ". Hope his prediction wouldn't go wrong.
Mushfiqur Rahim : We will give our 100% effort to win this series
Rahim "yeah, im confident about my squad. looking forward to achieve something that didn't happened upto now. Yeah hope's still there and new a squad & i do believe that we can make the difference. yeah lets hope for the best"
Bangladesh could not have asked for a better destination to play cricket than the West Indies in these late-summer months. The beaches, mountains and the reggae immediately spring to mind but that is just part of it; this is one of only two places in the world from where Bangladesh have departed feeling better than when they arrived.
Having won nothing this year, without their best player, and with a new coaching crew in charge, they should be happy to be playing at a place where they have reached several milestones. On their first tour there, in 2004, they took the lead for the first time, declared an innings and eventually drew abroad without the help of rain for the first time. Three years later, Bangladesh's best World Cup campaign was in the West Indies, when they beat India to move into the Super Eights where they outplayed South Africa.
In 2009 they landed in the West Indies only to hear of a players' strike that eventually had them playing against what was effectively a third eleven. They went on to pick up their first overseas Test-series win, as well as a maiden away ODI-series victory outside Zimbabwe. The following year they were knocked out of the World T20 in the Caribbean in the first round, but not before resisting well against Pakistan and Australia.
But the performances in 2004, 2007 and 2009 are high-water marks in the history of Bangladesh cricket. The expectation from the 2014 group should not be the same, but confidence and positivity can be derived from those past tours. Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mashud and Mohammad Rafique scored centuries in the same Test in 2004, the only time that has happened in a Bangladesh team. Tapash Baisya and the late Manzarul Islam did a fine job with the ball in that year's ODI series.
In the 2007 World Cup, it was the coming out party for Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan while Mohammad Ashraful staged a mini-revival of his career with unbeaten knocks in the first round and 87 against South Africa in the second phase. Shakib and Tamim were running the show two years later, with help from Mahmudullah.
FOOT BALL : BARCLAYS PREMIERE LEAGUE NEWS AND UPDATES LIVE AS IT HAPPENS
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Mourinho hails 'maestro' Fabregas after win at Burnley
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Burnley 1-3 Chelsea
Jose Mourinho hailed the influence of Cesc Fabregas after the Spaniard’s man-of-the-match display in the 3-1 win at Burnley.
Fabregas, who was signed in the summer from Barcleona, enjoyed a sparkling debut as Chelsea began their quest for the Barclays Premier League title in fine fashion, laying on assists for Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic after fellow debutant Diego Costa had cancelled out Scott Arfield's stunning early opener for Burnley. Chelsea needed just seven minutes to turn the match around after Arfield had given promoted Burnley hope of a famous victory, and Mourinho earmarked Fabregas's performance as the key to an impressive triumph.
"We had a good reaction, and the first part of that reaction is the fact that emotionally we were not affected by the goal conceded," the Mourinho said. "We conceded the goal and kept playing according to the way we are training and to the way we want to play.
"The players were very calm. They never lost their composure, they never lost the footballing idea, and after that we had a fantastic 20-25 minutes with three goals - especially the second one was a fantastic goal, plus the penalty that the linesman decided not to give - and in the second half we had control of the game." As for which player stood out for his team, Mourinho picked Fabregas.
"I agree completely with you when you give the Cesc the man of the match - he really was the maestro, he controlled the tempo of the game," he said. "He was the man that dictated the speed, intensity and the tempo of the game."
The former Arsenal captain was quick to praise his team-mates for making him feel at home since his switch from Barcelona, and is hopeful of a successful first season back in the Barclays Premier League.
"You always want to do well and I love playing football," Fabregas said. "We have a young talented team and so far so good. They made it easy for me by making me welcome from day one.
"I'm expecting a good year in front of us. This [signing for Chelsea] is not something I would have expected. But football is unexpected. It has brought me here and I want to be as good as I can be."
BCCI may drop Duncan Fletcher as india's coach
Ravi Shastri's appointment as the director of cricket for the England ODIs might leave current coach, Duncan Fletcher, with no alternative but to resign from his post as the head coach of the Indian team, sources from the Indian board have indicated. It has also been speculated that Fletcher might quit his position even before the start of the home series against West Indies, scheduled in October.
"Duncan has no powers left whatsoever. Ravi will be calling the shots and Duncan knows it only too well. At this point of time, with no choice of support staff, Duncan will have to take a back seat. If Duncan wants to leave before the next home series against West Indies, the board will not stop him," a senior BCCI office-bearer told PTI on condition of anonymity.
When he was asked if Fletcher gave any indication about his future, the official said: "The BCCI has sent him enough feelers that he is not required!"
"Ravi and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be involved in strategising. Sanjay (Bangar) has proven credentials and knows the younger members of the side. The current crop of fast bowlers have worked at National Cricket Academy (NCA) under (Bharat) Arun. So tell me what shall Duncan bring to the table. If he can read between the lines, then he can tender his resignation and it will be accepted," the official added.
This is in contrast to Sanjay Patel, Honorary Secretary, BCCI, who had said to ESPNCricinfo that both Dhoni and Fletcher were taken into confidence before appointing Shastri as the director of cricket for the England ODIs.
"I conveyed the BCCI decision to both of them. Dhoni readily agreed and even Duncan has not said a word here or there," he had said. "The team is with Ravi Shastri. Now it is his baby," Patel had added.
The players will disperse at the end of the England tour. While some have no cricketing commitments coming up, a few players will be involved with their respective franchises in the 2014 edition of the Champions League. The home series against West Indies starts only on October 8th and Fletcher will be on leave until then.
"There are still doubts as to whether he (Fletcher) will be present in the Indian dressing room during that series. In any case, India will be favourites at home and that is the time when the new Team Director and the new support staff will be able to know the players better before the tour of Australia," the official said.
Fletcher's contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) runs until the end of the 2015 World Cup, but there is an exit clause mentioned which might allow the board to summarily sack him.
The source also said that Rahul Dravid's name came up during the discussion, but the former Indian captain was reportedly not keen on the full time job, citing family commitments.
The official also said the future of India's captain, MS Dhoni, never came up for any sort of discussion. "There has been no discussions as such about Dhoni's future as of now," he said.
Verstappen new driver for Toro Rosso in 2015
Toro Rosso have announced that newly-recruited Red Bull Junior Team member Max Verstappen will drive for the team from the start of the 2015 season, replacing Jean-Eric Vergne alongside Daniil Kvyat.
Dutchman Verstappen, currently in contention for the 2014 European F3 title, will become the youngest F1 racer in history, debuting at the age of just 17.
“Ever since I was seven years old, Formula One has been my career goal, so this opportunity is truly a dream come true,” said Verstappen, whose father Jos made 106 Grand Prix starts between 1994 and 2002.
“We are happy to welcome Max into the Toro Rosso family,” commented Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost. “It’s great to see how the Red Bull Junior Programme continues to find talented young drivers and gives them the opportunity to come into Formula One.”
After becoming karting world champion last year, Verstappen has made a smooth transition to the highly competitive FIA Formula Three European Championship, proving his ability by winning eight of the 27 races held to date.
“We consider Max to be as one of the most skilled young drivers of the new generation and we believe he has the necessary maturity and mental strength to take on this challenge successfully,” continued Tost.
Verstappen’s signing leaves Vergne’s F1 future in doubt. Having made his debut with Toro Rosso in 2011, last year the Frenchman lost out to Daniel Ricciardo on promotion to Red Bull Racing and this season he has been regularly overshadowed by rookie team mate Kvyat.
Tost thanked Vergne for all his hard work, adding: “He has produced strong performances, but unfortunately he was also hindered by some reliability problems, especially in the first half of the current season.
“We hope that we have resolved these problems and that he will be able to end the second half of this season on a high note and thereby show that he still deserves another opportunity in Formula One.”
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