For the first time in what feels like forever I am actually looking forward to the motor racing more than the football this weekend. I can’t remember the last time that happened, but we may be going back to the days when Elon Musk was more worried about the mortgage than Mars.
The emergence of Max Verstappen over the past few seasons means Lewis Hamilton – who has almost entirely dominated the sport for the best part of a decade – now has a genuine title rival.
And, incredibly, the Red Bull and Mercedes drivers go into today’s final Formula 1 race of the season in Abu Dhabi level on points, making it essentially a winner-takes-all event.
To spice things up even further, if that were needed, the previous race in Saudi Arabia was packed with flashpoints and incidents between the two drivers, prompting Hamilton to call his rival a “crazy guy” and Max to shrug it all off in his enjoyably contemptuous style. It really is a flashback to the days when F1 was truly competitive and not just a procession of pretty cars that took place every couple of weeks.
Obviously, given that they are level on points, whichever driver finishes in front of the other this afternoon will win the title. But if both drivers were to not finish the race – let’s say if there happened to be a little accident between the two cars and both were knocked out – then Verstappen would be crowned king as he has one more win than Hamilton this season.
I’m not saying that Max would even think about doing something like that on purpose. He seems like an honest driver who just likes to push the boundaries to the very limit. But the fact that any collision that takes out both drivers would decide the final result just adds another twist into a scenario that is already twistier than a bucket of spaghetti.
Bring it on boys. F1 might just be about to get real again.
Europe’s fallen kings
Well, we all knew it was likely to happen, but now that Barcelona’s exit from the Champions League has been confirmed it still feels a little surreal.
For the first time in almost two decades, the draw for the round of 16 – which takes place tomorrow in Switzerland – will not include the Spanish giants. (If they can still be called that without provoking stifled sniggering at the back).
It’s one heck of a fall from grace for the five-time winners, who lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich last Wednesday and now face a Europa League knock-out game to see if they will be taking part in Europe’s lesser competition. That’s got to sting a little.
As for those teams who did make it through to the last 16 of the Champions League, well, who would you have down as your favourites to go on and win it? For me it is probably between Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
Holders Chelsea are another strong possibility, of course, although they didn’t do themselves any favours with their midweek draw, which means they are not among the seeded teams for the next round.
Real Madrid can never be entirely written off purely on the basis of history and experience – they are the one team that knows how to win this competition.
And it would be a typical football quirk of fate if Juventus were to be crowned champions the season after they got rid of the player (a certain Cristiano chap) they brought in specifically to help them do that.
Ajax are looking typically young, sexy and enthusiastic as well, but I don’t think they are quite on the same level as the bigger boys, at least in terms of experience.
So I think I will stick with the first three I mentioned. And if you forced me to narrow it down further? Well, I would need to go with Manchester City at that point. But don’t quote me on that…
Nice one son
And now, a short happy story to finish things off.
Last Wednesday night young Charlie Savage made his debut for Manchester United in their Champions League match with Young Boys.
The 18-year-old came on in the 89th minute for what was only really a cameo. But even so, making your competitive debut for one of the world’s biggest clubs is no small affair.
What made this occasion truly memorable however, was the fact that Charlie’s father – former Wales, Leicester and Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage – was working on the game for BT Sport.So Dad took the microphone to commentate on his son’s big moment.
“Coming on for Manchester United is Charlie Savage for Juan Mata. Wow. I never believed I would say those words. What a proud day for my boy. All the hard work. What a day for me, his mother, his nana, his grandparents and most importantly for Charlie Savage,” an emotional Robbie said.
As a father of an aspiring footballer, I can only begin to imagine the pride Savage Sr felt at that moment. I remember clearly when my lad scored a hat-trick in a ‘competitive’ game a few years ago. I nearly exploded.
Charlie only had five touches of the ball during his short appearance, making three passes. But if the reports of his talent are accurate, I’m pretty sure those won’t be his only touches in a United shirt.
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