Motorsports
Ferstappen: “Ferrari is very close to us”
Max Ferstappen confirmed Ferrari’s readiness to be directly competitive this season due to the very small difference with Red Bull Racing in the last free tests.
Max Ferstappen and Christian Horner have different views on Ferrari – the Dutchman says he is very close and the latter is superior to the RBR – but agree that the Scuderia is back at the top of Formula 1.
The opening of this year’s Formula 1 championship with the Free Trials of the Bahrain GP was no different from the Winter Trials: Ferrari was the protagonist again – and in this case Charles Leclerc approached Max Ferstappen with 87 milliseconds, which was the first year day marked of the year.
Although free testing does not allow any firm conclusions as to each team’s capacity as each car’s fuel quantity and engine mode remains unknown, the two RBR leaders are now confident that Ferrari has entered the battle for the top spot this year.
“We see that Ferrari are pushing very hard and are very close, but that’s also very exciting“said Ferstappen. He added that his RB18 is in very good condition:
“Things are looking good. I am very happy with our car. It made me feel good. We tried a few things and everything seemed to work fine“.
At the same time, the champion is undeterred by Mercedes’ bad times, even though the W13 was one of the slowest cars on Shakir’s track top odometer. Due to this fact, the Dutchman believes that last year’s big opponent didn’t have the strongest engine mode today.
“We’ll have to wait until we see the engine modes from all the teams tomorrow to find out where we are. I don’t think everyone is in qualifying yet so we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow when everyone turns their engines to full power‘ he said explicitly.
Back at Ferrari, RBR director Christian Horner sees the Scuderia not only close to Red Bull, but a step ahead: “I think Ferrari was very, very fast. You could see that with both drivers today. “All winter long they seemed impressive going out on the track,” said the Brit.
And he continued: “It’s not that important to me who our opponents will be. It’s great to see Ferrari back in action. He’d been a sleeping giant for the past two years, and the time would come when things would be all right. You started this program very early and presented a great car. And I’m very happy for our people. After last year’s intensity, they managed to build a remarkable car that we can continue to develop throughout the season“.
At the same time, Sergio Perez’s poor recent performance seems to run counter to Ferstappen and the team’s optimism for the new RB18, but Horner clarified that Max’s gap of more than a second to the Mexican was due to him trying some different and mechanical components .
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.
Motorsports
The season finale and Monaco’s failure will be shown. Where are the most overtakes in F1?
The Formula 1 2025 season was full of competition and transitions. Although fewer in number than last year and fans and drivers not always able to enjoy the action on track, there were still plenty of genuine overtakes.
On some routes there were very few, as expected. The fewest overtakes took place in Monaco; There were only four overtakes during the entire race. And most of them were at the season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – 60th.
Below is the exact number of actual overtakes on each stage; this number does not take into account position changes on pit road during the first lap as the driver exits or exits the track. The chart only reflects actual overtaking on the motorway.
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Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
The Verstappen Racing team has opened a new page in the history of the Max Verstappen racing program by signing an agreement with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.
According to the agreement, the team will continue to compete in GT World Challenge Europe and will switch to the Mercedes-AMG GT3 car for the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup series from 2026.
Chris Lalham will continue to compete in Sprint Cup for the second consecutive season. He will be joined by Daniel Juncdella, who has extensive experience in GT3 and a strong background at Mercedes-AMG. The duo will compete in five Sprint Cup rounds at iconic European tracks.
Verstappen Racing will also compete in the Endurance Cup GT World Challenge Europe in 2026. Lalham and Juncdella will be joined by Jules Gougnon on five Endurance tours, including the legendary 24 Hours of Spa.
The team’s opponent will be Ukrainian Ivan Klimenko, who competes in the Silver class in the same championship.
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Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Mercedes driver George Russell received a rather unusual Christmas gift from Charles Leclerc as part of Secret Santa.
The Briton received a chart showing his overtakes at the Dutch Grand Prix, arguably one of the most exciting moments of the season.
After unwrapping the gift, Russell said: “Look at him. He’s such a nice guy. He can only overtake illegally, so that’s all he has going for him – taking people off the track. I’m speechless to be honest.”
When asked if he wanted to wish Leclerc a Merry Christmas, the British driver playfully added:
“He doesn’t deserve this. Maybe I’ll give him another photo of Kimi knocking him out of the race and remind him of what happened a few laps later. Thank you Charles. Thank you for nothing.”
🎁 | Amigo secreto!
There is no information that George Russell bought Charles Leclerc.😂
“It’s a very delicate piece. It means having a form that’s not legal. It means they’re unarmed… much better.” pic.twitter.com/O7MLLWdTtB
— Team George Russell Br🇧🇷 (@teamgeorgerllbr) December 23, 2025
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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