Local favourite Jack Miller believes any result is possible at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, given the nature of the Phillip Island venue as well as the weather forecast.

“I think anything is realistic,” said the struggling factory KTM rider ahead of the race weekend, which takes place on a fast track seen as one of the best tests of pure rider ability on the calendar.

“As we have seen many a year here at the island, it’s one of those tracks where even if you are having some slight issues or whatever, you can mask it a little bit.”

This was a sentiment echoed by reigning world champion and reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia, who admitted it will be harder for the Ducatis to exert their advantage at the seaside circuit.

“This track is good for everybody,” said the factory Ducati rider. “The bike here makes less difference compared to other tracks because it’s very fast and it’s more difficult to make the difference. [It’s unlikely we will] see somebody opening up a gap.”

Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Despite growing up in the far friendlier climate of Queensland, Miller sees the cold rain and wind expected on Friday and Saturday as an additional opportunity to sneak an upset over the dominant Ducatis.

“It looks like the weather conditions are going to be iffy throughout at least Friday and Saturday,” said Miller. “And the less dry track time, the better for me.

“I feel like we always hit the ground running, but we’ve been struggling throughout the season to make progress from FP1.

“So the least amount of dry track time will help, because our speed is generally there from the get-go – it’s just how to make those micro-improvements through the weekend.

“Fingers crossed, we can get away to a solid weekend.”

Miller has battled with his KTM for much of the season, leaving Tech 3’s Pedro Acosta and occasionally Miller’s factory team-mate Brad Binder to lead the Austrian manufacturer’s challenge to Ducati.

Acosta secured a first pole position at the last round in Japan, but crashed out of both the sprint and the grand prix whilst in contention for a breakthrough win.

“There’s no hiding the fact that I’ve had my issues,” said Miller. “But the boys [Acosta and Binder] are doing a fantastic job being able to ride around it and still put the bike where it needs to be on Saturday and Sunday.” 

THE IBRAGIMOV brothers look destined to light up the Old Trafford pitch in the years to come – but oldest brother Ibragim wants to fight there.

Ibragimov is a 7-0 MMA star signed to the Professional Fighters League – but his brothers all play for Manchester United.

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Amir, 16, Gazik, 15, and Muhammad, 12, are products of United’s youth team are touted for big futures.

Even Old Trafford icon Sir Alex Ferguson has given his endorsement to Amir, who has also scored for England at Under-16 level.

Big brother Ibragimov, 20, is backing Amir to break into the first team by next season – while he eyes a sensational fight at the Theatre of Dreams.

He said: “My brother’s been training with the first team as well. I reckon this year, maybe next year he’ll be in the first team.

“My two little brothers as well play for Man United so they’ll make it too. I believe in them. So we’re going to have a Manchester United team. 

“And then maybe in the future we’ll bring PFL over to Old Trafford and make it a big show.” 

Amir scored the winning goal for England’s U16 against Italy in April – with Sir Alex’s starlet set for big things.

Ibragimov said: “He’s doing well right now. He’s on a good stage now. He’s about to make it first team. 

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“He had a picture with Ferguson, it was at the start and then he scored the winning goal for the England team.

“So it’s a big opportunity for all of us.” 

Neither Amir or Gazik are at threat of being starstruck by United’s superstar squad.

Gazik captained United’s U14s to trophies, played for England’s U15s and lined up alongside Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo’s sons.

And both Gazik and big brother Ibragimov remain in touch with Cristiano Jr – playing for Al-Nassr’s youth in Saudi Arabia.

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Ibragimov said: “When Ronaldo came, my little brother played with Ronaldo’s son. My little brother Gazik played with Ronaldo’s son for the same team. 

“They are still good friends. So the only thing we did was send a t-shirt over to his house so he signed it and brought it back.” 

Ibragimov was also once a promising player, having had trials for Manchester rivals City before taking up a career in MMA.

He said: “I was actually playing football as well, I was at Sheffield, they gave me trials then when we moved to Manchester I was at City trials as well. 

“I couldn’t make it. It was a bit too late for me to make it and my brothers are there. But I’m here.” 

Ibragimov returns in Riyadh on Saturday against Nacho Campos with Francis Ngannou making his MMA return in the main-event against Renan Ferreira.

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A key influence in Williams’ recent turnaround is the decision to sack Sargeant and employ Colapinto, a member of the Williams driver development programme who previously had been having a decent but not outstanding season in Formula 2.

Vowles had considered replacing Sargeant after an unconvincing debut season in 2023, but gave him a second chance.

But after lagging behind Albon all year, a poor weekend in Zandvoort proved the final straw. Sargeant crashed the car in free practice having put a wheel on wet grass on the straight, writing off all its upgrades, and then was uncompetitive in a rebuilt car in the race.

Vowles said that Sargeant had been warned “multiple times” not to damage the car before his crash.

“First and foremost, I think rookies get a hard time in our sport,” Vowles said. “They’re very easily judged by individuals.

“My job in all this, as it is with every team member, is for me to have their back so they can perform at the absolute best they can. And I will be the last person pushing them down. I’ll make a decision when you absolutely categorically have to make a decision.

“Once we had delivered a car to what I consider is a good-enough standard in F1, now you look to make sure that we have other elements that we change. And that case in point was Logan.

“Logan was given an opportunity with all the updates, with the clear brief that went into it. Both drivers had that brief. But at the point where it was very abundantly clear to me that we are not going to hit our targets this year, that’s the point at which I’m OK to make a change.”

Vowles’ decision to promote 21-year-old Colapinto was questioned in some quarters, but he says he always believed the Argentine would vindicate it.

“There is a reason why we put him in the car,” Vowles said.

“It was based off tens of thousands of simulator kilometres. It was based off a decision actually made much earlier to put him in the car (in practice at) at Silverstone, and based on the fact he, the right word, is he shone.

“And his attitude. Speak to him in the car and he’s talking like you and I are talking now. There is zero pressure of the world on his shoulders.”

Vowles does say that Colapinto’s consistency has surprised him – he says he expected him to be close to Albon when he made his debut at Monza, but that he would “step back just a little bit” in Baku and Singapore before “flying across” the forthcoming events in the US, Mexico and Brazil.

He says the fact Colapinto was so competitive with Albon in Azerbaijan and Singapore was “impressive”.

William cannot give Colapinto a race seat next year because they have already signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari to partner Albon.

Vowles is trying to get his protege a seat at Sauber, which is morphing into Audi in 2026, and said: “What I can say is should he not get a drive, he’ll be kept very close to us, run in our historic car, keep him up to speed. We’ll have the best reserve driver on the grid while we build him into a situation for the future.”

Slobodan Rubezic believes “nothing is impossible” as Aberdeen prepare to take on Celtic in Glasgow on Saturday after both won their opening seven Scottish Premiership games. (Record), external

New Hearts head coach Neil Critchley says he has spent a lot of time over the past few weeks watching Scottish football, including every competitive fixture the Edinburgh club have played this season. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Tynecastle goalkeeper Craig Gordon is asking sceptical Hearts fans to get behind new boss Neil Critchley. (Scottish Sun), external

Dundee United forward Louis Moult is a fitness doubt for Saturday’s Scottish Premiership trip to Hibernian. (Courier – subscription), external

Former Rangers striker Dapo Mebude, now at Dunfermline Athletic, insists he will never give up on his dream to return to the Ibrox club – just 10 months after a car crash left him in a coma. (Record), external

Scott Fraser is desperate to deliver at Dundee because he knows he failed to hit the heights on loan at Hearts last season. (Record), external

Dundee winger Charlie Reilly has suffered another injury set-back on loan at Inverness Caley Thistle. (Courier – subscription), external

St Johnstone have one more game, against Ross County at McDiarmid Park on Sunday, to avoid setting a new record run of winless home games. (Courier – subscription), external

Former Rangers, Hearts, Liverpool and Scotland defender Danny Wilson, 32, has signed a short-term deal with Livingston. (Scotsman – subscription), external

Crystal Palace are eyeing Scotsman David Moyes to replace manager Oliver Glasner after a poor start to the Premier League season. (Caughtoffside), external

LEEDS and Sheffield United go head-to-head in Friday’s Championship showdown at Elland Road.

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All eyes will be on Elland Road this Friday, but a flurry of goals looks unlikely given the strength of both defences.

The Blades have the very best record in the Championship having conceded just three goals in their opening nine league fixtures with five successive clean sheets.

Leeds are no slouches either having shipped seven goals in total, which ranks as the fifth best in the division with two clean sheets in their last three on home turf.

Three of the last four meetings between these sides have seen a scoreline of 1-0.

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During this two-week international break interim manager Carsley gave two confusing news conferences, on Thursday, 10 October and again on Sunday, 13 October.

Both were after England games in front of the media. Both times he seemed to tie himself in knots over whether he was in the running for the full-time England job and whether he even wanted it.

BBC Sport was told by a senior FA figure 10 days ago – before the damaging Greece defeat – that the recruitment process was going “very well”.

Perhaps that was a reference to the secret talks with Tuchel.

Maybe they had been stung by reports of inertia, or the risk of Tuchel being a target for Manchester United, who spoke to the German coach in the summer.

Could the fact United stuck with Erik ten Hag – despite their poor start to the season – have pushed Tuchel towards England?

There was a convenient theory that with Carsley’s candidacy effectively over after the defeat by Greece last week, the FA’s hand was forced.

But we now know Tuchel signed his contract with the governing body two days before that match.

Astonishingly, in the era of 24-7 media coverage and the interest in the England role as one of the biggest jobs in world football, Tuchel’s appointment did not leak.

There were a handful of reports of ‘talks’ in German media, which were played down at the time by Tuchel’s representatives when BBC Sport approached them for comment.

BBC Sport was told Bullingham led a call to the FA board late afternoon on Tuesday, 8 October, which lasted around half an hour.

The board was told the contract was ready to be signed, and that the FA’s remuneration committee had been through all the terms and conditions with Tuchel.

Board members were not asked for their views, but nor did anyone speak out against the appointment. The board members were told that a number of candidates had been interviewed but they were not told who they were, sources told BBC Sport.