Ferrari academy driver Dino Beganovic will make the step up to Formula 2 with DAMS for the final two races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The 20-year-old replaces Juan Manuel Correa, who returned to competition in 2021 after sustaining serious injuries in the same crash at Spa Francorchamps in 2019 that claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert.

In what was a highly competitive F3 campaign which saw 12 different drivers taste victory – this number not including Leonardo Fornaroli who became the first winless champion – Beganovic was victorious twice, topping the podium in the Australia feature race and the Belgian sprint for Prema.

While seven zero scores limited his championship potential, he remained in the mathematical contention until the final weekend in Monza, eventually ending the year in sixth – a result which matched that of his rookie season.

Beganovic will join Luke Browning, Christian Mansell and Oliver Goethe in graduating from F3 for the final rounds, but the announcement comes without any hint that this union will run beyond the two weekends.

“I can’t wait to make my Formula 2 debut with DAMS, who has so much history as well as a tremendous drive to achieve great results,” said Beganovic.

Dino Beganovic, Prema Racing, 1st position, lifts the trophy in celebration

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“This feels like the natural next step in my career, and I’m ready for the challenge in an extremely competitive championship.

“My aim for these two races is to learn as much as possible and to be scoring points in my first F2 action in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.”

The decision will come as a blow to Correa, who successfully climbed back to F2 after recovering from his injuries, having initially been placed in an induced coma following the incident.

Recommencing his racing career initially in F3, Correa has spent the past two seasons in F2 while also contesting in LMP2 machinery having won the European Le Mans Series finale at Algarve in 2022. 

Juan Manuel Correa, Dams

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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But the American-Ecuadorian has endured a tough year, though he returned to the podium for the first time since that Spa crash in the Spanish feature race – an occasion that came five years to the day since he had last stood on the F2 podium alongside Hubert.

Speaking of the switch, DAMS team owner Charles Pic said: “We’re excited to take on a talent like Dino for the remainder of the season. It’s a step up from Formula 3 and a very competitive championship, but we’re confident that with the help of the team, Dino can be competitive in these final two rounds.

“He has an excellent racing CV, and we believe he has what it takes to fight for strong points.

“I would also like to thank JM for his efforts this season, it was a pleasure to work with him and we wish him all the best for the future.”

England picked four debutants – Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton and John Turner – for the first ODI and were beaten by eight wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

Liam Livingstone, standing in as captain for the injured Jos Buttler – another of England’s absent first-choice players – scored a stunning century in the second match to level the series but the tourists were punished in the third match after a top-order collapse left them 24-4.

Phil Salt made a careful and uncharacteristic 74 and Mousley hit his first ODI fifty but their total of 263-8 proved well below par as Keacy Carty and Brandon King stroked centuries for the hosts.

The series defeat follows a 3-2 loss to Australia in September and another away loss against West Indies last winter, which came after their dismal defence of the 50-over world title won in 2019.

Trescothick suggested England have learned more from the series than the results would suggest, name-checking his captain and 21-year-old all-rounder Jacob Bethell, who scored a half-century in the second match of the series.

“We have a better understanding of what our team will look like in comparison to series results,” he said.

“A few guys are really stepping up. Liam Livingstone, for example. Bethell has really shone in the short space of time he has had.

“The support we get is amazing. We have to try and stick with it and understand what we are going through.”

DARTS star Matt Edgar admits he has “reservations” over Luke Littler and claims “there are people who don’t want him to do well.”

Littler, 17, only turned pro 12 months ago but has already become darts’ star name.

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His debut saw him reach the final of the World Darts Championship.

And Littler has gone from strength to strength with various tournament wins, as well as victory in his first-ever Premier League appearance.

However, some of the teen’s other performances have left little to be desired.

Despite winning September’s World Series, he also suffered first-round KO’s in the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and European Championship.

Littler is now hoping to right some wrongs in the Grand Slam of Darts after being drawn against Dimitri van den Bergh, Keane Barry and Lourence Ilagan.

But Edgar, who is set to make his bow at the WDF World Championships this month, feels Littler may not make it very far.

He admits he is starting to have “reservations” over the youngster’s consistency.

And Edgar also reckons there are some out there rooting for Littler’s downfall.

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He told Sky Sports’ Love the Darts podcast: “I don’t think you can look past Luke and Dimitri.

“But I do have reservations about Luke on the basis that, when we look at his TV form, it’s not TV form full-top because he’s won the Premier League and World Series events.

“But ranking TV titles. He should already be in the top 16. He’s gone out in the first round of all of them.

“If he had just won a game, he would be in the top 16 already. There are a couple of question marks there.

“And let’s just say there are lots of people who want him to do well — but now there are people who don’t want him to do well because he’s become that guy.

“It’s great for us and for the sport. We’re wrestling fans and we know that if you can draw emotion from someone, whether you want them to win or lose, you’re doing a great job.

“Littler is probably the first since Gerwyn Price — and he was that person for along time — who has managed to draw that emotion.

“The sport is going in a good way with Luke there but I would like to see him start winning in the ranking events.”

Inside Littler’s massive rise

LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.

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McLaren thinks that Formula 1’s aborted-start procedures could be tidied up in the wake of the confusion over Lando Norris’s rules breach at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

With Lance Stroll having beached himself in the gravel at Turn 4 following a formation-lap off, F1’s race director decided to abort the start when the cars had formed up on the grid.

In theory, that meant the start was abandoned and the drivers should have waited on the grid for a scheduled restart.

However, pole position man Norris and fellow front row starter George Russell took it as a signal to complete another formation lap – with several cars behind him also following him away.

Other competitors were aware of the rule that they were not supposed to move off, but they were quickly given permission to also go because of the problems that would have been caused by some cars doing extra laps.

After the race, Norris and Russell were both handed a reprimand and fined 5000 euro each for not following the expected procedures.

However, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella thinks that there is some ambiguity in the wording of the rules – especially with the way things played out in Brazil, with the decision to abort the start only being made once the cars had formed up on the grid.

“When you look at the letter of the regulations, it’s a little tricky, because in the extra formation lap, there is talk about delayed [starts], then there is the aborted [start] and it talks about returning to the grid,” he said.

Andrea Stella, Team Principal, McLaren F1 Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“So there are some technicalities that may have made the situation a little confusing for Lando. I guess he just reacted to the lights at the time.”

Stella’s mention of the regulations refers to the two different ways that starts will be called off.

Article 46.1 references a “delayed start”, which occurs when the formation lap has not started and the cars are still on the grid.

Then there is an “aborted start”, which happens when the formation lap has started. It references that “all cars should return to the grid and all competitors will be informed of the likely delay using the official messaging system.”

In Brazil, Norris and a majority of other cars were already on the grid when the aborted start message came through.

Stella thinks that it might make sense to clear up the expected procedures to ensure that everyone understands better what to do in repeat scenarios in the future.

“Overall, we think this is a very benign situation,” he said. “If anything, it should give the opportunity to clarify a little bit what to do in these cases because the call came very late, when Lando had been sitting on pole position for a long time.

“If there was an aborted start, I think the conditions were present for a long time to give it. So this confused the driver a bit.”

Davit Alaverdyan, chief editor of Mediamax Media Company in Yerevan, said: “Although the club was founded in 2017, in 2022-23 it was completely transformed with a new owner and management, so in that sense it can really be considered new.

“Such a success is truly unprecedented.”

Former Portugal, Real Madrid and Barcelona star Figo seems an unlikely name to be linked to an Armenian club side but club owner Vardanyan said: “Luis Figo was one of the first to support my vision of building this project.

“He believed in the programme’s success and offered his willingness to assist in key areas. We are friends and often discuss the club’s development, with Figo providing valuable advice.

“We have big plans with Figo, particularly in promoting Noah’s young talents abroad and enhancing the club’s international reputation.”

The club’s sudden rise and a nomadic history to date means their fanbase is still catching up. They have had several different stadiums, in capital Yerevan, plus Armavir and currently Abovyan.

Their European games are being played at the Republican Stadium in Yerevan, and they are building a new stadium in nearby city Echmiatsin.

“Until recently, the team did not have many fans, but success on the international stage has led to the number increasing with each game,” said journalist Alaverdyan.

“A stadium for 20,000 people, as well as a football academy, is being built near Yerevan.”

And the biblical name of the club?

The Old Testament says Noah’s Ark landed on Mount Ararat – which is just over the border in modern Turkey and dominates the Yerevan horizon.

Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion in the fourth century.

“A significant part of Armenia is located in the Ararat Valley, so the themes of Ararat, Noah and his Ark have sacred meaning for Armenians,” said Alaverdyan.

Captain Hovhannes Hambardzumyan is one of their longest serving players, having joined in August 2023.

“Being part of Noah’s project is something special for all of us,” said the 34-year-old Armenia right-back.

“We are not just playing football; we are playing for our nation, our pride, our homeland, and our tricolour flag, striving to elevate the name of Noah in the world of football.”