Red Bull has hinted that Yuki Tsunoda could get his first test for the team after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Motorsport.com revealed over the Austin weekend that Japanese manufacturer Honda was pushing hard for Tsunoda to be given a run for Red Bull’s main squad.

Up until now, he has tested and raced only for the junior AlphaTauri/RB operations, and his drives in a Red Bull car have been limited to demo events.

But Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has suggested that the squad could give him that first opportunity at the end of the season.

Asked by Motorsport.com if there was a chance of Red Bull accepting Honda’s request for a Tsunoda test, Marko said: “We have some plans for Abu Dhabi, yes. But we have various drivers, you know. We have [Isack] Hadjar, for example, and now we have Liam [Lawson].”

Although the specifics of what Marko is referring to are not clear, the most likely scenario could be for Tsunoda to drive the Red Bull RB20 in the post-season tyre test.

This test takes place on the Tuesday after the season finale and teams are required to run two cars in it.

One car must be piloted by a driver who holds an official F1 superlicence and is for tyre testing, while the other is for young drivers who have not competed in more than two grands prix in their career.

Liam Lawson, RB F1 Team, Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

If Red Bull’s current drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez elect to skip the test, then Red Bull could slot Tsunoda in its RB20, with Lawson driving for RB.

The team could then put a young driver like Hadjar in one of its cars, with other contenders being Honda junior Ayumu Iwasa or even simulator driver Jake Dennis, who got a run in a practice session last year.

The final choice will likely be influenced by whether Red Bull feels that one of the current RB drivers should step up to the main squad next year if Perez does not perform well enough in the closing stages of this season.

Lawson has been drafted in for the final races as replacement for Daniel Ricciardo with a view to being evaluated by Red Bull. The New Zealander impressed over the Austin weekend – coming from the back of the grid thanks to an engine change penalty to finish ninth.

Speaking about Lawson’s weekend, Marko said: “Perfect! It was already when he was P3 in Q1, then they made their tactical games [to not set a competitive time in Q2].

“To go from P19 to P9, with all his lap times, and also his overtaking with [Fernando] Alonso, because [on Saturday] Alonso was complaining.

“I think he was really surprised and all of a sudden he was there. He’s a very tough racer, and he showed that he has the speed.”

Speaking to Motorsport.com last weekend, Koji Watanabe, the president of Honda’s racing arm HRC, said he was pushing hard for Tsunoda to get a Red Bull run.

“We believe he has the talent. Of course, driver decisions are ultimately up to the team, but as a partner we’ve strongly requested that Tsunoda be given the chance to drive and test in a Red Bull car,” he said.

“We want to at least give him the opportunity to showcase his ability. I’ve also spoken directly with Christian about this. He hasn’t ruled it out. Nothing has been decided yet, but I think we need to proceed properly.”

ITALIAN legend Francesco Totti may be returning to professional football.

The Roma icon has been dating Noemi Bocchi for quite some time now after parting ways with his wife of 17 years. Here’s what we know about her.

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Who is Noemi Bocchi?

Francesco Totti and Noemi Bocchi have been an item for almost three years now, and their love story seems to be sailing smoothly. 

The former Roma captain and his partner are often caught on camera together.

The two have been a steady couple since the former footballer separated from his wife Ilary Blasi.

According to Italian news outlet Il Messagero, the couple is waiting for his divorce to be finalised so that they can get married.

Noemi is an Italian model and TV presenter, born in Rome on August 31, 1988.

She’s also a mum-of-two, and is often pictured with her son and daughter on her Instagram.

According to her Facebook profile, she studied business and banking at Lumsa University in Rome before making her way into the media industry.

The Italian flower designer was previously married to entrepreneur Mario Caucci and shares her children, Sofia and Tommaso, with him.

The pair married in 2011 but broke up in 2018.

In 2022, Noemi was spotted with Totti, amid rumours that his marriage was ending.

Totti had three children with Ilary but their marriage fell apart when the Serie A legend claimed his wife was not there when he “needed her most”.

The ex-footballer’s father had passed away due to Covid-19 and he has admitted he struggled to deal with it mentally.

Totti also claims he found evidence of her having an alleged affair when looking at her phone.

The Roma legend has already moved on though and photos have emerged of him with his new girlfriend.

They began living together, moving into a house in the Roma Nord neighbourhood.

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The couple have since been seen at various events, including award shows as well as strolling around the city.

In July 2024, they went on holiday to a Greek island.

Totti was said to have been invited by a former teammate from his time at Roma, who owns a luxury hotel. 

They were guests of Kostas Manolas, a former defender of Roma and Napoli. 

Noemi suffers from the condition, Diastasis recti, when the two muscles that run down the middle of your stomach separate during pregnancy.

The 36-year-old explained: “After giving birth I started to feel sick and everyone dismissed me with: you gave birth, it’s normal. 

“After 8 years from the second pregnancy I discovered that what I had has a name”. 

What happened to Totti and Ilary?

In August, Ilary called Noemi to testify in court as a witness to determine who cheated first and when, as part of their divorce proceedings.

In court documents, Noemi was referred to as the “third wheel” and cited as one of the reasons for the separation.

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However, personal trainer Cristiano Iovino claimed that he had an “intimate relationship” with Ilary.

He added, “We were together when work commitments allowed it. We’re talking about the end of 2021”.

Meanwhile, Totti raised the stakes by summoning his own witnesses.

He has called upon a Mediaset manager, whom he claims flirted with his ex-wife.

The footballer has also called his close friend, Alex Nuccetelli, who is being sued for defamation by Ilary for attributing this latest relationship to her, which she categorically denies.

In Tennis terms the Central European Rally represented the first real match point moment for Thierry Neuville in his relentless 12-year quest to lift the World Rally Championship title.

The scene was set perfectly. An asphalt rally where being first on the road is advantage, featuring stages in Germany not a million miles from his and his Hyundai team’s home. But one thing that the WRC can guarantee in spades this season is unpredictability. 

As has often been the case for Neuville – a five-time championship runner-up – the Belgian was made to wait for glory again as fate intervened while on course for a career defining moment. Neuville only needed to outscore team-mate Ott Tanak by two points to seal rallying’s ultimate prize. But after a wild Sunday, where even world champions made errors, it was his nearest rival that triumphed to take the title fight to next month’s Japan finale.

“Obviously we came here with the hopes of winning the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles in Germany, and a lot of supporters came down to line the stages to live an incredible moment with us, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” said Neuville.

The phrase “it wasn’t to be” was apt for several drivers as the Central European Rally was in the words of eventual winner Tanak a “very demanding rally.” It was demanding on several levels with crews completing stages in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. Throw in multiple surface changes, unpredictable weather and increasingly dirty roads and you have the perfect recipe for an unpredictable rally.

The start was however predictable as Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier ended Thursday’s two Czech stages following the ceremonial start in Prague with a 0.9s lead over Neuville, who was sporting some cosmetic damage to his right front wheel arch from hitting a bale in the super special. The surprise was the driver in third spot as Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen, who had previously struggled to tame the i20 N on asphalt, come to the fore. A decision to go his own way on set up rather than following Neuville and Tanak helped the Norwegian, who is facing an uncertain future for 2025, come alive. 

Mikkelsen’s bright start however faded by stage five (Sumavske Hostice 1 – 16.85 km). Having dropped to sixth overall, Mikkelsen drifted wide on the leaf covered road and clattered a fence that tore the front from his i20 N resulting in retirement. Mikkelsen did rejoin the rally on Saturday only for a puncture to end any hopes of Super Sunday points.

Andreas Mikkelsen had made a stunning start to the rally before dropping back

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

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Hybrid power had been a talking point in the lead up to the event, with the WRC potentially set for another U-turn with its 2025 technical regulations by removing this element due to a recent change in the user guide issued by Compact Dynamics, the supplier of the control units. The new regulations came into force in Greece last month stating that on safety grounds hybrid units can no longer be reset and if they fail on event they must be replaced and sent to the manufacturer for a repair adding significant costs to the teams.

By stage four, nearly half of the Rally1 cars had suffered hybrid failures. Toyota’s rising star Sami Pajari, making his first Rally1 outing on asphalt driving a fourth GR Yaris was the first to lose the hybrid boost before Mikkelsen, and the M-Sport duo Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster lost the use of hybrid following a particularly hard landings from the same jump in the Strasin 1 – 26.69 km – the longest of the rally.

Although, the lack of hybrid was the least of Fourmaux’s concerns having been strangely 1m33.4s off the pace in seventh overall come the end of Friday. The frustrated Frenchman declared that he was struggling with “everything” on the car and that “something was wrong”, which required a thorough investigation.

“I’m happy to be at the end. It is easy to make a mistake and I knew that the only thing that was important was to make it to the end” Thierry Neuville, Friday

At the front though, Neuville, who has had to engage damage limitation mode starting first on the road for the last seven consecutive gravel rallies, was thriving with the road position advantage on asphalt. The Hyundai driver hauled himself into the rally lead by stage five before going on to extend his lead over Ogier to 6.4s on slippery roads that were hard to judge and made even worse by light drizzle. With Tanak a further 1.4s back in third and Toyota’s Elfyn Evans only 15.1s in arrears, the battle for victory was tight, but Neuville knew if he could maintain this display the world title would be his come Sunday.

“I’m happy to be at the end. It is easy to make a mistake and I knew that the only thing that was important was to make it to the end,” said Neuville.

But the rally gods chose not to shine on Neuville on Saturday as fog made the morning stages that straddled the Germany/Austria border wet, and like driving on ice. The conditions were responsible for several drivers making unscheduled trips to the scenery, including Neuville.

Neuville’s lead had been reduced to 0.8s after Tanak produced a stunning time to win stage nine but according to the 2019 world champion “Cyril [Abiteboul, Hyundai team boss] didn’t like our first stage time and we started to get some messages”. Abiteboul clarified that these messages were made with the manufacturers title fight against Toyota in mind, reminding Tanak of the risks he should avoid taking.   

Neuville took an advantage overnight into Saturday

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

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Tanak’s effort briefly elevated his i20 N to second ahead of Ogier before the Estonian dropped his pace too much in stage 10 (Beyond Borders, 24.433km) and fell back behind the Toyota that was only two second behind leader Neuville.

Neuville this year has rarely made an error, a loss of concentration in Sardinia, being his only real mistake. It is why he is leading the championship having scored points in every round. However, in stage 12, the Belgian made two costly mistakes. A 360 degree spin after touching the wet grass was recovered quickly but moments later he careered off the road luckily onto a large grass run-off area. In an effort to return to the road, he became briefly stuck in a ditch. More than half a minute was lost as he dropped to fourth and effectively his hopes of sealing a world title had evaporated.

“It was two spins, I mean the first one was a basic spin and the second one the pacenote was too fast,” Neuville told Motorsport.com. “It was a long corner and you don’t see the exit very well because it is uphill and when I entered the corner, it turned more than my pacenotes told me.”  

Neuville, now resigned to bringing the car home, wasn’t the only driver to be caught out. Ogier who inherited the lead survived a small moment, but admitted “it was easy to make a mistake” while M-Sport duo Fourmaux and Munster both enjoyed trips into fields, now with working hybrid units.

Fourmaux’s was the most spectacular as he skidded onto the grass and brushed the trees. However, the mysterious issue with his car came to light. M-Sport had made wholesale changes overnight but didn’t change the front differential which had developed a fault leaving that effectively reduced the Puma to a rear wheel drive only version. 

“As soon as there is dirt [on the road] it is hard to get it to go straight. It is undriveable,” said Fourmaux, whose day came to an end when he lost the rear of his Puma in stage 10 and the impact required a wheel change. Although damage to the hybrid cooling package put him out of the rally until Sunday where he produced much better speed.

The battle for the rally victory turned into a three-way fight. Tanak reduced Ogier’s advantage to 1.1s after stage 13 before Ogier reeled off two stages wins to end the day with a slender 5.2s margin, while an under the weather Evans was third, 14.0s in arrears. It was looking very good for Toyota in the manufacturers’ battle with Ogier picking up 18 provisional Saturday points and Evans 13.

Toyota was attempting to claw back ground in the manufacturer’s championship, with Ogier and Evans leading the charge

Photo by: Toyota Racing

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The WRC’s new points system is complex and divides opinion, but it has certainly ensured that Sundays are no longer sedate affairs – a conveyer belt of action and chaos is a better description as crews fight for 12 crucial Super Sunday points.

Hyundai has been the master of this new discipline while it has been a weakness for Toyota. The latter proved true as another ‘black Sunday’, as Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala calls them, unfolded.   

First Toyota lost Pajari who had been highly impressive to head into Sunday sitting in fifth position. However, the young Finn came into left hander in stage 15 (Am Hochwald, 12.17km) too fast resulting in his GR Yaris finding a ditch and being pitched into a roll. 

“I think it was a soft roll but I don’t know why it happened, in my opinion my pacenote was okay and there was nothing really surprising on that corner,” said Pajari. 

With every pass, the stage became increasingly dirty, aided by the placement of anti-cut devices or the lack thereof. Efforts to curb cutting this year had been praised by the drivers earlier in the event but conditions were evolving fast in the opposite direction for the leading runners.

“I feel angry with myself in the moment and I’m very sorry for the team” Sebastien Ogier after crashing

This would prove to be the downfall of rally leader Ogier as the eight-time world champion made costly mistakes for the third event in succession. Ogier lost the rally lead in the first pass through (Am Hochwald, 12.17km) where he misjudged the braking at a junction and ran onto the grass, handing a 1.9s advantage to Tanak. 

This gap was reduced to 1.5s before the second pass that proved even more damaging. Six hundred metres into the penultimate stage of the rally Ogier was caught out on the dirt at a fast right and clattered into the trees. Normally a master of controlling his emotions the accident provoked screams of anger as he clambered out of the car. It was the only stage where route note crews were not allowed to pass to provide up to date road evolution information to the drivers.

“I feel angry with myself in the moment and I’m very sorry for the team, I tried my best,” said Ogier. “It was really my main target to help them achieve the manufacturers’ title. I think I was doing a good job so far but unfortunately it is a third weekend in a row that has not gone my way. It is a tough time.”

Ogier’s rally came to an abrupt end with a crash on an unscouted stage

Photo by: Toyota Racing

With the shockwaves caused by Ogier’s accident, Abiteboul once again reminded Tanak of the risks at stake and his driver duly delivered a steady Power Stage time, missing out on the bonus points, to seal a 21st WRC victory and perhaps one of the toughest of his career.

“We have seen every day that so much is happening and in some stages it [drama[ is happening for many cars clearly it is very demanding rally. It is never easy but I’m happy to come out without mistakes,” said Tanak, who took the victory by seven seconds from Evans, with Neuville third.

The returning Takamoto Katsuta, benched for Rally Chile, finished fourth but impressed throughout and proved to be a life saver for Toyota after claiming the maximum 12 Super Sunday points. Despite Ogier’s late exit Toyota actually decreased Hyundai’s lead in the manufacturers’ title race to 15 ahead of the Japan finale but it could have been even closer.  

“For sure it was big big pressure before this rally and it was such a difficult moment I had last month, but I have had strong support from the team and the people around me,” said Katsuta, who finished ahead of M-Sport’s Munster, who recorded a career-best equalling fifth.

For Neuville, it wasn’t the title coronation he’d dreamt but he will take a 25-point lead over Tanak into a Japan decider, adding “It wasn’t to be this weekend. Sorry for the team for a small mistake but even world champions make mistakes.”

The WRC title battle is most certainly not over but its very much a case of championship point to Neuville. One thing that is for certain a Hyundai driver will win the championship for the first time. 

“I guess it depends how much Thierry wants it,” said Tanak. “If he is smart in Japan and does a good job then nobody has a chance, but we also have a responsibility for the manufacturers championship it is still a big job ahead of us so we can’t really focus only on drivers title.”

Tanak emerged victorious as team-mate Neuville picked up crucial championship points

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan will make his professional tennis debut in an ATP doubles event in his native Uruguay next month.

The 45-year-old, who retired from football in 2019, will play alongside Argentine Federico Coria in the Uruguay Open in Montevideo.

Forlan, who was a promising tennis player in his teens, has been playing in ITF Masters events – most recently in the 45 and over category.

But next month’s tournament is a recognised ATP event and sits on the second-tier Challenger Tour, requiring Forlan to get a wildcard.

His partner Coria is the world number 101 in singles, having reached a career-high of 49 in 2023.

Forlan joined Manchester United in 2002 and made 98 appearances for the club before joining La Liga side Villarreal.

In Spain, Forlan won the European Golden Shoe – awarded to the top scorer in Europe – on two occasions.

The forward won the Golden Ball at the 2010 World Cup after Uruguay finished third in South Africa, and helped his country to the 2011 Copa America title.

OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO has lifted the lid on Mikel Arteta’s latest bizarre team-bonding exercise.

The Arsenal boss, 42, has shown down the years that he is never afraid to think outside the box.

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In 2022, fans were left baffled as it emerged Arteta had boomed “You’ll Never Walk Alone” out of speakers while players trained ahead of a game against Liverpool at Anfield.

More recently, the Spaniard hired a team of pickpockets to swipe his stars’ belongings during a dinner – in a bid to teach his players the importance of staying alert at all times.

He was also dubbed the “David Brent of the Premier League” after coming up with a new motivational word – “collaboretition” – a combination of collaboration and competition.

In his latest wacky exercise, Arteta hired a professional football freestyler to show up one of his players.

Speaking to The Guardian, Zinchenko revealed: “We stayed at the same hotel before a match, and we knew all the waiters.

“But there was a new guy that day. So before we go to the stadium [Arteta] said: ‘OK guys, let me wake you up, because we need energy.

“Last time, Alex, we played staff against players and you beat [the set-piece coach] Nicolas [Jover]. Let’s do it the same, but freestyling.

“Everyone was like: ‘What? For sure, Alex will beat him, blah blah blah’. Nico started to do something with the ball and then suddenly it looks like he got an injury. It was so obvious but weird.

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“Then they called the new waiter. We didn’t know he was a professional freestyler.

“He destroyed me with his tricks and all of us were in deep shock. But then we were all laughing and we went to the game with good energy.”

Zinchenko, 27, has scarcely played this season due to a calf injury.

He has made just two appearances for the Gunners, and none since the 1-1 draw with Brighton on August 31.

The Ukrainian was back on the bench for the 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth last weekend, however, and could be in contention to feature against former side Shakhtar Donetsk this evening.

Zinchenko was on Shakhtar’s books as a teenager, before leaving to join Russian side FC Ufa in a bid to secure first team football.