Brazil asked to ramp up security for F1 race

PARIS: Formula One bosses have recommended new security measures for the Brazilian Grand Prix after team staff were robbed at gunpoint when leaving the circuit last month.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement after a World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on Wednesday that the commercial rights holder had made the proposals following a report on incidents at Interlagos.

It recommended the race promoter have an independent security expert to evaluate and advise on measures, with a police reporting hub at the circuit and improved communication. World champion Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team was one of those involved in the incidents, with shots reportedly fired and a gun pointed at the head of one employee travelling in a van outside the circuit.

Valuables, including passports and mobile phones, were stolen. Pirelli employees were also targeted after the race, lead- ing to the cancellation of a twoday tyre test with Mclaren.

Meanwhile, Formula One races in Bahrain and China will swap places early in the season.

Bahrain takes place at Sakhir on April 8 and the Chinese GP in Shanghai a week later. As usual, the F1 season begins with the Australian GP on March 25.

HAMILTON TOPS POLL OF F1 BOSSES

LONDON: Formula One team bosses have voted Lewis Hamilton as the sport’s top driver for the fourth year in a row but Mer- cedes team mate Valtteri Bottas slipped to 10th place in the rankings. The poll, published by motorsport.com on Thursday, put four times world champion Hamilton far ahead of closest rival Max Verstappen.

NADAL SET TO RETURN AT ABU DHABI

JOHANNESBURG: World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will make a comeback at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi later this month after his injury lay-off which forced him to withdraw from ATP finals.