Jose refuses to give Levy a red card
LEWIS Hamilton proved himself master of all seasons by not merely dominating a wet qualifying session for the Styrian Grand Prix but bestriding it as a man apart.
As so often before in his long career, the world champion made light of tricky conditions to take pole position for Mercedes with a masterclass of sure-footed brilliance.
A week on from a sub-perfect performance on the same Red Bull Ring track, Hamilton was quickest in all three sessions of the rain-delayed running.
Nobody could live with the sixtime world champion, his car stuck on the perilous surface as if by glue.
Hamilton’s 88th pole beat Max
Verstappen of Red Bull into second place. Those two were the cream of the crop – they are simply the best in Formula One right now.
But even Verstappen over-extended on his final lap, losing control and briefly drifting nowhere but sideways. The Dutchman finished 1.2sec off Hamilton, who improved on his last attempt despite not needing to as more rain fell.
Carlos Sainz of Mclaren was third best. Valtteri Bottas, in the other Mercedes, was 1.5sec back, which must have made the Finn wonder why bother against the champ in the same machinery.
Esteban Ocon was fifth for Renault. Lando Norris of Mclaren was a decent sixth, though he will go back three places on the grid for overtaking under a yellow flag in practice on Friday.
Fellow Brit George Russell acquitted himself wonderfully well – 12th best in a less-than-fabulous Williams. His team-mate Nicholas Latifi was 1.4sec behind. Or, to put it technically, night and day.
Ferrari had another awful afternoon with Sebastian Vettel tenth quickest and Charles Leclerc 11th.
JOSE Mourinho has defended Daniel Levy as Tottenham fans prepare to fly a ‘Levy Out’ banner over the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during the north London derby tomorrow.
The group behind the banner, which has cost £650, are promising there will be more protests against chairman Levy and the club’s owners Enic if they don’t see more progress on the pitch.
A spokesman said: “We believe it’s a necessity because, from being in a Champions League final, nearly on par with Liverpool, we are 10 steps back again.
“Being ahead of Arsenal, to being behind a club who have had three managers in one season, in possibly their worst season.
“Levy and Enic need to invest in the club and have us challenging for honours.
“Hopefully, this brings attention to the club and maybe makes them think. We will continue with further protests, banners and actions if the club do not respond in a positive manner.”
But manager Mourinho has leaped to the defence of Levy, citing many reasons why it’s been a difficult year for Spurs who currently sit ninth in the Premier League table. “Look, I think the message is very, very simple which is supporters are not happy, nobody in this club is happy,” Mourinho said.
“If the fans are unhappy and I am happy, Mr Levy is happy, the captains are happy, then that would be a huge problem because our ambitions wouldn’t fit with the ambitions and desire of the fans. But when we all want the same, that’s the best message that we can give. Next season is going to be different because I start working from day one and because we are going to make some changes in our squad and for that we don’t need a huge investment like last summer.“
Tottenham reached the Champions League final in 2019 where they lost 2-0 to Liverpool but have been on a downward spiral since having sacked Mourinho’s predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, in November. Mourinho took over with the club sitting in 14th, 11 points off fourth and three behind fifth.
At the time, Pochettino’s pointsper-game record for the season was 1.17. Mourinho’s is 1.59 but his team are 10 points off fourth and nine behind fifth.
Spurs have taken eight points from an available 15 since the league restarted, scoring five goals as they prepare to host Arsenal.