Brundle backs race ace Hamilton to keep fighting

Stars start their weekend by welcoming the Panthers to Dundee Ice Arena and have already met the English side twice this season, both times south of the border.

In their first encounter, Nottingham prevailed 2-1.

Then when the Taysiders returned to the Motorpoint Arena, they went back and forth with Tim Wallace’s men all night in a 4-3 thriller before eventually missing out on an extra point, after conceding in overtime.

The Nottinghamshire club have not won a league match since they beat the Stars in overtime in early November, and in their most recent match versus Fife Flyers, they were defeated 4-2 on home ice.

Last weekend, Omar Pacha’s Stars side were boosted by the return of a few players to their line-up and are set to gain another forward back this weekend, as Spencer Dorowicz is currently considered fit to play. However, after sustaining an injury last Sunday, Dillon Lawrence will be a game-time decision for the Stars boss.

Tomorrow, Stars make their first trip to Sheffield and aim to claim their first win over the Steelers this year.

MARTIN Brundle has warned Max Verstappen that rival Lewis Hamilton is not ready to hand over the Formula One title-winning baton, as the seven-time world champion shows no let-up in his fight for a record eighth crown.

Verstappen holds a slender lead of just eight points with two races to go and there was little to split the title protagonists on the first day of practice at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Hamilton set the pace in first practice, edging out Verstappen’s Red Bull by 0.056 seconds and followed that up by being fastest in the second practice, with Verstappen down in fourth as a big crash for the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc ended the session early.

The speed of Hamilton’s Mercedes once again showed he is up for the fight, having won the last two races to reduce the gap in the drivers’ standings and keep alive his hopes of eclipsing Michael Schumacher to become the only eight-time F1 champion.

Verstappen, meanwhile, is aiming for a maiden crown, but Brundle insists the Dutchman should not see any potential title victory as the end of Hamilton’s dominance.

Asked if the current fight had a feeling of the changing of the guard to it, Sky pundit Brundle replied: “I do, but one guard doesn’t want to move over does he? Lewis is 37 in January and he’s got all the glory, all the money. I think I described it as a trophy warehouse he must have by now – it’s not a room is it, or a cabinet?

“He still seems to have all the same motivation and work ethic, workrate and determination.”

Asked if he would rather be the hunter or the hunted in the tight title fight, Brundle said: “I’d rather have the speed than the points.”