Charisma drive

Renault F1 team head Cyril Abiteboul says he wants a “charismatic leader” to head up the team’s line-up. Renault is busy eyeing options ahead of 2017, and has already made contact with Sergio Perez and is believed to be interested in Valtteri Bottas also. Current drivers Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer are also in the frame. “When I look at all the big teams they all lend themselves to the leadership of charismatic drivers from [Sebastian] Vettel, Michael Schumacher, [Nico] Rosberg, and so on, and we will need that,” said Abiteboul. “It’s not easy when you’re young, so there’s more to come from them [Magnussen and Palmer] with their involvement, in their capacity to take the role of leaders. We need that.”

Jack Sears, the winner of the inaugural British Touring Car Championship, has died at the age of 86.

Sears won the 1958 BTCC title – then known as the British Saloon Car Championship – after a shootout with fellow class dominator Tommy Sopwith. Tied on the same number of points at the end of the season, the duo went head-to-head in Riley 1.5s, with Sears emerging on top.

He took a second crown in 1963, this time battling for overall wins in the mighty seven-litre Ford Galaxie.

He first competed in Veteran Car Club rallies in 1950 and thereafter raced, rallied and sprinted often, excelling in his father’s 1914 TT Sunbeam, but he sprang to prominence in Lister sportscars.

Sears was one of Britain’s most talented and versatile racers of the ’50s and early ’60s. Always smartly dressed and