Shiffrin ‘prevails’ despite distractions over choices
‘Strike while the iron is hot’
ARE, Sweden, Feb 18, (AP): Maybe Alpine skiing won’t be so lost without Lindsey Vonn and Aksel Lund Svindal after all.
One week after Vonn and Svindal retired by claiming medals in their final races, Mikaela Shiffrin and Marcel Hirscher both showed true grit by fighting through debilitating sickness to claim the slalom titles at the world championships that everyone expected them to win.
“As we say in the country we come from, ‘Long live the king’ and there will be a new one,” said International Ski Federation secretary general Sarah Lewis, who is British. “There is no question that Marcel Hirscher is wearing that loud and proud at the moment, and Mikaela Shiffrin as well.”
Shiffrin and Hirscher are both on course to become the most successful skiers ever in their respective genders.
At age 23, Shiffrin already has 56 World Cup wins, and 29-year-old Hirscher, the seven-time defending overall World Cup champion, has 68.
Vonn retired with 82 wins, the best among women and four short of the overall record of 86 held by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.
Svindal left with two overall titles and 13 medals at Olympics and worlds.
Shiffrin also won the super-G – her first major title in a speed event – and bronze in giant slalom.
The slalom victory meant Shiffrin became the first skier, male or female, to win the same event at four straight worlds.
Still, it was a challenging championships for Shiffrin after Vonn and Bode Miller, her childhood idols, questioned her decision to skip the Alpine combined – an event she would have been the overwhelming favorite to win. Shiffrin then didn’t show up at Vonn’s retirement race.
There were also accusations from the coaching staff of Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova that they were denied a chance
Shiffrin
to train with Shiffrin when many of the slalom specialists went over to Trysil, Norway, midway through worlds – even though it’s common for top skiers to practice side by side.
When Vlhova won the giant slalom and Shiffrin claimed the slalom, the pair of racers embraced both times and appeared to exchange heartfelt words.
“In two weeks of time a lot of stuff can happen. It’s life. Life happens,” Shiffrin said. “There’s a lot of things that happened. It’s just too many things to explain to everybody right now. It would take much too long. But in the moments that it counted, my team and I were able to focus on the true task and the reason we’re here. That’s something special.”
Vlhova would not reveal what she and Shiffrin said to each other.
“It’s crazy, everybody is asking me what I say to Mikaela. It’s between us, so it’s secret,” Vlhova said with a smile.
Add Ted Ligety, the only other American skier besides Shiffrin to win five world titles, to the list of US greats urging Shiffrin to do more and be less calculating with her decisions. for the first time and focus on getting in plenty of laps.
Reigning champions Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas first behind the wheel of the silver W10, completed the second most laps – three fewer than Ferrari – with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg doing 65.
Five-times world champion Lewis Hamilton will take over from Bottas, who was third fastest, in the afternoon.
Former champions McLaren also made a solid start with Spaniard Carlos Sainz, stepping into the shoes of departed compatriot Fernando Alonso, completing 56 laps with the sixth fastest time.
Red Bull, now powered by Honda after their split from Renault, managed 52 laps with Dutch driver Max Verstappen in action.
Alfa Romeo, the renamed former Sauber team, had 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen in new overalls after leaving Ferrari and completing 46 laps after an early trip into the gravel that brought out the first red flag of 2019.
The Finn was fourth fastest at the lunch break.
Russian Daniil Kvyat was slowest in the Honda-powered Toro Rosso but did more laps than Romain Grosjean, who did only 18 for Haas, while Perez took Racing Point’s tally to 20. In this Feb 15 file photo, United States’ Ted Ligety speeds down the course during the men’s giant slalom, at the alpine ski World Championships in
Are, Sweden. (AP)
Driver Kevin Magnussen of Denmark poses for photographers with the new Haas F1 car during a presentation of the new livery at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, outside Barcelona,
Spain on Feb 18. (AP)
Only nine of the 10 teams appeared on track, with struggling Williams failing to get their car ready on time and not expecting to test until Wednesday at the earliest.
Williams are set to miss at least the first two days of Formula One’s opening pre-season test after failing to get their new car ready in time.
The former world champions said on Monday, as cars from the other nine teams lapped Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, that they were unlikely to get on track until the third day.
“It is looking more likely than not that we will now not be in a position to run on track until Wednesday at the earliest,” said deputy principal Claire Williams in a statement.
“This is obviously extremely disappointing, but it is unfortunately the situation we are in. We will be getting the FW42 on track as soon as we are able.”
Williams finished last overall in 2018 with a car that scored a mere seven points from 21 races despite having the same engine as champions Mercedes.
The poor performance has meant less prize money for the team while the loss of Martini, replaced as title sponsors by telecom company ROKiT, and departure of other backers has also had financial implications.
Williams said on Sunday that they would be sitting out Monday’s session.
“We have had an incredibly busy winter at Grove getting the FW42 prepared for the season ahead and, despite everyone’s best efforts, we need some more time before it will be ready to run,” Claire Williams said then.
Williams have a changed line-up for the new season starting in Australia on March 17, with British rookie and Formula Two champion George Russell partnering Poland’s Robert Kubica, who has returned from a nearfatal rally accident in 2011.
Alexander Albon could be a surprise of the Formula One season, the Thai’s Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost said as testing started on Monday.
The 22-year-old British-born driver has moved up from Formula Two, where he won four races last year and finished third overall behind fellow F1 rookies George Russell and Lando Norris.
In 2016, he was runner-up to now Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in GP3,
Drivers Kimi Raikkonen of Finland (left), and Antonio Giovinazzi of Italy (right), pose for photos with the new Alfa Romeo F1 car during a presentation of the new livery at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, outside Barcelona,
Spain on Feb 18. (AP)
where they were team mates.
“I think Alex could become a positive surprise of the year because people don’t know him so much,” Tost told reporters at the Circuit de Catalunya.
“We observed him last year and also the years before. We must not forget he was successful also in GP3, he was together with Leclerc and could beat him a couple of times and in Formula Two he showed really some good races, good overtaking.
“I am more than optimistic that he will do a good job,” added the Austrian.
Albon, the first Thai Formula One driver since Prince Bira in the 1950s, is teamed up with Russian Daniil Kvyat in a new for 2019 line-up at the Red Bull-owned team.
Kvyat previously raced for Toro Rosso from 2013-14, before being promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2015. He was then demoted again in 2016 after four races and dropped in 2017 after 14 rounds.
He spent 2018 as a Ferrari development driver before being recalled by Toro Rosso, who had dropped New Zealander Brendon Hartley and needed a replacement for Pierre Gasly after the Frenchman moved up to Red Bull.
“We all know that Daniil Kvyat is a very, very highly skilled driver,” said Tost. “I think we have Daniil Kvyat back as we know him from the former times and therefore he will do a good job.”
Both Toro Rosso and Red Bull have the same Honda engines this season and will be working more closely together in development.