COV BODDY BLOW
ALVARO SO GOOD
Tommy Hilfiger and all of the various things he does take him and F1 to another audience.
“That’s not a reason to give him the championship, but it’s a much bigger thing than just who wins the championship – and it does look like he is in the driving seat.”
A miserable start for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel looks set to leave Hamilton and Bottas to fight it out for the drivers’ title.
There have even been suggestions the German could retire at the end of the campaign, but Coulthard reckons Vettel will hold firm until at least 2020 when his £36m-a-year contract expires.
However, the Scot has claimed Hamilton is head and shoulders above his rival when it comes to racing and can understand why Vettel is unsettled.
He added: “Personally speaking, I don’t think he is as good at wheel-to-wheel racing as Lewis. I think he’s quick and able to win grands prix and championships but I would put my money on Lewis winning a wheel-to-wheel battle, based on when I’ve seen them go wheel to wheel.
“But we must remember he is a four-time world champion on merit.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Seb other than that the car, the environment and management style have changed so much compared to last year.
“Clearly it hasn’t been working this season and it’s been quite disruptive (for Vettel and the team).
“Lewis on the other hand... OK, Niki Lauda is sadly no longer with us, but otherwise Lewis has had great stability over the last few years.” LEWIS HAMILTON’S preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix suffered a setback yesterday after he crashed in second practice. The Brit carried too much speed through the chicane at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, losing control of his Mercedes and hitting the wall. He sustained damage to the right rear of his car, but despite his tyre threatening to fall off, he managed to limp back to the pits. “Sorry about that,” said Hamilton after his uncharacteristic mistake. He had completed just eight laps when he made the error. Hamilton, armed with a new Mercedes engine, had gone fastest in the opening session, but he did not go back out for the second session. SPAIN’S Alvaro Bautista is confident he can win today’s World Superbike race after working on tyre wear at Jerez.
The Aruba Ducati rider clocked a best lap of 1min 39.428secs yesterday, beating morning-session leader Michael van der Mark by 0.226secs.
“This is my home track, so I know it very well, but we struggled a little with tyre consumption,” said Bautista, who leads the championship by 43 points from reigning champ Jonathan Rea.
“In the afternoon, we tried different tyres and found some positive things for the race.”
Rea was third quickest on the factory Kawasaki and is aiming for a podium place in a bid to cut Bautista’s points lead. COVENTRY chief executive David Boddy has hit out after the club were forced to quit the Ricoh Arena once again and groundshare with Birmingham.
The Sky Blues and their owners Sisu failed to agree a new lease with Wasps, the Ricoh Arena’s owners.
The bitter row stems from Coventry City Council’s 2014 sale of the Ricoh Arena to then London Wasps.
Sisu claim the Ricoh was undervalued by £28m and have been appealing against the decision not to allow a judicial review into the sale.
Wasps’ conditions for a new lease included insisting Coventry and their owners underwrite any potential losses.
It has left City – who groundshared in 2013/2014 at Northampton’s Sixfields Stadium – facing an imminent EFL deadline to confirm where it will play home games next season.
And the League One club have taken the last-ditch option of relocating 20 miles away to St Andrew’s.
Boddy said: “It is devastating news. Ultimately you have to go
back to the decision of Coventry City Council to sell the stadium to a London franchise rugby club behind our backs.
“It was unbelievable that they could even contemplate doing that to the football club which has borne its name for 136 years.”
The EFL say they “reluctantly agreed to a groundshare option” after a £1m bond and undertakings the club will not permanently relocate outside the Coventry area. (inset)