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The French-born forward has been frozen out of the national team picture since 2015 and has been at odds with FFF president Noel Le Graet ever since

Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi has said he is happy with the players at his disposal when asked if he would like to see Karim Benzema lead the line for the Desert Foxes.

The Real Madrid forward, who has 81 caps for France, recently responded to French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet’s assertion that Benzema’s ‘adventure with France is over’.

The striker took to social media, telling Le Graet: “If you think that I am finished, let me play for a country that I am eligible to play for and we will see.”

Of course, being cap-tied to France means that could never happen, but Benzema has been at odds with Le Graet since being frozen out of the French squad since 2015.

His international exclusion was part of the fallout from a sex tape dispute with Mathieu Valbuena that first saw Benzema dropped down the pecking order before eventually being excluded entirely.

The former Lyon forward has maintained his goalscoring form for Real Madrid during his international exile, scoring 30 goals for Los Blancos last season and already has 11 in 15 appearances this term.

Though he was born in France, Benzema is of Algerian descent, which could have seen him represent the country of his ancestry had he not represented Les Bleus in a competitive fixture.

However, when the striker’s comments were put to Fennecs coach Belmadi, the boss pointed to the raft of forward talent he already has within his ranks.

“For now, we have [Baghdad] Bounedjah, Islam [Slimani], [Andy] Delort [and Hillal] Soudani,” the French-born coach, who represented Algeria at international level as a player, told reporters. “I am very happy with the players I have.”

Benzema represented France at every youth level except Under-16s, before scoring on his debut for the senior side in a friendly against Austria in March 2007.

He was part of the France squad for the 2008 and 2012 European Championships, as well as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

His last appearance for the world champions was a 4-0 friendly win against Armenia in October 2015, where he scored two goals to take his international tally to 27.

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In a spectacular display of multi-tasking, 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg took his victorious W07 for one last spin at a Mercedes function recently while snapping a series of high-speed selfies!

Fortunately, Nico’s wicked ability behind the wheel permitted the heavy duty work but we obviously wouldn’t advise anybody to try this at home…

2016 team-by-team review: Part two

2016 team-by-team review: Part one

Andrew Green: Force India’s smooth operator

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Red Bull RB13 studio pics!

November 25, 2019 | News | No Comments

Obviously, we’ll be seeing Red Bull Racing’s new RB13 in the flesh this morning with Daniel Ricciardo behind the wheel, but in the interim here are a couple of some studio pics released by the team.

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Former FIA president Max Mosley has praised Liberty Media’s decision to appoint Ross Brawn to run the sporting side of Formula One following the exit of Bernie Ecclestone as supremo.

“Ross completely understands the sport and he understands what needs to be done and he’s got an absolutely first class analytical brain,” Mosley told ITV News at last week’s ZOOM Photo Auction gala in London.

“I think he’ll be an enormous asset to them,” adding that it was best if Liberty left Brawn to it and concentrated on sorting out the business aspects of its new acquisition.

“That side [the sporting side] isn’t really what Liberty should be doing. Ross is outstanding so they made a good choice there.”

  • Mosley: Liberty should have retained Ecclestone

Brawn cautioned Liberty against making wholesale changes to Formula One before it fully understands the sport’s nature.

“They may be brilliant and they may have the whole thing completely thought through, on the other hand they may find more difficult than they thought,” he said.

“I always imagine if somebody put me in charge of horse racing and said ‘right, you’ve got to sort that out’, it always looks easy from the outside.

“You see all the things that you think they’re doing wrong. And then when you get all the files and the dossiers put in front of you, you find out what’s really going on.”

However, he added that the sport had to evolve and shouldn’t stay stuck in the past.

“Just because something’s been successful doesn’t mean it can’t be done better,” he pointed out.

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Video: Bottas wishes all the best to Williams

November 25, 2019 | News | No Comments

Gone but not forgotten. Valtteri Bottas  paid tribute to the team which kick-started his career in Formula 1 and where he spent his formative years.

As the Finn gears up for a new challenge with world champions Mercedes AMG F1, Bottas remembers the four years he spent at Williams.

And while he failed to deliver a win to the Grove-base outfit during his stay, he did enjoy a fruitful relationship which included 9 podiums, 411 points and a 2nd place finish as his best result.

For Bottas, it’s only a matter of time before Williams challenges for the title.

Check out the video posted to Williams’ Twitter account:

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Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that they would grant entry to a Russian convoy allegedly carrying aid for besieged Ukrainian civilians — once its contents have been inspected by the International Red Cross.

As recently as Tuesday morning, fearing that the convoy could be a Trojan Horse — a pretext for ground invasion or cover for delivery of weapons to pro-Russian separatists on the verge of defeat — Ukrainian officials had said they would not allow the 280 trucks to cross the border.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the idea had been rejected. “They insisted on reloading the cargo from all 287 trucks to the trucks to be provided by the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] but eventually gave it up for obvious reasons as this would have made the humanitarian mission more complicated and costlier,” Lavrov said, according to the state-owned news agency ITAR-TASS.

With Ukrainian forces closing in on pro-Russian rebels in the eastern part of the country — in a fight that has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee and left those who remain without drinking water, power, or supplies — the conflict has come to “a decisive point,” Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Danylo Lubkivsky said Tuesday in Kiev.

In turn, Ukrainian and Western forces worry that Russia is using the pretext of humanitarian aid to head off total rebel defeat. 

“Let me be clear — you don’t need tanks and artillery to bring food and medicine for civilians,” Lubkivsky said, referring to reports that the trucks, which departed Tuesday from a Russian military base, are merely repainted versions of green Russian military vehicles bearing the black number plates of the Russian armed forces.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: “We must be extremely careful because [the convoy] could be a cover for the Russians to install themselves near Luhansk and Donetsk and put us before a done deed.”

Noting that “each success that Ukraine’s forces have achieved has been met with asymmetric escalation,” Mark Rachkevych writes for the Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s English-language newspaper:

Within this context, the convoy of 280 trucks that are coming from Russia is the latest escalation. If Russia is truly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Donbas, it can swiftly alleviate it by a full-scale cessation of warfare. This includes ending the shelling from inside its territory, stop the supply and flow of weapons and military hardware, as well as mercenaries, paramilitary troops, subversives and intelligence agents. It could call off its proxies inside Ukraine and let Kyiv install law and order and again.

Otherwise, any sort of aid that Russia offers is just another tool in its arsenal of non-linear war designed to undermine Kyiv and force the country back into Kremlin subservience.

For its part, Russia insists the convoy is legitimate, saying all parties — including Ukraine and the International Commmittee of the Red Cross (ICRC) — had been notified and agreed to the arrangement.

But an ICRC representative told the Telegraph on Tuesday that the organization had only learned of the convoy’s departure through news reports, and had no information about its contents.

For the Associated Press, Laura Mills writes: “In any case, tons of Russian aid moving toward Ukraine was surely a visual public relations coup for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has so far resisted calls from both Ukrainian separatists and nationalists at home to send Russian troops to eastern Ukraine.”

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Billy Monger posts heartfelt message from hospital

November 25, 2019 | News | No Comments

Billy Monger, the teenage Formula 4 racer who suffered a horrendous crash which resulted in the amputation of both legs, delivered a message to the motorsport community.

An online funding campaign set up the day after the young hopeful’s tragic accident at Donington Park and destined to help Monger and his family cope with the life-changing injuries, yielded an extraordinary response and raised more than £750,000.

From fans to the emergency and medical crews, to the hundreds of people who sent messages of support,  the 17-year-old thanked everyone for their “love and generosity”.

But Billy had a special word for his sister, Bonny.

“The one true hero of this tragic event has been my sister, Bonny who gave me the will to keep fighting. A value that I will continue to hold now… and for the rest of my life.”

The Just Giving online funding page was set up by Steven Hunter, head of Billy’s F4 team JHR Developments, to help the 17-year-old “return to a full and active life”.

The donations poured in immediately and included pledges from Jenson Button and Max Verstappen, who both donated £15,000.

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Esteban Ocon kept his point-scoring record with Force India at 100 percent this season following another tenth place finish in Shanghai this weekend.

It was a busy day at the races for the Frenchman who started his afternoon at the back of the field but drove a steady race to reach the top ten, just behind team mate Sergio Perez.

Exclusively for F1i, Ocon gives us the skinny on Shanghai.

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Australia mints a coin honoring Sir Jack Brabham

November 25, 2019 | News | No Comments

The Royal Australian Mint has honored Sir Jack Brabham’s contribution to the motor racing industry with a special commemorative coin.

A little over fifty years since Brabham clinched the 1966 world title – the one and only driver to accomplish such an achievement driving a car of his own construction – the coin is stamped with a portrait of the F1 legend and his car, partly outlined with green and gold markings, the colors of Brabham’s cars.

Royal Australian Mint Chief Executive Officer Mr Ross MacDiarmid recalled Brabham’s creative genius and his pioneering endeavors, like the development of the rear-engined Cooper which powered the Aussie to his first world driver’s championship.

“Sir Jack Brabham was not only a superb racing car driver but he was also an innovative engineer and pioneer, paving the way forward for motorsports,” said MacDiarmid.

“As we enter the 2017 Formula 1 season, this coin celebrates one of the world’s motor racing greats and his remarkable achievements, on and off the track.”

David Brabham, the youngest son of the three-time world champion, expressed his pride in seeing his father’s outstanding life and achievements commemorated with the coin.

“To have our father recognised through a commemorative coin by an iconic national institution, the Royal Australian Mint, is really special and very important in carrying the Brabham legacy as my father’s achievements are likely to never be repeated with today’s technology replacing hands-on experience,” he said.

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