Month: February 2019

The Mercedes Formula One car, known as the W10, has recently hit the track for the very first time at the popular Silverstone racetrack. The Mercedes W10 is the F1 car that Lewis Hamilton will use to potentially defend his world championship in 2019. It is also the F1 car that the Mercedes team will hope to deliver a 6th consecutive constructors championship that will equal the record held by Ferrari for successive victories.

The dominance by Mercedes in F1 since the last major regulation to engine change during 2014 has witnessed them winning the past five championships and a total of 74 races from 100. Along with Toro Rosso and Red Bull, the W10 will be the first car to test around the Silverstone racetrack as the team dedicated one of the filing days to a phenomenal shakedown of the new W10. Valtteri Bottas will have the first go before he hands it over the Hamilton. The two racers will only have 100km to test the new car according to filing regulations. Once testing is completed, it will go to Barcelona for the official pre-season testing during the opening day on Monday.

Comments from the Mercedes Team

“A new set of challenges will be presented for all of us during the 2019 season,” Toto Wolff stated. “There have been a few significant changes to the regulations this year. Therefore, we need to start from scratch which means we need to prove our worth once again against our competitors and against our own expectations. The season starts with zero points and therefore we will take nothing for granted which means there’s no feeling of entitlement to be in pole position. Due to the new regulations, each team will have a shot at the title and we see each of them as a potential threat.”

Hamilton also commented, stating: “This will be my 7th year with the Mercedes team and the determination and energy in the team is truly inspiring. The atmosphere truly starts at the beginning of a new season once you see how the car comes together. After that, you get to the shakedown and get the opportunity to drive the car. Believe me, its something that never gets old.”

The New Regulations in 2019

The new season will bring a brand-new set of changes to regulations in 2019. This includes revisions to the brake ducts, barge boards, rear and front wings in an attempt to improve overtaking. These changes have the potential to truly upset the order. However, James Allison, the technical director for Mercedes, is hopeful that these changes could also present the perfect opportunity for the team to finally cement their position at the top of the adrenaline-infused sport.

The W10 is a major improvement over the idiosyncratic W08. The Mercedes team were quite competitive when it came to the track which also plagued them in recent years. However, thanks to the improvements within the new W10, the team feels that they can be far more competitive this time around.

Fabinho has recently told reporters that the Liverpool football club needs to find solutions to overcome deep-defending clubs after their recent dip in performance. The Reds’ push for the title in the Premier League has slowed down by successive draws, with Manchester City as the reigning champions only three points behind them.

Leicester City and West Ham United have both managed to frustrate Liverpool within a space of a week. It is for this reason that Fabinho stated that certain adjustments are required to maintain their lead in the Premier League.

Fabinho’s Comments on Liverpool

“We have loads of confidence,” the right-back for Liverpool stated. “We enjoyed a sensational December that was near perfect, but we are currently experiencing a dip that needs to be rectified.

“It’s nearly impossible to explain how this happened to us. I think the teams we are playing against now are sitting extremely deep. Therefore, we need to do things differently, and perhaps we aren’t achieving this at the moment as we are unable to find the necessary spaces.

“Usually, we want to attack through the middle, and this becomes quite a problem against defensive and physically strong clubs. We seriously need to find solutions, but in the last few matches, we haven’t.”

Liverpool in the Premier League

Manchester City managed to return to the top of the league after they beat Everton in a 2-0 victory on Wednesday night. However, the Reds have a game in hand as they will host Bournemouth on Saturday at Anfield.

“We want to be more superior when it comes to football every single day. However, this is not currently happening at the moment,” Fabinho stated. “We are well aware of our quality, but we are also aware that we can do much better.

“If we can improve on our quality, we will maintain our lead in the Premier League. However, talking about it and actually implementing it are two different things. Personally, I’m not too stressed about it. However, we understand that we have to give more in our next game to succeed.

“Defeating Bournemouth is vital if we wish to maintain our 3-point lead. We are only looking at the next match, and we have our eyes set on beating Bournemouth.

“After this weekend, there are loads of difficult matches we need to conquer. Fortunately, we will have a few key players back, allowing the manager more options during these games.”

James Milner has also stated that Liverpool should actually enjoy their time at the top of the table instead of seeing it as a burden. Milner, who has claimed two league winner medals when he was at Manchester City is well aware of the pressure that goes with a title race in the Premier League.

Obviously, there’s still a long way to go before the season comes to an end. However, if Liverpool can make the necessary changes to their squad, they should be able to win this year.

The Conference Championship that took place on Sunday saw huge upsets in both the AFC and NFC divisions, leaving us with a glorious Super Bowl 53 matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams from Atlanta on 3 February 2019.

Don’t you think the conference championship on Sunday was the greatest ever? Both matches went into overtime which is actually the first time that this has ever happened. For the 4th time since the merger occurred, both road teams managed to win. Therefore, we have the New England Patriots facing the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53 from Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to look forward to. This will also be the third time that the NFL title will be hosted in Atlanta.

Super Bowl 53 Betting Analysis

Super Bowl 53 is essentially a rematch. The Bill Belichick/Tom Brady dynasty with the New England Patriots started on 3 February 2002, in Super Bowl 36 as Brady was leading a 20-17 upset against the favoured St. Louis Rams. This will be the 9th Super Bowl appearance for Belichick and Tom Brady and the third consecutive Super Bowl which is kind of absurd. Only the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills have reached at least three consecutive Super Bowls.

The Rams and Patriots last played in 2016 during the regular season where the Patriots won an easy 26-10 at home. However, the Rams back then were awful and were still coached by Jeff Fisher.

New England Patriots

Brady and the Patriots looked extremely mortal during the regular season this year, but that all changed during the playoffs. The Patriots didn’t have any issues during the Divisional Round when they faced the Los Angeles Chargers and managed to upset the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime. Sony Michel played a big role during the Chiefs game, accumulating 113 rushing yards and two scores. He currently has five rushing touchdowns in the postseason. Fans also shouldn’t be surprised if this is the last game for Rob Gronkowski.

Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are home during Super Bowl 53. They are incredibly lucky to be here following one of the worst calls in the history of the league on a pass interference that managed to benefit the Rams when they played against the Saints. If that was called, and the league admitted that it should have been, the New Orleans Saints would have won due to a field goal during the final seconds of the match. Instead, the Los Angeles Rams managed to tie the game on a late field goal and managed to win it on a field goal during overtime thanks to Greg Zuerlein. The Rams are currently the best NFL team on the road with a 14-3 record over the past two seasons which includes playoffs.