Author: quyen1

Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena surged into the top five of the UFC‘s welterweight division with a career-best win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 – and he did it all with a broken arm.

The Next Big Thing of Aussie combat sports, 27-year-old Della Maddalena pulled off a stunning come-from-behind knockout of the former title contender on Sunday in Florida.

It was a closely fought bout until Della Maddalena blasted his Brazilian opponent with a knee to block a takedown attempt during the third round.

 

The knee caught Burns flush and wobbled him, with the West Aussie jumping on top to finish the fight with elbows and punches.

After a trip to the hospital, an X-ray confirmed that ‘Della’ had fought for most of the bout with a broken arm.

Jack Della Maddalena made it 17 wins in a row with his knockout of Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 – and he did it with a broken arm

His manager, Tim Simpson, posted the scan to social media on Tuesday evening showing the broken bone.

‘Jack Della Maddalena’s arm snapped clean early in the fight,’ Simpson captioned the pic. ‘Rallied for a finish in the third. Soldier! P.S. Gilbert kicks hard!’

UFC commentators were impressed with the big-punching Aussie’s comeback win on Sunday.

‘Jack Della Maddalena is definitely on a championship trajectory, stunning the Miami masses,’ said John Anik in commentary.

Joe Rogan said: ‘Wow, what a huge moment from Jack Della Maddalena.

‘It feels good,’ Della Maddalena said afterwards.

‘My plan was come here grab the cash and dash. I knew I hurt him. He’s the man. There’s some scary people in this division but I’m the f**king scariest.

Della Maddalena called out undefeated welterweight bogeyman Shavkat Rakhmonov after the bout, hoping they could tangle in a title eliminator with the winner to face champ Leon Edwards.

Della Maddalena blasted his Brazilian opponent with a knee to block a takedown attempt during the third round of Sunday’s bout

The West Aussie star is now within striking distance of the welterweight belt and has called out fellow undefeated fighter Shavkat Rakhmonov

‘Shavkat Rakhmonov,’ Della Maddalena yelled.

‘I think you and me would make a hell of a title eliminator.’

Latest UFC rankings were released on Thursday showing that Della Maddalena has moved from a ranking of 11th to No.5, and well on track for a shot at the division champion Leon Edwards in the near future.

It is unknown how long he will be sidelined due to the arm injury, but championship gold is seemingly just a couple of wins away.

Colby Covington has sent a message to Ian Machado Garry that he will fight him if three stipulations are met by his wife, Layla.

Covington has made a name for himself with his trash talking, often receiving widespread criticism for his words and insults towards fellow fighters, including Garry.

Garry has challenged Covington to a match after the latter referenced the Irishman’s wife, saying he wants the 36-year-old to retire from the UFC as he called out his rival after beating Geoff Neal at UFC 298.

It has been unclear whether the fight would happen, but it appeared to take a step in a positive direction this week when Garry called out Covington for a future welterweight bout.

Covington, in a video shared on his social media accounts, has now responded, targeting Garry’s wife, Layla, once again.

WARNING: Strong language

Colby Covington (pictured) has told Ian Machado Garry that his wife, Layla must meet three stipulations for him to agree to fight the Irishman

Ian Muchado Garry has previously defended the ‘obsessive’ hate aimed at his wife Layla in recent months

Covington told his rival Layla must turn on her Instagram comments, sell the fight and appear on one of his MyBookie adverts

‘Greetings nerds and virgins,’ he began, stood on a boat. ‘It’s America’s champ, the people’s champ, Donald Trump’s favourtite fighter. We’re in beautiful sunny south Florida.

‘Most people, they work 60 years just to get a taste of the good life. This is what I live every day. We just shot 18 holes at Trump International West palm beach, now we’re out here sailing on seven figures and salty nerd tears.’

He continued: ‘Ian Garry, you translucent cuck, you wanted my attention, now you got it. Everybody knows why you want to fight me, Ian. I’m the biggest star in the division. It’s big city, bright lights, and the most attention and eyes you are ever going to have on you when I fight.

‘But everybody knows, Ian, you missed your chance. You had you chance in December to step on the same stage as me and have a microphone and say whatever you want to say to me, but you were scared. You were scared of what I was going to say to you, and you got the sniffles. And you cried you way out.’

After slamming Garry, Covington went onto reveal his stipulations, which included Layla appearing on one of his MyBookie adverts and declaring her support for ‘America’s Pick of the Week’.

Covington called Garry a ‘cuck’ and said he wants to fight him because he is ‘the biggest star in the division’

Garry called out the American after beating Geoff Neal at UFC 298 in the middle of February

‘You know what, I’m a giving man,’ he said. ‘I like to give everyone a chance. Everybody knows, Ian, what’s in it for you, but what’s in it for me? Tell me, why do I got to go down in the rankings to fight some Casper the ghost-looking Irish kid who has a gold digging wife?

‘Let me teach you the art of the deal, Ian, let’s come to a compromise. If you can meet these three stipulations, we got a fight. Stipulation number one, you and that gold digging w**** have got to turn your Instagram comments back on, and if you turn them off before the fight, you forfeit the fight. If you turn them off during fight week or after I beat your a**, you forfeit your purse.

‘Stipulation number two. Ian, we’ve heard you cry and beg on your knees, but we all know you’re not the boss and you don’t wear the pants in the relationship. Layla, you got 60 seconds to convince me and and the people why this fight needs to happen. So put your husband in the corner, get on your hands and knees, and beg.

‘Now for stipulation number three, my personal favourite. As you all might have noticed, something has been missing from my MyBookie promos lately, that’s because I’ve been saving that spot for a special someone. Layla, you want to be a star, you want the spotlight? I got it for you sweetie.

‘You want your 15 seconds of fame Layla? I’ll give you your 15 seconds of fame right here for America’s pick of the week. After I beat your husband, because that’s a foregone conclusion, he’s going to sit in the corner just as he does with sall that cuck stuff you guys do, and he’s going to watch while you get your 15 seconds of fame.

‘Ball’s in your court now cuck boy. I’ll have my lawyers raft up the papers, you got 24 hours to respond, we’ll see if you’re about that life.’

Covington told Layla he would give her ‘her 15 seconds of fame’ which would see him agree to fight Garry

Layla released a book titled ‘How to be a WAG’ in 2010, which has recently resurfaced and been widely criticised

Layla Muchado Garry has been widely criticised over the last few months, for reasons ranging from the 14-year age gap between the two to a book released in 2010.

Garry married Layla Anna-Lee, 40, in Las Vegas in February 2022, with his partner having released a book titled ‘How to Be a WAG’ 14 years ago.

The book drew attention to the couple following their wedding, and Garry has regularly slammed the unwanted attention he and his family have received from the likes of Sean Strickland and Dillon Danis, as well as Covington. 

Where does boxing’s carnival of horror end?

The increasing number of crossover fights between elite boxers and MMA fighters does absolutely nothing for the sport and, rather than increase interest, it actually degrades boxing.

Riath Al-Samarrai wrote an excellent, excoriating column in these pages on the subject last weekend.

It was a total evisceration of these fights and I agreed with every word. It’s sad for Mike Tyson, a legendary fighter, to be in a situation where he’s giving this Sideshow Bob character Jake Paul an opportunity to make more money.

I watched the whole spectacle in the build-up to Anthony Joshua’s fight with Francis Ngannou and it was laughable.

A legendary fighter in Mike Tyson facing Jake Paul is another degrading moment for boxing

Anthony Joshua set the record straight by swiftly knocking out Francis Ngannou in two rounds

Mail Sport columnist Simon Jordan sees no benefits for boxing from the crossover fights

If these supposedly elite heavyweights are as good as they say they are, then Ngannou shouldn’t get anywhere near the top fighters.

That’s not because he can’t take a punch or isn’t a combat fighter, but because they are massively different disciplines. It would be the same if you put boxers in the octagon, they wouldn’t last five minutes.

Tyson Fury’s earlier fight against Ngannou was awful and damaged the credibility of heavyweight boxing. Thankfully, AJ single-handedly re-established it. He set the record straight and did what an elite heavyweight should have done, which is swiftly knock out Ngannou. 

I understand that it’s entertainment and therefore becomes a different dynamic with different expectations but it’s one thing on the periphery of the sport but another at the elite end of it.

There is nothing about these crossover fights that benefits boxing. It benefitted MMA, Ngannou and the Saudis who hosted the fight but I see no benefits for boxing.

But unlike Fury, Joshua did his job, did it well and by showing the world how an elite heavyweight should handle such a novice, catapulted himself back into national treasure status.

Credits: IMAGO / Motorsport Images

Red Bull replaced Alex Albon with Sergio Perez ahead of the 2021 season after Max Verstappen convincingly beat the Thai driver over the one-and-a-half years they were teammates. However, even though Albon had to leave his seat after Verstappen‘s constant dominance, the current Williams driver has praised the Dutchman.

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Albon said on the F1: Beyond The Grid podcast, “Different drivers respond very differently. So I think some drivers need that kind of prod, other drivers I’m sure totally opposite if they can be in a happy place that’s where they perform the best.”

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Following this, the 27-year-old further added, “So for me somewhere in the middle. I think what I’ve learned is the more I focus on being in the present, not worry about the other side and that kind of thing, that’s how I perform the best, but at the same time I love that fight, I enjoy the competition.”

Albon’s F1 journey began in the Red Bull ecosystem with Toro Rosso (now Visa Cash App RB). He made his debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. However, after just a few races with the Faenza-based team, Red Bull promoted him to the senior team, where he replaced Pierre Gasly mid-season.

Alex Albon believes he earned the promotion to Red Bull very early

Red Bull brought in Alex Albon just after the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix. It was decided that he would make his debut in the very next race in Belgium and continue till the end of the season. However, Albon failed to justify his switch as he claimed just 76 points after the first nine races.

The Thai driver believes that it was Red Bull’s early promotion that made it difficult for him to adjust. Despite struggling from the very beginning, he kept his seat in 2020 and scored 105 points compared to Max Verstappen’s 214 that year.

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The primary reason why most experts believe that Verstappen has been able to beat his teammates at Red Bull convincingly so far is that the team reportedly builds the car in a fashion that suits the 26-year-old’s driving style. As a result, whoever teams with Verstappen often struggles to adjust.

Although such is the notion, it was Albon who debunked the myth surrounding it during a conversation on the High-Performance Podcast last year. The Thai driver explained that while the “car is what it is,” the three-time world champion’s ability to adjust to it is what makes the difference.

Credits: IMAGO ZUMA Wire

Since the advent of the hit Netflix docuseries ‘Drive to Survive,’ Formula 1’s stock has risen exponentially in the global markets. This has coincided with Liberty Media’s takeover of the sport from ex-ringleader, Bernie Ecclestone. And as 2023 came to a close, the sport recorded its biggest win yet in the Liberty Media era. The sport’s commercial rights holders have reported its revenue and it has gone on to break the all-time record. According to Auto Motor und Sport (as quoted on X (formerly Twitter)), “Formula 1 reports record revenues of $3.222 billion. $1.215 billion will be distributed to the teams. This is more in absolute numbers and less in percentage terms than in the previous year [$2.573 billion].”

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Broadcast rights, sponsorship income, and entry fees accounted for almost $2.560 billion for Liberty Media last year. The remaining $662 million can be attributed to revenue generated from the Paddock Club, Hospitality and F1 Experiences tickets and freight as per the AMuS report. What’s more, the inaugural Las Vegas GP has also been cited as one of the driving factors for the increase in revenue last year.

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While the sport has benefitted massively, the 10 teams have done, too. As per the prize distribution matrix, there has been an increase of 5% from last year’s payout. This year, the teams will get a slice of the pie out of $1.215 billion as compared to last year’s $1.157 billion. However, despite this increase, the teams are reportedly discontent with the financial stipulations of the latest Concorde Agreement.

Despite record-breaking financial success, F1 teams are unhappy with Liberty Media

Under the current Concorde Agreement, the team will get 63% of the total sales revenue generated. This is a hefty 3% decrease from what they were entitled to previously. Hence, while the sport has prospered, the teams are unhappy about how their share has seemingly gone down.

Despite their dominance, Red Bull do not take away the biggest slice of the pie. The distribution calculations are based on a lot other parameters. For instance, Ferrari is entitled to a legacy bonus owing to their presence in the sport from the very inception in 1950. This means that they still remain the highest earning team in the game with an estimated $8 million increase as compared to last year.

Red Bull are set to earn around $184 million as compared to their previous income of $169 million, whilst Mercedes see a $23 million increase in their payout with a staggering $179 million potentially in the bank this year.

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McLaren are set to receive $117 million as compared to their previous payout of $112 million.

Credits: IMAGO ZUMA Wire

After the first two races of the 2024 season, Max Verstappen has once again emerged as the favorite to wrap up this year’s championship. During the season-opening Bahrain GP, the Dutchman aced the competition, winning by a whopping 20+ seconds margin. At the Saudi Arabian GP, he rinsed and repeated as he got the pole and the race win. Despite the evident superiority of the RB20 and Verstappen’s alarming gap at the helm of it, McLaren’s Lando Norris doesn’t seem to be concerned with the three-time world champion’s current trajectory.

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Motorsport Week quoted the McLaren driver as saying, “I don’t think it [Verstappen’s success] was concerning at all, honestly. Considering that they spent a lot of time developing and making a new car for this year, I’m pretty happy with how close we [McLaren] were to Red Bull.”

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At the Saudi Arabian GP, Oscar Piastri (the lead McLaren driver in P4) finished almost 32 seconds behind Verstappen. On paper, McLaren may look miles off the pace, but comparing their situation to last year’s race, where Norris finished almost a minute behind the race-winning RB19, the Briton’s assessment of the team’s strides forward makes sense.

As things stand, the MCL38 looks comfortable in the high-speed corners. However, the RB20 boasts a lightning-quick straight-line speed and a properly balanced race car in the slower, more twisty sections of the circuits.

Can anyone catch Red Bull this year?

Red Bull is the only team that seems to have come to grips with this year’s regulations. With their exception, every team on the grid is suffering from some or the other gremlin, whether design-related or otherwise.

During last weekend’s race at the Jeddah Corniche circuit, the W15 was exposed for its still unoptimized aerodynamic package. In the middle sector, the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton lost almost half a second per lap. In Bahrain, even Ferrari suffered reliability issues, as both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were nursing race-long brake issues.

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The only hope the Red Bull rivals have is in the developmental race over the course of the season. However, with Red Bull’s advantage over the competition, any gains made by the others can easily be neutralized by the Milton-Keynes-based outfit.

However, with the internal dynamics within the team playing out—with a potential internal power struggle that has disrupted the team from within—their rivals would hope for the Austrian team to falter as the season goes on.

Credits:IMAGO BSR Agency

Since Max Verstappen picked up his maiden world championship at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, he’s won a whopping 36 out of 46 races. Last year, the Dutchman won 19 out of 22 races and has won the opening two races this year. Naturally, the narrative that Verstappen is killing the sport by making it boring has been gaining traction. Due to this, the sport reported a staggering drop in viewership. But as many started pointing fingers at the Dutchman for this, his ex-teammate, Alex Albon, defended Verstappen by explaining that the sport today is more exciting than ever.

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On the Beyond the Grid podcast, Albon explained, “It’s a bit of a shame to see comments about Max, and it is a boring season because it isn’t. If you take him out of the equation, we have one of the best grids, one of the tightest grids ever in F1. Even if you include Max, it’s still the tightest grid.”  

The numbers that have been circulated on social media show that ESPN recorded a 40% dip in viewership from last year’s Saudi Arabian GP, which roughly translates to a drop in 600,000 viewers in the United States.

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While many have been pointing fingers at Verstappen, other credible factors can explain the record-low number of viewers. For instance, this time, the Grand Prix was not held on a Sunday but on a Saturday. Further, the race was not broadcast on ESPN’s flagship channel but on ESPN2 instead.

Is Max Verstappen really making F1 boring?

Albon went on to stress about how close the F1 grid really was. The field is strung together very tightly and the British-Thai driver pointed out at his team’s strategy gaffe to make his point. At the Saudi Arabian GP, a two-lap late pitstop costed him a 6-place deficit when he came out of the pits.

Even during the Bahrain GP, Charles Leclerc emerged as the fastest driver over a single lap (during Q2). Admittedly, the single-lap pace of the RB20 is still something that the team needs to work on, and hence, Verstappen’s race pace and results do not show the entire picture.

With teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren on the prowl, the Bulls might actually be faced with one of the strongest oppositions they’ve had to battle as the 2024 Formula 1 season progresses.

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury feels sad that Mike Tyson will be going up against him as a coach.

Fury returns to the boxing ring but not against Oleksandr Usyk, but rather, against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou who makes his professional boxing debut against the Briton on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Although many critics feel the fight is an obvious money grab with Ngannou having next to no shot, things got interesting when it was announced that Mike Tyson would be coaching him for the fight.

“It is no secret I back Ngannou 100 percent in this face-off of champions,” Tyson said at the time. “He has one hard punch, and when it lands, it’s game over. I am looking forward to working with Ngannou and supporting his transition from the octagon to the boxing ring.

“He isn’t a combat novice; he is a world champion. He knows how to compete when the bell rings, but the key will be combining his energy and combat skills into his punches and using his agility to move swiftly around the ring then delivering the knock-out blow. We’re here to win.”

Tyson Fury, of course, was named after the legendary former heavyweight champion and has always held him in extremely high regard.

That’s why “The Gypsy King” feels almost disappointed that Tyson is going against him and that the boxing icon should be in his corner instead.“I think that it’s sad, actually,” Fury told Sky Sports (via Boxing Social). “The man that I am named after, a legend, has to go against me and then come out as a loser, having lost to a man who was named after him. I think that it’s sad and I think that he should be in my corner, not the opposing corner, but business is business and I understand that it’s strictly business.

“No matter what he teaches this fella [Ngannou], no matter how much boxing training he does, everyone has got a plan until they get punched in the face and I’m not sure who said that, but that is true. They’ve all got a plan until they get smacked in the mouth.”

Should Fury defeat Ngannou as expected, the expectation is that negotiations will recommence over a heavyweight title unification fight with Usyk for early 2024.

Former cross-code footy star and heavyweight boxer Sonny Bill Williams has launched an attack on undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather for his support of Israel in the ongoing Middle East conflict.

Mayweather, a former five-weight world champion, was one of the first big-name  celebrities to publicly support Israel after Hamas attacked the country on October 7.

He arranged for a private plane filled with supplies to be flown to Israel in order to help those in need of aid, and has since continued to advocate against antisemitism.

Earlier this week, Mayweather visited Israel and was presented with two honours – the Champion for Israel award and the Lifesaving Award – for his ongoing support of the nation.

The boxer has been photographed with various organisations while in Israel, and been denounced by some who are critical of Israel’s role in the conflict.

Sonny Bill Williams has criticised boxing great Floyd Mayweather for supporting Israel

Mayweather was one of the first international celebrities to show public support for Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7, sending a plane with supplies to the country

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Williams, a devout Muslim who has been vocal in his support of Palestine, shared a video on social media of Mayweather posing with what look to be IDF troops and unleashed a withering takedown of the American.

‘On tour once we stayed at the same hotel as Floyd and his team,’ wrote Williams on X on Thursday.

‘The footy boys wanted a photo with him in the foyer. He rolled past us with his 10man entourage and had 5 ladies with him.

‘The women who seemed more excited with the attention from the boys than his company. I kept my eyes on Floyd as he seemed so upset, not about the boys asking for a photo but his lady friends paying the boys attention, not him.

‘I remember thinking ‘how can a man so revered seem so insecure?’ – after seeing this footage it becomes clear, a man without a backbone isn’t a man he’s a coward, keep dancing while the kids are dying.’

In January, the NRL condemned Williams’ comments on the war in Gaza in a letter to a leading Jewish organisation after the former Roosters and Bulldogs star was accused of inciting hatred.

The allegation was levelled at Williams when he described supporters of Israel as ‘Zionist cowards’ in a social media post last November, and he was also slammed for claiming Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7 attack were treated well.

Williams, who converted to Islam in 2009, was also criticised by radio host Ray Hadley after he ‘liked’ a comment on social media calling Hamas terrorists ‘freedom fighters’.

Mayweather has recently visited Israel and has been awarded for his advocacy (pictured)

The former All Black had shared a post from American law professor, author and controversial columnist Khaled Beydoun that said: ‘So, Ukrainian civilians defending their families are ‘freedom fighters’… But Palestinians in Gaza doing the EXACT same thing are ‘terrorists’?’

Williams reposted the comment with the 100 emoji to emphasise his approval, and the palms-up emoji to represent prayer.

Hadley called the comments a ‘disgrace’.

Mayweather has also been outspoken on social media about his opinions on the conflict.

He posted: ‘I stand with Israel against the Hamas terrorists. Hamas do not represent the people of Palestine but are a terrorist group that are attacking innocent lives!

‘I stand for all humans and wish for the safe return of all Americans and Israelis and any human that were kidnapped as hostages during these horrific war crimes.

‘This is not a time for politics. This is a time for safety first and foremost.

‘God Bless America. God Bless Israel. God Bless Human Kind!’

Along with the post, he included a picture of himself from a previous visit to Jerusalem.

Ferrari president John Elkann believes Lewis Hamilton‘s decision to sign with the Italian marque is testament to his faith in the team’s chances of ending Red Bull’s dominance.

The Briton will join the Scuderia next year after 11 seasons with Mercedes as he continues to chase a record eighth world title.

The bombshell move came less than a year after Hamilton denied talks with Ferrari over a huge £40million deal and instead signed a two-year extension with the Silver Arrows worth a combined £100m.

The 39-year-old had previously expressed his desire to remain with Mercedes – where he has won six of his seven world championships – for the remainder of his career.

But Ferrari stepped up their efforts to tempt him across to Maranello, after Hamilton expressed frustration in recent seasons over under-performing by Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari next year after 11 seasons at Mercedes

The Briton will join forces with Charles Leclerc (left) at the Italian marque

Ferrari chairman John Elkann is hopeful Hamilton’s arrival can deliver a first title in 16 years

Elkann has long been an admirer of the Briton and played a major role in getting the deal over the line by personally speaking to Hamilton.

‘I have always said over the years how much Lewis is a great driver, how much he has done for Formula One,’ the Ferrari boss told Sky Sports in Italy.

‘He will join Ferrari and this is a sign of how much he believes he can do great things with us.’

Hamilton is statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen, leading Formula One’s all-time rankings in terms of race wins and pole positions.

His seven world titles are equalled only by Michael Schumacher, who won five consecutive titles with Ferrari.

But over the past two years Red Bull’s stranglehold on Formula One has been such that Hamilton hasn’t finished on top of the podium since the 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

Ferrari haven’t won the drivers’ championship since 2007 and their last constructors’ crown dates back to the following year, incidentally when Hamilton pipped Felipe Massa to the title on the final corner of the last race of the season in Brazil.

But Elkann suggested a power shift in Formula One could be on the cards with new regulations are set to come into place in 2026.

‘By 2026 a cycle will close, then another will open,’ the Ferrari president said.

‘The important thing will be to always be competitive and continue to fuel this spirit.’

Max Verstappen has claimed pole and won the first two races of the season, with teammate Sergio Perez coming second on both occasions.

Ferrari have finished third twice, with Carlos Sainz third in Bahrain and Charles Leclerc in Saudi Arabia, results which Elkann believes bode well for the remainder of the campaign.

‘If we look at where we were a year ago, we started better,’ he said.

‘The important thing is to improve and progress. This is the dynamic that exists in Ferrari and it should be praised and supported.

‘There is a desire to ensure that we bring the Ferrari to do the best possible and this was palpable today. This, I mean, from everyone.’

Hamilton was full of praise for Oliver Bearman (right) after the Saudi Arabian GP

Bearman finished seventh on his Formula One debut in Jeddah ahead of Hamilton

With Sainz out of the Saudi GP due to appendicitis, Ferrari drafted in Oliver Bearman as last-minute replacement.

The 18-year-old Briton finished seventh on his race debut after qualifying 11th and was hailed as a ‘future star’ by Hamilton, who warmly embraced him at the end of the race.

‘If one thinks he [Bearman] can stay ahead of Hamilton and Lando Norris on his debut, I think Oliver will remember this for his whole life,’ Elkann said.

‘The hug that Lewis wanted to give him shows what a great champion he is on and off the track.’