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      Who is Charles Leclerc’s new rumoured girlfriend Alexandra Saint Mleux?

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      CHARLES Leclerc is one of the best drivers in Formula one, having finished as runner-up in the drivers standings for the 2022 season.There has been a lot of speculation as to who he is dating, after breaking up with his girlfriend Charlotte Sine. Here’s what we know.
      Charles Leclerc is rumoured to be dating Alexandra Saint Mleux
      Who is Charles Leclerc’s new rumoured girlfriend Alexandra Saint Mleux?
      Charles Leclerc is rumoured to be dating Italian Alexandra Saint Mleux.
      Very little is known about her at the moment, only that she is 21 years old and studying in Paris, France.
      There have been rumours circulating online that the Ferrari driver has been spotted with Saint Mleux, suggesting a romantic relationship between the two.
      Nothing has publicly been confirmed about the relationship between the two, so for now it cannot be verified if there is a romance going on.
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      Alexandra has a TikTok account, which has over 18,000 followers.
      In her videos, Saint Mileux shares videos of places she has visited, which often get in excess of 40,000 views.
      Who has Charles Leclerc previously dated?
      Leclerc was dating Architecture student and fellow Monegasque resident Charlotte Sine for three years.
      He was previously dating Italian model Giada Gianni between 2015 and 2019.
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      Leclerc ended the relationship with Gianni midway through the Formula One season, as he wanted to focus on his career and challenging Lewis Hamilton for the Drivers’ title.
      Gianni announced their split via an Instagram video in 2019, stating: “Charles left me. He wants to devote himself only to Ferrari.”
      When did Charles Leclerc and Charlotte Sine break-up?
      She last attended the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of the 2022 season but announced their split just weeks later.
      Leclerc posted: “Hello everyone, Charlotte and I have decided to end our relationship and we remain good friends.
      “We have shared so many great moments and she is and always will be a very special person to me.” More

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      Lewis Hamilton boost ahead of Saudi Arabian GP with rival set to receive TEN-PLACE grid penalty after Bahrain incident

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      CHARLES LECLERC has been slapped with a ten-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.The Ferrari star was forced to retire in Bahrain due to issues with his car’s electronic control unit [ECU].
      Charles Leclerc will face a ten-place grid penalty this weekendCredit: AFP
      Leclerc, 25, had been in third place before being forced to quit.
      Ferrari experienced issues with Leclerc’s ECU on the morning of the race, before similar problems with its replacement forced their star man out of the opening GP of the season.
      Competition rules dictate that teams can only go through two ECUs in the space of an entire campaign.
      With Ferrari already requiring a third, Leclerc will have to start Sunday’s Saudi GP with a ten-place penalty.
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      Speaking about the issue, Prancing Horse team principal Frederic Vasseur said: “It is something we have never experienced in the past and I hope now it is under control.
      “But unfortunately we will have to take the penalty in Jeddah because we only have a pool of two ECUs for the season.”
      Despite being on track for a place on the podium, Leclerc had been way off the pace set by Red Bulls Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
      After the Monegasque’s retirement, veteran Fernando Alonso pounced to grab the third spot on the podium, with Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz coming fourth.
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      Leclerc’s Ferrari was forced to retire from the Bahrain GP a fortnight agoCredit: Getty
      Lewis Hamilton came fifth, with his Mercedes team-mate George Russell in seventh and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll between them in sixth.
      On his team’s prospects this weekend, Vasseur added: “I can’t be satisfied with the situation and I want to do a step forward.
      “The characteristics of Jeddah are completely different compared to Bahrain and already it will swing a little more to what we have today and we will also bring some updates to Jeddah and I hope we will do a step forward.”
      Mercedes, meanwhile, reportedly held an emergency meeting following their underwhelming start to the season.
      Hamilton, who has been linked with a sensational move to Ferrari, aired his frustrations with his current team after the Bahrain GP.
      I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t needLewis Hamilton
      He said: “Last year, there were things I told them, I said the issues that are with the car.
      “I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need. And I think it’s really about accountability.
      “It’s about owning up and saying, ‘Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it used to be and we’ve got to work’.
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      “We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that’s what we do.
      “We’re still multi world champions you know, it’s just they haven’t got it right this time, they didn’t get it right last year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”
      Lewis Hamilton has been linked with a stunning move to FerrariCredit: Reuters More

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      I’m Lewis Hamilton’s ex-team-mate… he won’t quit Mercedes and I reckon he may turn things around and win eighth title

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      LEWIS HAMILTON will not quit Mercedes and could turn his woes around to win his eighth world title, according to a former team-mate.The British racing legend, 38, wrapped up his seventh world title in 2020.
      Lewis Hamilton suffered a nightmare start to the 2023 seasonCredit: PA
      But a heartbreaking rule gaffe in 2021 denied him on the final lap of the Formula One crown, and that was followed by a nightmare car in 2022 that left him well off the pace set by back-to-back champion Max Verstappen.
      The 2023 season started in nightmare fashion for Hamilton, with another car that appears well below the standards set by Red Bull and Ferrari – and even Aston Martin.
      The Stevenage star is desperate to be world champ for a record-breaking eighth time – and reports suggest he could be tempted to switch to a rival team in order to reach his goal.
      But Heikki Kovalainen believes his pal Hamilton will not make the switch and instead predicts him to stay put with the Silver Arrows despite the problems.
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      The Finn, who drove alongside Hamilton at McLaren in 2008 and 2009, told the Mirror: “Personally, I don’t see that coming – to me, he’s committed to Mercedes.
      “I met him in Hungary last year and we had a good chat there.
      “Without going into detail of what was said in a private conversation, the body language and the feel I got from him, I just felt that this is something that he wants to turn around.”
      Kovalainen, 41, continued: “He wants to turn things around for Mercedes and that’s going to tick another box on his resume – to show that it’s not that he’s only been driving good cars and making the most of the good cars, but that he can actually turn a struggling team around and lead that team.
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      “That’s the reason why I’m thinking he’s not going to change. I feel he wants to turn this thing around with Mercedes and then he can show the world that he can turn a struggling team into a winning team again.
      “It’s going to be exciting to watch and I 100 per cent believe he has the skill and the will.
      “If anyone, he can probably do it.”
      Hamilton is back in action at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix this weekend.
      The race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit gets underway at 5pm UK time on Sunday.
      Hamilton was team-mates with Heikki Kovalainen in 2008 and 2009Credit: Getty More

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      Lewis Hamilton and F1 rivals have ‘out of control’ WhatsApp group with one driver the leader

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      LEWIS HAMILTON and his Formula 1 rivals have an “out of control” WhatsApp group chat.When not fighting tooth and nail around a circuit, F1 drivers share messages with each other via WhatsApp.
      Formula 1 drivers have their own group chatCredit: AFP
      The existence of the group chat came to light last year, when Nikita Mazepin revealed he’d been booted out of it on the same day as his Haas axing.
      Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell is a chat admin, and lifted the lid on what goes on while appearing on The Fast and the Curious podcast.
      He said: “There is a WhatsApp group.
      “I mean it’s not like we’re sending banter in there day after day but there are occasions where something may have happened on track and suddenly people are sending memes in and whatever and it gets a bit out of control.”
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      McLaren star Lando Norris then revealed what the group chat icon is.
      Giggling, he said: “James Hunt as the group photo.”
      He then revealed: “It’s true [the group exists].
      “It’s not so much like ‘hey, we’re all mates’. It’s a lot more for talking about things that can help us as drivers in terms of rules, regulations, it’s more like how can we represent ourselves?
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      Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell is a key figure in the chatCredit: Splash
      “I don’t know how much [George] revealed, he’s like the head of it.”
      Norris, 23, then went on: “It’s a little bit of everyone.
      “We are all kind of chatting and working together to come up with different ideas.
      “We’ve got Esteban [Ocon], we got Zhou [Guanyu], we’ve got Alex [Albon]. Everyone chats in it [but] I can’t find any memes.”
      All members of the Grand Prix Drivers Association [GPDA] are part of the chat.
      Sebastian Vettel, who retired at the end of last season, played a key role.
      While Hamilton has been a member of the GPDA since 2009.
      Lando Norris lifted the lid on the group chatCredit: Getty
      James Hunt is the group chat iconCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd More

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      F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Date, UK start time, schedule, TV channel and live stream for massive race week ahead

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      THE Formula 1 season returned with Max Verstappen winning the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 5.Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished in first 12 seconds in front of teammate Sergio Pérez as Red Bull look to dominate the 2023 F1 season.
      Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand PrixCredit: THE MEGA AGENCY
      Sergio Perez during the 2023 F1 Bahrain Grand PrixCredit: GETTY
      Lewis Hamilton finished in 5th, and rumours surrounding him leaving Mercedes at the end of the season started as he is desperate for an eighth world championship.
      Last year’s Saudi Arabia GP was a thriller, with Verstappen just piping Charles Leclerc to the top of the podium by 0.549s.
      When is the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

      F1 Saudi Arabia GP will take place on Sunday, March 19.
      The race is scheduled to begin at 5pm UK time.
      Jeddah Corniche Circut is the track.

      When is practice and qualifying for the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

      Practice 1 is on Friday, March 17, from 1:30pm UK time.
      Practice 2 is on Friday, March 17, from 5pm UK time.
      Practice 3 is on Saturday, Match 18, from 1:30pm UK time.
      Qualifying is on Saturday, March 18, from 5pm UK time.

      READ MORE IN F1
      What TV channel is the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on?

      The F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be shown live on Sky Sports F1.
      Coverage will begin at 3pm UK time.

      Can I live stream the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

      Sky Sports customers can live stream all the action via the NOW app or on Sky Go.
      Non-Sky Sports subscribers can purchase a Sky Sports Day Pass via the NOW app for £11.99, which gives you access to all eleven Sky Sports channels for 24 hours.
      Alternatively, you can follow SunSport’s FREE live blog to stay up to day with all the action from Saudi Arabia.

      F1 2023 calendar More

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      Lewis Hamilton’s boss Toto Wolff slammed as ‘disingenuous’ and ‘crass’ after criticising F1 2023 Mercedes car

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      TOTO WOLFF has been labelled “disingenuous” and “crass” for openly criticising this year’s Mercedes.Wolff took the unusual step of writing off this year’s new design after just 60 minutes of qualifying in Bahrain.
      Mercedes struggled on the opening weekend in BahrainCredit: AP
      Lewis Hamilton, left, alongside Wolff, centre, and George RussellCredit: AFP
      He claimed that the team had made an error by producing this year’s car, which lacked the pace of the Red Bulls, Ferraris and Aston Martins.
      The Austrian promised to “sit down with the engineers and be totally non-dogmatic” as they aim to get back to winning ways.
      But former F1 boss Eddie Jordan is adamant that Wolff should take the blame – not his team of designers.
      He said: “He’s the CEO, he’s the boss. The buck stops with him. This is happening under his watch.
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      “To blame or criticise anybody in his design team is actually disingenuous. It’s really crass.
      “I hate to hear that, because he must be a man, stand up and take it on the chin and say, ‘my team, my people, we have failed to get the job successfully done at this moment. However, there are times ahead that we’re looking forward to and we will be there much stronger than we were in 2022’.
      “I think that Toto is strong enough, big enough and man enough to front this up and actually sort it out.”
      Meanwhile, F1 chiefs are not in talks to hold a race in London – despite contradictory claims from a property developer.
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      Plans have been drawn up to show a vast sports, leisure and entertainment complex in the Docklands area on the east side of London.
      The developers have used F1 logos and associated brands in their images, however an F1 spokesman says they have not been sent any proposals or had any discussions with the developers who are trying to gain publicity.
      The ambitious plans suggest the proposed track had 22 corners and had floating grandstands on the Thames that could cater for 95,000 spectators.
      Silverstone is the only UK venue on the F1 calendar and has a contract in place until 2024. More

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      Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes planning radical changes to 2023 F1 car after just ONE race to keep pace with Red Bull

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      LEWIS HAMILTON’S Mercedes are planning radical changes to their car after just ONE race in the Formula One season.Seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton started the campaign in disappointing fashion nine days ago.
      Mercedes are planning changes to their car after just one F1 raceCredit: AP
      Lewis Hamilton started the season in disappointing fashion in Bahrain for MercCredit: PA
      The 38-year-old could only finish sixth in Bahrain as rival Max Verstappen romped to victory for Red Bull.
      Mercedes already had concerns about their W14 design, which is an evolved version of their “no-sidepod” one from last season which caused numerous issues as the team missed out on an eighth-consecutive constructors’ championships. 
      Mercedes boss Toto Wolff wants his development team to reproduce a “radical” new design following the “worst weekend of racing” at the Sakhir Circuit.
      And he added that they needed to be bold with future updates, amid questions over their “zero sidepod” design.
      READ MORE ON F1
      Now Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin opened up about what’s next during an interview Formula1.com.
      He said: “People have tended to use the word ‘concept’ when they mean the sidepod design, and Toto had said recently that we are looking at a revision that is going to come along in the next few races anyway.
      “Given the gap to the front, of course we are going to look at bigger departures and more radical changes. But those changes take time to turn into a faster solution in the wind tunnel – you can’t do them overnight.
      “There is quite a lot of development that you’ve got to do around any sort of big change in geometry in that area.
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      “Of course, we are looking at where we can improve the car, we are looking for potential to develop and you will see visible changes coming on the car over the next few races.”
      Shovlin also highlighted significant tyre degradation as a major concern after Bahrain as well as the car’s general lack pace.
      He added: “Ultimately, we’ve got a lot of work to do. That gap in qualifying was quite large; we were over half a second to the front. In the race that was even bigger.
      “That was compounded by the fact that when you get the tyre degradation, you get a bit more sliding, the tyres run hotter, and you end up finding it very difficult to keep them under any kind of control.
      “There is a lot that we need to understand but the key things are really getting on top of that long run degradation, which last year was a strong point for us.
      “Clearly, we’ve got something that’s not in the right place that we need to work on, but ultimately the other thing is that performance gap to the front. The raw pace of the car is not good enough.
      “We are working very hard at the moment to understand what we can do in the short-term future and in the mid-term future to try and get ourselves in a better place.” More

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      F1 returns to Saudi Arabia with ‘iron shield’ around Jeddah track to keep nervous drivers safe after 2022 missile strike

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      FORMULA ONE returns to Saudi Arabia this week.It was the scene of one of its most difficult political struggles in decades – but there is unlikely to be a repeat this time around.
      Last year a missile strike hit a fuel depot located near the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix trackCredit: Splash
      Security has been beefed up after a Yemini terrorst group took responsibility for the attackCredit: The Mega Agency
      The issue was not with F1 or the rulers of the Kingdom and their controversial regime but in fact the drivers, who you may remember had threatened to strike on the eve of last year’s GP.
      It followed a missile strike on a nearby fuel depot that sent black smoke into the skies near the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and subsequently clouded the race’s future on the F1 schedule.
      After over four hours of talks, the drivers were persuaded to race after being assured of their safety, but the security – plus Saudi’s questionable human rights record – had unified the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association like never before.
      They left Jeddah last March seeking further discussions with F1 but that is where the trail went cold – only it didn’t.
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      The organisers of the Saudi GP have since made considerable efforts to speak to the drivers to address the issues they had raised.
      Away from the cameras, there were meetings in Austria, plus a follow up discussion in Singapore. In fact, the dialogue still continues.
      Of course, the situation is different this time around. There is a truce between the Saudis and Yemen, whose Houthis group had claimed responsibility for the drone attack on the fuel depot.
      Last month, Saudi Arabia transferred $1billion into the central bank of Yemen’s internationally recognised government in a bid to bolster the country’s ailing economy.
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      But that has not stopped organisers from upping security for this weekend’s race. As you would expect from any event, security has been upscaled.
      There will be an increased visible presence – more guards, security sweeps and CCTV.
      And then there are the measures that aren’t visible. The embarrassment of last year’s attack is likely to see the full focus of the county’s “iron shield” protection system drawn to Jeddah.
      That’s the anti-missile defence system responsible for shooting down unmanned drones, which are used in attacks or to cause significant disruption.
      Then there are the social issues that have been raised. They too are likely to be addressed.
      I expect to see boys and girls on the grid. Like in previous races, the grandstands will not be segregated.
      Schoolchildren have all been given the day off school in the hope they attend or watch the race.
      From my understanding, their decision to meet with the drivers – plus their explanations – have been well received.
      Whether you like it or not, the Saudis are serious about their involvement in F1 and the race will be remaining on the calendar for some time.
      Ron way or another
      Cristiano Ronaldo attended Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia and could be at the Grand Prix nextCredit: AP
      I AM not too sure if Cristiano Ronaldo is an F1 fan or not.
      But I have been told that he is likely to be at the Saudi GP this Sunday.
      Ronaldo, who plays for Saudi side Al Nassr, is likely to be requested to attend with one paddock source saying it is within his £170million-a-year contract to attend.
      Hungarian GP future
      COULD the Hungarian F1 GP find a new home in the future?
      A new FIA Grade One track is being built near Lake Balaton, a one-hour drive from Budapest.
      The Hungaroring has held the F1 GP since 1986.
      Brazil welcomes Formula E
      FORMULA E is gearing up for its first race in Brazil, with the race set in Sao Paulo around the wonderfully-named Sambadrome.
      A crowd of 35,000 is expected as the all-electric series returns to South America on March 25.
      Vill yer boots
      VILLA PARK will host the opening round of this year’s World Supercross Championship on July 1.
      Aston Villa’s pitch will be turned into a “dirt bike battlefield” with jumps and bumps.
      Last year, 35,000 watched the event, which was held at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium and bosses are hoping for similar figures in Birmingham.
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      Ready to rumble
      THIS year’s MotoGP championship is shaping up to be a close-fought contest if pre-season testing is anything to go by.
      Incredibly, 12 riders broke the track record of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve with reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia setting the pace. More