Lewis Hamilton is determined to fire Mercedes back to former glories as he gears up for his season swansong before quitting for Ferrari.

Hamilton stunned the sporting world by ditching Mercedes – the constructor which has carried him to six of his record-equalling seven world championships – in favour of a move to their rivals next year.

On Wednesday, the 39-year-old made his first public appearance since news of his shock transfer broke.

Standing alongside team principal Toto Wolff, Hamilton faced just three questions from Mercedes’ in-house moderator in a nine-minute, no-frills and perhaps awkward – given the rawness of the British driver’s decision – car launch.

“The focus through the whole of winter training is getting the team back to where we once were,” said Hamilton.

“We have had these difficult couple of years which have been really grounding for us. It has helped us regroup and really look at things.

“(The last few weeks) have obviously been emotional and it is very surreal to be here.”

Hamilton, who joined Mercedes from McLaren in 2013, signed a two-year contract extension only last August. But over the winter he elected to terminate his £100million deal 12 months early.

Last year marked a second straight season without a victory for Hamilton – a losing streak which now stands at 45 races – and Mercedes’ first winless campaign in a dozen years.

They finished an eye-watering 413 points behind Red Bull while Hamilton, third in the individual standings, was 341 points adrift of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the Dutchman secured a hat-trick of world crowns.

Wolff metaphorically conceded at the final round in Abu Dhabi that Mercedes will have to scale Mount Everest to topple Verstappen.

But on Wednesday, Wolff said: “This is a complete relaunch of a car. It is very different, not only aerodynamically but underneath the car too.

“There have been so many mechanical changes which we hope will translate into more performance, more predictability and a car the drivers can really push.

“The most important thing is to look inward and what is it that we got wrong? We found some clues, we tried to eliminate as many variables as we could and the buzz in the company is something I have not seen for so many years.

“We know it is a big mountain to climb because if a team is so far ahead like Red Bull were last year then it is not easy.

“But we have a superb driver combination and hopefully a fast car. There are some good ingredients to be back at the front again.”

The Austrian, informed of Hamilton’s shock transfer only a fortnight ago, added: “It will be our last season with Lewis so we are keen on bringing a quick car.”

Hamilton and team-mate George Russell were given their first taste of their new car during a damp shakedown test at Silverstone.

On Thursday, the spotlight will be back on embattled Red Bull team principal Christian Horner as the world champions present their machine for the new campaign.

Horner is under investigation by the Formula One team’s parent company Red Bull GmBH following an accusation of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female colleague.

Last Friday, Horner was questioned by a lawyer for eight hours. He categorically denies the claim.

Horner remains in his role and he will speak to the media on Thursday at the team’s Milton Keynes HQ – although it is understood legalities around the process mean that questions relating to the internal investigation will be off-limits.

F1’s sole pre-season test gets under way in Bahrain on February 21, ahead of the opening race, also in the Gulf kingdom, on March 2.

Aston Martini puts her unbeaten record on the line in the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Jane Seymour Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown on Thursday.

Both Love Envoi and You Wear It Well have used the race as a stepping-stone towards Cheltenham Festival glory for the past two seasons, and another informative renewal looks to be in prospect.

Nicky Henderson’s Aston Martini was first past the post at Lingfield on Winter Millions weekend, only for the raceday stewards to deem she had caused interference to runner-up Ooh Betty. However, Aston Martini’s connections appealed the decision and were successful.

“It’s very exciting. She’s still got that unbeaten record to protect – she’s still a big work in progress, but so far so good,” said Liz Rutter, racing manager for the Henry Ponsonby syndicate.

“I think going back up in trip will probably help her as she’s won over further.

“Hopefully the ground won’t be too bad, but she did handle Lingfield and she seemed to handle that very well.

“She battled on very well there, she was headed and came back to win and really that was her first proper race, the first time she’s had to battle. She still seems progressive.

“Hopefully that form holds up as they think a lot of the Irish horse (Only By Night) in third. Obviously it will be hugely competitive and a big step up for her, but she’s an exciting one to have.”

Henderson also runs Either Or, a winner at Warwick last month.

Nigel Twiston-Davies inherited Smiling Getaway from Dan Skelton after she had run just one bumper, finishing fourth, but she has won both starts for her new yard.

Impressive at Ludlow, she made even more of an impression under a penalty at Warwick.

Assistant trainer Willy Twiston-Davies said: “She’s done absolutely nothing wrong since she came to us, she’s two from two.

“Her jumping has been fantastic, she stays very well so we’re hoping for a very good run.

“She’s earned this step up in grade, Aston Martini won OK last time but on the figures she should be bang there.

“I thought she won very well the last time and she’d taken a big step forward from her win at Ludlow to Warwick and hopefully there’s a bit more improvement to come.”

Skelton’s Cherie D’Am, Olly Murphy’s Little Miss Dante, Fergal O’Brien’s Springtime Promise and Lucy Wadham’s Jeune Belle complete the runners.

World Rugby has no plans to issue any public explanation regarding the controversial decision not to award Scotland what would have been a match-winning try in last Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations defeat by France at Murrayfield, the PA news agency understands.

The Scots – trailing 20-16 – thought they had secured victory when replacement lock Sam Skinner pushed through and appeared to ground the ball on the line under a ruck of bodies as the clock ticked past the 80-minute mark.

Referee Nic Berry’s on-field decision was “no try”, and after several minutes of high drama while footage was reviewed from various angles, TMO Brian MacNeice, having initially suggested he could see the ball on the ground, advised that there was “no conclusive evidence” to change the original call, much to the hosts’ dismay.

“I just don’t understand how the referee didn’t see it,” former Scotland international Craig Chalmers told PA on Monday. “He should have got in closer to it and put his hands in and had a better look.”

Head coach Gregor Townsend was similarly bewildered by the process that led to the try not being awarded. “I don’t understand the rationale,” he said in his post-match media briefing on Saturday.

“When you see the pictures, and when you also see the conversation, they have already said between them that the ball has been placed on the tryline.”

When asked last weekend if Scotland would be seeking further explanation from World Rugby, Townsend said: “It doesn’t really matter.

“We’ll get feedback, we do regularly, and that’ll be one of some incidents we’ll ask for clarification on, but it doesn’t change the outcome, unfortunately.”

Townsend regularly liaises with World Rugby regarding issues arising from matches and he wrote to the governing body after the France game, as he had done the previous week when seeking clarification over the number of penalties that went against his side in their victory away to Wales.

The head coach spoke with referee Berry after the France match and communication lines remain open between Scottish Rugby and the sport’s governing body, but Scotland are not demanding or expecting an apology or an admission that a mistake was made regarding Skinner’s disallowed try.

Despite the ferocity of the backlash, World Rugby will be sticking to their stance of not commenting publicly on specific officials’ decisions and are not expected to issue any clarification to clear the situation up in the public domain.

Although there remains a deep sense of injustice among Scotland’s players, coaches and supporters, the furore surrounding Saturday’s pivotal last-gasp flashpoint appears to be subsiding.

Blazing Khal will miss the Cheltenham Festival having suffered a fibrillating heart when defending his Boyne Hurdle crown – with a question mark over whether he will race again.

Charles Byrnes’ stable star won the Navan Grade Two following a long absence 12 months ago, teeing up an unsuccessful shot at the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at last year’s Festival.

Off the track for a further 332 days since finishing sixth in that Prestbury Park contest, connections were attempting to see if history could repeat itself when sent off 4-1 at Navan on Sunday.

However, he was one of the first to come under pressure, weakening after three out and eventually being pulled up by Philip Byrnes.

Blazing Khal’s trainer has now confirmed a return to the Cotswolds is off the cards and the eight-year-old will be given an easy time before a further decision is made on his future.

Byrnes said: “We’re going to give him a few weeks off, he had a fibrillating heart afterwards and that was the reason he ran so bad.

“He is not going to Cheltenham and we’re not making any plans going forwards at the moment.

“Whether he’ll race again or not we don’t know, we will just see how he is in a couple of weeks and make a decision then.”

Naomi Osaka has reached the quarter-finals at a tournament for the first time in nearly two years.

The four-time grand slam champion was given free passage through to the last eight at the Qatar Open after opponent Lesia Tsurenko withdrew because of injury ahead of their scheduled contest.

Osaka returned to the tour in January following the birth of daughter Shai last summer and had won only one of her first four matches prior to heading to Doha.

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But the Japanese star has hit form in the Qatari capital, reversing her Australian Open loss to Caroline Garcia in the first round and then defeating Croat Petra Martic.

It is her best run since she reached the final of the Miami Open in April 2022, losing to Iga Swiatek.

Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova’s difficult start to the year continued with a 7-5 6-3 loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen was beaten 7-5 6-3 by Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

Elliot Minchella is determined to build on the memory of last season’s near-misses and steer Hull KR to silverware starting with Thursday night’s Betfred Super League derby opener at the MKM Stadium.

Minchella kicks off his fifth season at Craven Park and his first as captain having played a pivotal role in Rovers’ re-emergence last season, when they reached the play-off semi-finals and suffered an agonising Challenge Cup final defeat to Leigh.

But despite the plaudits directed at both himself and his team, the 28-year-old insists he was far from satisfied and wants to see his side take the next step and bring a first major trophy to club in almost 40 years.

“We came up short last year,” admitted Minchella. “It was a great experience to play at Wembley and in a Super League semi-final, but we came home with nothing and the trophy cabinet got nothing added into it.

“That’s massive motivation for me. When you get so close to success it’s an addictive feeling and you want to go one better and get over the line.

“We’ve made a few semi-finals in the last few years but I’m not happy with that. When I finish playing I’m not going to look back and think that was really good. I want to have a medal around my neck and to win trophies for Hull KR.”

Minchella assumes the captaincy from Shaun Kenny-Dowall, who has retired to take up a place on the coaching staff, and is one of a number of high-profile departures in the off-season, including the less-than-serene exits of Jordan Abdull and assistant coach Danny McGuire.

But head coach Willie Peters looks to have recruited well, with Tyrone May their high-profile addition from Catalans, while NRL back Peta Hiku and rugged ex-Wakefield prop Jai Whitbread both look set to boost their hopes of another impressive season.

Hiku and May are both set to start for Rovers in one of the most eagerly-anticipated openers of recent times, while hosts Hull are without influential home-grown prop Brad Fash, for whom the derby means more than most.

Hull head coach Tony Smith, who is also acutely aware of the passions that swirl around the Hull derby having first tasted it at KR before his controversial cross-city switch, is also keen to use to kick-start a more promising campaign after last year’s poor 10th place finish.

“I think it’s great that the new season is kicking off with a Hull derby,” said Smith.

“We can sit here and say it’s just another game but when you live in the city you see how passionate people get about their teams, they have to live next door to rival neighbours and it’s a big deal for a lot of people.

“It’s also very important for us because in the previous few years we probably don’t have a good record against KR at our home stadium, so it’s important for us to get rid of that and give our supporters something to cheer.”

Craig Kieswetter has paid tribute to the training prowess of Willie Mullins, as the former England cricketer begins to dream of Cheltenham Festival glory with Leopardstown scorer Il Etait Temps.

Owned by the Kieswetter family’s Barnane Stud in conjunction with the Heffer family’s Hollywood Syndicate, the six-year-old struck at the Dublin Racing Festival for the second year in a row.

Having lowered the colours of Facile Vega over hurdles 12 months ago, Il Etait Temps was back to cause another upset in the Irish capital, this time the beneficiary of Marine Nationale’s Irish Arkle no show, as he battled past Found A Fifty in the hands of Danny Mullins for his second Grade One success.

The South Africa-born Kieswetter played 71 times for England in white-ball internationals and is also a scratch golfer, having competed on both the PGA EuroPro Tour and MENA Golf Tour since his retirement from cricket.

As such, he is well qualified to judge sporting excellence and has always spoken in glowing terms of Il Etait Temps’ trainer, the master of Closutton.

“He’s probably along the lines of a Messi or Ronaldo or a Schumacher – he’s a champion,” said Kieswetter when explaining what makes Mullins so prolific.

“He’s going to go down as one of the all-time greats, but there is still plenty of life in the old dog yet. He certainly isn’t ready to hand over the reins yet and you can see how passionate and energetic and driven he is to keep winning and getting the results.”

The 36-year-old also reserved plenty of praise for Il Etait Temps and his jockey, as they both advertised their class at the back-end of a thrilling renewal of the two-mile Grade One event.

“It was very impressive and it might have just been fate or destiny with it being a year to the day since he won his first Grade One,” continued Kieswetter.

“We were delighted and it was another terrific ride from Danny (Mullins) – I was very hoarse the next day after shouting so loudly at the TV.

“It was terrific to have Ross Doyle there on course; Peter, Ross and Anna Doyle are good friends of the family and sourced the horse for us, so it is fantastic that they were there.

“He’s quite a difficult horse to follow I suppose, because his jumping – even though it is getting better than it was over hurdles – is still quite inconsistent and he is certainly a horse who puts you through the full range of emotions when you are watching a race.”

Il Etait Temps’ gutsy triumph came on a weekend where Mullins claimed all eight Grade One prizes on offer at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Mullins’ dominance at one of Ireland’s premier meetings left people questioning if his superiority is diminishing the competitive nature of the sport.

However, Kieswetter has leapt to Mullins’ defence – highlighting his winning mentality and great ability to treat every owner and horse among his vast arsenal equally.

“I have read articles questioning if it is good for the industry that Willie is dominating, but at the end of the day, Willie Mullins provides results and this is a results-based sport,” continued Kieswetter.

“With Willie and his team – not only his management team, but the whole staff – you have never once had a feeling of bias in the yard, which is probably a very difficult thing for them to do.

“Every single horse is treated equally and given the opportunity to run their race, no matter how many he may also saddle in the same race.

“You go to Closutton and you see the professionalism of Willie and his staff. What we have always been impressed with about Willie is he gives a lot of ownership to his staff in terms of the horses, which is impressive to see.

“His results speak for themselves and we have always been delighted to be associated with him.

“He’s set up a model at his yard that works and I think it is a bit unfair for the industry to be having a crack at him and saying it is the Willie Mullins Festival. The drive at the yard is very impressive and very fun to be a small part of.”

Il Etait Temps is now the general second-favourite for the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival and, having twice ran with credit at the showpiece meeting, has connections excited ahead of his third bite of the Prestbury Park cherry.

Kieswetter added: “Horse racing is about selling the dream and I’ve never enjoyed going into a race with lots of media and talk about a horse, but he has certainly proven that he deserves to be not taken lightly.

“We will certainly be over there and we’re excited every year for Cheltenham – and we can’t wait to be there cheering on Il Etait Temps with the team.”

Broadway Boy was found to be suffering from stomach ulcers after he disappointed at Warwick behind Grey Dawning.

Having won three of his first four outings over fences, the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained novice was prominent in the betting for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase next month.

However, having been harried for the lead he was beaten approaching the second last and finished over 30 lengths behind Grey Dawning.

Whether he now steps up in trip for the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham or goes for the Grade One Brown Advisory has still to be decided.

“It’s completely up in the air and there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge yet,” said assistant trainer Willy Twiston-Davies.

“It’s been narrowed down to either the Brown Advisory or the National Hunt Chase but that is it, we’re not sure yet and we’ll make a decision the week before, probably. Both options are definitely open.

“It will be a case of seeing who goes where and what the ground is looking like.

“He’d be close to the top of the ratings for the National Hunt Chase whereas he might have to improve slightly for the Brown Advisory, but we’ll see nearer the time.

“He scoped badly after Warwick and then we also found that he had stomach ulcers as well, but we’re back on track now.”

Tellherthename is all systems go for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle having missed out on a shot at Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle on account of the testing ground.

Trainer Ben Pauling has never hidden his admiration for highly of his talented novice, who has won two of his four starts to date in taking fashion at Huntingdon.

The Cheltenham Festival opener has always been on the radar for the Megson family-owned five-year-old, but Pauling was keen to stop off at Newbury en route and try to exploit a rating of 135.

However, with persistent rain in the days leading into the prestigious handicap turning conditions in Berkshire heavy, connections made the decision to skip the contest in favour of heading to Prestbury Park without the risk of a gruelling race prior to his main objective.

“It’s ironic because the Betfair Hurdle is such a valuable race and takes a lot of thinking about, but the Supreme is one of the sort of blue riband events of our sport,” said Pauling.

“To have a horse we think is good enough to feature in it doesn’t happen very often and the owners were keen to save him for that day rather than end up at Cheltenham having had a harder race than necessary in the Betfair.

“We had always said to ourselves we would love to go via a Betfair Hurdle if everything fell right. So he was trained for the race and couldn’t have been in better form, but unfortunately the rain that Newbury got meant the ground was always going to be too testing.

“Actually, the fact the rain stopped and it started to dry out a little bit meant it was going to be quite tacky and hard work, so that even further secured our thoughts not to go there which was a shame because we thought we had him going there in great form and off a very nice mark and a good position to do himself justice.

“He’s at home in his stable looking magnificent and we will now prepare him for the Supreme.”

The Naunton Downs handler has tasted success three times at the Cheltenham Festival and heads to the showpiece meeting in four weeks time with the best squad of novice talent he has ever assembled.

His Festival hopes were enhanced by Handstands’ impressive victory in Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle last week and he will now head attempt to repeat Willoughby Court’s 2017 victory in the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle, while Fiercely Proud and Challow Hurdle third The Jukebox Man are other smart prospects Pauling could unleash in the Cotswolds.

“We do seem to have a lot of novices that are going the right way at the moment and they are a very talented and progressive bunch. It’s nice to have such nice younger horses.” continued Pauling.

On Handstands, he added: “He’s come out of Huntingdon well and I was really, really pleased with his performance in the Sidney Banks.

“He’s a horse that previous to that race had only beaten what he had beaten, but Ben Jones who had ridden him twice before felt we were only scratching the surface and had not got to the bottom of him.

“You are not quite sure until you run them in that better grade what you have, but we were thrilled by the way he went about it and he put the race to bed quite nicely – when he got to the front he didn’t do an awful lot and probably won a bit cosily, so it was a good performance.”

The Football Association has approved Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25 per cent stake in Manchester United.

Confirmation that the Premier League had given its backing to the deal was contained within an update to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday evening.

A further SEC update has now revealed that approval from the FA has also been obtained as completion edges closer.

Within an amended tender offer statement published on Wednesday afternoon came confirmation that the national governing body’s approval “has already been obtained”.

The green light from the FA is one of the last remaining steps but the deal cannot be completed until the tender offer for Class A shares is finalised.

The period in which holders of Class A shares can tender them for sale has been extended from February 14 until 23:59 on February 16.

England will be reinforced for their Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland by the return from injury of Manu Tuilagi, George Martin and Luke Cowan-Dickie.

The trio missed the opening two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations but come into contention for the trip to Murrayfield on February 24 after being included in a 36-man training squad named for the first fallow week.

Ollie Lawrence faces a battle to prove his fitness with the Bath centre continuing to rehab his hip problem in camp, alongside Marcus Smith, who has a calf problem. No date has been set for either player’s comeback.

Maureen Mullins, matriarch of the famous Irish racing family, has died aged 94.

Wife of multiple champion trainer Paddy Mullins, who died in 2010, Maureen Mullins was the mother of trainer Willie, fellow Grade One-winning handlers Tony and Tom, renowned horse transporter George and daughter Sandra – all of who were victorious in the saddle.

She was also a winning rider herself, steering Razzo Forte to glory in a female riders’ event at Gowran Park in 1982, a race which her daughter also rode in.

Her grandchildren include record-breaking amateur rider Patrick, multiple Grade One-winner Danny, and David, who rode Rule The World to win the 2016 Grand National.

Grandsons Charlie and Emmet have also ridden winners while the latter trained a Grand National victor in 2022 Aintree hero Noble Yeats, underlining the family’s incredible influence on National Hunt racing.

Danny Mullins posted on X (formerly Twitter): “What a woman, such an inspiration. RIP.”

She was involved as an owner and breeder down the years, with Kilcruit a recent feather in her cap having won the Grade One Punchestown bumper following his sale having initially raced in her colours.

The British Horseracing Authority paid tribute to her “tremendous passion for the sport”, saying: “All of us at the BHA are saddened to learn of the passing of Maureen Mullins. We extend our condolences to the Mullins family today.

“Maureen Mullins had a tremendous passion for the sport to which she gave so much and her legacy will continue to be felt for generations to come.”

Sir Alex Ferguson will have the chance to secure further international honours after Richard Fahey confirmed his Spirit Dancer is on course for the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia later this month.

The former Manchester United manager was no stranger to glory overseas during his time in the dugout and alongside co-owners Peter Done and Ged Mason saw Spirit Dancer collect £500,000 when victorious in the Bahrain International Trophy in November.

The seven-year-old has since tuned up for his outing in Riyadh by finishing fourth in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan and Fahey is confident that will put him spot on for the $2million event on February 24.

“I was delighted to get that run in Dubai into him,” said Fahey.

“We were pleased with the run and we were probably just drawn a little bit wide – hopefully the run will put him 100 per cent right for Saudi.

“We’re going to run in the Neom. I was keen to go for the big one there (Saudi Cup), but I just felt nine furlongs on the dirt would be sharp enough for him. He’s a horse I would probably want to go a mile and a half in Saudi rather than a sharp nine, if that makes sense.”

Spirit Dancer’s owners revelled in their Bahrain success before Christmas, with Ferguson describing it as his “best ever” victory as an owner.

All of the son of Frankel’s ownership trio appear keen on another visit to the Middle East, with Fahey predicting a strong showing from his charge in the extended 10-furlong turf contest.

“Barring problems I’m sure his owners are very keen,” continued Fahey.

“Peter Done and Ged Mason are both very keen and Sir Alex is keen as well, so it looks like they are booking and barring problems I would say they will probably be there.

“We certainly enjoyed Bahrain and anything now is a bonus, but we’re expecting him to run a big race in Saudi.”