17/02/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | FEB 17, 2026

29

Rayo thrash Atletico as Betis cut gap

Could Max really quit F1?

Napoli salvage point against Roma NAPOLI lost ground in their pursuit of the two Milan clubs but held on to third in Serie A as they fought back twice to draw 2-2 at home against fourth-placed Roma yesterday. Champions Napoli slipped 11 points behind leaders Inter and three adrift of second-placed Milan, who have a game in hand. Napoli stayed three points ahead of Roma and pulled four clear of Juventus who lost to Inter on Saturday. Roma grabbed the lead for the first time on seven minutes. Donyell Malen, who arrived on loan from Aston Villa in January, smashed the ball in at the near post from a low cross by another winter loanee Bryan Zaragoza, who arrived from Bayern Munich. Napoli responded in the 40th minute when left wing-back Leonardo Spinazzola hammered in a shot from outside the box against his former club. Roma regained the lead in the 71st minute. Wesley Franca drove past Amir Rrahmani. The defender gave chase, stepped on Franca’s heels and then fell on top of him. Before the penalty was taken, Napoli coach yanked the Kosovar off and replaced him with Brazilian midfielder Alisson Santos. Franca, mean while, went off injured. From the spot, Malen again fired the ball high to Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s left for a fifth goal in five Serie A appearances. But Santos saved Napoli in the 82nd minute. He worked some space on the edge of the Roma penalty box and drilled a low shot inside the near post. That earned Napoli a second home draw in five days, although on Tuesday they were still elimi nated from the Italian Cup, losing on penalties after being held 1-1 by Como. – AFP “We didn’t have a good match, the opponent was better, congratulations to them and let’s think about what’s coming on Wednesday.” RAYO VALLECANO waltzed to a 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid yesterday in La Liga, leaving Diego Simeone’s side 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid. Atletico dropped to fourth after their heavy defeat at Leganes’s Butarque stadium, where Rayo hosted the fixture due to pitch problems at their own Vallecas ground. Real Betis, fifth, were able to cut the gap to Atletico down to four points with a 2-1 win at Mallorca. Fran Perez, Oscar Valentin and Nobel Mendy struck for Rayo, who thoroughly deserved their triumph against an Atletico side that had thrashed Spanish champions Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey on Thursday. With the Spanish cup their best chance of sil verware this season it has seemed that Atletico lack some focus in La Liga, and that was reflected in this humbling by their city rivals. The Rojiblancos have not won in their last three league matches. “It seems like the league has slipped away, we can’t lose games like this and we can’t play a game the way we did today,” angry Atletico goal keeper Jan Oblak told DAZN . “Competing like this is going to be to tough, you can’t choose your games, every game has to be played at the highest level… “Today they were much better, congratula tions to them, we lost and deserved to lose.” Simeone, who rotated much of the team that beat Barca with Wednesday’s Champions League play-off against Club Brugge in mind, did not agree with all of Oblak’s analysis. “I don’t share (his opinion), I thought the team gave what it could, they were better, but the truth is there is no need to criticise the team in terms of effort, work, of wanting to do well,” said Simeone.

Verstappen’s critical assessment of new F1 cars is intriguing, especially given the advantage Red Bull look to have over rivals T WO tests down ahead of the new Formula One season, a single three day window remains. And one thing is for certain: it’s not the usual case of know that we’re stuck with this regulation for quite a while. So, yeah, let’s see.” Ominous early views from Verstappen. While he does have a contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, his interest in endurance rac ing is growing and if these cars are not to his liking, it’s not unthinkable that he could call it a day after 12 consecutive seasons. Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

referred to his shambolic race engineer situa tion as “detrimental” to the start of his season – the Briton put in some solid times, both over one lap and race-trim, though he did spin on day one. Promisingly, both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc appear in tune with the car and, to the excitement of the tifosi, a new floor, front wing and diffuser is expected to arrive for the final test next week. That could put them right up with Red Bull and Mercedes. Aston Martin are in trouble It’s hard to make a decisive judgement on the front-of-the-pack during testing, but what often becomes clear is who is languishing at the back. Cadillac’s issues, as the slowest team throughout as well as a few mechanical prob lems, were expected. Aston Martin’s were not. For the striking design implemented by Adrian Newey, it’s been a torrid testing period so far for the team decked in royal green. Just one day of running in Barcelona, a launch plagued by live-stream issues and, now, talk that they are “four seconds” off the pace. That’s not a rumour, either. That’s a direct quote from driver Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence. They also completed the least amount of laps by some distance – just 206 over 24 hours of on-track activity. Some serious work to do over the next fort night. Williams bounce back Having missed the shakedown in Barcelona, team principal James Vowles was keen to downplay the significance of the deci sion, saying he wanted to push the potential of the car’s capability. It has been a strong rebound in Sakhir. Williams completed the joint-most amount of laps over three days – 422, alongside fellow Mercedes-engine user McLaren – and Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon have look enthused by the machinery beneath them. In fact, they look ahead of Aston in the pecking order right now. Whether they can make a leap in performance to challenge the big boys, ahead of race one, is another matter altogether. – The Independent

uneventful on-track stints and dour media sessions from pre-season testing at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain. Three weeks out from the season-opening race in Australia, there is plenty to digest. Not just the new rules and regulations – require ments which are overly complex according to Lewis Hamilton, entering his 20th season in F1 – but chit-chat about illegal engines and star driver unrest as well. Max Verstappen’s (pic) comments last Thursday, despite Red Bull’s strong running so far, certainly threw a grenade into proceed ings. The four-time world champion described the new cars as being “anti-racing,” elaborat ing on the energy management element by saying F1 was now “like Formula E on ster oids.” Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, concurred with his arch-rival. Yet others, notably reigning champion Lando Norris, insisted the new cars were “fun to drive”, sim ply posing a different challenge to the best drivers in the world. So, after three days of running in Bahrain, what have we learned? Max refuses to rule out quitting F1 It’s not been uncommon for the outspoken Dutchman to air his views in piercing terms on a myriad of issues. His initial views of the debut event in Las Vegas in 2023, F1’s new flagship race, spring to mind, describing the circuit as like “National League compared to Champions League.” Yet his words this week will also sting the executives in F1’s hospitality unit. Beyond the specifics of his car, his long-term view will send alarm bells. “A winning car, for me, that doesn’t matter,” he said. “It needs to be fun to drive as well. I think, at this stage of my career, also explore other things outside of Formula 1 (i.e. endurance racing at the Nurburgring) to have fun at. I

But here’s the catch: Red Bull actually look like the strongest team. Their straight-line speed has stunned their rivals, with Toto Wolff and George Russell both calling them the “benchmark” outfit, while their race runs were also impressive, with their new Ford partnered power unit efficient in gathering energy and delivering it. At least, much more so than rivals. Red Bull have also not yet utilised the aero package they plan to use in Australia; that’ll be added to the car at this week’s final test. While Verstappen wants a fun car to drive, a competitive car feels more important for someone of his standing and drive, despite his words on Thursday. As such, any threats to quit should be taken with a pinch of salt at this point. After all, it’s fun to win, right? Mercedes reality check The Silver Arrows, who were the standouts at the Barcelona shakedown event, finished Friday with a one-two finish but were undoubtedly surprised by Red Bull’s perform ance level. The added complication of Red Bull join ing Ferrari, Honda and Audi in complaining to the FIA over the engine compression saga is also looming in the next few weeks, with fur ther meetings expected next week. A late regulation change could be curtains for Mercedes’s challenge, though that appears unlikely at this stage. They also had a power unit issue, which limited their running on Thursday and, as a result, they completed the second-least amount of laps across the three days, at 282. Ferrari status report? We are checking… Optimism is slowly bubbling in camp Scuderia. While Lewis Hamilton also com plained about the new cars – and rightly