F1 surprise package: The revelations of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo
As Red Bull Racing closed its doors on Friday for Formula One’s mandatory summer holiday, the team's rookie racer Daniel Ricciardo clocked off on a high.
The Australian with the grin as wide as the Sydney Harbor Bridge has plenty of reasons to smile after his surprise star turn in the first half of the 2014 season.
The unassuming 25-year-old has asserted himself as the best of the rest, with two stylish victories and third place in the drivers’ championship. FULL POST
Red Bull tycoon re-energizing Formula One
Austrian Red Bull tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz likes to do his talking - and his spending - on the track.
The billionaire made just one low-key public appearance during Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. He was finally spotted by eagle-eyed TV cameras on lap 23 of the race, but by that point his Red Bull team’s chances of victory had fizzled out.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was lagging a lap off the pace and would later retire. Canada race winner Daniel Ricciardo had to settle for eighth after being shunted out of position at the start.
It was probably not the homecoming Red Bull envisaged but for Mateschitz re-energising one of F1’s best-loved tracks may be reward enough. FULL POST
Ballon d'Or awards: What's the point?
By James Masters
The two greatest players in a generation – a host of conspiracy theories and an award ceremony which will lead to yet more debate over which man really rules the world.
As the football world converged on the Swiss city of Zurich on Monday, the cynical could be excused for rolling their eyes at another mind-numbingly dull FIFA ceremony – sorry “gala” - which appeared to last half a lifetime.
The awkward interviews, the pre-rehearsed throwaway lines and the pictures of delegates fighting furiously to stay awake are all part of the production. FULL POST
Can champions Djokovic and Kvitova emulate Wimbledon greats?
Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova defend their titles when the 126th edition of Wimbledon begins next week, but the odds are against both of them lifting the trophies for the second year in a row.
Such is the competitive nature of modern tennis, this feat was last achieved back in 1986 when Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova completed the double double. FULL POST
Will Serena's comeback fail?
The news that Serena Williams is to return to action for the first time in nearly a year certainly gives added spice to the build-up to the third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon.
Williams has been sidelined since winning her fourth title at the All England Club since July, not hitting a ball in anger unless you count a money-spinning exhibition match against Kim Clijsters in Belgium in front of a record crowd for a tennis match.
But days before she had stepped on a shard of glass in a restaurant in Germany to set in course a train of events which she will want to banish to the back of her memory bank. FULL POST
Who will be the best signing of the transfer window?
With the wheeling and dealing of football's transfer deadline day in full swing, Europe's top clubs have the last chance to strengthen their squads for the challenges ahead.
But with the stakes high, an ill-timed gamble in an inflated transfer market can lead to a downturn in a team's fortunes and it's significant that the real giants of club football - the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United - rarely make permanent signings in mid-season. FULL POST
Will sprint star Bolt tackle new frontiers?
CNN's World Sport will be broadcasting its predictions for 2011 in upcoming shows between December 31-January 2. In the fifth of a series of preview blogs, Paul Gittings takes a look at sprint star Usain Bolt's prospects at the World Athletics Championships.
The 2011 track and field season will be crucial in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics, and the sport’s top stars will want to lay down a marker with their performances in the major championships.
The question on everyone’s lips will be: Can Usain Bolt repeat his triple triumphs at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2009 Berlin world championships - and again break world records to boot?
Are Tiger's woes a good thing for golf ?
It is just under a year since Tiger Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant near his Florida home and set in chain a sequence of events which saw his tangled personal life become front-page news for week after week.
It was a public relations disaster and Woods went into a self-imposed exile, only returning to competitive golf for the Augusta Masters in April.
A fourth-place finish at the first major led many to predict that it would take only a matter of weeks for the 14-time major winner to regain his former preeminence and dominate his fellow professionals.
The rich get richer in golf's 'silly season'
Golf's silly season officially began with the PGA's rather loftily titled Grand Slam of Golf, which took place in the sun-kissed paradise of Bermuda recently.
It brings together the four winners of the year's majors who play over 36 holes. The winner takes home a cool $600,000 with generous prize money for the other three.
PGA champion Martin Kaymer and U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell snapped up their invitations but unfortunately for the organizers, Masters champion Phil Mickelson understandably decided to put his family first after a long season and skip the event, while British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was injured.
