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ā€œHeā€™s the gladiator fighting on the circuitā€ ā€“ Van Amersfoort on Verstappen

We hear from Verstappen's mentor, Frits Van Amersfoort, ahead of the F1 final race.

The Ö÷²„“óŠćā€™s Formula 1 reporter Jennie Gow joins us from Abu Dhabi, ahead of the final race of the season, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fighting for the Drivers World Title. Verstappen is aiming for his first world title and we hear from his mentor when he started out in Formula 3. Frits Van Amersfoort tells us it became clear, within one hour of working with Max, that he was a special talent, says he hasnā€™t changed his approach since racing for him and compares Verstappenā€™s rivalry with Lewis Hamilton to the one Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost shared. Van Amersfoort also tells us heā€™s worked in motorsport for forty years and heā€™s never known people in the Netherlands as interested in the sport as they are now because of Verstappenā€™s success.

Paddy Lacey joins us ahead of his fight on the undercard of Katie Taylorā€™s defence of her undisputed lightweight titles against Kazakh challenger Firuza Sharipova. Lacey played in the same Liverpool youth team as Wolves and England defender Conor Coady before a failed drugs test ended a promising spell in the Football League. During his ban from playing football, Lacey was arrested and subsequently jailed after being found in possession of drugs and counterfeit money at the Glastonbury Festival. Heā€™s now playing for Chester City in Englandā€™s sixth tier and forging a career as a professional boxer.

US runner Molly Seidel tells us about her route into marathon running and discusses her journey of recovery from anxiety, depression and disordered eating. Seidel won bronze at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in what was only her third ever race over the marathon distance.

In Sporting Witness, we tell the story of how a group of Tibetan exiles and a Danish ex-footballer teamed up to create the Tibetan national football team twenty years ago. Michael Nybrandt and team captain Sonam Wangyal recall the obstacles they faced, which included threats from China, and discuss their first ever game against Greenland.

Melinda Farrell brings us the latest news from the Ashes series between Australia and England and the Ö÷²„“óŠćā€™s Juliette Ferrington joins us from the Etihad Stadium ahead of Manchester Cityā€™s game against Wolves in the Premier League.

Photo: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen looks on at the Red Bull Racing team photo during previews ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. (Credit: Formula 1 via Getty Images)

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49 minutes

Broadcast

  • Sat 11 Dec 2021 10:06GMT

Podcast