First: Lando Norris and his Sportsmanship
Lando Norris, who is often criticized for not being aggressive enough in his battles against his opponents, often shows a very calm demeanor in his decisions.
Two races ago, at the Brazilian Grand Prix, he was helped by his teammate, Oscar Piastri, who gave up his position so that Norris could get more points in the fight for the championship. However, due to the circumstances and Max Verstappen’s superior score in the Las Vegas race - which crowned him four-time Formula 1 champion - the only thing at stake for Norris and his team was the constructors’ championship.
Today, in the Qatar Sprint race, Lando Norris made a very controversial decision to reciprocate the help he received from his teammate, letting him overtake him just a few meters from the finish line.
Many Formula 1 blogs and specialized media reported and criticized his stance. Which, to me, is a big mistake. For me, Norris, despite his great talent, is not an exciting driver, but his gesture was noble. Sport is like life. Sometimes the most important thing is not to be right or to win, but to be at peace with our conscience.
Second: The Netflix Show on Ayrton Senna
Netflix has just released a new show about Senna, portraying the beginning of his career until he became a Formula 1 driver and a three-time world champion.
Of course, when watching, we must be aware of the bias and intention of his family and producers to show the good side of Ayrton, as well as, in my opinion, an exaggerated victimization to portray some dirty tricks of FIA administrators like Jean-Marie Balestre and Max Mosley, or of his former teammate Alain Prost. In addition, the main target audience of the show are Brazilians, who idolize him, and new F1 fans who hear so much about him but have no idea who he was.
But one thing that can be extracted, and even compared to the present day, is the somewhat despicable environment of the competition, which resembles a club of the super-rich, where only financial and image interests are important. I use as an example the recent big no that the associated teams gave to the Andretti family.
But overall, the story depicted in the show is touching.
Third: The Copa Libertadores Final
Today was the final of the Copa Libertadores. For the ignorant, it’s the South American equivalent of the Champions League. Yes, there is football outside of England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France.
It was a great game and there was no shortage of excitement. Just 30 seconds into the game, one of Botafogo’s main players was sent off, but even so, the team, demonstrating a lot of overcoming power and resilience, scored two goals in the first half.
Atlético Mineiro, even with the man advantage, only managed to score one goal, but would suffer a third near the end of the game, as they ended up being very exposed defensively trying to find the result.
This match was worthy of a Champions League final. But many will not know, perhaps out of some arrogance or lack of interest. Whatever…
With the result, Botafogo won its first Copa Libertadores trophy and had guaranteed a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup to be held in the middle of next year.