Red Bull's fuel sensor argument needs to be investigated after Ricciardo's Australian Grand Prix disqualification

By Steven Oldham

Following Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification in today's Australian Grand Prix, it is important that Red Bull's appeal leads to the problematic fuel sensors installed in all Formula 1 cars being tested ahead of the next race in two weeks.

Ricciardo was disqualified after post-race scrutineering found his car had consistently exceeded the maximum 100kg/hr fuel-flow limit throughout today's race.

The stewards followed the letter of the law and excluded the new Red Bull driver from the results,  who, for a few hours at least, was the first Australian to finish on the podium in his home race.

On the face of it, the decision to exclude Ricciardo can't be argued with - a clear break of the regulations leads to disqualification - indeed the FIA had pre warned teams there would be no leniency.

However, the way Red Bull and team principal Christian Horner have come out fighting are not the actions of a team who have knowingly broke the rules.  Their intent to appeal citing faults with the fuel sensors is one that will be interesting and perhaps vital for this season's championship, even at this early stage.

Horner points to problems with the sensors in free practice, and that the replacements installed by the FIA in time for Saturday qualifying, failed completely.

The result of Red Bull's appeal could have consequences for the entire field.  Now doubts have been raised about the capability of the fuel sensors, it is the governing body's responsibility to assure teams, drivers and fans that they work properly.

If they are faulty, Ricciardo was the unlucky one this weekend - who next? These sensors are not optional extras.  Any one (or more) of the drivers could fall foul of breaking regulations due to equipment giving false readings.

This is why all teams should back Red Bull's appeal and push for the equipment to be tested to ensure it's working properly.  It would be easy for teams to turn their backs and quietly accept the extra points gained by their cars today, but it is in all their interests to make sure there is a level playing field.

As for Ricciardo, it's a great shame he lost his place.  He put in a superb performance all weekend and looks to have made the step up from Toro Rosso to the senior team with ease.  An encouraging sign for the rest of the season, it's important he doesn't let today's events knock his confidence ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix in two weeks.

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Europa League needs to change...but is still a competition worth winning

By Steven Oldham

Tomorrow's Europa League round of sixteen includes many ties which bely the tournament's widely-regarded status as a poor relation of the Champions League.

UEFA's secondary competition offers €5m prize money to the winners, less than half of the team winning the more prestigious cup.  But this is still a substantial sum of money for any club with ambitions of a successful future.

There is no denying there are problems with the competition in its current form.  It's long and overdrawn - four qualifying rounds for a second tier tournament is far too many.

It's also unfair that teams who have slogged through the qualification process are likely to be knocked out by a team getting a second chance at European glory after being eliminated in the Champions League group stages.

Most of the teams in the initial qualification rounds have no chance of making the group stages of the competition, never mind the knock out rounds - obviously every country should be represented in continental competition - but the likes of Drogheda United and Sliema Wanderers are unlikely to ever make their mark on this competition.

A reorganisation of the Europa League could give the smaller, less powerful nations a chance to see their teams be successful.  A reintroduction of the Cup Winners Cup, also to include the 15 lowest ranked national champions, would be a step in the right direction - a shorter, higher quality Europa League and a more realistic competition for the smaller sides to enter.

Sadly, I think this is unlikely to happen, though a positive step has been made in that future Europa League winners will automatically be entered in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.  A chance to improve and fight for the really big honours and money is just reward for teams winning this competition.  There are some very big clubs left in the last sixteen.

Clubs with real Champions League pedigree including Juventus, Valencia, Lyon and Benfica are among the sixteen teams fighting to reach the quarter finals.  Some have suggested the Europa is considered a distraction - an annoyance almost to these teams - but the additional games don't seem to be affecting Juve or Benfica who sit well clear atop of their respective leagues.
 
Juventus take on Fiorentina as hot favourites in an all Italian clash having beaten their rivals in domestic competition at the weekend.  The league leaders are in a rich vein of form and have won 8 of their last 10, while the Viola have slumped in recent weeks, collecting just 1 point from 12.
 
Sevilla and Real Betis clash in the round's only other same-nation tie with the hosts favourites - they've won their past three while their relegation threatened opponents look unlikely to be hosting continental football next season.  Betis are enduring a torrid season in La Liga and sit rock bottom, eight points from safety.

Last 32 action between Tottenham and Dnipro

 
Tottenham will look to recover from a morale-sapping 4-0 defeat at Chelsea at the weekend in a tough-looking tie against Benfica.  Comments from Spurs manager Tim Sherwood about his players fighting for their futures could encourage them to a good performance, but equally, could go the other way and further deplete their confidence.  Spurs laboured to a narrow victory over Dnipro in the last round, and such a performance will not be enough against the stronger Portuguese side.
 
Porto and Napoli are both seasoned European campaigners and it is a shame to see them paired together at this stage. However, Porto are having a tough season and recently sacked boss Paulo Fonseca.  They lie third in the league but have not won in four games, and struggled to put away a determined Eintracht Frankfurt team in the last round - having to rely on the away goals ruling.  Napoli are going well in Serie A and will be quietly confident.
 
Basel, Lyon, Anzhi and Valencia will head into their respective ties as favourites, but Red Bull Salzburg, Viktoria Plzen, AZ and Hungarian minnows Ludogorets Razgrad will be doing their best to grab the headlines.

What's the right thing to do with the Europa League? Disagree with my thoughts on the competition's future or tomorrow's games? Let me know here or on Twitter - @spoldham

Don't forget to vote in the poll at the bottom of the page!

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Formula E needs to embrace young talent to avoid being labelled F1 dumping ground

Thanks to Getty Images, AFP and UEFA for the photograph.

Successful winter tests should give Williams cautious optimism for new F1 season

By Steven Oldham

While winter testing times are notoriously unreliable in gauging teams' real competitiveness come race day, the consistently quick laps put in by Williams should give the team renewed optimism ahead of the season opener in Melbourne in two weeks time.

After a poor ninth place finish in last year's constructor's championship, it is heartening to see Williams back at the top of the timing screens, even if it is only testing.

Never far away from initial pacesetters Mercedes and Force India, Williams have racked up an impressive amount of running in testing this year - only the Silver Arrows have put more km on the clock than Williams' 4,645km.

Bearing that in mind, it is no surprise to see the Mercedes and Williams near the front of the field - there is no such thing as too much mileage - every lap will give the teams more information.  By contrast, the recently all conquering Red Bull team lag way behind after a nightmare preseason, some 3,000km of valuable data behind their main contenders Mercedes.

A major factor in Williams' upturn is their switch from Renault to Mercedes engines.  It appears to be a canny decision to move engine suppliers - it is no coincidence that the Renault-engine teams have struggled as the French supplier struggles to adjust to the new regulations.  Red Bull and Lotus in particular have suffered in steep contrast to their success last year.

Meanwhile, the teams using German-badged engines have flourished.  A lot can change on race day, but it seems certain the popular team have turned a corner and will improve on last season's dismal showing.

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Formula E needs to embrace young talent to avoid being labelled F1 dumping ground

By Steven Oldham

Formula E, the forthcoming electronic racing car series, have so far announced 16 members of a Driver's Club who will be given the opportunity to test the new series' car.

The first season of the 10-race competition begins in Beijing in September and 10 teams have signed up for the series.

Over half of the Driver's Club members are ex-Formula 1 drivers including Bruno Senna, Sebastian Buemi and Takuma Sato.

No decisions have yet been made on who, if any, of these drivers will take to the grid in September but I hope the entry list gets some young, unknown talents added too.

With respect to the other ex-F1 drivers, (Christijan Albers, Sebastian Bourdais, Lucas di Grassi, Narain Karthikeyan, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Karun Chandhok and Franck Montagny), it's fair to say these drivers will only be remembered by the sport's more diehard fans. 

Between them, in 334 race starts, only one podium finish was achieved (by Sato).  This is not necessarily an indication of their true skill - at best, these drivers drove in midfield teams.  But as front men for probably the most important new race series in a generation? These names alone will struggle to capture racing fans or the general public's imagination.

I'm not advocating Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel to join, but more that teams look for stars of the future when picking their drives.  The other names on the Driver's Club list include young talent from series including GP2, GP3 and IndyCar. 

These drivers may be better investments in the long run for the series if it wants to be considered a serious competition, rather than a retirement home for Formula 1 drivers who never quite reached the top.  I might be wrong - maybe Liuzzi and co will use any success here to springboard back to the top table of motorsport.

This new series has the potential to be huge if done right.  It ticks the environmentally friendly box as well as providing affordable entries to independent constructors with a spending cap in place before the season begins.  Only time will tell who will take to the grid and how successful they can make this exciting new prospect of a championship.

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Wheelchair fencing, football and goalball all lose funding despite big increase for other Paralympic sports

By Steven Oldham

Great Britain's Paralympic sailors and canoeists were the big winners today as UK Sport announced the results of their Annual Investment Review, but three sports lost funding all together.

Wheelchair fencing, five-a-side football and goalball will receive no backing in the Rio 2016 Paralympic cycle, in contrast to sailing and canoeing's rises of over £800,000 and £750,000 respectively.

All other Paralympic disciplines have either retained the same level of funding or had small increases.  The swimming and athletics teams top the funding table, with £11.7m and £10.8m respectively.

Athletes in the sports where funding has been axed now face the daunting prospect of self-supporting their way to Rio.  The sports were deemed unrealistic medal hopes at both Rio and Tokyo 2020 and have had funding removed as a result. 

The Annual Investment Review was the most detailed ever undertaken by UK Sport and consisted of 16 different elements including athlete performance, operations and programme strategy.

For my take on the Olympics funding cycle, click here

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"Legacy? What legacy?" ask British basketballers, weightlifters and water polo players as UK Sport funding withdrawn

By Steven Oldham

UK Sport's announcement of Rio 2016 funding cycles has today brought bad news for some Olympic sports.

Great Britain's basketball, weightlifting, water polo and synchronised swimming teams will not receive any central funding at all for the next Olympic Games in Brazil.

These sports join handball and wrestling on the scrapheap, shut out by UK Sport's commitment to awarding medal potential in future Games.

These latest cuts are in contrast to other sports who are celebrating receiving a bigger slice of £350m in funding - the winners include hockey, judo and taekwondo.

Unfortunately, the future is not so bright for the sports without funding - GB teams were entered for the first time at London 2012 in basketball and handball, and the water polo teams entered for the first time in over 50 years.

It was obvious without the experience, infrastructure and pedigree of their rivals the British teams would struggle in these events.  The athletes are not miracle workers - it's the equivalent of expecting Gibraltar to win Euro 2016 despite never having entered continental competition before.

While funding cuts are nothing new to underachieving sports, the promised legacy of London 2012 will be pretty non existent in these sports now.  It's a vicious circle - under performance leads to lower funding, which leads to less money to invest in improving existing talent and attracting newcomers.

Other top-level British Olympic teams have struggled to attract outside commercial sponsorship including rowing, as I blogged last year.  If they found it hard to get a deal with all their medals and extra TV coverage, what chance have a group of synchro swimmers got?

It was commendable for the home nations to be represented in every sport at our home Games two years ago.  It is equally galling for these smaller sports to be swept under the rug now the Olympic goodwill factor has subsided.

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Chance to shine for 'other' members of the GB Taekwondo Academy at this weekend's National Championships

By Steven Oldham

This weekend in Manchester, the National Taekwondo Championships take place at the National Cycling Centre in SportCity.

Over 600 competitors are due to take part, but only four of them are from the elite national set up: Olympic bronze medallist Lutalo Muhammad, 2011 National Champion Andrew Deer, teenager George Lee and a fit again Stephanie Allen.

While some newer fans to the sport may be disappointed that London 2012 champion Jade Jones and fellow Olympian Martin Stamper are not competing, along with prolific Open medal winners Bianca Walkden,  Michael Harvey, Reubyn Richards and Damon Sansum, it does give a chance for the 'forgotten' talents in the GB squad to take their chance in the spotlight.

Let's be realistic here - we're not talking about Muhammad, who will be among the favourites to claim a first national title in the -87kg despite an earlier than expected departure from the World Chanpionships in the last 16.

Deer, champion in this competition two years ago, has not scaled the same heights in competition since. Unfortunately he was a spare part in the battle for Olympic qualification, seemingly never really in contention for the one slot available.  As the Aaron Cook saga dragged on, Deer's name rarely appeared as a contender. 

At 26, he is by no means past it, but will be looking to hit the ground running and the small field entering from the national team gives him an opportunity to take the headlines once again.

18-year-old George Lee is definitely one for the future and could prove a real contender to the established Stamper, Harvey and Jordan Gayle in years to come in the lightweight category.  Having picked up his first senior medal in Sweden earlier this year, he will be looking to make a mark on the national set up and put himself in early contention for Rio 2016.

Finally, Stephanie Allen is only one year younger than fellow +73kg fighter Walkden but has a lot of ground to catch up.  Since missing out on qualification for London 2012, Bianca has mostly been in good form, picking up numerous Open victories across Europe. She's also a three time British Open winner.  Allen and Walkden appear to be the only two contenders in their weight class to be top girl since Sarah Stevenson's retirement and Stephanie needs to take advantage of her rival's absence this weekend.

Good luck to all the competitors this weekend. It's scandalous that taekwondo still doesn't get any TV time, even on Eurosport or the BBC Red Button, so I'll be following @TeamGBTaekwondo on Twitter for updates.

Follow me while you're there @spoldham