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Red Bull to Announce 2026 F1 Driver Lineups on Tuesday

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates with his team after winning the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail on November 30, 2025. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates with his team after winning the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail on November 30, 2025. (AFP)
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Red Bull to Announce 2026 F1 Driver Lineups on Tuesday

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates with his team after winning the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail on November 30, 2025. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates with his team after winning the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail on November 30, 2025. (AFP)

Yuki Tsunoda looks set to lose his Red Bull race seat with the energy drink company's two Formula One teams scheduled to announce their 2026 driver line-ups on Tuesday.

French driver Isack Hadjar, who has had a strong rookie season at Racing Bulls, is expected to step up and take Tsunoda's place alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing.

That would leave two seats at Racing Bulls to be filled, with one currently occupied by New Zealander Liam Lawson but Tsunoda and highly-rated Anglo-Swedish F2 racer Arvid Lindblad also in the running.

"We will announce on Tuesday what the driver line-up is," Red Bull principal Laurent Mekies told reporters after Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix.

"We are confident it will not disturb the focus in Abu Dhabi."

Verstappen remains in the hunt for a fifth successive world championship after winning at Lusail on Sunday night, with Tsunoda finishing 10th.

Tsunoda, whose backers Honda are leaving Red Bull for Aston Martin at the end of the season, could still have a role to play in the championship if he can get between Verstappen and his McLaren rivals.

"It is mega important...it could be down to the last point," said Mekies.

"So it will be super-important to have Yuki at 100%"

Red Bull are third in the constructors' championship already won by McLaren for the second year in a row and Tsunoda's contribution to the team's tally has been minimal compared to Verstappen's points haul.

Verstappen has won seven races and scored 396 of Red Bull's 426 points, with Tsunoda yet to finish higher than sixth this season.

Lawson drove for Red Bull in the first two races without scoring before being demoted in a swap with Tsunoda.

The Kiwi has so far scored five points more than Tsunoda, including finishing ninth on Sunday.

Hadjar was on the podium for Racing Bulls at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August and has scored 51 points to date. Lindblad is sixth in the Formula Two standings but has impressed in practice outings after Red Bull secured an exemption for him to get a super-license while still only 17.

In Mexico City in October the now-18-year-old took Verstappen's car for first practice and was sixth fastest, best of the non-racers and quicker than Tsunoda.

"He did a very good job. It's so difficult to jump in. The pace is there, so not much to argue against that," said Mekies at the time.

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Sports

Villa's Emery Downplays Missed Handshake with Arteta

Aston Villa's Spanish manager Unai Emery gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 30, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)
Aston Villa's Spanish manager Unai Emery gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 30, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)
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Villa's Emery Downplays Missed Handshake with Arteta

Aston Villa's Spanish manager Unai Emery gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 30, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)
Aston Villa's Spanish manager Unai Emery gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 30, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery played down the absence of the traditional post-match handshake with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on Tuesday after his side’s 4-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium snapped their 11-game winning run.

Emery was seen rushing back to the dressing room after the final ⁠whistle, while Arteta appeared to be waiting at the touchline.

"After the match, always my routine is quick -- shake hands and go with my coaches, with my players, or go to ⁠the dressing room," Emery told reporters when asked about his quick exit.

"And I was waiting, and waiting.

"Of course, he was happy and he was with his coaches and I decided to go inside.

"But for me, it's not a problem," added Emery, who spent 18 months in ⁠the Arsenal hotseat before he was sacked in November 2019.

According to Reuters, Arteta also played down the significance of the missed handshake. "No, that's OK. That's part of the game, not an issue at all."

Villa, in third, now trail leaders Arsenal by six points and next host Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Sports

Life Begins at 59 for the Globe's Oldest Professional Soccer Player

Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura of Suzuka plays in a JFL soccer match against Oita in Suzuka, central Japan, July 14, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura of Suzuka plays in a JFL soccer match against Oita in Suzuka, central Japan, July 14, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
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Life Begins at 59 for the Globe's Oldest Professional Soccer Player

Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura of Suzuka plays in a JFL soccer match against Oita in Suzuka, central Japan, July 14, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura of Suzuka plays in a JFL soccer match against Oita in Suzuka, central Japan, July 14, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

He turns 59 in February, and the globe's oldest professional soccer player has a new club as he gets set for his 41st season.

This is of course Kazuyoshi Miura who is known in Japan as “King Kazu,” The Associated Press reported.

Miura announced his signing this week with third-division J-League team Fukushima United. He is moving on loan from Yokohama FC and spent last season on loan with fourth-division club Atletico Suzuka.

He failed to score in seven matches with Suzuka.

Miura has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. And of course in Japan. He made his debut in 1986 with Santos in Brazil, a club made famous by Brazilian star Pelé.

In 2017 at age 50, he became the oldest player to score in a professional match. That topped the record held by highly decorated England international Stanley Matthews.

Miura was one of the first big names in Japanese soccer. He scored 55 goals in 89 appearance and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.

Sports

Sudan Dream of AFCON Glory as Conflict Rages at Home

Sudan's players pose for the team picture before the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
Sudan's players pose for the team picture before the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
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Sudan Dream of AFCON Glory as Conflict Rages at Home

Sudan's players pose for the team picture before the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
Sudan's players pose for the team picture before the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)

When war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, Ammar Taifour was in a training camp with his club Al Merrikh in Khartoum.

"I just remember the surprise, the shock of the first gunshots. It was very surprising," the 28-year-old midfielder with the Sudan team at the Africa Cup of Nations tells AFP.

"Then in the days after that there were power cuts and constant gunshots. It was just unbelievable.

"I just pray for peace and for everyone who's in this situation to be safe and make it out."

Taifour, who was born in the United States, is among the lucky ones. He says he is "grateful and blessed" that family members in Sudan were able to leave the country.

Goalkeeper Mohamed Al Nour, meanwhile, had to deal with the anguish of his brother being taken prisoner by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

"Luckily I have not lost any members of my family but my brother was taken prisoner for nine months by the RSF before being released," says Al Nour.

"We have experienced terror, people being killed. We just hope things improve."

The war that erupted close to three years ago between the country's army and its former allies the RSF has had a devastating impact on the population.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and 11 million driven from their homes in what the UN has declared "the world's worst humanitarian disaster".

Despite that backdrop, Sudan's national football team qualified for the ongoing AFCON in Morocco and on Sunday they beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Casablanca.

It was just their second win at the Cup of Nations in 18 matches across six tournament appearances since they lifted the trophy in 1970.

They play Burkina Faso in their final group game on Wednesday and do so with the pressure off because they are already assured of progressing to the last 16.

That is a remarkable achievement regardless of the current off-field context, given Sudan have only once made the knockout stages at an AFCON since 1970 -- they reached the quarter-finals in 2012.

- 'Big responsibility' -

"It's a big honor," says Taifour. "But also we have big expectations and we want to make it as far as possible and even to win the tournament, make our country happy."

"Obviously it's a big responsibility. I think each one of us as individuals, we know the situation that's going on, we all can relate to it, we all have someone involved.

"So whatever we can do to help, whatever we can do to bring some happiness, we try our best to do so."

Al Nour, also known by his nickname Abooja, adds: "Of course the team has been impacted. Everyone has just tried to get through this period but it has been difficult with the tension all over Sudan."

"In the end our results on the pitch are what make the people happy and boost their morale."

The impact of the conflict on Sudanese football has been enormous, leading to the domestic championship being halted and the country's two biggest clubs going into exile.

Al Hilal and Al Merrikh of Omdurman played in the Mauritanian league last season. A domestic elite league did make its return in July, but now the two rivals are playing in Rwanda.

Some players have moved to different countries like Taifour, who departed Al Merrikh for Libya and is now plying his trade in Tunisia.

Despite that the national team has flourished under Ghanaian coach Kwesi Appiah.

They qualified for the competition at the expense of Ghana and put in some good showings in their World Cup qualifying group, beating the Democratic Republic of Congo and drawing with Senegal en route to finishing third.

In August they got to the semi-finals of the African Nations Championship -- a competition for locally-based players -- and they also appeared at the recent FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar.

"We have tried to use every match as preparation and to build chemistry within the group," says Taifour.

Al Nour, meanwhile, describes Appiah as "an exceptional person. We have learned a lot thanks to him."

It has all led to this, with Sudan now building towards a Cup of Nations knockout tie this weekend and hoping to put smiles on the faces of supporters back home.