Friday’s first practice session in Abu Dhabi was an intriguing watch. On a weekend which is alarmingly lacking much intrigue, exactly half the grid were absent. Substituted in their place were 10 “rookie” drivers, as part of F1’s mandatory young drivers programme introduced last year. One driver, and more so how they performed, amplified one of the sport’s most peculiar issues – and one where a solution could amp up the closing races of the season. It is one of the FIA’s – the sport’s governing body – most peculiar rules that the Formula 2 champion can’t compete in the series again. Such a regulation would imply that there is a ready-made pathway to F1 for the winner, but this is not the case. For 2022 champion Felipe Drugovich, a second year in a row begrudgingly watching from the sidelines beckons next season. A shame because (who’d have thought it), he’s actually pretty fast. In FP1 on Friday, Drugovich recorded the second-quickest lap on the timesheet. Most notably, the Brazilian was almost three-tenths quicker than Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin car. While it was indeed practice – with drivers and teams generally on different run plans throughout the weekend – the pace was still notably significant. Yet while F1 remains a 10-team-20-driver sport, the obstructions for junior drivers with much promise but no established route to the top table will remain. But what if there was a very genuine incentive to win Formula 2? What if those grappling for points at the bottom of the F1 standings had their future on the line? Because title-runaways happen, in all sports. Manchester City have won five of the last six Premier League titles; two of those have been at a canter. Just ask German football fans about the simplistic boredom of the Bundesliga title race; Bayern Munich have won 10 in a row. But the end-of-season battles in football rarely stop at the top. The top six spots are incentivised with European football, while those down at the bottom frantically try to escape the clutches of relegation. F1 is, of course, a different beast. All 10 teams are entities in their own right with the two driver spots their most prized assets. As such, team principals understandably want full reign on who to pick and how long to pick them for. And this simple model is not about to change anytime soon. But, just for a moment, have a bit of fun and consider the extra spice of an alternative reality this weekend. Ignoring Nyck de Vries who was dropped from AlphaTauri after 10 races in July, Logan Sargeant is currently bottom of the charts with one point. Liam Lawson, who raced five times due to Daniel Ricciardo’s injury, has two points. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen is on three points, with Zhou Guanyu and Ricciardo ahead of him on six. Meanwhile, the Formula 2 season also concludes this weekend. Alfa Romeo reserve Theo Pouchaire leads by 25 points to Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti. Aside from your motorsport die-hards, the sport’s main support series rarely entices viewers on television. Does it really matter, especially when you’re unintentionally punished by claiming the title with, most likely, a year to follow without racing? It happened to Oscar Piastri in 2022; he had to play the game behind-the-scenes to land a seat at McLaren this year, with his impressive performances indicative of the talent coming up from the higher echelons of Formula 2. It’s happening now to Drugovich – and is set to happen to Pourchaire next year. Yet imagine if a guaranteed spot in F1 was the carrot. Imagine if Sargeant had to somehow land a top-10 finish in the 22nd and final race at the Yas Marina Circuit to keep his seat at Williams. There could be ramifications for Magnussen’s poor year at Haas but, suitably scarred by the years of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, Guenther Steiner said in the summer: “I don’t want to take any risk in this moment. You can take a risk if the risk is worthwhile to take. And in this moment, we want stability.” Of course, it’s not realistic. Such a procedure would open up F1 to all sorts of issues. For example, George Russell finished bottom in 2019, simply handicapped with the worst car on the grid at Williams despite his obvious talent. The junior programmes most drivers are in would suddenly be negated. Teams would bend the rules, on and off track, in order to carve their route to the chosen driver. But boy would the basic relegation-promotion principle make the season finale spectacle engrossing. While the teams can keep motivation high with financial rewards for higher spots in the championship, the generic sporting fan is not bothered about that. In the last six Abu Dhabi race meets (including this year’s), only one has had a title riding on it with Verstappen’s controversial and thrilling win over Hamilton in 2021. For a sport with peak popularity in the Drive to Survive era, the end-of-season no-contest is a shortcoming. Read More Christian Horner reveals talks with Lewis Hamilton’s father over Red Bull seat F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix LIVE: Practice updates and times at Yas Marina F1 to trial AI at season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix What time is qualifying at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday? Lewis Hamilton says Red Bull chief is ‘stirring things’ over team move claim Toto Wolff and Fred Vasseur receive warnings over ‘swearing’ in Las Vegas

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Tea enthusiasts are up in arms about a new teabag in the works from PG Tips, which promises to brew in just 60 seconds. While most tea fanatics reccommend brewing a cup of English breakfast tea for three to five minutes, the majority of people are too time-poor or impatient to let their teabag infuse for more than one minute. PG Tips hopes it has come up with a solution by investing £50m on a new a new blend and bag that infuses in just 60 seconds, a venture that has taken the company two years to develop. In its research, the PG Tips found that 85 per cent of tea drinkers leave the bag in to brew for under a minute, while a staggering 45 per cent bin their teabag after less than 30 seconds. Tea experts at the company have developed a new design that features a square bag with room for the leaves to infuse. It is designed to not fold over on itself, which is said to improve the overall taste of the tea. If the bag folds, the leaves don’t have room to expand and can leave the tea lacking flavour. The company claims its new blend has the “perfect particle size” for a quick cuppa. The new blend is grown at high altitudes in Kenya and Rwanda, which the brand claims provides a better taste. However, some tea fanatics are not convinced. Jane Pettigrew, course director at the UK Tea Academy toldThe Times that the time taken for brewing is a key part of a tea break ritual, and rapid teabags, like PG Tips’s new creation, are an abhorrence. “We relish the three or four minutes it takes to brew a real cup of tea and benefit from the zen-like spirit of tea – the slow brewing of tea creates a magical few minutes in a busy, sometimes frantic day,” Pettigrew told the publication. “I really abhor this kind of ‘innovation’. It is not progress but a massive retrograde step backwards in what tea should be.” More than 100 million cups of tea are made every day in Britain, and 97.5 per cent of those are brewed from a bag, rather than made from loose-leaf variety, according to the UK Tea and Infusions Association. PG Tips has also announced that its 60-second teabag will be using more sustainable packaging and designed to have no plastic wrapping. It is said to be fully recyclable, and 33 per cent more compact than the current box. Liam McNamara, PG Tips General Manager, UK and Ireland told MailOnline: “We are immensely proud of the fact that British tea drinkers already enjoy five billion cups of PG Tips every year. “However, our tea-drinking habits and tastes are evolving. “With that in mind, our expert tea blenders have spent two years developing a new and better blend that delivers high quality taste to tea lovers. Our new PG Tips blend means consumers can expect a quicker infusion and a brighter, smoother, more consistent cup of tea that is full of flavour every single time, even for the nation’s impatient tea drinkers.” Read More Cats given vegan diets ‘have better health outcomes’, study claims We tested Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook and here’s our honest review Three ways to pimp up university student classics London’s best new restaurants from the past 12 months ‘Fried rice syndrome’: Dietitians warn against eating food left at room temperature The dish that defines me: Michele Pascarella’s Neapolitan ragu

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Will Poulter has turned fans’ heads after sporting a new look at this year’s Paris Fashion Week. The Bear star, 30, was seen at the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2023 show in June with a moustache and a light smattering of facial hair framing his chin and jaw. Although the actor debuting the look more than two weeks ago, fans have begun to sit up and take notice of his dapper appearance after sharing photographs on social media. One tweet that has been viewed more than 8.7m times featuring a trio of photos of Poulter smiling at the camera was shared by a user who goes by the handle @fatfabfeminist. She wrote: “HELLO?? WILL POULTER??? UR KIDDING???” In another tweet, she said: “I cannot express the reaction I had to these pictures but oh my god.” Others admired his “glowup”, with one person writing: “I’ve always thought he was really cute in an awkward way, I’m so glad he grew into his skin.” “This man has had the most insane glow-up,” another said, while a third added: “This should confirm that growing a bear increases your attractiveness ten times more.” In further praise of facial hair, another said: “Facial hair needs to be audited and governed by some centralised agency because the way this just changed my entire worldview on this man is giving me whiplash.” One person wrote: “A light beard will always help frame and sharpen the face thus helping you look aesthetically pleasing and elevates the look from a boy to a MAN. “You go Will Poulter! (Gone are the days that you’ll be compared to Sid from Toy Story haha)” On social media, Poulter has sometimes been compared to the animated character of Sid in the Toy Story franchise. In May, he revealed that he was once even mistaken for Sid while at a urinal in LA, after a man turned to him and asked if he was in the Pixar animated film. “I don’t want to be rude. I also appreciate there’s a meme going round of me – I dressed up as Sid from ‘Toy Story’ for anti-bullying week. So arguably I haven’t helped my case. But [Toy Story came out in] 1995. I was two. And they weren’t doing it through live action,” he said. The Guardians of the Galaxy star wore a short-sleeved white-collared shirt with smart chinos and pale green clogs under a pale multi-coloured trench coat to the fashion show. In terms of his looks, Poulter is also known for his arched eyebrows which are highly expressive. He opened up about his personal style in a 2022 interview with British GQ, in which he revealed he is a “massive sneakerhead”, referring to his love for trainers. He said that when he was younger, he would emulate other people’s style without “really knowing what I was doing”, but now knows which labels “really suit my personality”. Poulter named Frank Ocean, Robert Pattinson and Michaela Coel as celebrities whose sense of style he admires. “I’d also absolutely love and can probably only dream of collaborating with a brand on a collection,” he added. “I’m actually a massive sneakerhead – I’ve had to tell myself I won’t spend money in Flight Club today – but a sneaker collaboration would be pretty cool to do.” Read More Jonah Hill’s ex-girlfriend Sarah Brady accuses him of ‘emotional abuse’ Denise Welch opens up about moment Matty Healy told her he needed rehab Woman exits plane after tirade about passenger who is ‘not real’: ‘I’m not about to be Final Destination-ed’ David and Victoria Beckham throw Prada party to celebrate Harper’s 12th birthday Every Barbie-inspired outfit Margot Robbie has worn so far How to make your summer tan last longer

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