Comments on: A Guide To Wearing Men’s Bracelets (Tastefully) & The Bes

Sebastian Vettel Says McLaren ‘Failed’ Daniel Ricciardo

Four-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel has come out in support of beleaguered Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo in a big way, suggesting that his team has failed him and not the other way around.

The German driver, who announced earlier in August that he would be retiring at the end of the 2022 season, didn’t mince his words during a press conference earlier today ahead of the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, addressing the drama that’s seen McLaren tear up Ricciardo’s contract for 2023 in favour of bringing a new driver in. More on that here.

“Maybe I have too much empathy for [a] Formula 1 driver, but I’m very saddened by what’s happening to Daniel,” the champ said. “I think he’s still one of the best drivers… I had the pleasure to race against him, and the not-so-pleasurable side of getting beaten by him years ago, and I still think he has very, very much to offer.”

“I think, in this regard and I don’t know the details, but I guess McLaren failed to extract the potential that he has.”
Sebastian Vettel

“It’s sad to see that he’s been put in a difficult position, but I wish him all the best. I’m sure that, ultimately, the talent he has and the qualities he has will shine through,” he concluded, making Ricciardo, who was in the same press conference, blush.

WATCH Sebastian Vettel address the Daniel Ricciardo drama below.

They’re remarkably strong words from Vettel – saying that it’s McLaren’s fault that Ricciardo failed to launch at the team. Perhaps he’s willing to be less guarded knowing he’s retiring next year. It also speaks volumes about the respect Seb has for Danny Ric.

Vettel and Ricciardo were teammates together at Red Bull from 2013 to 2014, when Vettel left the team he’d won his four back-to-back titles with for Ferrari, who he never really gelled with like he hoped. In that sense, Vettel knows better than anyone what Ricciardo’s going through with McLaren.

While Vettel had a famously troubled relationship with his teammate before Ricciardo, Mark Webber, Seb and Danny Ric always had a rather warm partnership. The parallels continue, too – at Red Bull, Ricciardo was the young giant-killer who humbled Vettel, in the same way that McLaren’s Lando Norris has outperformed Ricciardo.

Vettel isn’t the only driver who’s weighed in on the Daniel Ricciardo drama.

Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen, Vettel’s replacement with whom Ricciardo raced at Red Bull between 2016 and the end of 2018, has also come out in support of ‘The Honey Badger’, echoing the same sentiments as Vettel.

Daniel Ricciardo congratulates Max Verstappen after the latter’s win at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which secured Verstappen the 2021 Driver’s Championship. Image: Highway F1

“Sometimes a car cannot suit your driving style,” the Dutchman told Sky Sports.

“It’s a very tough place to be in. You have a contract, you try to turn it around, and, if it doesn’t work out, I think sometimes it is better to maybe pursue a different direction – whatever that is. If that’s within F1, I don’t know what he wants.”

“He’s a great guy. I think he’s shown already over time that he’s an amazing driver. He’s won these races and I hope he stays in F1, but we have to wait and see where that will be.”
Max Verstappen

Despite their partnership being tense at times (although not as tense as Drive To Survive made it out to be), Ricciardo and Verstappen are actually rather close. Verstappen’s not known for being effusive with praise for other drivers, so his support of Ricciardo is significant.

The 2022 Formula 1 World Championship starts back up this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with lights out scheduled for 11pm AEST on Sunday, 28th August.

Joe Rogan Is No Longer The Podcast King

The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan‘s podcast, is no longer the number one podcast in the US. It’s been dethroned by Meghan Markle’s new podcast, Archetypes.

Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, has long been the number one podcast on Spotify. To say it’s hugely popular would be an understatement; Rogan has an average of 11 million listeners and Spotify paid over $100 million for exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience back in 2020.

But Rogan’s podcast reign could be coming to an end. Since 2020, The Joe Rogan Experience has consistently been number one on Spotify’s US podcast chart.

But the first episode of Archetypes, a new podcast hosted by Meghan Markle – former Suits actress and Duchess of Sussex – has just dethroned Rogan.

Archetypes is now number one on the Spotify US podcast chart – knocking The Joe Rogan Experience from its perch. Markle’s podcast is also number one on the Canadian, UK and Australian Spotify podcast charts.

Meghan Markle’s new podcast, *Archetypes* took the number one spot on the US Spotify charts from Rogan. Image Credit: Spotify

Tennis legend Serena Williams appears as Archetype’s first guest, and she and Markle discuss the challenges women face in the professional world. In the second episode of Archetypes, which is expected to be released next week, Markle will interview singer, Mariah Carey.

Whether Markle’s Archetypes will stay at number one on the US Spotify charts remains to be seen – as this isn’t the first time Rogan has been dethroned from the top spot.

In September 2021, the first episode of Banter With Sapnap and Karl Jacobs – a gaming podcast – knocked Rogan from number one on the charts but Rogan quickly reclaimed the spot a week or so later. Then earlier this year in May, an episode of the fictional podcast, Batman Unburied went to number one on the US Spotify chart, a spot Rogan, again, quickly reclaimed.

Markle has a pretty impressive guest list lined up for the rest of her podcast though (Mindy Kaling, Margaret Cho, Amanda Seales and Allison Yarrow; just to name a few) so Archetypes could potentially give The Joe Rogan Experience a run for its money and permanently take the number one spot away from Rogan. Only time will tell…

Read Next

The post Joe Rogan Is No Longer The Podcast King appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Ethereum Merge: Game-Changer Or Flash In The Pan?

Is Ethereum’s upcoming merger going to be a case of “buy the rumour, sell the news?” Or is it going to change the crypto-landscape forever? We did a little digging to understand what on earth is going on.

Ethereum’s upcoming merger is set to happen on the week of September the 15th, with Ethereum developers currently working to a soft deadline of 19th September 2022 (though this could change). The merge is basically an update of Ethereum.

Ethereum.org describes the merge as “the most significant upgrade in the history of Ethereum,” explaining “the Merge represents the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain.”

“It eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining and instead secures the network using staked ETH. A truly exciting step in realizing the Ethereum vision – more scalability, security, and sustainability.”
Ethereum.org

Fortune describes it another way, writing: “the merge is a long-planned Ethereum upgrade aimed at improving the network. Such upgrades are commonplace, but this is the most important one to date, and its success will pave the way for developers to introduce a host of new features to the network.”

“The merge will, well, merge the current Ethereum mainnet—or the main public Ethereum blockchain used by everyone—with something called the Beacon Chain. Currently, both chains exist in parallel. But only the Ethereum mainnet, which currently uses a mechanism called proof of work, is processing transactions.”
Fortune

Proof of stake is a consensus mechanism that is different from the traditional proof-of-work mechanism (the one Bitcoin uses). It’s the way a blockchain governs itself and how Ethereum determines the legitimacy of transactions on its network. Essentially, this new consensus mechanism Ethereum is moving to in the merge is going to use much less energy.

The “work” in a proof of work consensus, which Bitcoin uses, takes the form of mining. In this setup, Bitcoin miners expend energy in the form of computing power. Though proponents of this system say it’s the most secure mechanism, it is notoriously bad for the environment – a key consideration in Ethereum’s shift to proof of stake.

The Merge is coming… Image Credit: Investopedia

The proof of stake will replace proof of work as a form of reaching consensus. Proof of stake is achieved by the Beacon Chain, which has been waiting in the wings for a while, and was created on December the 1st, 2020. The Beacon Chain has since existed as a separate blockchain to Mainnet, running alongside it in parallel.

As Ethereum.org explains, “The Beacon Chain has not been processing Mainnet transactions. Instead, it has been reaching consensus on its own state by agreeing on active validators and their account balances. After extensive testing, the Beacon Chain’s time to reach consensus on more is rapidly approaching. After The Merge, the Beacon Chain will be the consensus engine for all network data, including execution layer transactions and account balances.”

“The Merge represents the official switch to using the Beacon Chain as the engine of block production. Mining will no longer be the means of producing valid blocks. Instead, the proof-of-stake validators assume this role and will be responsible for processing the validity of all transactions and proposing blocks,” (Ethereum.org).

“No history is lost. As Mainnet gets merged with the Beacon Chain, it will also merge the entire transactional history of Ethereum. You don’t need to do anything. Your funds are safe.”
Ethereum.org

Despite the common misconceptions, the merge will not make gas fees cheaper and it won’t make transactions noticeably faster. It is a significant change though, with the AFR reporting that ASX-listed digital asset manager DigitalX has decided to sell Bitcoin and buy ether in wake of the news.

The terminal total difficulty has been set to 58750000000000000000000.

This means the ethereum PoW network now has a (roughly) fixed number of hashes left to mine.https://t.co/3um744WkxZ predicts the merge will happen around Sep 15, though the exact date depends on hashrate. pic.twitter.com/9YnloTWSi1
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 12, 2022

“The ‘merge’ of the Ethereum blockchain, expected in mid-September, will allow holders of its native crypto token to earn yield for helping to validate the network, which has prompted DigitalX to sell bitcoin and buy ether,” the AFR reported.

“The ASX-listed digital asset manager said last week it would become a ‘validator’ on the new Ethereum network once its ‘consensus mechanism’, which updates and secures it, shifts from ‘proof of work’ to ‘proof of stake,'” (AFR).

Getting to what most retail investors care about though: is Ethereum about to become more valuable (in terms of price)? Opinion is split, with some predicting a price increase, and others predicting a plunge.

Relating to the reduction in the issuance of new Ether (which will be the consequence of a successful merge) Ether is probably going to become “the largest deflationary currency,” Lucas Outumuro, head of research at blockchain intelligence firm IntoTheBlock, reckons.

This reduction in issuance means Ethereum’s market cap could get bigger than Bitcoin’s over the next 12 months, according to an Aug. 12 report by research company FSInsight.

Richard Fetyko, founder and CEO of altFINS, a crypto analysis platform, recently wrote that (in his personal opinion) higher staking yield, the increasing environmentally friendliness of Ether and the deflationary aspect of a successful merge (despite the fact it will temporarily free up more Ether to be sold) could lead to more people buying Ethereum.

He wrote (as a matter of personal opinion): “Higher staking yield (~8%) should attract new ETH buyers, including institutional investors. Following a successful migration to PoS and removal of risks associated with it, institutions will flock to stake ETH, in my view.”

Katie Talati, the director of research at investment firm Arca, is also bullish on the merge, Coindesk reports.

That said, no-one really knows what will happen until the merge actually occurs. As Bankrate points out: “an increasing price isn’t a given if traders and others still prefer the old protocol.”

Bankrate then goes on to quote Vladislav Ginzburg, CEO of Blockparty, a digital asset marketplace, who has said: “The big question is how will the market receive the fork?”

“Will the original chain be [more highly] valued or the new 2.0 chain be [more highly] valued by users? Naturally, we believe the builders will prefer 2.0, but what about traders? Miners?”
Vladislav Ginzburg

Bankrate adds: “The shift from proof of work to proof of stake could cause a big shake-up in graphics cards, which are key to the proof-of-work protocol. Experts see Ethereum miners flooding the market with their graphics processors, leading to a massive decline in prices there.”

Interestingly, Decrypt reports “data collected by Glassnode suggests that options traders are looking ‘extremely bullish’ for September, but leaning bearish again for October, the month after the merge,” possibly due to the “buy the rumour, sell the news” philosophy kicking around.

Further risks of investing before the merge, Coindesk reports, are that it gets delayed or “the prospect that something could go wildly wrong during or after deployment, a risk that’s hard to calculate given all the moving parts that could break (Ethereum upgrades have been delayed before, and several times).”

Another risk Coindesk cites is “all the planned and possible Ethereum forks that will keep the proof-of-work algorithm.” Coindesk reports that some prominent crypto firms have already pledged to support some PoW forks, like ETHPOW, which prominent miner and investor Chandler Guo has backed.

In summary, the merge is significant for the world of crypto. But what will be make or break for Ethereum’s long term valuation – still – is whether Ethereum gets more broadly used for real life purposes and not just as a medium of trade.

At the time of writing, Ethereum is up 0.44% over the past 5 days, and 1.65% over the last month.

Read Next

The post Ethereum Merge: Game-Changer Or Flash In The Pan? appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

What Happens When You Train Calves For 120 Days Straight

The overall goal for anyone going to the gym is to increase muscle size and/or strength. But we usually do this by following a training plan that safely targets different muscle groups on different days. But one man decided to train his calves for 120 days in a row. This is what happened…

That man is Matt Morsia who has a YouTube called called ‘Matt Does Fitness.’ It does what it says on the tin: his name is Matt and he posts videos of himself completing various fitness challenges, which include eating challenges and competing against his brother to see who is the strongest.

One video follows Matt’s account of what happened when he trained his calves for 120 days straight (you can watch the full 17-minute video, here). Matt had good reason to conduct such a challenge as he ruptured his left achilles tendon whilst playing a 5-a-side football match.

WATCH: Matt’s journey of rebuilding his calf muscle for 120 days straight

After going through surgery, and having next to no strength in his left leg to the point where he could see his calf muscle “wasting away in front of my eyes,” Matt started to feel optimistic about regaining his strength.

Initially putting himself through a resistance band rehabilitation program to start rebuilding strength, and perhaps letting his ego get the better of him with his desire to prove all the experts who said it would be months before he would walk properly again, wrong, Matt started implementing some “actual calf exercises.”

These calf exercises included seated and standing calf raise variations and at 9 weeks post-surgery, Matt completed a 230kg deadlift. Matt’s ultimate goal was “to build to biggest and strongest calves the world has ever seen.”

Again, letting his ego takeover somewhat, Matt was able to raise the left heel (the damaged side) the same height of 14cm as his right heel after four months (120 days) of training. He claims his physiotherapist said off camera that he’d never seen anybody else do that before.

Matt then takes us through an example of his calf workout, which includes three calf raise variations. The first of which incorporates a series of isometric holds.

Isometric exercises, as Medical News Today says, “do not involve the muscles shortening or lengthening. During isometric exercises, the joints are still, and the muscles do not change shape or size.”

“Some isometric exercises develop tension by holding the body in a certain position, while others may involve holding weights. Holding the muscle contraction allows the muscle tissue to fill with blood and create metabolic stress on the muscle. This can help improve strength and endurance.”

It’s for this reason that Matt performs multiple isometric holds, with his feet in different positions to help target different areas of the calf muscle.

Myprotein ambassador and transformation coach Joshua Antonio Williams told DMARGE “the calf muscle consists of of two main muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus, which attaches to the Achilles tendon. The only way to correctly activate these muscles for muscle growth is with a movement named ‘plantar flexion’ which is where your toes point downward, away from your shin in a flex position.”

Indeed, Matt performs standing calf exercises using a smith machine, lifting up from his toes to elevate his heels, and then moving the direction in which his feet are pointing.

Matt also performs seated calf raises to help better target the soleus muscle. For these, he seats himself underneath a leg extension machine, and lifts the part you rest your feet on for a leg extension, with his knee, by elevating his heel once again.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris Clark (@clarkfit)

Josh told DMARGE Matt’s calf exercises are great to perform, along with “using a calf raise machine, leg press calf raises, single leg calf raises and dumbbell calf raises.”

However, Livestrong cites Sam Chan, a physical therapist from New York as saying “standing calf raises are probably the most common calf exercise and can be one of the most ineffective, too.”

“Performing calf raises from the floor prevents your muscle from moving through its full range of motion.”

Sam Chan does agree, however, that a seated soleus press – similar to the one Matt performs using the leg extension machine – is a great calf raise variation.

DMARGE asked Josh about the standing calf raise being a safe and effective exercise, and he told us, “I believe that any exercise can cause ‘potential injury’ if the exercises are performed incorrectly or the muscle is overtrained.”

“The standing calf raise is a preferred exercise for many as it is easy to add additional weight to increase the resistance, leading to increased muscle and strength.”

Josh also told that he “personally wouldn’t recommend anyone trains the same muscle everyday for an extended amount of time. The only time that muscle cells repair themselves and growth can occur is when you rest.”

“Also, without sufficient rest your muscles will quickly become overtrained, and you increase the risk of causing further injury.”

So, while Matt did indeed regain size and strength in his calf muscle following his injury, it could be fair to say he got lucky and avoided causing any further injury to himself. If you suffer an injury that forces to take time away from the gym for an extended period of time, accept that you are going to lose muscular size and strength, and then listen to the advice provided by a health professional.

Opinion: World Leaders Should Party More, Not Less

Finland’s Prime Minster Sanna Marin made headlines this week after a photo was leaked of her partying at her summer home in July. But I think the world would be a better place if leaders partied more, not less.

Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin this week came under fire for partying back in July with friends at her summer house. The images, which were taken by an influencer friend, had some of the world clutching their pearls. Others came to her defence, calling her a hero for being able to “work hard and play hard” (she took a drug test just to shut the rumours up, while defending her right to dance and have fun with friends).

Other people compared her actions to that of Australia’s Prime Minster, Anthony Albanese, who was also recently spotted enjoying himself (drinking a beer at a concert in Sydney). These people pointed out the double standard where male leaders are often celebrated for letting their hair down, while women are criticised.

These are interesting points, but today I’m here to make another one: the world would be a better place if Prime Ministers partied more. Now: before you tell me to be a realist, hear me out. I know it’s simplistic to say that if leaders spent more time organising piss-ups, they wouldn’t have enough time to start wars.

But… I still think the world would be a better place if more world leaders got blind more often. Now, by that I don’t mean politicians like Tony Abbot drinking wine with their buddies Costello and Dutton after work in their own offices (not that I particularly deny them that either). But I mean world leaders, as much as practical (I know security concerns will put a dampener on this) should get down the pub, under cover if necessary, and just soak in the conversations.

The logic? Though drinking is known to make you talk more, being in a drinking environment, like a pub, would perhaps teach a lot of politicians how to shut up and listen (a skill often lacking in politics).

On top of helping them understand their constituents better (and keep them grounded by their friends), partying is also renowned for building bridges. Whether that’s between a sports team, an office of workers (#teambuilding) or villagers in a remote Spanish town, partying is notorious for bringing people together and creating trust.

That’s not to say politicians should get blind every weekend (even Bob Hawke, who is well loved in Australia for his drinking antics, stayed off the booze while he was in office). But they should have every right to, as the ABC put it (in the case of the latest instance involving Sanna Marin), “party heartily.”

For these reasons, I completely disagree with the opinion presented by Malcolm Knox in the Sydney Morning Herald in January, where he argues that politicians drinking beer is patronising and harmful.

Speaking about the downfall of former British PM Boris Johnson, Knox wrote: “The excesses and disdain for the electorate in the Johnson government are not, of course, the same as a candidate chugging a beer for a photo opportunity. But they stem from a common source and lead to a common result. The source is an infantilising of the public and the result is mutual disrespect.”

“A political class that believes voters are dumb enough to be taken in by all that beery faux-folksiness is a political class that places no weight on our intelligence, only on our gullibility.”
Malcolm Knox

Though I agree some politicians’ efforts to ~resonate~ with us have been cringe-worthy, I don’t think that’s a good reason for them to stop trying. The more they actually spend time with people, the less insincere these gestures will be.

Read Next

The post Opinion: World Leaders Should Party More, Not Less appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

This Ex-Military G-Wagen Is The Most Legit Car In Australia

It seems these days that everyone with a bit of money in Australia is desperate to go out and buy a G-Wagen. But what if you’re not a millionaire drug dealer (nor do you want to look like one)? Then we’ve got the G-Wagen for you.

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, better known as the G-Wagen, is one of the most iconic off-roaders ever produced. Boxy, hardy and capable, the SUV has entered service with militaries and mischief makers around the world, as well as driven by anyone who wants serious off-road performance combined with German engineering excellence.

Yet most people know G-Wagens today as being the vehicle of choice for rappers and rich housewives. 99% of the G-Wagens on Australian roads are the four-door AMG variety, swathed in leather, faux carbon fibre and infotainment screens everywhere – a far cry from the utilitarian beast the car is meant to be.

There are a few older, less gussied-up examples around, but they’re few and far between, especially if you want a 2-door version (which in our opinion is the only acceptable kind of G-Wagen). They’re also usually pretty expensive.

That’s why this G-Wagen, which is not only the cheapest G-Class on Carsales in Australia right now but also easily the coolest, is such an exciting prospect.

Not a single inch of leather in sight. Image: Carsales

Previously in service with the Singapore Army, this 1990 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 240GD is a short wheelbase ‘Wolf’ model, the likes of which have seen service with militaries across the globe, from Australia to Norway. These short wheelbase models are frequently used by commissioned officers in the Singapore army as personal transports.

It’s utilitarian as they come, with a canvas top and canvas doors; hard vinyl seats (with two flip-down seats in the back); a fold-down windshield and plenty of mounting points for towing, winching, fuel canisters and mounting equipment. It doesn’t even have a single cup holder.

Under the hood, you’ve got a 2.4L OM616 diesel inline-four that makes 53kW/137Nm and will do 0-100km/h in a blistering 32 seconds. Okay, these aren’t amazing numbers, but straight-line speed is hardly the point of a G-Wagen like this.

What’s perhaps more important is that it’s got a 4WD/2WD selectable high/low range locking differential, amazing approach and departure angles; significantly high running clearance and a beefy General Motors-sourced 4-speed manual transmission. This Merc is properly legit, a proper off-road beast – not that you’d want to take it off-road…

A similar G-Wagen in active service with the Singapore Armed Forces. Image: Flickr

You see, that’s the dilemma with this car: it’s meant to be used and abused; it’s super-capable, but it’s also in basically mint condition (only 211kms on the clock!) It deserves to be absolutely thrashed off-road, but that would also be a bit of a shame.

But then, if you don’t drive it properly, you’re just as bad as all the AMG G-Wagen posers who tool around in these trucks for little more than coffee runs… It’s too legit to quit.

They’re asking $59,880 for it, which considering how much G-Wagens typically go for, is a bloody steal, even if this is one austere ride. Check it out on Carsales here.

Where Daniel Ricciardo Will Most Likely Race In 2023

The writing’s been on the wall for a while, but it’s finally been confirmed: Daniel Ricciardo will be leaving McLaren at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season. But where will he end up in 2023?

Danny Ric shared a candid video on social media earlier this morning, describing his departure as “bittersweet” and confirming that he will see out the rest of the season with the team.

In the carefully-worded clip, the 33-year-old Australian doesn’t rule out racing in F1 next year, saying “what lies ahead, I’m not sure yet… The sport – I still love it, this hasn’t affected any of that. I still have that fire in me… This isn’t it for me.”

He also doesn’t say it but this all but confirms that fellow Aussie and F2 champ Oscar Piastri will be taking his seat at McLaren – and that McLaren will be paying out Ricciardo upwards of AU$35 million to release him from his contract.

Fans and friends alike have been quick to commiserate and cheer on the eight-time Grand Prix winner – particularly his fellow athletes. Danish IndyCar driver Christian Lundgaard commented on Instagram “Big opportunities ahead bud! Go finish this thing off on a high,” while Australian professional enduro mountain biker Sam Hill said “You’re a legend mate… It’s never easy with the business side of being an athlete.”

Ricciardo’s teammate Lando Norris was especially magnanimous. “What a ride… From that moment in Monza, to the laughs we’ve had out of the car, it’s been a joy working with you these last two years. Whatever’s next I wish you all the best, let’s have a mega next few months,” the young Brit Tweeted.

WATCH Daniel Ricciardo’s announcement he’s leaving McLaren below.

Despite returning to his race-winning ways in 2021 during his first season with McLaren with a spectacular win at the Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo has been fairly comprehensively outperformed by Norris during his time at the famous F1 team.

13 races into the 2022 season and Ricciardo is sitting at 12th in the championship with 19 points, while Norris is 7th in the championship with 76 points. McLaren CEO Zak Brown has been surprisingly vocal with his disappointment with Ricciardo’s performance, so it’s not a huge surprise they’re getting rid of him.

The real question is this: what’s next for ‘The Honey Badger’? Where will Daniel Ricciardo drive in 2023? These are the most likely outcomes.

Alpine

In our view, there’s a good chance Ricciardo might end up at his old team, Alpine (formerly Renault). Ricciardo raced for the French team for two years after leaving Red Bull and before joining McLaren – a move that left a bitter taste in both former Renault F1 team managing director Cyril Abiteboul and Renault Group boss Luca de Meo’s mouths.

But Abiteboul’s no longer in charge at Alpine (former Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer is) and Alpine has a huge problem on their hands thanks to Fernando Alonso’s defection to Aston Martin and losing Piastri, their brightest young star, to McLaren.

It wouldn’t be the most comfortable of arrangements, Ricciardo returning to Alpine with his tail between his legs, but it’s arguably the best outcome for Ricciardo. Alpine has shown significant signs of momentum over the last two years, with Esteban Ocon winning the Hungarian Grand Prix last year – the Frenchman’s first ever Grand Prix win and the team’s first win as Alpine plus their first since 2008.

If both Danny Ric and Alpine can let bygones be bygones, it could actually work rather well. Indeed, it could give both the driver and team renewed vigour: to be out for revenge against McLaren.

Haas or Williams

Alternatively, Ricciardo might find himself at one of the two back-marker teams: Haas or Williams. Alpine’s a more competitive team, but if Ricciardo’s keen to stay in F1, he’ll have to take whatever he can get.

ESPN reports that Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, who has become a cult hero for his antics on Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive, contacted Ricciardo before the mid-season break – a surprising twist.

Hass team boss Guenther Steiner embraces driver Kevin Magnussen at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, where Magnussen scored Haas’ first points in F1 in over 16 months. Image: motorsport.com

Danish driver Kevin Magnussen is contracted with Haas on a multi-year deal (after having left the team at the end of 2020) but Mick Schumacher’s current deal expires at the end of 2022, meaning there could be space for Ricciardo at the American team.

Schumacher, despite his solid-gold surname and impressive junior career, has had a fairly lacklustre record in F1 over the last two years. He comprehensively outperformed his teammate Nikita Mazepin during his maiden season last year but has been rather shown up by Magnussen this year.

There’s also likely to be a spot opening up at Williams alongside fellow Red Bull castaway Alex Albon, with pay driver Nicholas Latifi all but certain to leave the team with his contract expiring at the end of 2022 as well.

The issue is that neither Haas nor Williams are likely to be able to accommodate for Ricciardo’s mind-boggling wage – the Aussie currently earns an AU$20.8 million annual salary, while Schumacher is paid less than $2 million, news.com.au explains. So unless Danny Ric is willing to take a substantial pay cut, this might not work.

Takes a year off… And then try Mercedes?

It’s also entirely possible that Ricciardo simply sits out F1 in 2023. He wouldn’t be the first driver to do so – Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen did so last year, Esteban Ocon did in 2019, and Fernando Alonso has had multiple spells away from the sport. A ‘rebuilding year’ of sorts might be just what Ricciardo needs, actually.

Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton share a fistbump after the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix. Image: Autosport

A very outside chance might see Ricciardo join Mercedes in 2024. Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton’s contract with the team expires at the end of 2023 – maybe, after 16 years in the sport (and seemingly being outperformed by new teammate George Russell), the GOAT might call it quits?

It’s a very unlikely outcome, seeing as there are plenty of Mercedes-contracted drivers waiting in the wings for Mercedes to pick from. Still, the combination of a veteran #2 driver supporting a talented young #1 driver could work for the Silver Arrows – seems to be working quite well for Red Bull with Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen…

Indycar

Ricciardo, a notorious Americaonphile, might instead ditch F1 entirely and head to Indycar, America’s biggest open-wheel car racing series – either temporarily or permanently.

He wouldn’t be the first F1 driver in recent years to make the switch. Former Haas driver Romain Grosjean, who left F1 after a shocking crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, has found much more success in the format than he ever did in F1.

Other former F1 drivers currently active in Indycar include Alexander Rossi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcus Ericsson and Takuma Sato.

Maybe he could pull an Alonso, spend a bit of time in Indycar and then make an F1 return? Stranger things have happened. Or maybe even follow Kimi Räikkönen’s lead and do some NASCAR? We’ll just have to wait and see…

Australian Tourists Fined $4,000 For ‘Skurfing’ Through Venice

Two Australian residents have been spotted surfing through Venice on motorised surfboards, outraging the city’s Mayor in the process.

Australians have a polarizing reputation abroad. You either love us or hate us, depending on your tolerance for heavy drinking, partying and tomfoolery. That’s the stereotype, anyway. But in recent months Australians abroad have been doing little to change this perception, with an Australian man recently being arrested for driving a moped through Pompeii and with news breaking this morning that two Australian men have raised the ire of the Venice Mayor, by riding motorised surfboards through Venice.

After becoming aware of the absurd stunt, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro wrote (translated from Italian): “Here are two overbearing idiots who make a mockery of the City … I ask everyone to help us identify them to punish them even if our weapons are really blunt … we urgently need more powers to the Mayors in terms of public safety! To those who spot them, I offer a dinner!”

Left: the two Australian residents ‘surfing’ through Venice. Right: Mayor Luigi Brugnaro’s tweet, in which he calls them “arrogant idiots.”

Beneath the Mayor’s tweet, some asked what the problem was (one wrote: “Are you being an extra-boomer? Did they cause an accident or danger? Doesn’t seem so. The world is changing, you’re just being annoying if you want to keep that change from happening, you can only delay it”), while others questioned which article of the navigation code (specific to Venice) applies, saying they couldn’t see any major violations.

“Whole world is burning down and old bald dudes getting triggered and forgetting what it was like to be young.”
Twitter user VaporWaffles

Other Twitter users, including one called Daniele E, posted further footage of the pair surfing through Venice.

pic.twitter.com/tqXqBzM6Bx
— Daniel E (@angloswissguy) August 18, 2022

One response to those defending the pair was: “It is not the best both for safety… and for the effects of the propellers on the walls of Venice.”

According to Il Gazzettino, the pair are both residents of Australia, with one being a Chinese person and another being an English person. The pair were reportedly told to leave the city and fined 1,500 euros each ($4,320 AUD all up)…

Ecco due imbecilli prepotenti che si fanno beffa della Città… chiedo a tutti di aiutarci a individuarli per punirli anche se le nostre armi sono davvero spuntate… servono urgentemente più poteri ai Sindaci in tema di sicurezza pubblica!
A chi li individua offro una cena! pic.twitter.com/DV2ONO3hUs
— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) August 17, 2022

That’s one hell of an expensive surf…

‘I Don’t Know How We Didn’t Die’: Tourist’s Nightmare Gili Islands Boat Trip

Sarah Said Smith has shown off a side of the Gili Islands that you don’t often see on Instagram. She claims she had a boat trip from hell (while trying to leave), and told her followers “I don’t know how the f*ck we did not just die.”

Australian/Egyptian Model Sarah Said Smith has taken to TikTok to share the details of a horrific boat trip, which left from the Gili Trawangan – one of a popular trio of islands 95.7 kilometres from Bali – and was supposed to take her to Nusa Lembongan (another popular tourist destination; a small island off the south east coast of the main island of Bali).

According to her though, it turned into a trip from hell, with the boat arriving late, having to navigate large waves, and having to dock in Bali and not make it all the way to Nusa Lembongan.

“This day ends in disaster,” Smith began her video, saying: “Jamie and I checked out of our hotel and headed down to the port. The boat was an hour late at first and then it got pushed to 3 hours late. Yep, great, love waiting… then we just never heard back how long it was going to be, so [at] four hours late I popped on my swimmers and went for a swim.”

WATCH: Tourist’s Nightmare Boat Trip From Gili Islands

At this point, the boat still hadn’t pulled up, so Smith and her partner had a drink while the sun was setting, “in the hopes our boat would still come.” Then, five and a half hours late (from the boat’s booked time) “we finally got told our boat was pulling up,” Smith explains.

“Fantastic. But it wasn’t fantastic and I really wish I hadn’t f**king gotten on this boat because the next four hours was the worst time of my life.”
Sarah Said Smith

She then got on, as she describes it, “this tiny ass f**king boat at night time in the most huge waves I’ve ever been on, literally for four hours straight, almost capsizing, everyone in life jackets, everyone vomiting, everyone freaking out.”

“We had to switch captains twice, most of the workers it was their first day and four hours later we didn’t even get to Nusa Lembongan, we just docked at some random port. Like I don’t know how the f*ck we did not just die on that boat… The boat had no lights, so it pitch black the entire time… inside of the boat flooded, everyone’s luggage up top drenched.”

Some commenters were sympathetic, saying they’d been successfully convinced not to go to Bali. Others were less so, saying things like: “Did you THINk there was a reason they were late, they didn’t MAKE THE SWELS” and “Hahaha people just expect perfection everywhere they go.”

In any case, there you have it: a side of visiting the Gili Islands you don’t often see on Instagram. And a warning that when visiting Indonesia in winter (when the waves tend to be larger) your perfectly laid plans may not stay so perfectly laid…

At the time of writing, it appears Smith and her partner are well, having chosen to abandon their Nusa Lembongan plan and instead stay in Canggu.