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Max Verstappen equalled Formula One’s all-time record of nine consecutive race wins in his home Dutch Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver matched Sebastian Vettel’s achievement and here, the PA news agency looks at how he compares. Cloud nine Verstappen has won 11 of this season’s 13 races – with team-mate Sergio Perez taking the other two as the duo surpassed the great McLaren pairing of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s run of 11 straight wins in 1988. Since Perez’s win in Azerbaijan on April 30, Verstappen has won the Miami, Monaco, Spanish, Canadian, Austrian, British, Hungarian, Belgian and now Dutch Grands Prix. He won from ninth on the grid in Florida, passing Perez with nine laps to go, and his team judged the rain correctly to hold off Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in Monaco. Dominant wins in Spain and Canada brought him level with Senna’s career tally of 41 race wins, which he quickly overhauled in Austria. Victory at Silverstone took him 99 points clear in the drivers’ standings and he shot past pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton on the run to the first corner in Hungary before clinching Red Bull the record for consecutive team wins. His attention could then turn to the individual landmark and after surging through from sixth on the grid at Spa, he returned from the summer break to beat Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in a six-lap dash to the chequered flag to match Vettel’s streak, set in 2013. History repeats for Red Bull Vettel set the record – also driving for Red Bull, for whom Adrian Newey has been in post as chief technical officer on both occasions – when he won the final nine races of 2013 to surge clear of Alonso and win the title. His run began in Belgium, where he overtook Hamilton early on and was untroubled thereafter, before dominant wins in Italy, Singapore and Korea and a strategic success in Japan. The German clinched the title in India and added further wins in Abu Dhabi and the United States before a season-ending success in Brazil made it nine in a row and 13 for the season. Alberto Ascari has a claim to a share of the record, having won the last six races of the 1952 season and his first three starts of 1953. The run was interrupted by Ascari not entering the Indianapolis 500, which at the time was part of the drivers’ championship and was won by American Bill Vukovich. Michael Schumacher won seven in a row in 2004, as did Nico Rosberg at the end of 2015 and the start of his 2016 title-winning season. Schumacher also had a run of six across the 2000 and 2001 seasons while Hamilton’s longest run is five wins, as was Verstappen’s before his current streak. Verstappen is on track to be the first driver ever to win over 80 per cent of races in a season – beating Ascari’s 75 per cent in 1952, when there were only eight races in total – while he has won almost 94 per cent of the maximum points available with 339 of a possible 362 so far. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen reveals Sebastian Vettel prediction as he closes on GP record run Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers in F1 history – Lando Norris Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix after breaking wrist in practice

Raine have continued talks with all bidders for Manchester United this week, as the prospective sale of the club enters its protracted final stages. Buyers have been reluctant to give a timescale on when they expect the process to be completed, as so many superficial deadlines have already passed. While most of the focus has been on Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim-fronted bid, those bidding for a minority are still in the race. Most notably, no party currently see themselves as out of it, even though the general feeling has been we are approaching the time when the Glazers are moving to “complete”. This confidence is most conspicuous with Qatar, given their camp didn't have that feeling two weeks ago. There was a widespread belief they were out of the race. The so-called “final take-it-or-leave-it” offer changed some thinking, and improved discussion. It is understood that offer is still of a lower overall value than that of INEOS, but the very fact that Qatar upped it at all is viewed as a strategic success for the Glazers. The involvement of Paris Saint-Germain’s Nasser Al Kehlaifi is also instructive, as it displays the Glazers’ intent to get Qatar to up the price. There is a view within industry circles that the United owners have long seen Ratcliffe as a “stalking horse” and that, if they are to actually sell, the intention has been to just gradually move Qatar up to the £6bn valuation. While Ratcliffe has made his valuation clear and can't really go past a certain point, after all, the Glazers are naturally conscious of Qatar's ultimately limitless wealth. It has ensured the process has become "a game", in the words of many sources. It is also why Qatar increasing their offer after the supposed last deadline is seen as a minor strategic victory for the Glazers. At the same time, there remains optimism within the INEOS camp, especially given the range of potential options they are giving the family. Avram and Joel Glazer, who are most attached to the club, could yet stay on. Chris Davidson, an academic expert on the Gulf who is a fellow at Durham University, believes the entire Qatar bid is a highly-calibrated approach that has been influenced by the purchase of Harrods in 2010. Now owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, the flagship department store was sold to Qatar Holdings for a reported £1.5bn. Sheikh Jassim’s father, the then Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, actually flew to London to finalise the deal with Mohammed Al Fayed. The senior Jassim said at the time that Harrods would add “much value” to Qatar’s portfolio of investments, especially as a “historical place”, although Davidson points out how the state was derided for overpaying at the time. He believes this has influenced the United takeover process in two ways, both related to the image of the state. One is over the symbolism of the price. The second is over the idea of giving the impression of some separation, to put more searching questions at a distance. “They’re just calibrating their bid,” Davidson told The Independent. “They could blow anyone out of the water, but they’re calibrated to always be just a little bit around Ratcliffe. "It’s a very different approach. I think this is an example of Qatar learning a lesson they found out the hard way on Harrods, where they were repeatedly pilloried for having overpaid. They really wanted Harrods. It’s a particularly glamorous brand for people from the Gulf. The status it has given them among their Gulf rivals – not so much in the UK – is enormous. They were willing to overpay for that. I’m sure they’d be willing to overpay for Man United, too, but I think this was a case of having learned their lesson.” This then plays into another strategic purpose, which is putting a perceived difference between the bid and the state. It is all the more important given the greater focus on state ownership in sport, especially with Manchester City’s landmark treble victory and Saudi Arabia’s recent escalation in its sporting investments. One of the points that has been made about the Ratcliffe offer is that it would be much quicker and cleaner to do, as there would be no resistance from other clubs, nor human rights-related issues. The Premier League in March updated its Owners and Directors Test to include a new provision based on Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations in 2020. Qatar has faced huge criticism from groups such as Amnesty and FairSquare, with that debate framing the entire 2022 World Cup. “By calibrating it, it just allows them to hover under the radar of being so obviously a state-backed entity, “ Davidson explains. “If they said ‘right, we want it’ just as they did with Harrods, and did a bid that blew everyone out of the water, it would be pilloried for being an uncompetitive offer that reflects badly on Qatar. It’s an ongoing calibration as far as I can see… enough to win the bid without attracting too much negative attention or too much attention it is ultimately state wealth. “If they calibrate their offer, one of the talking points becomes that it essentially can’t be state backing. Otherwise they’d throw even more of it. It’s clearly a stalking point bidding process.” INEOS are optimistic that is not the case and they have a real chance. Much will depend on how greatly the Glazers actually want to sell, which has remained a huge question throughout all of this. There remains a belief within the club itself that the Glazers’ preference is to just raise enough investment to redevelop Old Trafford but retain control. It is the poor state of the ground that has actually brought them to this point, after all, as it has started to affect revenue. Many in United’s hierarchy have taken note of just how impressive the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is, and what a revenue-machine it is for the London club. The current Old Trafford can’t offer that, and it was symbolic that it has been passed over for the Euro 2028 plans. That awareness runs alongside a persistent belief at the top of the game that elite clubs will see their value greatly rise in the years to come, particularly with the evolution of telecommunications and virtual reality technology. One industry source says that the new Chelsea owners were so keen to invest in the club – even for the much-pilloried £600m this season – because they believe they have bought an asset that could soon be worth £9bn for £2.5bn. The Glazers are conscious of this, too. While there had previously been a belief that the market for clubs had bottomed out, and that a sale now could offer a remarkable sum for each of the six siblings, there is also the view that this could just be a bad time to sell. They may miss out on huge future earnings. While this has been discussed among the Glazers, though, nobody really knows what they are thinking. That is especially true of the bidders now, since multiple sources maintain “you never know where you are in the race”. All of this will only become apparent whenever it ends, which is right now as much of an unknown. The hope is it’s this week, but that’s been said before, through multiple weeks. Read More Sheikh Jassim bid still on table as Manchester United takeover tests patience The year that sportswashing won: A season that changed football forever FA Cup final reveals key summer questions for Manchester United Football rumours: Arsenal closing in on Declan Rice for club-record fee Michael O’Neill expects Ethan Galbraith to flourish after Manchester United exit Manchester City’s treble winners arguably greatest ever English team – Joe Royle

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Russia plans to withdraw its ratification of the 1996 treaty that prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons, the country’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation [CTBTO] said on Friday. “Disturbed” by the move, the US denounced it as endangering "the global norm" against nuclear test blasts. The announcement by Mikhail Ulyanov on Friday added new fuel to tensions between Russia and the United States over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and arms control disputes between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers. Mr Ulyanov, Moscow’s envoy to the CTBTO, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that "#Russia plans to revoke ratification (which took place in the year 2000) of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty." "The aim is to be on equal footing with the #US who signed the Treaty, but didn’t ratify it. Revocation doesn’t mean the intention to resume nuclear tests," he said. The CTBT has been signed by 187 countries and ratified by 178 but cannot go into force until eight specific holdouts have signed and ratified it. China, Egypt, Iran, and Israel have signed but not ratified it. North Korea, India and Pakistan have not signed. While the United States signed but did not ratify the treaty, it has observed a moratorium on nuclear weapon test explosions since 1992 that it says it has no plans to abandon. "We are disturbed by the comments of Ambassador Ulyanov in Vienna today," a US State Department spokesperson said in a statement. "A move like this by any State Party needlessly endangers the global norm against nuclear explosive testing." It said that Russia should not be “wielding arms control and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric in a failing attempt to coerce other states”, in an apparent reference to Moscow’s efforts to pressurise countries into withdrawing their arms support and aid to Ukraine. Mr Ulyanov’s statement came a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Moscow could look at revoking its ratification of the CTBT. He argued that Russia could mirror the stand taken by Washington. “Theoretically, we may revoke the ratification,” he said, after Moscow successfully tested an experimental nuclear-powered cruise missile. Moscow last tested a nuclear weapon in 1990, before the collapse of the Soviet Union a year later. It ratified the global test ban in 2000. Many Russian hawks have spoken in favour of resuming the tests, since its invasion of Ukraine, in February last year. Mr Putin said that while some experts have talked about the need to conduct nuclear tests, he hasn’t yet formed an opinion on the issue. “I’m not ready to say yet whether it’s necessary for us to conduct tests or not,” he said. "It would be concerning and deeply unfortunate if any State Signatory were to reconsider its ratification of the CTBT," Robert Floyd, the executive director of the CTBTO, which monitors compliance with the pact, said in a statement. "The Russian Federation has consistently reaffirmed its strong support of the CTBT since its very inception, helping to negotiate the Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament, signing the day it opened for signature on 24 September 1996, and ratifying it in June 2000," he added. Russian withdrawal could be a blow to the treaty since, like the eight key holdout countries, it is one of the "Annex 2" countries that must all ratify the treaty it for it to enter into force. "I look forward to continued close cooperation with the Russian Federation and all States that have committed to creating a world free of nuclear testing," Mr Floyd said. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s ‘inhuman’ missile strike hit area with no military targets, says Kyiv Ukraine village reels after deadly missile strike: ‘Everything was burning’ ‘You can still smell the blood’: Inside the village where more than 50 were killed by a Russian missile The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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