Max Verstappen Uncovers Crucial McLaren Secret Behind its F1 Domination
Red Bull Racing Formula One driver Max Verstappen has uncovered McLaren's strongest point that has helped it dominate the F1 grid thus far. For the first time since the inception of the current ground effect era in 2022, Verstappen is not leading the championship.
While the setback could be attributed to Red Bull's dwindling performance due to reported issues on the RB21 F1 car, McLaren's superior racecraft has proven it can master different kinds of circuits under extreme weather conditions.
Oscar Piastri leads the 2025 Drivers' Standings with 284 points, nine points adrift of his teammate Lando Norris with 275 points. Verstappen is placed third in the standings with 187 points, 88 points less than Norris, his 2024 championship rival. From the looks of it, the Papaya outfit is on its way to securing both the Drivers' Championship and Constructors' Championship this year.
While the McLaren MCL39 is popular for reduced tire wear compared to its rivals, Verstappen revealed that the car's medium cornering speed is unmatched by any other F1 challenger. Speaking to the media, he said:
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing walks in the paddock during the Sprint/qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 26, 2025 in Spa,...
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing walks in the paddock during the Sprint/qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 26, 2025 in Spa, Belgium. More"I think their medium speed performance is incredible compared to, I would say, everyone else on the grid. The rotation that they have on the front axle, without losing the rear, is something that is also quite incredible to see, and that's something that we have to try to achieve."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged the strong point, confirming that Verstappen was right in his observation. He said:
"That's an easy answer because it can be answered just by looking at the GPS data. When you look at the speed comparison with some other teams, the data says that McLaren can generate the highest mid-corner speed in medium-speed corners.
"So, I think the assessment of Max is correct. We still have our weak points. If you go on a very high-speed corner like Copse, for instance, or Pouhon, we are not the fastest car. Likewise, probably in very low speed, we are not the fastest car.
"But the majority of corners in a championship happen to be medium-speed corners, and certainly in that range, our car is, data in hand, the best."
Will Red Bull be able to work on gaining a similar advantage from the RB21? It seems unlikely, given the onset of a new era of regulations in 2026, that will see the introduction of new cars that all teams are currently developing. Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko confirmed in a recent interview that it was now impossible for Verstappen to secure his fifth championship title.
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2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Steps the FIA will take to avoid a repeat of Mercedes' 2014 F1 dominance
Next year, both chassis and power unit regulations will undergo sweeping changes. Several technical directors in the F1 paddock have called it the biggest overhaul of the past 50 years. In addition to concerns from drivers about the racing in general, some fear it could pave the way for long-term dominance by a single manufacturer. Memories go back to 2014, when Mercedes' engine proved significantly superior to the rest of the field and the factory team went on to claim every world title through to 2020. Why the FIA doesn't fear a repeat of Mercedes' 2014 dominance The FIA, however, is confident that history won't repeat itself in F1's new era starting in 2026. 'I don't think that we are going to have a situation where a single manufacturer has such a huge advantage as was the case in 2014,' Nikolas Tombazis told The FIA's single-seater director believes the new engine formula is less complex, despite the substantial increase in electrical power: 'The engines are still not as simple as we would have liked. We would have liked to go further, but we had a lot of resistance against simplifying the regulations more. So there are things that we would have liked to be even simpler, but they are still simpler than the current generation of engines. They don't have the MGU-H, and there are a few things that have tighter limits, so we don't think the gaps will be as big as in 2014.' Back then, the MGU-H proved a major performance differentiator - and a very costly one. For both of those reasons it will disappear in 2026, a change that should provide newcomers with a more level playing field while also reducing development costs. How will the concessions' system work? That said, it cannot be ruled out that one manufacturer may still get out of the blocks significantly better than the rest, especially since the FIA acknowledges not all power unit manufacturers are equally transparent or willing to share data about their new engines. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05, leads Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05, Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB10 Renault, Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14T, Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB10 Renault, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14T, Nico Hulkenberg, Force India VJM07 Mercedes, and Kevin Magnussen, McLaren MP4-29 Mercedes, at the start But even if one manufacturer dominates next year, the FIA has learned from 2014. The new regulations include a safety net, allowing underperforming brands to close the gap through so-called concessions. 'We do have newcomers, and it is always a risk at the start of a new cycle that there is some divergence initially,' Tombazis said. 'Additionally, we have a cost gap for the PU manufacturers now.' It means that manufacturers who are behind cannot simply throw unlimited money at their engine projects. To still offer them possibilities to catch up, the FIA has included a new system into the 2026 regulations. 'For that reason, there is a concept called ADUO, which is an acronym for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities,' Tombazis explained. 'This concept has been the product of a lot of work. It was already there from day one of the regulations, but in the last few months more detail has been put into it to define exactly how that is going to operate.' This, of course, raises the key question: how does it work? 'Essentially every five, six races there will be an average performance measured for each PU manufacturer. Those who are below a certain level, and depending on how much below they are, will get that benefit accumulating over the year. That benefit would translate into three things: one is additional development money, some more dyno hours and the possibility to make a new homologation of the engine. So people who are behind will have the opportunity to speed up and catch up.' The 2026 technical regulations specify that this assessment will be made after the first five race weekends each season: 'Over the first five Competitions of each Championship Season in the 2026-2030 period, the FIA will monitor the performance of the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) part of all the Power Units supplied by each PU Manufacturer to its customer Competitors. For each ICE supplied by the PU Manufacturers, an average power will be calculated. The methodology to calculate this power can be found in the Appendix to the Regulations. Any PU Manufacturer whose ICE power is more than 3% below that of the highest ICE power recorded amongst all the PU Manufacturers will be granted Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities.' These extra opportunities relate to a table in Appendix 3 of the technical regulations. A special ADUO column lists which components of the ICE may still be improved if a manufacturer is granted the special status by the FIA. Several of these components are otherwise frozen for development over a specific period of time, but with ADUO status, they may still be modified to close the gap. Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director FIA rejects 'absolutely any suggestion' of Balance of Performance The system is designed to prevent long-term dominance, but Tombazis emphasises that it should not be seen as a Balance of Performance, as is used in series like the World Endurance Championship. 'I want to stress that I completely refute any comment about that being a Balance of Performance or anything like that, because first of all, the regulations are exactly the same for everyone. It's not like we are giving them more cubic capacity, more fuel or whatever. 'Secondly, if there was no cost cap, they would throw a lot of money at it. When Honda were behind in 2016, 2017, for a certain period they had to spend a lot more money to catch up. With a cost cap the risk is that you would never be able to do that, and that you would be behind eternally. You would just be humiliated for a whole regulation cycle, and clearly we don't want that. We don't think that would be fair, and I have to say that PU manufacturers have been extremely collaborative on this topic.' Finally, the FIA is working on a safety net for manufacturers who suffer serious reliability issues — something that cannot be ruled out at the start of a new era. 'There is an additional initiative which addresses the situation where a PU manufacturer has huge reliability issues to start with. Imagine somebody who blows up an engine each race weekend and each engine costs a lot of money. They suddenly find that they are eating their cost cap with blown engines. They have to reduce the development to stay below the cost cap, and you can imagine that would be an awful situation. 'So we've got some initiatives, which are going through the same phase of discussion now, and will hopefully be approved quite soon, whereby once you use more than a certain number of engines, you start having a certain cost cap relief. Read Also: What's got drivers so agitated about "strange" 2026 F1 cars? 'Your engines, once you exceed that number, cost very little from a cost cap point of view. Not in terms of real money, of course, they still cost the same unfortunately, but it means that we protect them from a situation where somebody is in an awful position and has no way to react under the cost cap. That would be really unfortunate.' Combined with the slightly simpler power unit formula, this approach should avoid a repeat of 2014 and has to keep the F1 field competitive - at least on the engine side. To read more articles visit our website.
New York Times
6 hours ago
- New York Times
2025 F1 midseason driver rankings: Oscar Piastri surges, rookies shine and a champion falls
After a hectic run of 14 races since March began, the Formula One paddock has a chance to breathe in the summer shutdown. With no racing until the end of August, when the Dutch Grand Prix will start the 10-race dash to the end of the 2025 season, all 20 drivers have an opportunity to digest the campaign so far. Advertisement McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris may be the drivers fighting it out for this year's world title, and with Red Bull's Max Verstappen not quite yet out of contention, but there have also been impressive displays from those further down the field. Given the summer break provides a natural time to review the season so far, The Athletic's experts Luke Smith and Madeline Coleman give their top-10 driver rundown. As always, let us know your thoughts on this ranking in the comment section below. Oscar Piastri has blossomed in his third F1 season, converting raw speed into pole positions (4) and race wins (6), and minimizing his mistakes. The year started on a sour note as he made a costly error and spun during the wet season-opener in Australia, but he really found his groove in Bahrain after winning in China. Bahrain was a race where he calmly commanded proceedings from lights out to the checkered flag. This was one of three consecutive wins that led him to the championship lead, which he hasn't relinquished since the Saudi Arabian race. Aside from Australia (P9) and Canada (P4), the Australian has stood on the podium every race weekend so far. Piastri holds a nine-point lead over teammate Norris in the drivers' standings, and the margins are fine as their title battle heats up. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told select media in Hungary earlier this month that one area the team felt Piastri needed to improve on during the winter offseason was qualifying – and he has done so, putting together stronger Saturdays on the back of solid practice starts and leading Norris 8-6 in qualifying. The average gap between the pair is just 0.042 seconds, with Piastri having the edge. The 24-year-old needs to maintain his calm demeanor and clean performances during the second part of the season as the pressure will continue to climb. Even without the best car on the grid, Max Verstappen has produced some miraculous performances so far in have been stunning battles, pole positions, podium finishes and wins, plus he's secured points even when the RB21's limitations are severely exposed. At Suzuka in April, Verstappen converted a P1 start to his first victory of the season, finishing over a second ahead of the McLaren duo despite race-long pressure. At Imola, he nailed a beautiful race-winning first-lap pass on Piastri that was the key to victory. Strategic errors and car set-up issues have all played a part in why Red Bull's dominance has ended. But the Spanish Grand Prix in June is the most notable black mark on Verstappen's personal 2025 record, as he crashed into George Russell and received three penalty points for the incident, putting him at risk of a race ban. The incident raised questions over whether the Dutchman should have been disqualified as many people thought it appeared a deliberate act, while he later acknowledged his move 'was not right' on social media. Verstappen is unlikely to secure a fifth consecutive drivers' title, but he has totally outclassed his teammates, holding an average qualifying gap of 0.540 seconds to Yuki Tsunoda (after starting the year against Liam Lawson). Verstappen's performances in a tricky car illustrate why he's a four-time world champion. George Russell's seamless transition into the team leader role at Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton's departure should surprise no-one. Working harder than ever off the track and in a contract year, Russell arguably has been performing his best yet in F1, scoring more podiums this season than anyone outside of the McLaren drivers. The Mercedes car just hasn't given him the chance to regularly fight for victories. His form was stymied by the updated rear suspension made after June's Canadian Grand Prix. But that weekend in Montreal, when conditions aligned to bring out the best in the Mercedes package, Russell flourished, winning from pole position ahead of Verstappen. Russell has been consistent and quick this season, grabbing opportunities that came his way and being unruffled by the arrival of a new teammate in Kimi Antonelli. A new Mercedes deal, long a formality, will be richly deserved if it arrives as expected post-summer break. All he needs to be a serious contender is a championship-challenging car. There was never any doubt over Lando Norris's speed heading into 2025, justifying his status as the preseason championship favorite. But a series of small, yet costly, errors have allowed Piastri to marginally gain the upper hand both in terms of points and pace. At his best, Norris has been very hard to beat. He started perfectly in Australia, winning from pole in tricky conditions, and was in total control of the Monaco weekend, which resulted in a significant victory. He struggled for total comfort in McLaren's 2025 car, especially over a single lap, before a suspension geometry tweak was introduced. Then there were mistakes such as running into the rear of Piastri in Canada, or his qualifying crash in Jeddah. None helped his cause. Although he's generally fought back, it's often been a recovery that should not have been required in the first place. But heading into the summer break with three wins in four races was an important statement. Norris had the edge in Austria, made the most of Piastri's penalty at Silverstone, and then held on superbly in Hungary after a poor start moved him onto a one-stop strategy. The outright pace is still there for Norris to win the 2025 title. But in a year where fine margins are decisive, he can't afford more mistakes through the final stretch to Abu Dhabi. The Ferrari spotlight may have been on Hamilton after his blockbuster winter move, yet Charles Leclerc was always going to be a presence at the front given the right car. But Ferrari failed to maintain its late 2024 momentum, instead falling back from McLaren. This left Leclerc and Hamilton struggling with a car that needed 'extreme' setups, to quote Leclerc, to achieve the best speed through most of the season's opening chunk. Leclerc's natural one-lap pace, his calling card from across his time in F1, wasn't as easy to unlock. Yet Leclerc was often able to maximize what Ferrari could do and this was seen no clearer than in Hungary, with his magical run to pole. The rear suspension update introduced at Spa is a positive step that should give him more chances to fight for podiums through the closing stages of the season with more orthodox setups. That Leclerc has only twice trailed Hamilton on a Sunday points to him still being Ferrari's leader, as does his qualifying advantage. Though Hamilton may have got closer as the season progressed, Leclerc has proved why he's the man Ferrari has long seen as integral to its future success. In his sixth F1 season, Alex Albon has exceeded expectations and extracted the maximum performance from Williams' FW47. He scored points in seven of the first eight weekends, finishing a season-high fifth three times – his best since joining Williams in 2022. Three consecutive DNFs followed, with a crash in Spain, a power unit issue in Montreal and another car issue in Austria, but of Williams' 70 points, Albon has scored 54. He's rarely misstepped in competitive sessions. Albon's impressive performances come at a time when the intra-Williams battle is closer than in recent years. Albon had outqualified former teammate Logan Sargeant 14-0 by this point last season, but Williams newcomer Carlos Sainz has closed the qualifying head-to-head gap as the season has gone on. Albon still has the edge, 8-6, but the average gap is just 0.072 seconds. Sainz is the Albon's toughest teammate since he was at Red Bull with Verstappen in 2019-2020 and if it wasn't for reliability issues, Sainz would likely have more than his current 16-point haul. But Albon has made a statement so far this year that can't be ignored — he's a consistent top 10 contender. Pierre Gasly has been a constant for Alpine and the Frenchman has scored all of the team's points so far. While there was a driver swap in the other car, with Franco Colapinto replacing Jack Doohan after Miami, Gasly has taken a difficult car into Q3 seven times. And Alpine's highest qualifying position so far was Gasly's fifth in Bahrain. He holds an average qualifying gap of 0.256 seconds over Colapinto and was 0.362 seconds quicker than Doohan on average. He's scored points four times in grand prix races (plus the Miami sprint), with his best finish coming in the wet thriller at Silverstone in early July. Alpine's poor car has prevented Gasly from being consistent, whether it be tire management issues or the car just lacking competitive pace. Meanwhile, both of his crashes this year happened with Tsunoda – with their Jeddah collision deemed a Lap 1 racing incident and Gasly at fault for the Monaco chicane shunt. Aside from these incidents and colliding with Sainz in Hungary, Gasly's race craft has been relatively clean. He's generally done all you can ask from a driver, extracted the maximum from his car and got his elbows out to fight for points. The thought of Nico Hülkenberg ending his 15-year wait for an F1 podium seemed fanciful early in 2025. Since his full-time return to the F1 grid two years ago, 2025 has proved to be another chapter in the veteran German's revival. Although he's been matched for pace by rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, when the opportunities for big points have arisen Hülkenberg has seized the moment. His day in the sun (peeking through the rain clouds) at Silverstone stands as a career high-point – the sort of shock F1 result that feels increasingly rare. And he had to fight for that third place, passing Lance Stroll and outpacing Hamilton's Ferrari in the race's second half. It's not just Silverstone that gets Hülkenberg into our top 10. He kept his head through the chaos of the wet race in Australia to finish seventh in what was then clearly F1's slowest car and grabbed P5 through the late drama in Spain – after Sauber had significantly developed the C45. He's failed to net points in nine out of 14 rounds, but when he has scored they've been significant hauls. He was also eighth in our 2024 mid-season ranking. Isack Hadjar's F1 career may have started in heartbreaking fashion after he spun out on the formation lap on his Australia debut, but since then it's been very positive. Hadjar's qualifying pace has been there from the get-go, as he's made it past Q1 at every race so far and he's regularly popped up in Q3. The forgiving nature of Racing Bulls' car this year has certainly helped the rookie, yet it took Lawson time to adapt once he was back aboard. Hadjar said at Spa he had surprised even himself with his qualifying form, as he's outpaced the slightly more experienced Lawson by 0.150 seconds on average. Although that's not translated into points of late amid some struggles with race execution and car reliability, the latter being costly in Belgium last month, he's unquestionably been one of 2025's brightest rookies. That Australia mistake was a big one, and there'll be a desire to get back to regular points-scoring form after the summer break, but Hadjar has plenty to take pride in so far. After Gabriel Bortoleto finished sixth in this month's Hungarian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, who is part of the Brazilian driver's management team, told Spanish broadcaster DAZN, 'He's the best rookie of this generation.' Earlier this season some fans may have doubted such a claim, but Bortoleto has been on an upward trajectory since Austria in June and is in the conversation for best rookie of the season. He headed into the break having scored points in three of the last four weekends. Bortoleto's junior category accomplishments before he joined Sauber for 2025 matched some of the most successful F1 drivers of this era: He won the Formula Three title in 2023 and secured the Formula Two championship after just a year in each championship. But moving from F2 to F1 is still a big jump. He had a quiet start to the season and has made mistakes, such as his first-lap spin in China or his early exit crash at Silverstone. In the updated Sauber, Bortoleto found his stride and the team secured what is so far its only double points finish with Bortoleto eighth and Hülkenberg ninth in Austria. Although not reflected in the race results earlier in 2025, Bortoleto has an impressive edge on the rapid Hülkenberg in qualifying, with the average gap between the pair currently at 0.059 seconds. If Bortoleto can continue to improve, his F1 future appears very bright. (Top images: Mark Thompson/Jayce Illman/; Illustration: Will Tullos/The Athletic) Spot the pattern. 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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Today's rugby news as Wales receive major injury boost and Louis Rees-Zammit move ruled out by coach
These are your latest rugby headlines on Wednesday, August 13. Rees-Zammit move ruled out by coach Newcastle coach Steve Diamond has ruled out a potential move for Louis Rees-Zammit ahead of the new season, despite the club's takeover by energy drinks giants Red Bull. The Premiership club - who will now be known as Newcastle Red Bulls - have had their long-term future secured by the deal with "world-class" players expected to join them over the next few seasons. As a result, many had touted Wales international Rees-Zammit - who is looking for a club after announcing his return to rugby from the NFL last month - for a move to the north-east. READ MORE: New 20-year-old Springboks monster goes viral as crazy physique leaves 8m in awe READ MORE: Steve Tandy's potential new-look Wales team as old and forgotten faces return However, as the takeover was completed, Diamond said his team are 'just looking at the short term this season', with big-name signings not being considered over the next couple of years. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. Asked about a potential move for Rees-Zammit, the coach said: 'All players are going to be of interest now, but at this moment in time, we're just looking at the short term of this season; he won't be joining us for this season. "We're just getting as competitive as we can for Saracens in late September. We'll be looking at world-class facilities, world-class players and world-class coaches coming to Newcastle over the next three or four years to hopefully dominate in the future.' However, new signings will be arriving soon, with Diamond adding: "There'll be at least another two or three immediately. There are one or two guys who are currently playing in the southern hemisphere in the Rugby Championship, who won't be arriving till the autumn, but that's all in the plan." He continued: 'My job now is just to concentrate on the squad and the coaching staff on getting the best out of the current squad who've been through difficult times and the new players who are joining us. 'You can't just rush out and spend money. It never really works. So I think the infrastructure is really important, stadium, training ground, getting our academy right, making sure that it's producing kids with the right quality in the community. 'We've got to get our academy running as best we can get it. We've got to give kids a progression and the opportunity to learn, from 13 to 14, not just 15 to 16, and the skill sets cascade down from the first team, from the coaches of the first team, right through the academy system, so when people come in, they know that they're a Newcastle Red Bull. "They know what's expected of them, and they know what behaviour levels are expected of them. What I intend to do, certainly over the next six months, is to try and stabilise the place. We'll have a competitive squad, but that's just the beginning.' Wales get major injury boost as co-captain 'raring to go' By Ed Elliot, PA Co-captain Alex Callender is 'raring to go' for Wales' World Cup campaign after fearing she may miss the tournament following an injury scare. The Harlequins back-row sustained an ankle problem in the second Test defeat to Australia at the start of the month and was later pictured on crutches. But Callender, who on Monday was named in a 32-player squad, confirmed she will be available for her country's Pool B opener against Scotland on Saturday, August 23 in Salford. 'It was a precaution to take me off, I just tweaked an old injury, but I'm raring to go for Scotland,' Callender told reporters on Tuesday, according to BBC Sport. Callender missed most of the Six Nations with an ankle issue suffered playing for her club before impressing in Wales' 21-12 first-Test victory over Australia on July 26 in Brisbane. However, she left the field in the opening minutes of the 36-5 loss to the Wallabies in August 1's second Test in Sydney. Asked if she thought her World Cup was over at that stage, she replied: 'Yes, to be honest. But I'm in a really good place at the moment, I'm just excited to get going.' After beginning against Six Nations rivals Scotland, Wales take on group favourites Canada, who sit second in the world rankings, on August 30 and Fiji on September 6. Callender, who has 45 caps and will lead her country alongside Gloucester-Hartpury flanker Kate Williams, said: 'We live for these moments and these Test matches. 'We're all really excited to step out and showcase all the hard work that we've put in over the last couple of months, and hopefully we can put in a performance and the result will follow.' The Springboks could lose their spot at the top of the world rankings this weekend. Should Rassie Erasmus's team beat Australia, they will hold on to top spot no matter what happens in the other Rugby Championship match between Argentina and New Zealand. However, should the Springboks draw or lose to Australia, they will slip to second provided that the All Blacks beat the Pumas, with New Zealand then going top. Erasmus' side have been ranked as the best team in the world since November, when they took top spot back from Ireland, having previously held it from midway through the 2023 Rugby World Cup to September last year. History is on the Springboks' side, as they have never lost to Australia at Ellis Park before. However, the Wallabies are chasing another big win, having also won the final Test against the British and Irish Lions in Sydney earlier this month. 'It's really easy to look at what South Africa have done in the past and obviously they're a world-class team and for us it's just taking them for face value,' said Wallabies hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa. 'We respect what they've done, we respect them as a team, winning World Cups but we're just going to take them at face value – what we see in front of our faces in Ellis Park is how we're going to see them. 'I definitely think we're at a better place now than we were 12 months ago. 'Off the back of a really good win against the Lions, we just want to continue to build that momentum going into the TRC (The Rugby Championship) against South Africa, Argentina and then the All Blacks. 'First stop though here at Ellis Park, so we're looking at definitely continuing that momentum.' By Ed Elliot, PA World player of the year Ellie Kildunne intends to emulate Lionesses star Chloe Kelly by ensuring her name is printed on fans' shirts following the Women's Rugby World Cup. The Harlequins full-back is brimming with confidence ahead of her country's quest for global glory on home soil and has taken inspiration from England's footballers retaining the European Championship title. Arsenal forward Kelly played a starring role in the Euro 2025 triumph in Switzerland after propelling herself into the limelight by scoring the winning goal in the Euro 2022 final at Wembley. Kildunne is key to the Red Roses' ambitions of lifting silverware at Twickenham next month and hopes the team can follow in the Lionesses' footsteps by becoming household names and raising the profile of women's sport. 'Outside this pub, there are Chloe Kelly shirts being sold on the street,' Kildunne, who is supporting Asahi Super Dry's campaign to have the tournament shown in pubs across the UK, told the PA news agency. 'That's what the Euros have done for the Lionesses and the opportunity we've got with this World Cup is to have Kildunne shirts being sold on the side of the street; for young girls and boys to have posters of Emily Scarratt and Meg Jones on their walls and not just Jonny Wilkinson. 'I'm inspired by the Lionesses and what they've done for women's football and I hope for nothing less (for women's rugby) than what they've been able to achieve so far.'
