Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the new Formula 1 season, will start next weekend on 15 March, in Melbourne. The new racing year is expected to be very exciting and intriguing with many great sportsmen behind the wheels who already have their fame, and many young pretenders wanting to take over their famous rivals.

The current champion, Lewis Hamilton, is said to be mentally stronger than ever before, and his team mate, last year’s second placed driver Nico Rosberg, is also looking for a way to prove himself better than everyone else. Meanwhile 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and 2-time world champion Fernando Alonso are also looking forward to revive their careers with their new teams.

NDTV Sports: Formula One Gearing up for Another Eventful Year of Rivalry

This year’s championship will see less racers and less teams as 24 drivers took part in the tournament in 2014 while only 18 are competing this year. Well, it might be 20 in case of Manor-Marrusia, the team that was built from Marrusia, will succeed to qualify for the requirements.

It is true that there will be less drivers compared to the previous season, however we can expect the same amount of excitement due to the quality of the competitors. Latest gambling news regard Lewis Hamilton as the favorite for winning the title having set the odds at 1.53 (8/15) by Bet365, while those for his teammate Nico Rosberg are set at 3.50 (5/2).

The British, however, has many contenders, such as Sebastian Vettel who will start the new season at Ferrari or Fernando Alonso who left the Reds for McLaren Honda. So Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso are looking to claim their fifth and third championship title respectively but they have many young contenders.

The new season comes with many new names and most of these are incredibly young drivers. Toro Rosso launches young pairing with a combined age of only 37, while 20-year-old Russian Daniil Kvyat will race as teammate of emerging star Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull. Sauber will also trust the young with their drivers being 22 year-old Brazilian Felipe Nasr and 24 year-old Swedish diver, Marcus Ericsson.

Eurosport: Formula 1 – Lewis Hamilton arrives in Australia in style and ‘stronger than ever’

Lewis Hamilton seemed to be very confident when arriving to Melbourne and stepping out of his red private plane. He tweeted a picture of himself saying „Australia, we are here!“ to which he received mixed responses from his followers.

Online gambling news quoted what he thinks about his mental strength after being asked about the rumours of his berak-up with Nicole Scherzinger. ” I think last year, I adapted… a mental attitude that was kind of, I would like to say, impenetrable In the previous years it has been the case where personal issues have affected my life in general but I feel that I still carry that kind of mentality from last year.“

The Englishman also talked about his wish to achieve even better results than he did during the previous season. “It’s not easy to better a season like last year. In terms of performance, it was the best year that I think I’ve ever had, but it doesn’t mean I can’t beat it so that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Lewis Hamilton also declared that his negotiations with Mercedes about renewing his contract are at the final stage and they are close to reaching an agreement. “Hopefully we’re in the final stages. I don’t really know what the timeline is for that but we’re not rushing. but we’re very much in the last stages of it. So for the foreseeable future, I’m committed to this team.”

NDTV Sports: Mercedes Won’t End Hamilton-Rosberg Rivalry: Wolff

Even though the fact that Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were already teammates in the previous season, they were each other’s greatest competitors as well. Last year, on the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa the two drivers collided when the German was trying to overcome his partner.

The team has blamed Rosberg who was given an unknown punishment after the incident and he also apologised publicly for his dangerous maneuvers. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff claims that the collision between the two drivers was good for the sport but they had crossed a certain line.

Executive director of Mercedes AMG Petrol also added, “We are not going to change our approach in terms of philosophy on how to let the drivers race. Even if it is not always easy. For us, for our brand, for Formula One, it was important to let them fight, one against the other.”

According to gambling news, Wolff also stated that emotion is very important in sports, and even though the two pilots went over-board, the team found a good solution. He proved his word by saying that his team has won the following 5 races after the accident.

The executive also said that Formula 1 is the number 1 car racing sport in the world so people who work for Formula 1 should stop talking negatively about the game. “We are the number one auto racing sport in the world and we must promote and support this image.”

Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the new Formula 1 season, will start next weekend on 15 March, in Melbourne. The new racing year is expected to be very exciting and intriguing with many great sportsmen behind the wheels who already have their fame, and many young pretenders wanting to take over their famous rivals.

The current champion, Lewis Hamilton, is said to be mentally stronger than ever before, and his team mate, last year’s second placed driver Nico Rosberg, is also looking for a way to prove himself better than everyone else. Meanwhile 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and 2-time world champion Fernando Alonso are also looking forward to revive their careers with their new teams.

NDTV Sports: Formula One Gearing up for Another Eventful Year of Rivalry

This year’s championship will see less racers and less teams as 24 drivers took part in the tournament in 2014 while only 18 are competing this year. Well, it might be 20 in case of Manor-Marrusia, the team that was built from Marrusia, will succeed to qualify for the requirements.

It is true that there will be less drivers compared to the previous season, however we can expect the same amount of excitement due to the quality of the competitors. Latest gambling news regard Lewis Hamilton as the favorite for winning the title having set the odds at 1.53 (8/15) by Bet365, while those for his teammate Nico Rosberg are set at 3.50 (5/2).

The British, however, has many contenders, such as Sebastian Vettel who will start the new season at Ferrari or Fernando Alonso who left the Reds for McLaren Honda. So Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso are looking to claim their fifth and third championship title respectively but they have many young contenders.

The new season comes with many new names and most of these are incredibly young drivers. Toro Rosso launches young pairing with a combined age of only 37, while 20-year-old Russian Daniil Kvyat will race as teammate of emerging star Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull. Sauber will also trust the young with their drivers being 22 year-old Brazilian Felipe Nasr and 24 year-old Swedish diver, Marcus Ericsson.

Eurosport: Formula 1 – Lewis Hamilton arrives in Australia in style and ‘stronger than ever’

Lewis Hamilton seemed to be very confident when arriving to Melbourne and stepping out of his red private plane. He tweeted a picture of himself saying „Australia, we are here!“ to which he received mixed responses from his followers.

Online gambling news quoted what he thinks about his mental strength after being asked about the rumours of his berak-up with Nicole Scherzinger. ” I think last year, I adapted… a mental attitude that was kind of, I would like to say, impenetrable In the previous years it has been the case where personal issues have affected my life in general but I feel that I still carry that kind of mentality from last year.“

The Englishman also talked about his wish to achieve even better results than he did during the previous season. “It’s not easy to better a season like last year. In terms of performance, it was the best year that I think I’ve ever had, but it doesn’t mean I can’t beat it so that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Lewis Hamilton also declared that his negotiations with Mercedes about renewing his contract are at the final stage and they are close to reaching an agreement. “Hopefully we’re in the final stages. I don’t really know what the timeline is for that but we’re not rushing. but we’re very much in the last stages of it. So for the foreseeable future, I’m committed to this team.”

NDTV Sports: Mercedes Won’t End Hamilton-Rosberg Rivalry: Wolff

Even though the fact that Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were already teammates in the previous season, they were each other’s greatest competitors as well. Last year, on the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa the two drivers collided when the German was trying to overcome his partner.

The team has blamed Rosberg who was given an unknown punishment after the incident and he also apologised publicly for his dangerous maneuvers. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff claims that the collision between the two drivers was good for the sport but they had crossed a certain line.

Executive director of Mercedes AMG Petrol also added, “We are not going to change our approach in terms of philosophy on how to let the drivers race. Even if it is not always easy. For us, for our brand, for Formula One, it was important to let them fight, one against the other.”

According to gambling news, Wolff also stated that emotion is very important in sports, and even though the two pilots went over-board, the team found a good solution. He proved his word by saying that his team has won the following 5 races after the accident.

The executive also said that Formula 1 is the number 1 car racing sport in the world so people who work for Formula 1 should stop talking negatively about the game. “We are the number one auto racing sport in the world and we must promote and support this image.”

Expensive losses in court may cost state of Victoria $540m as they compensate poker machine operator for contract collapse.

A broken contract can lead to expensive litigation as the Australian state of Victoria is finding out. Tatts and Tabcorp once enjoyed a duopoly over poker machines beyond Melbourne’s Crown casino but following a government decision in 2009 altering gambling laws in Australia operation was given over to venues.

The legal action began by both companies in 2012 saw Tatts seeking at least $490m and Tabcorp asking for $686.8m. A ruling handed down by Victorian supreme Justice Kim Hargrave proved bad news for the state.

Whilst the government was ordered to pay $450m (plus interest) to Tatts, Tabcorp lost its attempt to gain compensation. The state instantly announced it would appeal the Tatts decision, which is now being used as a political football ahead of state elections five months hence.

“We will be appealing the decision with respect to this $540m, but the Labor party ought to apologize to the people of Victoria for their mismanagement of this process,” said state premier Denis Napthine

The Guardian: Denis Napthine says Victoria will appeal $540m payout to pokies giant

In what can only be described as a kind of legal side bet the three entities, state and two operators, are also at each other’s throats over 80 million dollar’s worth of health tax. This stems from the fact that despite having their duopoly removed the two companies were charged a health levy for the full year.

This, they claim, is unfair since they did not operate the machines for the full fiscal year concerned and thus are entitled to a refund for the portion of the year remaining. The Victorian supreme court ruled in their favor but in an interesting twist the Court of Appeal threw out that decision.

The Appeals court said the levy was a flat tax on gaming machines that was entirely within reason for the government to charge and that the revenue earnings of the machines, and the date on which those revenues were injected are neither here nor there in regards of a tax calculation.

Yahoo News: Vic Government wins appeal on repayment of health levy to pokies companies

The $42.6 million Tatts was charged, and the $42 million Tabcorp was levied has been spent on good causes around the state from schools to hospitals despite the Victorian state Treasurer having ruled its imposition was “unfair and unreasonable”.

Mr Michael O’Brien’s decision was overturned by Supreme Court judges Maxwell, Beach and McMillan who said the Treasurer’s decision was incorrect due to the wording of the law which means the “statutory language permits no other interpretation”.

“The Treasurer was bound to determine the tax payable in accordance with the prescribed formula,” they said. “Any unfairness which might be thought to have resulted was the inescapable consequence of the provision as enacted.”

Or to put it another way, the fact the operators only got 46 days where their machines were in use, they were charged for the whole year because the law doesn’t allow for anything else. If they were merely charged for 46 days it would still cost them $7m.

The Sydney Morning Herald: Tatts, Tabcorp could face $85 million in pokies levies after government appeal allowed

Of course appealing is going to keep this case running in the gambling news for a while longer yet. The two operators are likely to appeal the health tax levy, the state is going to appeal the decision against them (that’s costing the nearly half a billion) and that’s without the Auditor General’s two cents.

The Auditor General has found that the Brumby government that was responsible for the licensing of the poker machines in the first place made what can only be described as a complete pig’s ear of the entire thing costing the state almost $3bn,

The Brumby government breaking an agreement made by the Kennett government to pay compensation to the two operators should their licenses not be renewed in 2012 is now seen as political ammunition with the opposition spokesman laying the blame squarely on the liberal’s doorstep.

“It appears the contracts signed by the Kennett government with Tattersalls has provided a windfall gain.” He said, adding, “If the government is confident of its case, then it should strongly consider appealing.”

Herald Sun: Tatts to get up to $450m from Victoria’s coffers

Expensive losses in court may cost state of Victoria $540m as they compensate poker machine operator for contract collapse.

A broken contract can lead to expensive litigation as the Australian state of Victoria is finding out. Tatts and Tabcorp once enjoyed a duopoly over poker machines beyond Melbourne’s Crown casino but following a government decision in 2009 altering gambling laws in Australia operation was given over to venues.

The legal action began by both companies in 2012 saw Tatts seeking at least $490m and Tabcorp asking for $686.8m. A ruling handed down by Victorian supreme Justice Kim Hargrave proved bad news for the state.

Whilst the government was ordered to pay $450m (plus interest) to Tatts, Tabcorp lost its attempt to gain compensation. The state instantly announced it would appeal the Tatts decision, which is now being used as a political football ahead of state elections five months hence.

“We will be appealing the decision with respect to this $540m, but the Labor party ought to apologize to the people of Victoria for their mismanagement of this process,” said state premier Denis Napthine

The Guardian: Denis Napthine says Victoria will appeal $540m payout to pokies giant

In what can only be described as a kind of legal side bet the three entities, state and two operators, are also at each other’s throats over 80 million dollar’s worth of health tax. This stems from the fact that despite having their duopoly removed the two companies were charged a health levy for the full year.

This, they claim, is unfair since they did not operate the machines for the full fiscal year concerned and thus are entitled to a refund for the portion of the year remaining. The Victorian supreme court ruled in their favor but in an interesting twist the Court of Appeal threw out that decision.

The Appeals court said the levy was a flat tax on gaming machines that was entirely within reason for the government to charge and that the revenue earnings of the machines, and the date on which those revenues were injected are neither here nor there in regards of a tax calculation.

Yahoo News: Vic Government wins appeal on repayment of health levy to pokies companies

The $42.6 million Tatts was charged, and the $42 million Tabcorp was levied has been spent on good causes around the state from schools to hospitals despite the Victorian state Treasurer having ruled its imposition was “unfair and unreasonable”.

Mr Michael O’Brien’s decision was overturned by Supreme Court judges Maxwell, Beach and McMillan who said the Treasurer’s decision was incorrect due to the wording of the law which means the “statutory language permits no other interpretation”.

“The Treasurer was bound to determine the tax payable in accordance with the prescribed formula,” they said. “Any unfairness which might be thought to have resulted was the inescapable consequence of the provision as enacted.”

Or to put it another way, the fact the operators only got 46 days where their machines were in use, they were charged for the whole year because the law doesn’t allow for anything else. If they were merely charged for 46 days it would still cost them $7m.

The Sydney Morning Herald: Tatts, Tabcorp could face $85 million in pokies levies after government appeal allowed

Of course appealing is going to keep this case running in the gambling news for a while longer yet. The two operators are likely to appeal the health tax levy, the state is going to appeal the decision against them (that’s costing the nearly half a billion) and that’s without the Auditor General’s two cents.

The Auditor General has found that the Brumby government that was responsible for the licensing of the poker machines in the first place made what can only be described as a complete pig’s ear of the entire thing costing the state almost $3bn,

The Brumby government breaking an agreement made by the Kennett government to pay compensation to the two operators should their licenses not be renewed in 2012 is now seen as political ammunition with the opposition spokesman laying the blame squarely on the liberal’s doorstep.

“It appears the contracts signed by the Kennett government with Tattersalls has provided a windfall gain.” He said, adding, “If the government is confident of its case, then it should strongly consider appealing.”

Herald Sun: Tatts to get up to $450m from Victoria’s coffers