The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Eric Chelle as the head coach of the Super Eagles.

The NFF announced the appointment of the Malian tactician in a statement on Tuesday, January 7.

The decision followed the recommendation of the NFF’s Technical and Development Sub-Committee during its meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, January 2, 2025.

Chelle, 47, is a former head coach of Mali’s senior national team, who also managed clubs such as GS Consolat, FC Martigues, Boulogne, and MC Oran.

During his playing career in France, he represented Martigues, Valenciennes, Lens, Istres, and Chamois Niortais.

Born in Côte d’Ivoire to a French father and a Malian mother, Chelle was eligible to represent Côte d’Ivoire, France, and Mali. He opted for Mali, earning five caps before retiring.

As Mali’s head coach from 2022 to 2024, Chelle led the Aiglons to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire.

Under his leadership, Mali recorded 14 wins, five draws, and three losses.

Lewis Hamilton is set to make his Ferrari on-track debut in just two weeks’ time, as the Scuderia adjusts to the new, more restrictive FIA regulations surrounding private testing with older machinery, Autosport understands.

Up to last season, there was no limit on how much running was allowed with two- to four-year-old cars, but the rules were tweaked for 2025 after Max Verstappen tested Red Bull’s 2022 challenger at Imola back in June last year, as his team strained to cure its RB20’s issues with kerb-riding.

Formula 1’s sporting regulations issued by the FIA last December read: “Each Competitor may complete a maximum of one thousand (1000) kilometres of TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] in each calendar year using drivers entered in the Championship, or which they intend to enter in the Championship, such distance being accumulated over a maximum of four (4) of the days allowed under Article 10.2f.”

As a consequence, Ferrari will use up its four days and 1000km of testing this month to help Hamilton acclimatise to his new team ahead of the 2025 campaign, with a maiden run on the Italian team’s home Fiorano track set to take place on 20 or 21 January depending on the weather.

The Scuderia will then move on to Barcelona later this month, with the Catalan circuit booked for at least four days. This will give the squad some wiggle room in case rain throws a spanner in the works, as it will be able to run on the most favourable three days – bringing the total up to the allowed four days of testing.

Another decision yet to be made is whether Hamilton will drive Ferrari’s SF-23 or its predecessor from 2022, the F1-75.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
© Autosport.com

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, in Fiorano

Photo by: Ferrari

Team principal Frederic Vasseur previously stated that he was “not worried at all” about Hamilton’s adaptation to the Maranello-based outfit, pointing out that the record holder for world titles, grand prix wins, pole positions and podiums is no rookie.

“We know that we have a lot of procedures to assimilate during this couple of days, but he is experienced enough to do it,” the Frenchman added.

“We have the advantage to have the simulator and he will be able to do a race simulation and a qualifying simulation in the simulator, and to be fully prepared with the steering wheel and all the particularities of the car. But I am not worried about this, and it is not the biggest challenge.”

Read Also:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ferrari-first-to-reveal-2025-f1-car-launch-date/10683489/

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-calls-to-embrace-the-change-after-ferrari-switch/10686108/

Meanwhile, Hamilton made his state of mind clear in a LinkedIn post last week.

“Moving to Scuderia Ferrari, there’s a lot to reflect on,” the seven-time world champion wrote. “To anyone considering their next move in 2025: embrace the change. Whether you’re switching industries, learning a new skill, or even just taking on new challenges, remember that reinvention is powerful.”

Ferrari will reveal its new F1 car on 19 February – one day after the official F1 launch in London, and one week before official pre-season testing gets under way in Bahrain on 26 February.

Red Bull has said it is ahead of its initial schedule with the building of its new Formula 1 wind tunnel.

Red Bull Racing currently uses an outdated wind tunnel compared to its main rivals, with its facilities near Bedford being over 70 years old.

The wind tunnel has been labelled “a Cold War relic” by team boss Christian Horner.

While the team has been continually improving the tunnel in order to keep it up to date, its technical personnel sees it as a limitation in the long term.

F1 teams invest heavily in these facilities; McLaren has used Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne for years since 2010 but can rely on its own state-of-the-art version since the summer of 2023.

Aston Martin also invested in a modern tunnel, which gets a prominent place in its new Silverstone factory.

The Red Bull company has given the green light to build the new wind tunnel at the Red Bull Campus in Milton Keynes, with the work currently in progress and three months ahead of schedule.

“With the building work and afterwards all the new machines you never know when it’s coming, but we are ahead of the schedule at the moment,” Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache told Autosport.

Pierre Wache, Technical Director, Red Bull Racing, in the Team Principals Press Conference

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“We are three months ahead of the plans.

“The guys are doing a very good job, but you never know if you get any delays somewhere else. It is a big project.”

The new wind tunnel should be operational in 2026, meaning it can be beneficial to Red Bull for its 2027 challenger.

“Or maybe already help us later in the year [2026],” added Wache.

“It is the oldest wind tunnel in the sport. I even discussed it with Jos [Verstappen] the other day, that they already used this tunnel when he was there at Arrows,” Wache said.

“It is an old tool that we updated. There is plenty of newer stuff inside, but we have some limitations. We know those limitations and we try to work around them, but that is clearly more difficult when you are looking for a small delta.

“It is why we invest in the new tunnel We think we can have a benefit from the new one that we don’t have with the current model.”