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Max Verstappen thinks he can jump above both Ferrari drivers and Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo to finish third in the standings by the end of 2016.Verstappen finished second at the British Grand Prix, splitting the Mercedes drivers, as Ferraris challenge failed to materialise. He is currently sixth in the standings but has taken two podiums and a victory since his elevation from Toro Rosso to Red Bull ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.Verstappen sees no reason why he cannot keep up his current form and continue moving up the standings.We are pretty close, so we will see where we end up at the end of the season, he said. It will be between third or sixth -- hopefully. You try to do the best possible race every race and we see after Abu Dhabi where we are.Ferraris season has failed to live up to winter expectations and comes to Hungary knowing it cannot fail again after ten races without a win. The developing threat of Red Bull has seen the Milton Keynes outfit move to within six points of Ferrari in the constructors championship.Verstappen thinks Hungary is a place where Red Bull can set its sights on Mercedes rather than Ferrari.I think the best chance was in Monaco, for sure. But here the car can be very strong and Im looking forward to the weekend because so far the car has been pretty strong, even on tracks where we didnt expect it to be that strong.We just have to wait and see. Its all about the set-up now and how we can improve during the sessions. Hopefully we can be very close. . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. The benches emptied Monday night in another epic battle between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers?and team aces Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw.The confrontation started when Bumgarner fielded a ground ball by Yasiel Puig and fired to first for the third out in the seventh inning of the Dodgers?2-1 win in Los Angeles.Bumgarner emphatically shouted, apparently celebrating the final out. But it appeared Puig thought Bumgarner was shouting at him, which led the two to exchange words and the benches to clear.No punches were thrown, but each side traded several pushes and shoves.I just ran, and he was looking in my direction, Puig said through a translator, and he asked why I was looking at him, and then I asked him why he was looking at me.Monday continued a tradition of sorts between Bumgarner and Puig. It was at least the third time they have exchanged heated words on the field, though it was the first known instance since September 2014.In May 2014, after Puig hit a 431-foot home run to center field and flipped his bat, Bumgarner took exception and waited for Puig as he rounded third base before the two exchanged pleasantries as tempers flared.Four months later, on Sept. 23, 2014, Puig made a move toward the mound after he was hit by a Bumgarner pitch. More words were exchanged before the benches cleared and bullpens emptied, and Puig had to be held back by an umpire and several teammates.Bumgarner didnt return for the eighth inning Monday. He limited the Dodgers to one hit wwith no walks and 10 strikeouts in seven shutout innings.dddddddddddd. With his second-inning double, Puig stood as the only Dodger to reach base against Bumgarner.Puig said he thought Bumgarner might have been reacting in anger to the fact that the only hit he had given up was to him.Every time I face him, it seems like we have those problems, Puig said. It seems to work out because we win.Puig said he wasnt sure whether Bumgarner had something personal against him.I dont know. Go ask him, he said.Bumgarner appeared to still be annoyed after the game.I didnt hear what was going on, he said. I just got him out, and he tried to stare me down or something. Thats what it looked like to me.Its good that we won, partly because of that, first baseman?Adrian Gonzalez?said of the bench-clearing incident in a postgame interview on the Dodgers broadcast after he lined a game-winning double to right field in the ninth?inning. [Puig] was just playing baseball. He didnt do anything. Thats something that Madisons got to do a better job of -- just getting into the dugout.Giants manager Bruce Bochy had his back turned and was retreating down the dugout steps when the fracas broke out.Theyre not going to go out to dinner, he said. Its been going on for a while, so it doesnt surprise me anymore.Information from ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '
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