SINGAPORE-- Formula One has back-tracked on a planned clampdown on radio and pitboard messages for reasons of fairness but remains determined to end driver 'coaching' during races, the world governing body said on Friday.
  Teams will be allowed to send messages relating to car performance in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix but from next season they will follow those concerning driver performance onto the banned list.
  After a meeting at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) opted to ban messages on both topics but decided after speaking with team managers in Singapore that more time was required.
  "When one looks into it in more detail it became quite clear that some teams would be at a serious disadvantage compared to others," FIA race director Charlie Whiting told reporters at the Marina Bay Street Circuit after first practice.
  "Not just in their new know-how or their ability to react in the short term, but also in hardware choices that were made a year ago.
  "The two types of dashboards that are available to the teams, one will simply show a great deal more than the other," he added.
  "So in the interest of fairness we felt with the benefit of hindsight it would be better to introduce it in two stages and that is what we have done."
 
  Technical Elements
  Asked why the FIA had not simply waited for the final six races of the 2014 campaign to pass before implementing the new rules, Whiting said the organisation couldn't stand by if rules were clearly being broken.
  "It was becoming apparent that more and more was being done for the drivers and quite simply that is at odds with article 20.1 of the regulations," the Briton said.
  "If you see or hear something that you are uncomfortable with, with regards to conforming to the rules, you have to do something about it and that's our job."
  Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone told reporters on Thursday he had been behind the original decision to ban messages and he wanted less talk on the radio during races.
  He also suggested more restrictions should be introduced in future and Whiting said it was inevitable the rules on messages would become far more comprehensive.
  "The plan is to make it more far reaching to take in the technical elements of it as well. The technical assistance that the driver is getting on the performance of the car as well," he continued.
  "It will inevitably become more complex but unfortunately that is how the sport is. It is going to be hard to make it simpler unless I was to remove radios from the car but I don't think that will be very well received."
  Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost, whose team are seventh in the Constructor standings with Jean-Eric Vergne and rookie Russian Daniil Kvyat in their lineup, slammed the move.
  "The changes are absolutely not necessary," he told reporters after the second practice session.
  "For us of course it's a big disadvantage because the more inexperienced the driver is, there's more information you have to give him."
  Force India owner Vijay Mallya disputed the importance of radio messages.
  "This is not PlayStation," he said. "Whatever you may say about the pit wall, the amount of influence it actually has on the driver and the excitement of the race and the race result is something that is highly debatable."
  Whiting said the first session of Friday practice in Singapore had been incident free and that "around eight" people were currently monitoring the radio traffic of the 11 teams on the grid.
  He acknowledged, though, that coded messages would be difficult to police but added that the teams were all listening to each other and was confident any breaches would not go unnoticed.
  Penalties, determined by race stewards, are likely to be sporting rather than monetary.
  "If it (a banned message) happened in a race it might be a five second time penalty for example, if it happened in practice it might be a grid position or something like that," he said.

LONDON-- Sevilla's love affair with the Europa League was immediately rekindled as last season's champions and three-times winners began this year's group stage with a 2-0 home victory over Feyenoord on Thursday.

On-loan midfielder Gerard Deulofeu's set-pieces proved too hot to handle for Feyenoord as two of his first-half free kicks were turned home by Grzegorz Krychowiak and Stephane Mbia as a new-look Sevilla side comfortably cruised home.

Europe's second-tier competition, so often derided for lacking the sparkle of its Champions League cousin, was ushered back into action with some stand-out individual displays and a glut of goals across its opening 24 group games.

There were hat-tricks from Dinamo Zagreb's El Arbi Hilal Soudani, PAOK Salonika captain Stefanos Athanasiadis and Steaua Bucharest's Claudiu Keseru, whose teams all enjoyed emphatic home wins.

Ex-European champions Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven also got off to winning starts, while Napoli, whose manager Rafa Benitez was heavily criticised after his side failed to make it through a Champions League playoff, came back from a goal down to beat Sparta Prague 3-1 at the San Paolo.

Premier League Everton enjoyed a victorious return to the European stage after a five-year absence with a 4-1 home victory over VfL Wolfsburg, but Tottenham Hotspur were held to a drab 0-0 stalemate at Partizan Belgrade.

Numerous Changes

There have been numerous changes at Sevilla since they beat Benfica on penalties in Turin to lift the trophy in May, with some of last season's heroes departing for new challenges at more glamorous clubs.

Yet even without the likes of midfield playmaker Ivan Rakitic, who left for Barcelona, and left back Alberto Moreno, who joined Liverpool, Sevilla looked sharp and purposeful and well worth their Group G win.

They opened the scoring after eight minutes as a devilish, inswinging free kick from Deulofeu found Krychowiak at the far post and he turned the ball into the net.

It was a case of deja vu on 31 minutes when they doubled the lead as the playmaker on loan from Barcelona curled in another precise set-piece that Mbia rose to head powerfully into the net.

Feyenoord offered little threat and their performance is unlikely to relieve the pressure on coach Fred Rutten, who replaced Ronald Koeman in the close season, but has won only one of his opening five Dutch league matches.

Among the five former European champions in this season's Europa League group stage, Steaua Bucharest made the most eye-catching start, thrashing AaB Aalborg 6-0 in Group J with Keseru scoring three goals in 12 second-half minutes.

The two other three-goal hauls both arrived in the first half.

Dinamo Zagreb's Soudani scored with two headers and a calmly-taken effort from close range in a 5-1 win over Romanians Astra to cap a superb week for Algeria forwards following Yacine Brahimi's hat-trick for Porto in the Champions League.

PAOK's Athanasiadis had wrapped up his hat-trick in 28 minutes as the Greek side beat Dinamo Minsk 6-1 in Group K.

Patient Inter

Serie A's Inter had to be patient in Ukraine against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Group F before Danilo D'Ambrosio grabbed the only goal after 71 minutes, while PSV's Luuk de Jong scored a first-half penalty in a 1-0 home win over Estoril in Group E.

Napoli beat Sparta Prague in Group I thanks to a penalty from Gonzalo Higuain and two second-half goals from Belgium's Dries Mertens after Josef Husbauer had given the visitors an early lead.

Tottenham drew a blank at Partizan Belgrade with striker Harry Kane missing their best chance in the first minute, hitting the woodwork from eight metres after the hosts failed to clear a corner.

The match was soured however by reports of an anti-Semitic banner being displayed by the home fans.

"If it's true it's unacceptable and I am very disappointed, it shows a lack of respect," Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez is perhaps a rarity among Premier League managers in welcoming the mountain of extra fixtures that a successful run in the Europa League can bring about and he received an early reward with a comfortable 4-1 win.

"We have worked hard for 12 months to earn the right to play in the Europa League - the more competitions the better," he said after Leighton Baines set up two goals and scored a penalty against Wolfsburg.

Celtic almost pulled off a surprise victory at Austrian champions Salzburg in Group D after Scott Brown put them 2-1 ahead in the second half but Jonatan Soriano netted with a superb free kick to snatch a draw for the hosts.

SINGAPORE-- Formula One has back-tracked on a planned clampdown on radio and pitboard messages for reasons of fairness but remains determined to end driver 'coaching' during races, the world governing body said on Friday.
  Teams will be allowed to send messages relating to car performance in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix but from next season they will follow those concerning driver performance onto the banned list.
  After a meeting at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) opted to ban messages on both topics but decided after speaking with team managers in Singapore that more time was required.
  "When one looks into it in more detail it became quite clear that some teams would be at a serious disadvantage compared to others," FIA race director Charlie Whiting told reporters at the Marina Bay Street Circuit after first practice.
  "Not just in their new know-how or their ability to react in the short term, but also in hardware choices that were made a year ago.
  "The two types of dashboards that are available to the teams, one will simply show a great deal more than the other," he added.
  "So in the interest of fairness we felt with the benefit of hindsight it would be better to introduce it in two stages and that is what we have done."
 
  Technical Elements
  Asked why the FIA had not simply waited for the final six races of the 2014 campaign to pass before implementing the new rules, Whiting said the organisation couldn't stand by if rules were clearly being broken.
  "It was becoming apparent that more and more was being done for the drivers and quite simply that is at odds with article 20.1 of the regulations," the Briton said.
  "If you see or hear something that you are uncomfortable with, with regards to conforming to the rules, you have to do something about it and that's our job."
  Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone told reporters on Thursday he had been behind the original decision to ban messages and he wanted less talk on the radio during races.
  He also suggested more restrictions should be introduced in future and Whiting said it was inevitable the rules on messages would become far more comprehensive.
  "The plan is to make it more far reaching to take in the technical elements of it as well. The technical assistance that the driver is getting on the performance of the car as well," he continued.
  "It will inevitably become more complex but unfortunately that is how the sport is. It is going to be hard to make it simpler unless I was to remove radios from the car but I don't think that will be very well received."
  Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost, whose team are seventh in the Constructor standings with Jean-Eric Vergne and rookie Russian Daniil Kvyat in their lineup, slammed the move.
  "The changes are absolutely not necessary," he told reporters after the second practice session.
  "For us of course it's a big disadvantage because the more inexperienced the driver is, there's more information you have to give him."
  Force India owner Vijay Mallya disputed the importance of radio messages.
  "This is not PlayStation," he said. "Whatever you may say about the pit wall, the amount of influence it actually has on the driver and the excitement of the race and the race result is something that is highly debatable."
  Whiting said the first session of Friday practice in Singapore had been incident free and that "around eight" people were currently monitoring the radio traffic of the 11 teams on the grid.
  He acknowledged, though, that coded messages would be difficult to police but added that the teams were all listening to each other and was confident any breaches would not go unnoticed.
  Penalties, determined by race stewards, are likely to be sporting rather than monetary.
  "If it (a banned message) happened in a race it might be a five second time penalty for example, if it happened in practice it might be a grid position or something like that," he said.

LONDON-- Sevilla's love affair with the Europa League was immediately rekindled as last season's champions and three-times winners began this year's group stage with a 2-0 home victory over Feyenoord on Thursday.

On-loan midfielder Gerard Deulofeu's set-pieces proved too hot to handle for Feyenoord as two of his first-half free kicks were turned home by Grzegorz Krychowiak and Stephane Mbia as a new-look Sevilla side comfortably cruised home.

Europe's second-tier competition, so often derided for lacking the sparkle of its Champions League cousin, was ushered back into action with some stand-out individual displays and a glut of goals across its opening 24 group games.

There were hat-tricks from Dinamo Zagreb's El Arbi Hilal Soudani, PAOK Salonika captain Stefanos Athanasiadis and Steaua Bucharest's Claudiu Keseru, whose teams all enjoyed emphatic home wins.

Ex-European champions Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven also got off to winning starts, while Napoli, whose manager Rafa Benitez was heavily criticised after his side failed to make it through a Champions League playoff, came back from a goal down to beat Sparta Prague 3-1 at the San Paolo.

Premier League Everton enjoyed a victorious return to the European stage after a five-year absence with a 4-1 home victory over VfL Wolfsburg, but Tottenham Hotspur were held to a drab 0-0 stalemate at Partizan Belgrade.

Numerous Changes

There have been numerous changes at Sevilla since they beat Benfica on penalties in Turin to lift the trophy in May, with some of last season's heroes departing for new challenges at more glamorous clubs.

Yet even without the likes of midfield playmaker Ivan Rakitic, who left for Barcelona, and left back Alberto Moreno, who joined Liverpool, Sevilla looked sharp and purposeful and well worth their Group G win.

They opened the scoring after eight minutes as a devilish, inswinging free kick from Deulofeu found Krychowiak at the far post and he turned the ball into the net.

It was a case of deja vu on 31 minutes when they doubled the lead as the playmaker on loan from Barcelona curled in another precise set-piece that Mbia rose to head powerfully into the net.

Feyenoord offered little threat and their performance is unlikely to relieve the pressure on coach Fred Rutten, who replaced Ronald Koeman in the close season, but has won only one of his opening five Dutch league matches.

Among the five former European champions in this season's Europa League group stage, Steaua Bucharest made the most eye-catching start, thrashing AaB Aalborg 6-0 in Group J with Keseru scoring three goals in 12 second-half minutes.

The two other three-goal hauls both arrived in the first half.

Dinamo Zagreb's Soudani scored with two headers and a calmly-taken effort from close range in a 5-1 win over Romanians Astra to cap a superb week for Algeria forwards following Yacine Brahimi's hat-trick for Porto in the Champions League.

PAOK's Athanasiadis had wrapped up his hat-trick in 28 minutes as the Greek side beat Dinamo Minsk 6-1 in Group K.

Patient Inter

Serie A's Inter had to be patient in Ukraine against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Group F before Danilo D'Ambrosio grabbed the only goal after 71 minutes, while PSV's Luuk de Jong scored a first-half penalty in a 1-0 home win over Estoril in Group E.

Napoli beat Sparta Prague in Group I thanks to a penalty from Gonzalo Higuain and two second-half goals from Belgium's Dries Mertens after Josef Husbauer had given the visitors an early lead.

Tottenham drew a blank at Partizan Belgrade with striker Harry Kane missing their best chance in the first minute, hitting the woodwork from eight metres after the hosts failed to clear a corner.

The match was soured however by reports of an anti-Semitic banner being displayed by the home fans.

"If it's true it's unacceptable and I am very disappointed, it shows a lack of respect," Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez is perhaps a rarity among Premier League managers in welcoming the mountain of extra fixtures that a successful run in the Europa League can bring about and he received an early reward with a comfortable 4-1 win.

"We have worked hard for 12 months to earn the right to play in the Europa League - the more competitions the better," he said after Leighton Baines set up two goals and scored a penalty against Wolfsburg.

Celtic almost pulled off a surprise victory at Austrian champions Salzburg in Group D after Scott Brown put them 2-1 ahead in the second half but Jonatan Soriano netted with a superb free kick to snatch a draw for the hosts.