Germany’s Adrian Sutil delivered a Formula One rarity yesterday when he topped the times for the Force India team in final free practice for today’s European Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old driver delivered a best lap of 1 minute, 39.143 seconds on an incident-filled morning that saw the one-hour session red-flagged when Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull suffered an engine failure. The German’s car left a pool of oil and some debris on the track and this required lengthy clearing up, leaving an area of white cement dust powder and a doughy compound on the asphalt surface.
The interruption meant that the session was a poor indication for likely form in the afternoon qualifying session.
Japan’s Kazuki Nakajima was second fastest for Williams ahead of Pole Robert Kubica, in a BMW Sauber, with under-pressure Finn Heikki Kovalainen fourth for McLaren Mercedes.
Sutil rose to the top of the times just before Vettel’s engine failure after defending drivers world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren had been the early pace-setter on a dirty, dusty street circuit in the harborside surroundings of the Mediterannean city.
When the circuit reopened for the final four minutes of action, Sutil’s earlier best time was overhauled, but he responded with the best lap of the weekend.
Germany’s Nico Rosberg wound up fifth for Williams ahead of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Force India, championship leader Briton Jenson Button in his Brawn GP, Hamilton, Italian Jarno Trulli of Toyota and French rookie Romain Grosjean of Renault, who was 10th.
This meant that drivers like Australian Mark Webber and his Red Bull partner Vettel finished up 17th and 18th.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Steve Smith yesterday announced his retirement from one-day international (ODI) cricket after captaining Australia to a semi-final exit at the ICC Champions Trophy, bringing down the curtain on a career in the format that included two ICC World Cup wins. The 35-year-old batsman, who was his team’s top scorer with 73 as Australia lost to India by four wickets in Dubai on Tuesday, said he would still be available for selection for T20 internationals and Test matches. “It has been a great ride and I have loved every minute of it,” Smith said in a Cricket Australia statement. “There have been so
RSS