Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella produced the biggest qualifying shock of the season yesterday when he delivered Force India’s first-ever pole position in a stunning qualifying session for today’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Fisichella, 36, clocked his best time in the final five minutes of a tense session that produced several shocks, including both world championship leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP and defending champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren failing to make it into the top 10. Fisichella outpaced fellow Italian Jarno Trulli of Toyota, who was second, ahead of third-placed German Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber and Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP, who was fourth.
Polish driver Robert Kubica was fifth for BMW ahead of Germans Timo Glock and Sebastian Vettel, for Toyota and Red Bull respectively, with Australian Mark Webber ninth in the second Red Bull and German Nico Rosberg 10th for Williams.
PHOTO: AFP
It was an extraordinary conclusion to a crazy session run in unpredictable conditions with most teams appearing to be left scratching their heads over the performances.
On another day of capricious-looking weather in the Belgian Ardennes, Q1 produced a late drama with Webber escaping an early cut in the final minutes. The Australian, wearing a black armband in honor of Frank Gardner who died earlier yesterday, managed a fast lap to climb to second and out of trouble.
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
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
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
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