McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton made the most of crucial mistakes by his closest rivals yesterday to win the Singapore Grand Prix.
Germans Nico Rosberg in a Williams and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel were both given drive-through penalties for pit lane infringements while lying second to allow Hamilton a comfortable victory.
German Timo Glock in a Toyota finished the night race on a street circuit second ahead of Fernando Alonso in a Renault.
Hamilton, who started from pole, won the start as Vettel dropped one place behind Rosberg on the first lap.
Vettel was the first to come into the pits, closely followed by Rosberg, who managed to come out ahead of his German compatriot, but crossed the white line in doing so and was given a drive-through penalty.
Worse was to follow for Rosberg as Force India’s Adrian Sutil collided with BMW-Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld as he was trying to pass the Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari, bringing out the safety car.
Race stewards said they would investigate the incident, but for Rosberg, who had to take his drive-through at a time when all the cars were closely bunched together, the damage was done and he came out in 14th.
Up front, Hamilton and Vettel were keeping their distance from the chasing pack and Toyota’s Timo Glock, who had moved into third, was unable to close the gap.
Vettel, however, was penalized for speeding in the pit lane during his second stop and was also given a drive-through penalty, which pushed him down to fourth.
Behind Glock, Renault’s Fernando Alonso managed to stay in third place.
Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello, who lost five places on the starting grid after changing his gearbox, made an error of judgment when he decided to pit when the Red Bull of Mark Webber crashed and he expected the safety car to come out again.
It did not, however, and his teammate Jenson Button managed to come out ahead of the Brazilian after both had completed their final pit stop.
Button finished in fifth ahead of Barrichello and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. The final points position went to the BMW of Robert Kubica.
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
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
RSS