Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton finally ended his winless run yesterday when he came home triumphant for McLaren at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old Englishman, who started from fourth on the grid, drove a near-faultless race to claim victory for the first time since last year’s Chinese Grand Prix. It was the 10th win of his career.
Hamilton’s win endorsed emphatically the McLaren team’s return to form after a dismal opening half to this season.
Hamilton won by 11.5 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with Australian Mark Webber third for Red Bull, two weeks after his maiden victory in Germany.
Pole-sitter and two-time former champion Fernando Alonso of Renault was forced to retire after leading the opening laps when he lost his front right wheel.
World championship leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP endured a tough afternoon and struggled home seventh behind fourth-placed German Nico Rosberg of Williams, Finn Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren and German Timo Glock, who was sixth for Toyota. Italian Jarno Trulli finished eighth for Toyota.
The race saw German Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull forced to retire after suffering suspension damage at the opening corner in a collision with Raikkonen.
Button’s two points enlarged his total at the top of the drivers standings to 70, ahead of Webber on 51.5 and Vettel third on 47.
Meanwhile, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa remained in “life-threatening” but stable condition yesterday following his crash during qualifying on Saturday, a doctor said.
Peter Bazso, AEK hospital medical director, told reporters that Massa would remain in an induced coma until today, but would be woken up periodically during that time.
When asked whether Massa’s life remained in danger, Bazso answered: “Yes, of course.”
Bazso said doctors were able to “remove the broken bones and stabilize the area,” which was necessary since Massa arrived with “an open skull fracture and a contusion.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB