Race favorite Lewis Hamilton set the pace for a dominant Mercedes team in first Spanish Grand Prix practice yesterday, while the pain remained the same for Sebastian Vettel despite a Red Bull chassis switch.
Hamilton’s fastest lap of 1 minute, 27.023 seconds, set six minutes from the end, was 0.868 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Jenson Button, who was best of the rest.
The impressive margin on a sunny morning at the Circuit de Catalunya further underlined the Briton’s status as the man to watch after three wins in a row.
Photo: EPA
Championship leader Nico Rosberg, who is four points clear of teammate Hamilton and had said on Thursday he just needed a “normal weekend” to regain momentum, suffered a cooling issue that cut short his session. He was fifth fastest.
Quadruple world champion Vettel, who had a miserable preseason test in Spain and has had a difficult four grand prix since then, started the first European race weekend of the year with another setback.
The German, winner of the past nine races, was using a different chassis to the one raced so far, but he completed just four laps before pulling over with an electrical problem.
Marshals handed him a fire extinguisher as he inspected the car before hitching a ride back to the paddock on a scooter.
“We had a full electrical shutdown on Seb’s car. We’re not sure what caused it. It cut the radio and everything,” team principal Christian Horner said.
Although the car was returned to the pits, the problem prevented Vettel from taking any further part in the morning session.
His Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who has outqualified Vettel in three of the four races and passed him in the past two after the German was instructed to let the faster car through, was the third fastest driver.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the local favorite for his home race after winning last year with plenty of banners in the grandstand urging him on, was fourth on the timesheets.
In a bizarre early incident, a wing mirror on Sergio Perez’s Force India broke off and was left flapping around on a wire. The Mexican completed the lap with it in his hand.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and