Renault’s Fernando Alonso set the quickest practice time yesterday ahead of the late-night qualifying session for today’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The former world champion clocked one minute, 44.506 seconds around the 5.067km downtown street circuit.
Alonso was more than a second faster than the best time over Friday’s two 90-minute sessions, indicating teams were making progress in adapting their cars to the bumpy and tight street circuit ahead of Formula One’s first ever night race.
PHOTO: EPA
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was second fastest, six-tenths of a second off Alonso’s time. His title rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari was third, with Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr fourth.
Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella escaped unharmed after a spectacular crash after hitting the high curb on curve 10, launching his car through the air and into the concrete barriers.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen locked his wheels going too quickly into a corner and went down an escape road, where his car stalled, forcing him to miss much of the session. Red Bull’s David Coulthard also exited early after his car became stuck in a low gear and he was forced to return to the garage with smoke pluming from his car.
Complaints from drivers after Friday’s practice forced local organizers to change the entry into pit lane. The white guideline now extends beyond the final corner to give cars an earlier indicator of a driver’s intention to pit.
BMW’s Nick Heidfeld said he was unhappy with the change.
“I find the pit entry even more dangerous now, because you come back exactly onto the race line and you are braking — its even worse,” Heidfeld said.
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday said that she hoped she would be able to play tennis under the Belarusian flag after the International Olympic Committee lifted its ban on the country’s athletes competing in the Olympics. World No. 1 Sabalenka has had to compete under a neutral banner as a consequence of her country’s support for Russia following its ally’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The IOC earlier on Thursday lifted its ban on Belarusian athletes competing in the Olympics, although restrictions on Russian athletes remain in place. Asked whether the women’s tour would drop the ban on her representing her country, Sabalenka said:
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
Real Madrid announced on Friday they had fined Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde 500,000 euros (US$588,000) each after a training ground clash that saw Valverde transported for medical care. The club did not impose any sporting sanctions on the two players, saying in a statement that the fine “thereby concludes the internal procedures” launched against them. Valverde is going to miss today’s Clasico against Barcelona as a result of the head injury he suffered during the altercation. The club said he would be out for up to two weeks. Tchouameni took part in training on Friday and could feature at Camp
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