Sebastian Vettel produced a dramatic last-gasp surge on his final lap in the dying seconds to snatch pole position as Red Bull swept the front row of the grid for today’s US Grand Prix.
In a tense qualifying session run in windy conditions on Saturday, the 26-year-old German clocked a best lap of 1 minute, 36.338 seconds to outpace nearest rival and teammate Mark Webber by 0.103 seconds.
It was the eighth pole of the season for the newly crowned four-time world champion and the 44th of his career as he seeks to deliver a record eighth consecutive victory in today’s race at the Circuit of the Americas.
Photo: AFP
It was the fifth time this year that Red Bull had locked out the front row and a perfect 40th birthday present for team boss Christian Horner.
“Happy birthday to Christian. It’s a good result to have both cars on the front row,” Vettel said.
“It was a tricky session as the wind picked up quite a lot from this morning. It’s not that easy round the high-speed corners,” he added. “I was not happy with my first run, but I think I had a solid run at the end which was enough to put the car on pole.”
Webber, who retires from Formula One at the end of the season, said: “Sometimes you’re happy, but today I let pole slip through my fingers. Well done to Seb.”
Romain Grosjean was third-fastest for the Lotus team ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber and last year’s winner, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
Fernando Alonso was sixth for Ferrari and Sergio Perez seventh for McLaren ahead of two Finns, Heikki Kovalainen for Lotus and Valtteri Bottas of Williams, with another Mexican, Esteban Gutierrez, taking 10th in the second Sauber.
Kovalainen shone again as he did on Friday after stepping in as a late replacement for fellow Finn, Ferrari-bound Kimi Raikkonen, who on Friday underwent back surgery in Strasbourg.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS