Formula One (F1) champion Lewis Hamilton has unveiled another helmet in tribute to boyhood hero Ayrton Senna at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton started Friday’s practice sessions wearing a helmet designed with a Brazilian flag on the top, Senna’s yellow and green on the back, a drawing of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue and six stars to note each of his F1 titles.
Hamilton has also used his helmet colors to honor Senna’s memory in previous Brazilian Grand Prix races.
Photo: AP
Three-time F1 champion Senna died in 1994 after a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix.
The Senna-inspired helmet was also designed to please Brazilian fans, who have no home driver on the grid at Interlagos, Hamilton said this week.
Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in the practice, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third-fastest on an incident-filled afternoon at a damp Interlagos.
Photo: Reuters
Vettel, a three-time winner in Brazil, lapped in 1 minute, 09.217 seconds on soft tires with Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc, who has a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change, 0.021 slower.
“I think it was a decent day, we understood what the car needs,” Vettel said. “I am pretty confident we can do a step forwards. In the race, it will be difficult because others looked quite a bit faster than us.”
Mercedes, who head into the season’s penultimate race weekend with both titles already secured for an unprecedented sixth year in a row, had Valtteri Bottas fourth.
Last year’s winner, Lewis Hamilton, now a six-time world champion after ending the title battle in Texas two weeks ago, ended up fifth fastest after failing to set a time in the first session, but without any concern.
“We’re a little bit off the pace on the single lap stuff, but pretty decent on the longer runs,” said Mercedes technical head James Allison, leading the team in the absence of principal Toto Wolff.
Bottas agreed, saying: “The times at the top look very close, so I think we are actually more competitive than the standings might suggest. I think both Ferrari and Red Bull look very strong, but we should be right up there as well.”
The morning was an expensive one for Red Bull, who saw Thai rookie Alexander Albon lap fastest before switching from intermediate tires to slicks and crashing out, bringing the session to a premature end.
“It was just a cold track,” said Albon of his first experience at Interlagos. “You tiptoe around and you lose brake temperature so that was pretty much what happened. I went to brake and there was nothing there.”
Track conditions in the afternoon were better, although still tricky and Verstappen — with a 1:09.351 — was closest to the Ferraris.
“It was a bit of a messy day with the weather,” said the Dutchman, who spun off in the first session moments before Albon. “I think it’s not really representative with temperatures. We just have to look at the positives. I think the car’s working well... It’s a positive start. We’ll start over again tomorrow, because the weather will be different.”
Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat also brought the afternoon session to a premature end when he lost control and crashed, while French teammate Pierre Gasly had earlier pulled over with a smoldering engine.
Robert Kubica sat out the opening session as Williams gave the Pole’s likely successor, Nicholas Latifi, who is the team’s Canadian reserve driver, time in the car.
Kubica failed to set a time on his return, crashing on his first flying lap and halting the second session for several minutes for debris.
“Initially I did not understand the accident. However, once I reviewed it, I understood that a Haas had gone off the track a few seconds ahead of me, which pulled quite a lot of water onto the track,” the Pole said. “It was my first lap on the hard tires, so with all of these factors, I ended up in the wall.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
RSS