Oscar Piastri on Sunday celebrated his 50th Formula One race with a pole-to-flag win in Bahrain that catapulted him into second overall and three points behind championship leading McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Norris had to settle for third, after having to fight back from a five-second penalty for a jumped start from sixth on the grid.
Mercedes’ George Russell held off his fellow Briton, denying him a third successive second place in a tense battle over the closing laps.
Photo: Reuters
Russell was summoned to the stewards for an alleged breach of the drag reduction system rules, but they did not apply a penalty, with the results confirmed.
“It’s been an incredible weekend, starting off with qualifying yesterday and to finish the job today in style was nice,” said Piastri, who won by 15.499 seconds, despite a safety car period wiping out his initial lead.
“It’s obviously a very important race for us, given our owners, and it’s never been a track that’s been kind to us. So it’s nice to have that first win for the team” in Bahrain, the Australian added.
Since the first Grand Prix at Sakhir in 2004, McLaren had never won at the desert circuit that hosts a home race for the British team’s biggest shareholder.
Piastri also became the season’s first repeat winner in four races.
Norris has 77 points to Piastri’s 74, with McLaren on 151 in the constructors’ standings and Mercedes second on 93.
“I think at the beginning I was too far back, so I tried to creep forward and crept forward and did the opposite,” Norris said of his botched start. “First time I’ve ever done this in my life. Shouldn’t happen, but it did — and I paid the price for it.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, passed by Norris eight laps from the end, and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth, with the Italian team’s former boss Luca di Montezemolo waving the checkered flag as fireworks lit up the night sky.
Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen, who had been only a point behind Norris after winning in Japan last weekend, finished sixth after being slowed by a faulty pit signal and dropped to third in the standings.
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