MONACO: Lewis Hamilton snatched a dramatic pole position for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix with an all-time circuit record lap in the final seconds to outpace Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.086 seconds.
The defending five-time champion and series leader clocked an unprecedented lap in 1min 10.166sec to end Bottas’ run of three successive poles as Mercedes, mourning the death this week of non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, produced a record-equalling 62nd front row lockout.
It was an emotional Hamilton’s second pole in Monaco and the 84th of his career as he dug deep in the final seconds to find the speed required to grab the prime grid position from his team-mate.
“Whoooah!” shouted Hamilton on team radio. “That’s what I am talking about...”
Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull ahead of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, Pierre Gasly in the second Red Bull and Kevin Magnussen for Haas.
Last year’s race winner Daniel Ricciardo was seventh for Renault ahead of Daniel Kvyat of Toro Rosso, Carlos Sainz of McLaren and Alex Albon in the second Toro Rosso.
Luckless local hero Charles Leclerc qualified 16th after a strategic muddle by Ferrari in the opening Q1 section of qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton snatches dramatic Monaco Grand Prix pole position with record lap
Lewis Hamilton snatches dramatic Monaco Grand Prix pole position with record lap
- An emotional second pole in Monaco and the 84th of his career
- Last year’s race winner Daniel Ricciardo was seventh for Renault
Turki Alalshikh announces record nine-darter prize for Saudi Arabia Darts Masters
RIYADH: Turki Alalshikh on Thursday announced the biggest prize in darts history for a nine-darter, with players at next week’s Saudi Arabia Darts Masters able to win up to $200,000 for a perfect leg.
The tournament, part of Riyadh Season, will be held on January 19 and 20 at the Global Theater in Boulevard City and will feature 16 players, with eight Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) stars taking on eight of Asia’s leading players.
Any player who hits a nine-darter during the event will receive a $100,000 bonus, with the chance to double it through the Riyadh Season Bullseye challenge.
After landing the perfect leg, the player will be given one dart at the bullseye to try to secure the full $200,000 — the largest nine-darter prize ever offered in a PDC-sanctioned event.
Reigning world champion Luke Littler headlines the line-up after previously hitting a nine-darter on the World Series stage in Bahrain in 2024.
He will be joined by 2023/24 world champion Luke Humphries, world championship runner-up Gian van Veen and three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
The PDC contingent also includes former world champion Gerwyn Price, world No. 7 Stephen Bunting, former UK Open winner Danny Noppert and 2023 World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.
Asia will be represented by Singapore veteran Paul Lim — who famously threw a nine-darter at the 1990 world championship — alongside Filipinos Alexis Toylo, Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida, Japan’s Motomu Sakai, Ryusei Azemoto and Tomoya Goto, and Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung.
