AS IT HAPPENED: Red Bull’s Sergio Perez qualifies on pole for Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc drives during the second practice session ahead of the 2022 Saudi Arabia Formula One Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. (AFP)
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Updated 03 April 2022
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AS IT HAPPENED: Red Bull’s Sergio Perez qualifies on pole for Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

JEDDAH: Sergio Perez claimed his first ever Formula One pole at the 215th attempt when the Mexican upstaged Red Bull teammate and world champion Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc joins Perez on the front row with Verstappen on the second row after qualifying in fourth behind the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

Saturday’s qualifying was marred by a horror crash suffered by Mick Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton's shock elimination in the opening Q1 session for the first time since 2017.

See how the qualifying action unfolded below (all times GMT)...

19:10 - RESULT! Sergio Perez manages to outpace Charles Leclerc and end up on pole position, an unexpected turn of events as the two Ferraris set the fastest times throughout the weekend so far.

Leclerc will start in second, his teammate Carlos Sainz in third and world champion Max Verstappen manages to climb back up to fourth.

19:00 - Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso push Max Verstappen down to eighth after the two set slightly better times than the Red Bull driver.

After Bottas’ hot lap, he has found his way to sixth place where he was last weekend in Bahrain.

18:55 - Q3 is wrapping up, Carlos Sainz leads followed by Charles Leclerc. Sainz who is on used tires has managed to outpace his teammate in the first and middle sectors to beat him by 0.044 seconds.

Max Verstappen sets a time of 1 minute and 29.239 seconds to end up in sixth place for Sunday’s race. George Russell complains about no grip on his tires but manages to set a decent time granting him a place above the Dutchman in fifth.

18:40 - Q2 will get underway again at 21:40 local time...

18:25 - Lewis Hamilton told reporters that he was not happy with the balance of his car and struggled for rear grip, however he was okay with the car during practice sessions earlier in the day but overall said Mercedes went with the wrong set-up.

18:10 - Daniel Ricciardo may end up with a penalty after replays show he pulled out to one side to avoid another car, and in doing so did impede the Frenchman who was on a hot lap.

And Alpha Tauri mechanics have reported issues with Yuki Tsunoda’s cooling system in his car, thus his no-show in qualifying. 

17:50 - Doctors are on the scene of Mick Schumacher's crash, and the young German is talking to the medical staff, which is always a good sign.

Elsewhere in Q2, an incident on Turn 7 involving Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo was noted by the stewards. Ricciardo is under investigation for possibly impeding Ocon. 

Perez on new tires sits second and went purple in the final two sectors, he’s followed by his teammate and 2021 world champion Max Verstappen, while Leclerc’s co-driver Sainz is in fourth. 

17:45 - RED FLAG! Another stoppage as Mick Schumacher suffers a big collision, he lost the back end of his Haas car on the exit of Turn 10 and ended up smashing into the wall at Turn 12.

17:35 - With F1 fans all over the world reeling from that poor position for Lewis Hamilton, we go again for Q2 after we lost the British world champion, with Yuki Tsunoda not registering a time on Saturday, as well as Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and Nicholas Latifi who crashed out.

17:25 - SHOCK! Lewis Hamilton is knocked out of Q1 for the first time since the Mexico Grand Prix in 2017. 

Carlos Sainz led the session in the Ferrari with a time of 1 minute and 28.855 seconds, followed by Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

Last week’s winner Charles Leclerc posted the third fastest time, followed by George Russel in the second Mercedes and in fourth Valteri Botas, who switched over to Alfa Romeo this year. 

While Russell's co-driver and seven-time world champion Hamilton will start in P16 in Sunday’s race.

17:15 - We're back up and running, and Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are leading the way in this first session, where we will lose the five slowest drivers ahead of Q2.

17:10 - RED FLAG! The first session is brought to a stop after Latifi in the Williams crashes.

17:00 - We are underway in the first qualifying session!

16:30 - Charles Leclerc was imperious once again in the final practice of the weekend, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen three-hundredths of a second off the Ferrari pace-setter. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was almost a second off the pace, with teammate George Russell 1.2 seconds behind the front-runners.

15:15 - Since 2018, King Abdullah University of Science and Techology in Jeddah and McLaren Racing have partnered to develop research and development projects with a long-term focus to improve on track performance, and importantly, develop and promote the team’s sustainability and diversity through STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Read more about their partnership here.

14:45 - While George Russell has said he and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, seven-time F1 world champion, are in “perfect harmony”, neither driver was harmonious with their cars in Friday practice sessions.

The British duo were well off the pace in first practice and still had work to do to keep up with Ferrari and Red Bull in the second session of the day.


Leverkusen’s hopes of a 2nd consecutive Bundesliga title fade with draw at St. Pauli

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Leverkusen’s hopes of a 2nd consecutive Bundesliga title fade with draw at St. Pauli

  • Patrik Schick put Leverkusen ahead in the first half but Carlo Boukhalfa equalized in the 78th to leave the defending champion eight points behind Bayern Munich with four rounds remaining

AUGSBURG, Germany: Bayer Leverkusen’s hopes of a second consecutive Bundesliga title faded with a 1-1 draw at St. Pauli on Sunday.
Patrik Schick put Leverkusen ahead in the first half but Carlo Boukhalfa equalized in the 78th to leave the defending champion eight points behind Bayern Munich with four rounds remaining.
Bayern, which beat Heidenheim 4-0 on Saturday, could clinch the title on Saturday if it beats Mainz and Leverkusen loses to Augsberg.
Last season, Leverkusen completed an unprecedented unbeaten Bundesliga season for its first Germany league title — and also went unbeaten to lift the German Cup.
Dortmund wins after Champions League elimination
Borussia Dortmund beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 in Dortmund’s first game since its Champions League elimination.
Dortmund scored three goals in the space of nine minutes to turn the game around just before halftime.
Fresh off scoring a hat trick against Barcelona on Tuesday, Serhou Guirassy leveled the score in the 41st off Pascal Gross’ cross following Ko Itakura’s opener for Moenchengladbach.
Felix Nmecha made it 2-1 off a cross from Yan Couto soon after. Daniel Svensson added a third in the fifth minute of first-half added time with a looping header on the rebound when a Guirassy shot was saved.
Kevin Stoger pulled one back for Moenchengladbach with a second-half penalty.
On-loan Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka played a prominent role in the buildup to all three of Dortmund’s goals after missing the Barcelona loss with injury.
Augsburg rescues a point
A last-second clearance from Cédric Zesiger rescued a point for Augsburg in a 0-0 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt that set back both teams’ efforts to qualify for European competition next season.
Frankfurt’s Ansgar Knauff seemed certain to score after dribbling past defender Zesiger and goalkeeper Finn Dahmen but Zesiger sprinted back and slid to block Knauff’s shot in front of an unguarded net.
Augsburg nearly took the win in the final minutes but Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp reacted quickly to push Phillip Tietz’s shot around the post.
Frankfurt stays third but has won just four of 12 Bundesliga games since forward Omar Marmoush left for Manchester City in January as teams behind have gained ground. Augsburg is 10th and in a midtable battle for the lower European places.


Leicester relegated from the Premier League as Liverpool close in on title

Updated 20 April 2025
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Leicester relegated from the Premier League as Liverpool close in on title

  • Liverpool could be crowned champions on Wednesday should Arsenal lose at home to Crystal Palace

LEICESTER: Leicester City were relegated from the Premier League as Liverpool moved to within one win of the title on Sunday with a 1-0 victory at the King Power.
Trent Alexander-Arnold came off the bench to score the only goal 14 minutes from time as the Reds moved to the brink of a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.
Liverpool could be crowned champions on Wednesday should Arsenal lose at home to Crystal Palace.
If the Gunners avoid defeat, Arne Slot’s men have the chance to seal the deal when Tottenham visit Anfield next Sunday.
Leicester have not scored a single goal at home since December as nine consecutive defeats at the King Power have taken Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men down.
Alexander-Arnold appears to be coming toward the end of his time at his boyhood club.
The England international is reportedly close to joining Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Unlike Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who have signed new deals in recent weeks to prolong their stay at Anfield, Alexander-Arnold has just weeks to run on his current deal.
“I’ve said all season, I’m not going to speak on my situation,” Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports.
“But these days like today are always special.
“Scoring goals, playing, winning games, being close to winning titles as well as being in title races. They’re special moments that will be with me forever and I’m glad to be a part of them.”
A Liverpool cruise seemed in store when Mohamed Salah hit both posts with a glorious chance inside the first two minutes.
But after storming clear of the chasing pack in Slot’s early months in charge to build a near unassailable lead, Liverpool have slowed in recent weeks as the finish line approaches.
“Normally we’re a bit better if we create chances that we score goals. Today, it took us a long time, and of course, a great moment for Trent,” said Slot.
Wilfred Ndidi came close to ending Leicester’s barren run with a low strike that came back off the post.
Liverpool struggled to create from open play in what remained of the first half.
Ibrahima Konate came closest to breaking the deadlock when Ndidi hooked clear his goalbound header from a corner.
Leicester did finally have the ball in the net in the second half but Patson Daka had fouled Alisson Becker before Connor Coady headed into an unguarded net.
Slot introduced Alexander-Arnold for the final 20 minutes on his return from a five-week absence due to an ankle injury.
The right-back took just five minutes to score his 23rd and potentially last goal for his boyhood club.
Salah and Diogo Jota somehow contrived to hit the woodwork rather than the net from point-blank range as Leicester struggled to clear a corner.
The loose ball broke to Alexander-Arnold, whose shot went straight through the grasp of Mads Hermansen.
Leicester still had a chance to snatch an unlikely point.
But Facundo Buonanotte’s wasteful finish with just Alisson to beat summed up their season to forget.
Champions of England just nine years ago, the Foxes have found life back in the top-flight far too much of a step up in class after romping to the Championship title last season.
“I think you see among the promoted sides it’s such a mountain to climb to stay in the Premier League,” said Van Nistelrooy, who has won just two of his 20 league games since taking charge in December.
Leicester join Southampton, whose relegation was confirmed with a record seven games to go, in an immediate return to the second tier.
Ipswich, who are 15 points adrift with five games to go, are set to follow as for the second consecutive season all three promoted sides will fail to avoid the drop.


Piastri wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from Verstappen to take F1 lead

Updated 20 April 2025
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Piastri wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from Verstappen to take F1 lead

JEDDAH: Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday to seize the lead in the Formula One world championship from McLaren teammate Lando Norris with his third win in five races.
Red Bull’s four-times champion Max Verstappen was runner-up, 2.843 seconds behind the Australian, after starting from pole at Jeddah’s Corniche circuit but collecting a five-second penalty for a first corner clash with Piastri.
Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari’s first podium of the campaign and Norris clawed his way from 10th on the grid to fourth.
Victory made Piastri, triumphant in Bahrain last weekend and China last month, the first Australian to lead the championship since his manager Mark Webber in 2010 and also the first back-to-back winner this season.
He now leads Norris, whose race was heavily compromised by a crash in qualifying, by 10 points after starting the night three behind.
Piastri has 99 points to Norris’s 89 and Verstappen’s 87. Champions McLaren stretched their lead over Mercedes in the constructors’ standings to 77 points.
“It was a pretty tough race. I’m very, very happy to have won. Made the difference at the start. Made my case into Turn One, and that was enough,” said the happy winner.
“Definitely one of the toughest races I’ve had in my career,” he added after 50 laps in 30 degree temperatures around a super-fast track.
George Russell was fifth for Mercedes with Italian teammate Kimi Antonelli sixth and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton seventh for Ferrari.
Williams had Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon eighth and ninth with Racing Bulls’ French rookie Isack Hadjar the final points scorer in 10th.

FIRST CORNER
There was immediate controversy at the start as Verstappen and Piastri went side-by-side into the first corner, with the Red Bull emerging ahead after cutting across the runoff.
“He needs to give that back, I was ahead,” Piastri told McLaren over the team radio. “He was never going to make that corner regardless of whether he was there or not.”
Verstappen gave his version in similar fashion to Red Bull: “He just forced me off, there was no intention of him to make that corner.”
Stewards decided the champion was at fault and handed him the penalty, with Verstappen reacting by saying sarcastically “Oh, that is lovely’.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner did not let it lie after the chequered flag either, complimenting Verstappen and adding: “That first corner we’ve all got our opinions on.”
The safety car continued a sequence of appearing at all five races in Saudi Arabia so far with an appearance at the end of the opening lap after Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly collided and crashed.
Both drivers retired, Tsunoda after getting his car back to the pits.


Verschoor storms to F2 victory as Weug claims historic win in F1 Academy in Jeddah

Updated 20 April 2025
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Verschoor storms to F2 victory as Weug claims historic win in F1 Academy in Jeddah

  • The victory moves Verschoor into the lead of the F2 Drivers’ Championship
  • With her victory, Weug also snatched a narrow lead at the top of the F1 Academy standings

JEDDAH: Richard Verschoor produced a masterclass in tire management and racecraft to win the Formula 2 feature race in Jeddah, fighting back from ninth on the grid to claim victory for MP Motorsport.

The Dutch driver rebounded impressively after heartbreak in Saturday’s Sprint Race, where he crossed the line first but was demoted to second by a five-second penalty for an earlier incident.

Determined to make amends, Verschoor ran the alternative strategy, starting on medium tires and extending his first stint deep into the race.

Despite his aging rubber, Verschoor consistently set fastest laps, showing blistering pace while others pitted early for fresher tires.

His strategy paid off, and after switching to supersofts, he rejoined the track just a few seconds behind leader Jak Crawford with four laps to go.

Once his tires were up to temperature, Verschoor rapidly hunted down the DAMS Lucas Oil driver, closing within DRS range and executing a clinical move into Turn 1 on the final lap to secure a stunning win.

The victory moves Verschoor into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, with Josep Maria Marti — who finished fifth in the Feature Race — second overall and Leonardo Fornaroli third.

Earlier in the day, Maya Weug made history by becoming the first Ferrari driver to win an F1 Academy race in Jeddah, prevailing in a dramatic and incident-packed Race 2.

Starting from pole for the first time in the series, Chloe Chambers looked to have the race under control after a clean getaway, keeping ahead of a fierce scrap for second between Weug and Mercedes’ Doriane Pin. Amid soaring track temperatures, Weug showed relentless pace, reeling Chambers in and battling wheel-to-wheel for the lead by Lap 3.

Weug briefly seized the lead before being forced wide by Chambers, who was later handed a five-second penalty for the incident. That opened the door for an intense battle between Weug and Pin, with the two repeatedly exchanging P2 as Chambers tried to maintain her advantage.

Despite crossing the finish line first, Chambers’ time penalty demoted her to second, handing victory to Weug. Pin completed the podium for Mercedes.

The race saw further drama as Rafaela Ferreira was hit with a 10-second penalty for spinning Emma Felbermayr of Kick Sauber, dropping both out of the points contention.

Behind the front three, Alisha Palmowski secured fourth place, with Alba Larsen fifth and Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann sixth. Alpine’s Nina Gademan finished seventh, while Ella Lloyd was promoted to eighth after Ferreira’s penalty. Joanne Ciconte and Chloe Chong rounded out the points-scoring positions.

With her victory, Weug also snatched a narrow lead at the top of the F1 Academy standings, setting up an intriguing battle for the rest of the season.


Kohli, Rohit star as Bengaluru and Mumbai win in IPL

Updated 20 April 2025
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Kohli, Rohit star as Bengaluru and Mumbai win in IPL

  • Bengaluru avenged their loss to Punjab at home on Friday and the two teams, both seeking their first IPL title, are level on points

MUMBAI: Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 73 and Rohit Sharma struck form with 76 not out in match-winning knocks for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians in an IPL super Sunday.
The in-form Kohli hit his fourth half-century of this edition of the popular T20 tournament to anchor Bengaluru’s chase of 158 in a seven-wicket win over Punjab Kings at Mullanpur, near Chandigarh.
Another Indian veteran Rohit struck form with his first fifty this season in the second match of the day to lead Mumbai’s nine-wicket hammering of Chennai Super Kings in a battle of heavyweights.
Rohit, 37, put on 114 runs with Suryakumar Yadav, who hit 68 off 30 balls, as they steered the five-time champions’ chase of 177, getting there with 26 balls to spare.
Rohit, 37, came in as impact substitute in the chase and put on 63 with Ryan Rickleton, who fell for 24 off Ravindra Jadeja, to lay the foundations of Mumbai’s third straight win.
“After being here for such a long period of time, it’s easy to start doubting yourself and start doing different things,” Rohit said after being named player of the match.
“For me, it was important to do simple things and have a clear mindset. It was important for me to hold my shape and extend my arms, and when the ball was in my area, I had to do what I have been doing.”
Rohit struggled for form until this knock with just 82 runs in his previous six innings but found his groove with trademark flicks and pulls.
He reached his fifty in 33 balls but Suryakumar was in a hurry and his knock included some audacious shots behind the wicket raised his half-ton in 26 deliveries.
Rohit and Suryakumar smashed 11 sixes between them.
Bowlers set up victory after Jasprit Bumrah’s 2-25 and spinner Mitchell Santner’s 1-14 kept Chennai down to 176-5.
Shivam Dube, who made 50, and Jadeja, who hit an unbeaten 53, put on 79 runs for the fourth wicket and 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre smashed 32 off 15 balls after being the youngest player to debut for Chennai.
Five-time winners Chennai, led by M.S. Dhoni after regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad pulled out injured mid-season, crashed to their sixth defeat in eight matches to stay bottom of the 10-team table.
In the first match of the day, Bengaluru were propelled by a 103-run second-wicket stand between Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal, who hit 61, to reach their target with seven balls to spare.
Bengaluru avenged their loss to Punjab at home on Friday and the two teams, both seeking their first IPL title, are level on points.
“Very important game for us,” said player of the match Kohli. “When you go from eight (points) to 10, it makes a massive difference.”
Kohli on his anchor role said: “One partnership is good enough in T20 cricket during run chase. I can accelerate, but I want to understand the strengths of other players.
“Holding one end up at the moment, that’s working for us.”
The in-form Kohli, 36, struck his fourth half-ton of the season and surpassed Australia’s David Warner for the most 50-plus scores in the popular T20 tournament.
Kohli has now made it past the 50-mark 67 times, including eight centuries.
Left-handed Padikkal struck his first fifty of the season, after Bengaluru lost opener Phil Salt in the first over to Arshdeep Singh.
Padikkal fell to Harpreet Brar, leaving Kohli to play the anchor in a 54-ball knock laced with seven fours and a six.
Bengaluru spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma took two wickets each to set up victory as they helped restrict Punjab to 157-6.