Hamilton and Leclerc Disqualified from US Grand Prix 

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton (L) speaks with Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc after the Sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 21, 2023 ahead of the United States Formula One Grand Prix. (AFP)
Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton (L) speaks with Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc after the Sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 21, 2023 ahead of the United States Formula One Grand Prix. (AFP)
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Hamilton and Leclerc Disqualified from US Grand Prix 

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton (L) speaks with Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc after the Sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 21, 2023 ahead of the United States Formula One Grand Prix. (AFP)
Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton (L) speaks with Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc after the Sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 21, 2023 ahead of the United States Formula One Grand Prix. (AFP)

Mercedes accepted their punishment after Formula One stewards disqualified Lewis Hamilton from second place in Sunday's US Grand Prix along with sixth-placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

The governing FIA had reported both drivers to stewards after their cars failed post-race checks on the under-floor wooden planks at Austin's Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Stewards imposed the standard penalty after both teams acknowledged the measurements carried out by the FIA were correct.

Mercedes had stated that the high wear on the skid pads was probably due to the bumpy track and the race being run to a sprint format for the first time.

That meant a 100km race on Saturday and only one practice session instead of the usual three.

"Set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice, and even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTA and running a new package," said Mercedes principal Toto Wolff.

"In the end, all of that doesn't matter; others got it right where we got it wrong and there's no wiggle room in the rules.

"We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger next weekend."

The race was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, the 50th victory of the triple world champion's career and record-equaling 15 of the season.

Mercedes had brought an upgraded car to Texas and Hamilton, whose teammate George Russell moved up to fifth, had looked more competitive.

"We can take a lot of positives from the car performance today," said Wolff.

"This is a circuit where only a few races ago we wouldn't have performed well because of the fast, sweeping corners. The upgrade seems to have made the car happier in those areas and it is working well. Directionally, it's a very good sign."

The disqualifications meant Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz moved up to third.



Carlos Alcaraz Reaches Olympics Men's Tennis Singles Final by Beating Felix Auger-Aliassime

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in their men's singles semifinals tennis match, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in their men's singles semifinals tennis match, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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Carlos Alcaraz Reaches Olympics Men's Tennis Singles Final by Beating Felix Auger-Aliassime

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in their men's singles semifinals tennis match, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in their men's singles semifinals tennis match, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Carlos Alcaraz moved one win away from becoming the youngest man to win an Olympics tennis singles gold medal, beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1 in the Paris Games semifinals on Friday.

Alcaraz is a 21-year-old from Spain who already owns four Grand Slam titles — including in June at Roland Garros, the clay-court facility being used for tennis at the 2024 Games — and is about a month younger than Vincent Richards of the US was when he claimed the gold in Paris in 1924.

With dozens of spectators waving red-and-yellow Spanish flags at Court Philippe Chatrier or yelling “Vamos, Carlos!” on a cloudy afternoon — and a soundtrack provided during breaks in the action by a brass band in the stands — Alcaraz was superb.

He never faced a break point. He won the point on 10 of 11 trips to the net. He made just 13 unforced errors, 10 fewer than Auger-Aliassime, who also lost to Alcaraz at this year's French Open.

“I just couldn’t find a way to be comfortable in any pattern, any position. Whether it was trying to dominate the forehand cross-court or change of direction, the forehand inside-out, the backhand side,” The AP quoted Auger-Aliassime as saying. “Every aspect. The movement. The defense. I was dominated.”

Auger-Aliassime is a 23-year-old Canadian whose best showing at a major tournament was a semifinal appearance at the 2021 US Open. Auger-Aliassime made it to that round back then when Alcaraz, just 18 at the time, stopped playing in the second set of their quarterfinal because of an injured leg muscle.

“He’s improved a lot, every time we’ve played,” said Auger-Aliassime, who beat Alcaraz in each of their first three head-to-heat contests but now has lost the four since, all in straight sets. “I don’t have the solutions right now.”

The Alcaraz on display during his Olympics debut is, indeed, much more of a finished product, someone who has won 12 consecutive matches at Roland Garros and collected a second consecutive title at Wimbledon last month, too.

Alcaraz defeated 24-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic in both of those finals at the All England Club, and there could be a rematch for the men's gold on Sunday. That's because Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, was scheduled to play Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in Friday's second Olympic semifinal.

It was unclear how fit Djokovic would be for that match, because he felt what he described as “sharp pain” in his surgically repaired right knee while getting past Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals Thursday night. Musetti eliminated Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Alexander Zverev.

The women's singles final is Saturday, with Zheng Qinwen of China playing against Donna Vekic of Croatia. Iga Swiatek of Poland and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia met Friday for the bronze.

In the men's doubles semifinals Friday, Matt Ebden and John Peers of Australia defeated Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul of the United States 7-5, 6-2. They will go up against another American duo, fourth-seeded Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, for the gold.

In women's doubles, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy advanced to the gold-medal match with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.