عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Lando Norris Cruises to Victory at Singapore Grand Prix

British driver Lando Norris of McLaren F1 Team in action during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, 22 September 2024. EPA/TOM WHITE
British driver Lando Norris of McLaren F1 Team in action during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, 22 September 2024. EPA/TOM WHITE
TT
20
TT

Lando Norris Cruises to Victory at Singapore Grand Prix

British driver Lando Norris of McLaren F1 Team in action during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, 22 September 2024. EPA/TOM WHITE
British driver Lando Norris of McLaren F1 Team in action during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, 22 September 2024. EPA/TOM WHITE

Lando Norris survived a couple of brushes with barriers as he won the Singapore Grand Prix with ease and cut into Max Verstappen's Formula 1 standings lead Sunday.
Norris started on pole position ahead of Verstappen and steadily built a large lead for his third career win. All have come this year.
There were two brief moments of jeopardy when the McLaren driver first locked his brakes and touched the barriers, prompting concern he'd damaged the front wing, and later when a rear tire brushed another but Norris seemed largely unaffected as he cruised to the win, The Associated Press reported.
“It was an amazing race. A few too many close calls,” Norris said. "It’s not that you’re necessarily over-pushing. Sometimes it can be that you’re just chilling too much. Maybe it’s a bit of both. I don’t know what it is, but it’s tricky."
With such a big lead, staying focused was one of Norris’ challenges. Races in Singapore have a habit of turning on strategy calls, or if a crash brings out the safety car and brings the cars back together. Norris had to stay alert but there was no safety car — a first in Singapore.
Verstappen came in second for Red Bull after a race that was largely uneventful after he held off Lewis Hamilton into the first corner at the start.
Oscar Piastri, the winner for McLaren in Azerbaijan last week, moved up from fifth on the grid to finish third after passing Mercedes' Hamilton and later George Russell for the final podium place.
Verstappen seemed relaxed Sunday, holding onto second and minimizing the damage to his lead, which was trimmed from 59 to 52 points.
“I think on a weekend where we knew that we were going to struggle, to be P2 is a good achievement. Of course we’re not happy with second,” he said. “Now we just have to try and improve more and more and that’s what we’ll try to do.”
Six rounds of the championship remain, starting with the United States Grand Prix next month, and three of those offer extra points with sprint races.
Daniel Ricciardo’s place in F1 with Red Bull’s second team RB could be under threat. Still, the Australian made a small but potentially vital intervention in the championship fight.
Ricciardo stopped for fresh tires late on and set the fastest lap of the race on his way to finishing 18th. That deprived Norris of the extra point for fastest lap that he seemed set to secure.
“Thank you, Daniel,” Verstappen said over the radio.
Russell was fourth, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, while seven-time champion Hamilton had to settle for sixth after Mercedes' strategy left him on older tires than his rivals at the end of the race.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was seventh for Ferrari after crashing in qualifying, with Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin eighth and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg ninth.
Tenth place was all Sergio Perez could manage in a season where he has frequently struggled to match the pace of his Red Bull teammate Verstappen.

Most Viewed

 
Sports

Mensik Prevents Djokovic from his 100th Title

Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
TT
20
TT

Mensik Prevents Djokovic from his 100th Title

Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

Novak Djokovic faced a series of obstacles Sunday in the Miami Open final: a delay of more than 5 1/2 hours before the match, an eye infection and a slippery court due to high levels of humidity following the rain.
But the largest roadblock was the youth and power of 6-foot-4, 19-year-old phenom Jakub Mensik, who outdueled the 37-year-old Serbian 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) to win his first ATP title, The Associated Press reported.
Ranked 54th entering the tournament, the Czech Republic teenager plowed through Djokovic with poise and a stellar 130 mph serve. He collected 14 aces and got broken only once. Mensik bashed a service winner on match point and fell on his back.
"You’re the one I idolized when I was young," Mensik said to Djokovic during the ceremony after the match that lasted 2 hours, 3 minutes. “I started playing tennis because of you."
Mensik’s victory spoiled the party for Djokovic, who was seeking his 100th career title and a record seventh in the Miami Open. Djokovic will have to wait, while the teenager looks ready to join the elite.
“This is a joyous moment for him and his family — an unbelievable tournament, first of many," Djokovic said. “It hurts me to admit it, you were better. In the clutch moments you delivered the goods. For a young player like yourself, this is a great feature."
The crowd pulled hard for Djokovic, who hadn’t played here since 2019. More than three-quarters of the fans stuck around despite the massive delay, chanting “No-vak!" and singing his name across critical parts of the match.
Djokovic, far from a fan favorite here earlier in his career, saluted the fans, saying it was one of the warmest crowds he’s had ever.
But the men’s leader with 24 Grand Slam titles seemed compromised by his eye issue, with redness seen under the eyelid. Djokovic applied eyedrops during two changeovers in the first set. It was unclear if it affected his vision.
Afterward, Djokovic said he “really prefers not to talk about" his eye, but said “I didn’t feel my greatest on the court."
Djokovic called it “a weird day."
“It’s the same for both players," he added. “You have to accept the circumstances. I tried to make the most out of what I had or was facing but, yeah, it was quite different from any other day of the tournament for me."
During the set, he also slipped twice on the court. The humidity reached 90% after hours of rain disrupted the card. Sweating profusely, Djokovic asked the umpire for a bucket of sawdust to sprinkle on his wet grip.
Mensik had lost to Djokovic in a three-setter last October at the Shanghai Masters but the youngster said before the match he had played too nervously.
Mensik was playing his first ATP 1000 final. He was not quite 2 years old when Djokovic won his first Miami Open title in 2007.
Djokovic knew Mensik’s potential after inviting him to his camp in Belgrade to train when the prodigy was 16.
“He has the complete game. His serve is incredible, powerful, precise,” Djokovic said.
There was more fearlessness this time than in Shanghai. Mensik got up 3-0 with an early break but Djokovic broke back at 4-3, then held for 4-4 after fans chanted his name.
Mensik held for a 6-5 lead in a game that saw Djokovic take a tumble in the doubles alley chasing a drop shot. Mensik served it out with his seventh ace.
In the first-set tiebreak, Mensik charged ahead 5-0. Mensik executed a leaping backhand volley winner and Djokovic muffed a routine forehand drop shot into the net to fall behind 5-0. On set point, Mensik slugged an overhead smash for a winner.
The match was scheduled for 3 p.m. but the players didn’t take the court until 8:37 p.m. due to rain and organizers deciding on completing the women’s doubles final.
The South Florida rain began at 12:50 p.m. during the women’s doubles final pitting Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider against Cristina Bucsa and Miyu Kato, with Andreeva and Shnaider leading 3-0 in the first set.
The women’s players returned to the court at 5:30 p.m. after the rain stopped and the courts were readied by court-drying machinery. But rain began minutes later before warmups and the umbrella-toting players left the court again.
The women returned to the court an hour later and resumed play at 6:50 p.m. Andreeva and Schnaider went the distance, prevailing in a third-set match tiebreaker 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-2.