Confident Norris Eyes China Success as First F1 Sprint Beckons 

First-placed McLaren's British driver Lando Norris attends a press conference after the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 16, 2025. (AFP)
First-placed McLaren's British driver Lando Norris attends a press conference after the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 16, 2025. (AFP)
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Confident Norris Eyes China Success as First F1 Sprint Beckons 

First-placed McLaren's British driver Lando Norris attends a press conference after the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 16, 2025. (AFP)
First-placed McLaren's British driver Lando Norris attends a press conference after the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 16, 2025. (AFP)

Early championship leader Lando Norris knows he will face a new series of challenges at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, including the first sprint race of the season.

Warm and dry weather is forecast for Saturday's sprint and Sunday's second grand prix of the year on the 5.451km Shanghai International Circuit, where long turns and heavy braking zones are notoriously punishing on tires.

The conditions will be a marked contrast to last weekend's wet and wild season-opener in Melbourne, a race run almost entirely on intermediate wet tires and punctuated by long stints under the safety car.

McLaren's Norris survived a late slither onto gravel, damaging his car's floor, before holding off a charging Max Verstappen to take the chequered flag.

It is a fast turnaround to China, where teams will have just 60 minutes of practice on Friday morning to fine-tune their set-ups before the afternoon's sprint qualifying shootout.

The 19-lap sprint race is on Saturday morning before grand prix qualifying later the same day. Sunday sees the main race over 56 laps.

Norris finished a distant second behind Verstappen's Red Bull when Formula One returned to China last April after a five-year absence, but the Englishman is now the man to beat.

"I'm confident that when we go to China we can be very strong because we were strong there last year with not a very good car," Norris said after his Melbourne victory.

Verstappen's success in Shanghai a year ago was his fourth in five races as he dominated the early season before going on to win his fourth world championship.

- Hamilton Ferrari woe -

But in Australia on Sunday Verstappen was easily dropped by the McLarens once Oscar Piastri passed him for second place.

Verstappen was at one stage 16 seconds adrift before a Piastri spin and a safety car gave him a late chance to pressure Norris.

"We only have a few days before we are in China so not sure how much we will be able to find and turn around," said the Dutchman, who is seeking a fifth consecutive world title, a feat only previously achieved by Michael Schumacher.

Verstappen also won the sprint in China last year, blasting past Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes.

Now with Ferrari, Hamilton's debut for the Italian team saw the seven-time world champion berate a car that was "a lot worse" than he thought it would be as he came home 10th.

Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc were also compromised by being left out too long by the team on slicks when rain returned.

Both know they are already playing catch-up.

"McLaren and Red Bull had serious pace so there's work to do, but we'll dig deep," said Hamilton. "I'm looking forward to getting back in the car in China."

Hamilton has a record six victories in Shanghai -- twice with McLaren in 2008 and 2011, and four times with Mercedes in 2014-15, 2017 and 2019.

Leclerc conceded: "We are disappointed but it's good to know we'll be back in the car in just a few days in China. It's a continuous process of improvement."

Mercedes won six times in China from 2012 to 2019 and had an encouraging start in Melbourne, where George Russell was third and Kimi Antonelli fourth on his debut.

Antonelli was by far the best of the six full-season rookies, with Haas's Oliver Bearman the only other to finish.

Isack Hadjar was distraught after crashing his RB on the formation lap while Alpine's Jack Doohan hit the wall on the first lap.

Gabriel Bortoleto's Sauber and Liam Lawson's Red Bull retired after 45 and 46 of the 58 laps respectively.

Hometown hero Zhou Guanyu drew huge crowds last year in Shanghai when he raced for Sauber, but he has since been dumped by the team.

Fans will still be able to catch a glimpse of China's only Formula One driver, but it will be off the track in his new role as Ferrari reserve.



Swiatek Recovers from 0-6 Loss in 1st Set to Beat Keys in Madrid Quarterfinals

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran
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Swiatek Recovers from 0-6 Loss in 1st Set to Beat Keys in Madrid Quarterfinals

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran

Iga Swiatek recovered after losing the first six games of the match to defeat Madison Keys 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 and stay on track to defend her title at the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Swiatek was overpowered by Keys early in their quarterfinal but eventually found a way to rally past the fifth-ranked American on center court, The Associated Press reported.
“It was one of the weirdest matches I played,” the second-ranked Swiatek said. “Maddie was playing just perfectly at the beginning and I wasn’t really proactive with anything. I let Maddie do more mistakes by just putting the ball back and the momentum changed.”
It was the first meeting between the two since Swiatek squandered a match point in the semifinals of the Australian Open that was won by Keys.
Swiatek is trying to reach her third straight Madrid final. She beat Aryna Sabalenka last year after losing to her in 2023.
Sabalenka, the No. 1 player in the world, later faces 24th-seed Marta Kostyuk in her quarterfinal match.
Swiatek hasn’t gone past the semifinals at any tournament since last year’s French Open.
It was the second consecutive day without disruptions at the Caja Magica tennis complex following a major blackout on Monday that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill and prompted more than 20 matches to be postponed.