LOSAIL, Qatar: Lewis Hamilton and Max Vetstappen qualified 1-2 for the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix, setting up a showdown between the Formula One championship contenders at the very start of Sunday's race.
Hamilton won the 102nd pole of his career, fourth of the season and first since the Hungarian Grand Prix in August. Hamilton trails Verstappen by 14 points in the championship fight with three races remaining.
He beat Verstappen by 0.455 seconds Saturday to win the pole at Losail International Circuit. The seven-time champion said his stomach had been bothering him since he arrived in Qatar, but a good night's sleep helped his recovery.
Hamilton said his stomachache made opening day at the new circuit difficult, and he was fourth in both of Friday's practice sessions.
“I really struggled throughout first practice and I was just really off,” Hamilton said. “I was here 'til midnight working with the engineers, who also always work so late, and found I lot of areas in which I can improve.”
Mercedes made changes in Saturday's final practice and Hamilton said in qualifying he was aided by smart strategy that sent him on track with little traffic and a strong lap by the driver.
“That last lap was beautiful, it was a really sweet lap,” Hamilton said. “This track is amazing to drive, it is incredibly fast. It felt good.”
Verstappen said Red Bull was lacking pace and noted that teammate Sergio Perez failed to advance to the final qualifying group. Perez will start 11th.
“It's been just a bit more tricky for us in qualifying,” Verstappen said. “We are struggling a bit more than normal. We've never done a race here, so there's a lot of unknowns.”
The race is the first in a 10-year deal between F1 and Qatar.
Valtteri Bottas, teammate to Hamilton at Mercedes, qualified third and was followed by Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri. Gasly has been fast all weekend but a tire puncture near the end of qualifying slowed him.
Fernando Alonso qualified fifth and was followed by Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
The weekend opened with the Brazil GP still the main topic of discussion as Mercedes contested the FIA decision not to penalize Verstappen for running Hamilton wide off course last week in Sao Paulo. Mercedes requested a review of the decision, which the FIA denied in the middle of a Friday press briefing between the principals of the two warring teams.
It was a tense 30-minute session between Mercedes head Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, team principal for Red Bull, and both agreed they have no relationship. But Horner also publicly questioned the legality of the Mercedes.
Horner believes the rear wing used by Mercedes in Mexico and Brazil was illegal and gave the rivals a significant straightline speed advantage. He vowed to protest Mercedes if the wing is used again.
Wolff was adamant the Mercedes is legal.
Lewis Hamilton wins pole for inaugural Qatar Grand Prix
https://arab.news/6hzee
Lewis Hamilton wins pole for inaugural Qatar Grand Prix
- Bottas was 0.78 seconds faster than teammate Hamilton
- Verstappen holds a 14-point lead over Hamilton headed into Sunday's race
Leipzig lose ground on Bayern, Dortmund and Leverkusen win
In Dortmund, the home side won 4-0 over Freiburg thanks to goals from Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens
DORTMUND: RB Leipzig continued to lose ground on Bundesliga league leaders Bayern Munich with a 4-3 defeat at lowly Hoffenheim on Saturday, while Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen registered big wins.
Hoffenheim came from a goal down to equalize three times and hit the lead with four minutes remaining on a wild debut for new manager Christian Ilzer.
Hoffenheim’s Adam Hlozek collected a brace while Tom Bischof scored a clever free kick and Jakob Bruun Larsen was responsible for the winner in the 86th minute.
Leipzig’s efforts came through Willi Orban, Antonio Nusa and an own goal from Hoffenheim’s Stanley Nsoki.
Equal on points with Bayern just three matchdays ago, Leipzig have lost two and drawn one and now sit eight behind the league leaders.
Leipzig had only conceded five goals in the league season before Saturday’s outing.
Eintracht Frankfurt can leapfrog Leipzig into second place and close the gap on Bayern to six points when they host Werder Bremen later on Saturday.
In Dortmund, the home side won 4-0 over Freiburg thanks to goals from Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens, while the visitors finished with nine men.
Under fire and sitting outside the European placings coming into the match, Dortmund’s one saving grace this league campaign has been their home form, with five wins from five.
The hosts got on track early, when Beier, who scored a double for Germany’s under-21s against France this week, opening the scoring seven minutes in.
Midfielder Nmecha, who scored for Germany’s senior side in their 1-1 draw in Hungary midweek, added a second with a superb long-range effort on the 40th-minute mark.
Freiburg’s hopes of a comeback were snuffed out after 63 minutes when Patrick Osterhage picked up a second yellow card for a rough tussle with Marcel Sabitzer.
From the ensuing free kick, Dortmund’s Brandt curled the ball home and England winger Gittens curled in a fourth to seal the match with 13 minutes remaining.
Freiburg’s Junior Adamu saw straight red for striking Dortmund’s Waldemar Anton in stoppage time, reducing his side to nine men.
Dortmund have now won their past six against Freiburg, scoring 24 and conceding five.
Defending champions Leverkusen came from two goals down to win 5-2 at home against Heidenheim thanks to a hat-trick from Patrick Schick.
Heidenheim, who host Chelsea in the Conference League on Thursday, were two goals up within 21 minutes, with Niklas Dorsch and Mathias Honsak taking advantage of some sleepy defense.
World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios pulled one back on the half-hour mark before Schick, in for the injured Victor Boniface, scored three unanswered goals to wrestle back control of the match before Granit Xhaka added a fifth with eight minutes remaining.
Last season’s runners-up Stuttgart scored two second-half goals through Chris Fuehrich and Justin Diehl to win 2-0 at home over last-placed Bochum, who have just one point from 11 games this season.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku scored the only goal as his side defeated Union Berlin 1-0 at home.
Abdullah Al-Qahtani hopes for Saudi fans’ support in his PFL journey
- Al-Qahtani gets shot at featherweight title after Egyptian fighter Islam Reda’s injury
- To win belt, he must overcome the man who beat him in September’s semifinal
RIYADH: With just days to go before his PFL MENA Featherweight Championship bout on Nov. 29, Saudi mixed martial arts fighter Abdullah Al-Qahtani is hoping his fans’ support will spur him on to victory in Riyadh.
Al-Qahtani said: “Fighting on home soil with the Saudi crowd behind me will be a strong support as I aim to secure the belt. We’ve set the right plans for the final.”
Al-Qahtani will face Jordan’s Abdullah ‘The Cobra’ Alhyasat, the man who defeated him in September’s semifinal. An injury to the other semifinal winner — Egypt’s Islam Reda — gave Al-Qahtani another shot at beating Alhyasat.
The 27-year-old Saudi, whose record currently stands at nine wins and two losses, said he is not disheartened by that semifinal failure.
“Abdelrahman has five victories in his professional career and won the semifinal by unanimous decision. This hasn’t put pressure on me or affected my morale,” Al-Qahtani said. “Since replacing Islam Reda, I’ve been training intensively to prepare … to give my best, avenge the semifinal loss, and claim the title. Together with my coaching team, I’ve analyzed the mistakes I made in the semifinal and focused on the positive aspects of my performance. God willing, (I) will be the one to crack Alhyasat’s code, win, and bring joy to the Saudi audience.”
Alhyasat insisted he is unfazed by the prospect of a partisan crowd supporting Al-Qahtani.
“I would have preferred to face a different fighter in the final, but I’m comfortable with this matchup; it will be as easy as the semifinal,” he said. “Fighting on his home turf won’t be a source of stress for me. I will repeat my victory over Al-Qahtani.
“I expect Al-Qahtani to change his fighting style for the final. That’s why, during my training camp in Thailand, we studied all possibilities (so I can) adapt to the flow of the fight,” he continued.
The showdown is just one bout on a night that also includes the PFL World Championships, which are being held outside of the US for the first time, at King Saud University in Riyadh.
Headlining is the unbeaten Russian fighter, Timur “Imam” Khizriev, who takes on the UK’s Brendan Loughnane for the World Featherweight Championship.
In the Women’s Flyweight Championship co-main event, Dakota Ditcheva will put her 13-0 record on the line when the English-Bulgarian MMA and former Muay Thai fighter goes head-to-head with Brazil’s Taila Santos.
In addition to the championship fights, the undefeated Saudi Arabian PFL star Hattan Alsaif – who made history when she became the first Saudi female to sign a contract with a major MMA promoter — takes on Algeria’s Lilia Osmani.
Ancelotti says ‘ugly’ to speculate about Mbappe mental health
- Mbappe has scored just one goal in his last seven Madrid games across all competitions
- “What a question — I don’t have the impression that he has any mental health problems,” Ancelotti said
MALAGA: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Saturday it was “ugly” to speculate about the mental health of superstar striker Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe has scored just one goal in his last seven Madrid games across all competitions and is also involved in a multi-million euro pay dispute with former club Paris Saint-Germain.
Ancelotti was asked at his weekly press conference if the striker was struggling with pressure.
“What a question — I don’t have the impression that he has any mental health problems,” Ancelotti said.
“I see him as happy to be here, if he is, he doesn’t show it, but I think speculating about problems of this type is a bit ugly.”
The forward was left out of France’s squad for recent Nations League matches for the second time in two months, and was linked to a rape investigation in Sweden, which Mbappe has denied.
France coach Didier Deschamps did not select the 25-year-old for matches against Israel and Italy, saying “it was better that way.”
Ancelotti said he was confident Mbappe, who joined Madrid this summer at the end of his PSG deal, would find the net at the weekend away at minnows Leganes.
“There are always bad moments, all the great strikers have been through them, but he’s motivated and happy, and that’s all I can see,” continued Ancelotti.
“I’m convinced that he’s going to play a great match tomorrow and that all this will come to an end.
“He has extraordinary qualities, it’s just a matter of time.”
Russell on pole position at Las Vegas GP, Verstappen ahead of Norris
- Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was second ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpine
LAS VEGAS: George Russell of Mercedes took pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday while title-chasing Max Verstappen was fifth as the Dutchman closes in on a fourth successive world championship.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was second ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpine with Red Bull’s Verstappen finishing one spot ahead of title rival Lando Norris of McLaren who was sixth.
Verstappen, who won the Las Vegas race in 2023, leads Norris by 62 points with three races remaining and needs simply to finish ahead of him on Saturday night to become only the sixth man to win four world titles.
Norris has to beat Verstappen by three points to keep his slim championship hopes alive.
“At least we are ahead of the McLarens. I didn’t expect that so it’s good,” said Verstappen, hampered by Red Bull’s error in bring the wrong rear wing to Las Vegas.
“We’re just a bit too slow. We have been struggling to get the tires to work over a lap and we’re too slow on the straights.”
Charles Leclerc, in the second Ferrari, was fourth fastest in qualifying and will share the second row with Gasly whose impressive performance on the Las Vegas street circuit followed a shock third-place finish in Brazil last time out.
Yuki Tsunoda of RB was seventh with Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg in a Haas and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes completing the top 10.
Russell clocked a best lap in one minute and 32.312 seconds to outpace Sainz by 0.098 seconds for his third pole this year the fourth of his career.
“It feels incredible to be back on pole,” said Russell, who clipped a wall in the third and final qualifying run.
“I had a bit of a moment on my first run and we had to change the front wing so for a while I didn’t think we were going to make the flag, but I am just so happy.”
Norris felt the “top four was out of reach” for him.
“But I will keep going to the end and will do my best in every race whether I am fighting for the championship or not.”
On a cool night in America’s gambling capital, with a track temperature of 13 degrees Celsius, it was Gasly who set the pace as the rest slithered in early pursuit.
Having been quickest in the earlier final free practice, Russell topped Q1 ahead of Hamilton.
Unfortunately for Red Bull, Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez’s miserable season continued as he was eliminated along with Aston Martin’s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, Williams’ Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas of Sauber and Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin.
Hamilton set the Q2 pace in 1:33.136. After his dismal outing in Brazil where he finished 10th in the rain, this was evidence of a revitalized Hamilton ahead of a move to Ferrari next year.
Verstappen briefly went top with an edgy lap before Mercedes responded with Russell taking control as both he and Hamilton delivered improved laps, Russell clocking 1:32.881.
At this stage, Verstappen was showing enough pace to stay ahead of Norris before the Q2 segment ended with a yellow flag as Franco Colapinto hit the wall at the penultimate corner in his Williams, climbing out of the wreckage unhurt.
It was his second consecutive crash in qualifying and left the team with a big repair and rebuild job — the British team’s sixth in three Grands Prix.
The Argentine driver was already heading for a Q2 exit in 14th place along with RB’s Liam Lawson, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Hamilton topped Q2 to lead the way into the top ten shootout with a best lap in 1:32.567 ahead of Sainz and Russell.
The Q3 action resumed after a 25-minute delay for repairs, Verstappen leading the way followed by both McLarens before Russell clocked an early marker in 1:32.811 ahead of Sainz while Hamilton locked up and aborted his first lap.
Australia out for 104 against India after Starc digs in
- Jasprit Bumrah was India’s chief destroyer with 5-30, Harshit Rana chipped in with 3-48
- India have won their last two Border-Gavaskar trophy series against Australia in Australia
PERTH: Mitchell Starc hit a defiant 26 to keep Australia in touch on day two of the opening Test at Perth, with the hosts all out for 104 at lunch on Saturday to trail India by 46.
Australia lost Alex Carey and Nathan Lyon during an intense session on a lively deck before Starc and Josh Hazlewood dug in.
They reached three figures courtesy of a dogged last-wicket holdout by the pair — their 25-run stand was the longest of the Australian innings. Hazlewood was not-out seven.
Jasprit Bumrah was India’s chief destroyer with 5-30, his 11th five-wicket haul in Tests. Harshit Rana chipped in with 3-48.
Australia resumed on 67-7, trailing by 83, after an astonishing 17 wickets fell on a chaotic opening day when India were all out for 150.
Home hopes rested on Carey as he began on 19, but after nudging two from Rana he came up against an irrepressible Bumrah.
Coming round the wicket, the Indian captain made Carey play and he nicked to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Lyon (5) did well to hang around for 16 fiery balls before gloving a short one from Rana to KL Rahul in the slips.
That brought Hazlewood to the crease and it seemed only a matter of time before India were batting again, but he and Starc gamely stuck around, bringing up the 100 to huge cheers from the crowd.
It was an intelligent innings by Starc, who doggedly faced 112 balls and protected Hazlewood to add crucial extra runs before holing out Rana to Pant.
India have won their last two Border-Gavaskar trophy series in Australia.
Perth is the first of five Tests in the series.
