Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position

Sergio Perez won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and Max Verstappen drove from 15th to second to give Red Bull a 1-2 finish in Jeddah. (AP)
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Updated 19 March 2023
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Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position

  • Fernando Alonso finished third for the second consecutive race for what would have been his 100th career podium
  • Later handed a 10-second penalty for incorrectly serving an earlier penalty

JEDDAH: Sergio Perez won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and Max Verstappen drove from 15th to second to give Red Bull a 1-2 finish Sunday in what is shaping up to be a runaway season for the reigning Formula One champions.
And there have only been two races so far.
“Nice job guys an excellent result for the team,” said Perez, who finished about 5 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Through the first two races of the season it has been two Red Bull wins, two 1-2 finishes, and an air of desperation from everyone else on the grid.
Verstappen is chasing a third straight title and isn’t worried if it goes down to a straight fight between him and Perez.
“The best one will finish in front,” the Dutchman said.
Perez feels he’s yet to peak.
“I’m not sure it’s my best weekend with the team, Melbourne will be even better,” he said, looking ahead to the next race in Australia on April 2.
Fernando Alonso finished third for the second consecutive race for what would have been his 100th career podium. But he was later handed a 10-second penalty for incorrectly serving an earlier penalty and that dropped him to fourth.
But even as the Spaniard enjoys a renaissance with his new Aston Martin team, Alonso has acknowledged he had little chance at beating Red Bull.
Verstappen won a record 15 races last season and a second consecutive F1 title, and Perez added another two victories as the 17 total wins in 23 races easily gave Red Bull the constructors title. There have been no signs of an offseason drop in performance and George Russell, who moved up to third after the Alonso penalty on on Sunday, predicted after the season-opener that Red Bull would win every race this season.
“I was having fun out there and the car was feeling good,” Russell said after his 10th career podium. “I think it was harsh what happened to Fernando. But I’m happy to pick up the silverware.”
Lewis Hamilton finished fifth as Mercedes went third and fifth just three days after the seven-time F1 champion said the team needed three other organizations not to finish a race for Mercedes to have a shot to win.
“We are not where we want to be but we will get there,” Hamilton told his team.
The show on Sunday was Verstappen, who overcame a mechanical problem in qualifying that forced him to start 15th and quickly worked his way up the grid. The Dutchman set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap to retain his hold atop the F1 points standings.
“Great recovery, Max, that was a really good drive at the end,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner radioed Verstappen.
Verstappen felt the late push was worth the risk.
“I gave it a go at the end and luckily it worked out,” he said.
Red Bull has now finished 1-2 in three consecutive races dating to last year’s finale.
It was the fifth career win for Perez, who started from the pole for the second consecutive year at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. He was briefly leading the championship standings until Verstappen slipped ahead by logging the fastest lap.
“Let’s keep it up, let’s keep pushing,” said the Mexican.
Perez started on pole with Alonso on the front row alongside him and Alonso jumped out to a quick lead, but was promptly penalized for being in the improper starting position. He thought he served the five-second penalty, but the race stewards docked him another 10 seconds post podium celebration.
Russell said “common sense needs to be applied,” and Alonso was annoyed with governing body FIA.
“I think it’s more of a FIA poor show today more than disappointment for ourselves,” Alonso told broadcaster Sky. “You can’t apply the penalty 35 laps after the pit stop. They had enough time to inform us.”
Perez soon regained the lead while Verstappen and Charles Leclerc — starting from 12th because of a 10-place grid penalty — chewed up the cars ahead of them.
When both Ferrari’s pitted for new tires, Verstappen was in fourth.
The 6.2-kilometer (3.8-mile) circuit beside the Red Sea is the quickest street track in F1 with average speeds exceeding 250 kmh (160 mph), which suited Verstappen. It took him only a few seconds to pass Russell and Alonso didn’t last long, either, making it a Red Bull shootout.
Perez held firm.
Ferrari had another race to forget, with Carlos Sainz Jr. placing sixth ahead of Charles Leclerc in seventh. At least Leclerc finished, after retiring in Bahrain, but he wasn’t happy.
“Being behind like this is really (expletive), I don’t know what to do,” Leclerc said as he trundled behind traffic.
Frenchmen Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were eighth and ninth for Alpine with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen in 10th.
Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll retired on Lap 18, leading to a safety car restart that suited Verstappen.
Alex Albon retired his Williams and his teammate Logan Sargeant, the rookie American driver, started last and finished 16th. McLaren struggled again with Oscar Piastri 15th and Lando Norris down in 17th.
“Tough race after an unlucky start with damage to both cars on the opening lap. Made it too difficult to turn things around. But we tried hard,” McLaren boss Zak Brown tweeted. “Time to get our season back on track in Australia.”

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Arsenal in talks with Partey over new deal as Jorginho and Sterling depart

Updated 6 sec ago
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Arsenal in talks with Partey over new deal as Jorginho and Sterling depart

Partey’s contract is due to expire on June 30
The Ghana international has been with Arsenal since 2020

LONDON: Arsenal are in talks with Thomas Partey to extend the midfielder’s contract, the club said Wednesday, while confirming the departure of a slew of other players including Jorginho and Raheem Sterling.

Partey’s contract is due to expire on June 30 and Arsenal said “discussions are on-going.”

The Ghana international has been with Arsenal since 2020.

Italy midfielder Jorginho, Scotland left back Kieran Tierney, Brazilian goalkeeper Neto and Sterling — at one stage a key player for England — are among those confirmed to be leaving Arsenal.

Sterling was only on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Arsenal have just finished second in the Premier League for the third straight season.

Pakistan clinches 14 medals at Asian Indoor Rowing Championship in Thailand

Updated 47 min 30 sec ago
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Pakistan clinches 14 medals at Asian Indoor Rowing Championship in Thailand

  • Pakistan rowing team wins 10 gold medals, three silver and one bronze
  • Championship features athletes competing on indoor rowing machines

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan bagged 14 medals, including 10 gold ones, at the recently concluded Asian Indoor Rowing Championship in Thailand, state media reported this week.

The Asian Indoor Rowing Championship was organized by the Asian Rowing Federation from May 26 to 31 in Pattaya, Thailand, to showcase the talents of indoor rowers from across Asia.

Unlike traditional rowing competitions held on water, this championship features athletes competing on indoor rowing machines, such as the Concept2 ergometer, simulating the rowing experience in a controlled environment.

“Competing against 25 countries, the Pakistani squad stunned traditional powerhouses such as India, Iran, Thailand, South Korea and Japan,” Radio Pakistan said in a report on Monday.

“Despite being a small contingent, the Pakistani rowers delivered an outstanding performance that defied expectations.”

According to a local news outlet, Pakistan won 10 gold, three silver and one bronze medal.

Key contributors included Pakistani rowers Abdul Jabbar and Muhammad Shahzad, who won one gold and one silver each.

Tayyab Iftikhar earned one silver medal and one bronze, the report added.

Radio Pakistan said the athletes received a grand welcome from the Pakistan Rowing Federation (PRF) upon their return to the country.

It highlighted that the athletes’ performance marked “a new era for rowing” in Pakistan. PRF President Hamdan Nazir and Chairman Rizwan-ul-Haq also praised the players for their outstanding achievements.


Chaabani believes debutants Berkane can win CAF Champions League

Updated 04 June 2025
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Chaabani believes debutants Berkane can win CAF Champions League

  • Chaabani, a 43-year-old Tunisian, acknowledges that competing in the Champions League will be more challenging than the Confederation Cup
  • “The Champions League is a tougher competition, with high-level opponents,” he said

JOHANNESBURG: Renaissance Berkane coach Mouin Chaabani believes the Moroccan club could go one better than CAF Champions League title-holders Pyramids and win the competition at the first attempt.

Cairo outfit Pyramids won the premier African club competition last Sunday in only their second appearance by beating South African rivals Mamelodi Sundowns 3-2 on aggregate.

Berkane last month became Moroccan champions for the first time, finishing 13 points ahead of runners-up FAR Rabat.

Called the Orange Boys as they are based in the citrus-growing northeast of Morocco, Renaissance will debut in the Champions League this year.


It is a milestone for a club formed in 1938 and overshadowed for decades by Casablanca giants Raja and Wydad, both three-time African champions.

Berkane finally conquered Morocco by winning 21 of 30 matches, drawing seven, losing just two, scoring 49 goals and conceding only 14 in a championship ranked the second toughest in Africa.

While Berkane are Champions League debutants, they are no strangers to Africa having
competed in the past eight editions of the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup, winning three
finals.

They were also runners-up twice to Egyptian opponents Zamalek, losing one title decider after a penalty shootout and another on away goals.

Chaabani, a 43-year-old Tunisian, acknowledges that competing in the Champions League will be more challenging than the Confederation Cup.

“The Champions League is a tougher competition, with high-level opponents,” the coach who won back-to-back titles in the most prized African club competition with Tunis outfit Esperance told reporters.

“Thanks to repeated appearances in the Confederation Cup, I think Berkane have acquired continental experience. We have an ambitious squad capable of competing at the highest level.

“We will approach the Champions League campaign with great respect for opponents, but also with a desire to go far. Why not aim for the title?

“Our supporters can play a key role. Their unwavering backing, at home and away, has carried us through difficult times as well as joyful moments.”

The Municipal Stadium in Berkane accommodates just 15,000 spectators, and their closeness to the pitch creates what many visiting coaches have called “an intimidating atmosphere.”

Berkane won 43 of 49 home Confederation Cup matches since debuting in 2015, drew the other six, scored 113 goals and conceded only 18.

En route to the latest Confederation Cup triumph, they excelled at home, firing five goals past
Dadje of Benin and Stellenbosch of South Africa and four past CS Constantine of Algeria in the semifinals.

The Champions League is becoming increasingly competitive and unpredictable with the success of Pyramids not foreseen when the competition kicked off last August.

The Cairo club boast a prolific scorer in Congolese Fiston Mayele, whose nine goals won him the Champions League Golden Boot.

Pyramids, fellow Egyptian challengers and record 12-time African champions Al Ahly, Sundowns and Esperance of Tunisia will hope to claim the $4 million (EUR3.5 million) first prize.

Mouloudia Alger of Algeria, who are poised to qualify, and FAR were quarter-finalists last season and capable of going further this time.

Apart from the regular campaigners, there will be newcomers like Wiliete of Angola, Colombe of Cameroon and possibly Police, who need one point from two matches to become Kenyan champions.

Originally due to kick off in August, the Champions League will be delayed as the African Nations Championship (CHAN) has been rescheduled for that month.


Casualties in stampede at India cricket celebrations: Indian media

Updated 04 June 2025
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Casualties in stampede at India cricket celebrations: Indian media

  • Broadcasters showed police carrying young children in their arms rushing away from crowds
  • India's NDTV broadcaster reported to have left at least 11 people dead

BENGALURU: A stampede broke out as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the sporting win of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, resulting in multiple deaths, local media reported on Wednesday.

AFP could not immediately confirm the death toll, which India's NDTV broadcaster reported to have left at least 11 people dead. The Times of India newspaper reported seven dead.

An AFP photographer saw an intense crush of crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets.

Broadcasters showed police carrying young children in their arms rushing away from crowds, who had seemingly fainted.

One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.

Karnataka state's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he was not able to immediately confirm deaths.

"This is not a controllable crowd," he said, speaking to reporters. "The police were finding it very difficult."

"I apologise to the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru," he said. "We wanted to take a procession, but the crowd was very uncontrollable... the crowd was so much."

Cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.

An AFP reporter said the Bengaluru team had reached the cricket stadium in the city, where celebrations had previously been planned.


Is this the UAE’s most climate-conscious sporting event?

Updated 04 June 2025
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Is this the UAE’s most climate-conscious sporting event?

  • DP World ILT20 franchise Desert Vipers reduced carbon footprint of cricket match to a very rare low

DUBAI: The Desert Vipers have released a sustainability match report outlining the environmental impact of their headline sustainability fixture, saying it is possibly the lowest-emission professional sporting event ever held in the UAE.

Timed to mark World Environment Day, the report details how the Vipers, a founding team in the DP World International League T20, or ILT20, say they reduced the carbon footprint of a professional cricket match to just 30.86 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, translating per fan to a low 8.6 kg of CO2 equivalent, a rarity in global sport.

“While mega-events like the Paris 2024 Olympics (emitted 1.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent) and Euro 2024 (generated 490,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent) understandably carry large footprints due to international travel and scale, the Vipers’ match sets a benchmark in per capita emissions. At 8.6 kg CO2 equivalent per attendee, this may be among the most climate-conscious fan experiences in professional sport,” said Ben Hardy-Jones, head of sustainability and lead author of the report.

Hosted during season 3 of ILT20, the Vipers match featured: 100 percent recycled team and fan kits, made locally; hospitality menus free from red meat, with reduced dairy; biofuel-powered pitch machinery; fan travel emissions limited to under 11 percent of total footprint; water-awareness labelling in hospitality menus; a digital reach of 15.4 million and more than 265,000 engagements, amplifying the sustainability message, with virtually zero additional carbon impact.

“As one of ILT20’s founding franchises, we wanted to show how elite sport can lead on climate action without compromising experience,” said Phil Oliver, Desert Vipers CEO and recent Middle East CEO of the Year at the SPIA Awards. “This wasn’t just about lowering emissions, it was about setting a practical example others can follow.”

Though the match was a finalist at the Gulf Sustainability Awards 2024 in the “most sustainable event” category, the data and design of the match are now serving as a template for the wider sports sector, as the Vipers call on teams, leagues and venues to join them in transforming environmental standards.

“This isn’t a one-off stunt. It’s a model we’re evolving every season,” Hardy-Jones said. “Our report is open-source because we want change across the board, from stadium design to catering decisions. Sport has that power.”

With ILT20 season 4 launching on Dec. 2, the Desert Vipers say that they are planning deeper sustainability initiatives and calling on the global cricket community to help make sport a force for environmental good.