26/03/2025

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | MAR 26, 2025

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Italian media turn on Ferrari after China debacle

Shock disqualification, Lawson axe, upbeat Albon OSCAR PIASTRI led a McLaren one-two from Lando Norris in the Chinese Grand Prix after an action-packed weekend where Lewis Hamilton won the first Saturday sprint of the season and then had a shock disqualification Sunday, along with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Here’s a look at three talking points from the second race weekend on the 24-leg 2025 Formula One calendar: Don’t break the rules Ferrari experienced the highs and lows of Formula One in Shanghai with Hamilton controlling the sprint from pole for his first win in Scuderia red. Just over 24 hours later, the team’s joy turned to despair as the seven-time world champion and his teammate Leclerc were both disqualified for technical infringements. Hamilton was deemed to have excessive plank wear underneath his car, while Leclerc’s car was below the 800kg weight minimum. Ferrari pleaded innocence and said they had “no intention to gain any advantage”. The Italian team claimed Leclerc’s one-stop race strategy had caused high tyre wear, accounting for the weight breach. They added they had misjudged Hamilton’s plank wear “by a small margin”. The excuses cut no ice with stewards who also disqualified Gasly for his car also being underweight. The three cars being kicked out sent a clear warning to any teams or engineers aiming to push the boundaries of the regulations: you break the rules at your peril. Lawson could be out Speculation was rife at the weekend that the under performing Liam Lawson may lose his Red Bull seat after just two races. Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda could be promoted from junior team RB in time for his home race weekend at Suzuka on April 4-6, specialist website Autosport reported after Sunday’s race. Even after just two weeks, Red Bull cannot afford to let McLaren, who are already 42 points ahead, run away with the constructors’ standings. A downcast Lawson knows he is under threat. “Unfortunately I don’t really have time but it’s just one of those things,” he conceded on Saturday. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner did not exactly give Lawson a vote of confidence. “I think Liam’s had a tough couple of races, a tough weekend here. We’ll have a good look at it,” he said, but he was more upbeat when asked about Tsunoda. “Yuki is an experienced driver now doing a great job.” Albon’s happy birthday Alex Albon declared he was “very happy” after celebrating his 29th birthday on Sunday with a second top-10 GP finish in this season’s vastly improved Williams. The Thai drove flawlessly in the Melbourne rain a week ago to finish a surprise fifth. He followed up with another impeccable race to cross the line ninth in China, later promoted to seventh. Williams have recruited Carlos Sainz and with two experienced men at the wheel are making huge strides. Albon finished only 11th in the sprint but the team turned it around. “Considering the sprint race, today was a huge step for us and it shows the progress we’ve made,” said Albon “We can fix issues that we have on our car, which is a huge improvement on where we were last year.” – AFP

ITALIAN media have turned on Lewis Hamilton after the Briton was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton ended the race in sixth position but was later disqualified after his car was found to have skid blocks worn below the 9mm thickness permitted in the regulations. Hamilton had enjoyed a fruitful start to his weekend in China after winning the Sprint race on Saturday. But his two-stop pit strategy failed to pay off on Sunday as he finished adrift of the podium places. And he then had all his points stripped away. Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc was also disqualified due to an issue with his car as Ferrari were forced to deal with a double disqualification for the first time in their 75 year history. Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport took aim

at the Ferrari men with the headline Red alert already: Ferrari, no more mistakes allowed . The outlet claimed the drivers “went from stars to dust” and branded the double disqualification “one of the ugliest pages in the history of the Prancing Horse”. They then labelled Hamilton’s sprint race victory as “another illusion to add to the enormous betrayed expectations of the winter”. Meanwhile, Corriere dello Sport described the events as “a disaster” and insisted it had been “a black day in China”. And elsewhere, Corriere della Sera called the Ferrari disqualifications “an embarrassment” and “a performance to be ashamed of”. The result means Ferrari have dropped to fifth in the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings, behind leaders McLaren and adrift of Mercedes, Red Bull and Williams.

Hamilton, meanwhile, is ninth in the Drivers’ Championship standings, with Leclerc directly below him in 10th. After the race on Sunday, Hamilton explained: “Balance-wise from the Sprint race, we made these changes and the car was terrible after that. So I really struggled from then on. I think it’s good learnings and hopefully won’t do that again as I continue to learn this car.” He then told Sky Sports F1 : “We had a pretty decent car in the Sprint and then we made some changes because we were trying to move forward and improve the car and we made it quite a bit worse, basically, going into qualifying. “Then it was even worse in the race. So unfortunate but very, very hard to keep up with the guys ahead. But lots learnt.” – Express Newspapers

No home comfort Gauff falls on tough day for Americans in Miami

C OCO GAUFF lost to unseeded Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4 yesterday as she missed out on a place in the Miami Open quarterfinals after a tough day for Americans as holder Danielle Collins, Amanda Anisimova and Ashlyn Krueger also went out in straight sets. Gauff, seeded third, struggled mightily with her serve, committing 12 double faults and putting just half of her first serves into play while unforced errors piled up against her 34th-ranked Polish opponent. Linette held her nerve as the South Florida crowd came alive after Gauff pulled ahead 4 3 in the second set and the Pole ultimately prevailed to notch her first win over a top three player since 2021. “It was really important for me to keep pressing Coco’s serve to make sure she feels the pressure,” Linette said. Next up for Linette is Italian sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, who beat Japan’s Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an earlier match. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka crushed 23 winners including seven aces to overpower defending champion Collins 6 4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals where she will meet Zheng Qinwen, who beat Krueger 6-2, 7-6(3) in their round of 16 match. World No. 1 Sabalenka will be a heavy favourite against Zheng, who has never beaten the Belarusian in their five previous career meetings. Jessica Pegula was left to fly the flag for the US women after she won the final six games of her match to see off Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3. Pegula, seeded fourth, will meet Briton Emma Raducanu next after the former US Open champion beat Anisimova 6-1, 6-3 in hot and humid conditions. Raducanu did not drop a point on serve in the first set against the 17th seed and ASHUTOSH SHARMA hammered a remarkable unbeaten 66 to snatch Delhi Capitals a thrilling one-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL yesterday. Ashutosh, an impact substitute on debut for Delhi, lifted his new team from a precarious 65-5 to achieve their target of 210 with three balls to spare in Visakhapatnam. Needing 22 off the final two overs and six off the last six balls with one wicket remaining, Ashutosh stood strong and hit the winning six. Delhi were 7-3 in the second over, and had

more importantly just enjoying finding the competitive spirit again.” On the men’s side, Alex De Minaur overcame a third set service break and a crowd enthusiastically backing his Brazilian opponent to take out teenager Joao Fonseca 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in a barnburner under the lights to reach the round of 16. “I told myself it’s going to be a battle not only against the player but the crowd,” De Minaur told Tennis TV . “Just put your head down, do your work and try to compete for every single point.” Third seed Taylor Fritz blasted a forehand winner on match point to take out Canadian Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 6-3 and bring some cheer for US fans, setting up a date with tournament lucky loser Adam Walton in the round of 16. Fritz’s countrymen were not as fortunate, with Frances Tiafoe losing 7-6(11), 5-7, 6-2 to

outmanoeuvred her in a rally on match point to seal the win. It will be the first quarterfinal of a WTA 1000 event for the 22-year-old Raducanu, who has split her two previous career meetings with Pegula.

“I know it’s going to be a really difficult match but I think I’m playing pretty good tennis,” Raducanu told Tennis Channel . “I’m really happy with the way things are going a n d

Frenchman Arthur Fils and Reilly Opelka falling 7 6(1) 6-3 to Czech Tomas Machac in their third-round matches. Fils will face top seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round after the German beat Jordan Thompson 7-5 6-4. – Reuters

Poland’s Magda Linette returns a shot against Coco Gauff (not pictured) of the United States during their match at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami yesterday. – AFPPIC

Ashutosh blitz helps Capitals down Super Giants

lost half their side for 65 when Faf du Plessis got out on 29 in his first match for the franchise. New captain Axar Patel hit a quickfire 22 and Tristan Stubbs smashed 34. “Be prepared for it now,” a smiling Axar said after the close win. “It’s going to be like this only under my captaincy. Things will be up and down a little.” When Stubbs was bowled by Manimaran Siddharth after hitting consecutive sixes, the game looked up with Delhi 113-6 and requiring 97 runs off 7.3 overs.

But Ashutosh and IPL debutant Vipraj Nigam, who hit 39 off 15 balls, struck flurry of boundaries to revive the chase with a partnership of 55 off 22 balls. Earlier, Lucknow posted 209-8 batting first despite losing a flurry of wickets after an 87-run stand between Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran. Marsh, who is playing in this IPL only as a batter, hit six fours and six sixes in his 36-ball 72. He lost his opening partner Aiden Markram early but then put on a brilliant partnership with

Pooran, who struck 75 off just 30 deliveries. Rishabh Pant flopped on his first outing for Lucknow, facing his former team Delhi for whom he played in eight IPL seasons. The LSG skipper was dismissed for a six-ball duck off Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin. “I think our top-order batters played really well and I think it was a pretty good score on this wicket,” said Pant. “As a team, we are looking to take positives from every match and as a team we are looking to learn from it.” – Reuters