17/10/2025

SPORTS FRIDAY | OCT 17, 2025

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O SCAR PIASTRI and Lando Norris no longer have to worry about the constructors’ crown as they duel for the Formula One driver’s title, but the McLaren pair should still be wary of Max Verstappen in Texas this weekend. Austin’s Circuit of the Americas marks the start of the season’s final quarter, the first of three remaining Saturday sprints as well as the first race since McLaren secured the constructors’ championship for the second year running. Australian Piastri leads his British rival by 22 points with six of 24 rounds remaining while Red Bull’s Verstappen is 63 points off the lead. If the four-times world champion’s task sounds more than a long shot, the fact remains that he has clawed back 41 points from Piastri in his last three outings and also beaten both McLarens in those three races. Austin is very much to

Max in slipstream Piastri, Norris should be wary of Verstappen

SHORTS De Jong pens new Barca deal BARCELONA midfielder Frenkie de Jong signed a new deal until 2029, the Spanish champions announced yesterday. The 28-year-old Dutch international joined Barcelona from Ajax in 2019 and is in his seventh season with the Catalan giants, winning two La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey twice. “Barca are confident that the midfielder can be a pivotal part of the current sporting project due to his quality and experience,” said the club in a statement. De Jong has struggled for form at times but became a key part of the midfield under Hansi Flick last season alongside Pedri Gonzalez. “I always dreamed of playing for Barca, and now that I am living the dream I have always had since I was a child, I want to continue pursuing this dream for many more years, and I am eager to win titles,” De Jong told a news conference. Arriving under previous Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu, De Jong is one of the club’s highest earners, with Spanish media reporting he has accepted a pay cut in his new deal starting from the 2026/27 season. Barcelona tried to sell him in 2022 as part of cost-cutting measures but the midfielder dug in to stay on and has made over 250 appearances. Russell, Antonelli extend Mercedes deals BRITISH driver George Russell and Italian Kimi Antonelli have signed contract extensions with Mercedes for next season, the Formula One team announced yesterday. Russell, who won the Singapore Grand Prix earlier this month, will race full-time for the team in F1 for a fifth year. The 27-year-old’s future with Mercedes was in doubt earlier this season with reigning four time world champion Max Verstappen briefly linked with a move from Red Bull. According to reports, Verstappen had a break clause in his contract allowing him to leave Red Bull if he was outside the top three in the championship prior to August’s summer break. But Verstappen has only solidified his position in third place in the standings since and confirmed at the end of July he would stay with the team for 2026. Antonelli, 19, is in his first season at Mercedes having replaced Lewis Hamilton. “Confirming our driver line-up was always just a matter of when, not if,” team principal Toto Wolff said. “George and Kimi have proved a strong pairing and we’re excited to continue our journey together. Our focus is now on the final six races of the year, as we fight for second in the constructors’ (standings), and onwards to 2026 and a new era in F1.” Fifa hopes World Cup cities will be ‘ready’ FIFA said yesterday it hoped all 16 host cities will be “ready” to stage games at the 2026 World Cup finals after US President Donald Trump suggested matches could be moved for security reasons. “We hope every one of our 16 host cities will be ready to successfully host and fulfil all necessary requirements,” a Fifa spokesperson said. The spokesperson however added that: “Safety and security are obviously the governments’ responsibility, and they decide what is in the best interest for public safety.”Trump said on Wednesday that Fifa president Gianni Infantino would support moving World Cup games from US cities if necessary. In September, Trump raised the possibility of moving matches amid his crackdown on Democratic-run cities.

the team title was secured in Singapore. There was plenty of talk after that race of the gloves being off between the McLaren pair in their duel for the championship but team management emphasised that so-called “Papaya Rules”

still apply. “Our strategy isn’t going to change because we’ve won the constructors’, we’re going to approach the remaining race weekends in the same way we’ve approached every one before it,” said Brown.

That equal opportunities and a “race but do not collide” philosophy. Norris, who took pole position in Austin last year but finished fourth with Verstappen third, would have the most to lose if he and Piastri do make contact since the Briton needs to make inroads into the Australian’s advantage. Piastri’s best result in Austin is fifth last year, after failing to score in the sprint when he finished 10th from 16th on the grid, and this time he risks a third successive race off the podium. In 2023 he retired following a collision with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. means

Verstappen’s liking, the Dutch driver winning there in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before Ferrari enjoyed a one-two last year with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Verstappen still won the sprint in 2024, however, and can never be counted out – arriving this time after four successive podiums. “While we’d like it (the championship) to solely come down to our two guys, Max is still very much in the game,” said McLaren boss Zak Brown after

Norris was second that year, when he was also fourth in the sprint. Ferrari are the only top four team yet to win this season but seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, who replaced Sainz at the end of last year, is a five-times winner in Austin. The 40-year-old returns this time still searching for his first podium with the Italian team and now holding the unwanted record of 18 starts for Ferrari without once finishing in the top three. – Reuters

Reigning champion Max Verstappen (centre), McLaren drivers, Lando Norris (left) and Oscar Piastri. – AFPPIC

Zverev makes mockery of Six Kings Slam fee Ű BY JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

Australian Open in January, and was paid around US$25,000 (RM105,000) per minute for his one match at the Six Kings Slam. Zverev’s performance was particularly disappointing, although the German appeared to be struggling with a right shoulder injury throughout the match. The world No. 3 was underpowered and repeatedly rolled serves into the middle of the service box that were 20kph slower than his season average. Fritz has now won seven consecutive matches against Zverev – but this won’t count on the official head-to-head records – and did not need to get out of second gear to win 6-4, 6 3 in front of a muted crowd in Riyadh. Sinner will go for a seventh consecutive victory against the 24-time grand slam champion Djokovic, if you include their meeting in last year’s Six King semifinals.

playing in the Riyadh exhibition event following the world No. 2’s early exit in Shanghai due to cramp. “I understand (the criticism), but sometimes people don’t understand us, our opinions,” Alcaraz added. “It’s not really demanding mentally (compared to) when we’re having such long events like two weeks or two and a half weeks.” Alcaraz, who received a bye to the semifinals and takes on Taylor Fritz overnight, said his ankle had still not fully recovered. “I don’t feel 100% and the doubts are there when I’m moving on court, but it has improved a lot and I’m going to compete and perform well in the Six Kings Slam,” he said. – Reuters Sinner has won both matches against the 38 year-old this season, in the French Open and Wimbledon semifinals. “It’s a huge honour to play again, against a legend like Novak,” Sinner said. “It’s great to have him still here playing in the highest level of our sport. “He’s a great role model. He’s still hungry to win big titles and and that’s why he still keeps playing. Hopefully it’s going to be interesting tomorrow.” Sinner, meanwhile, questioned the “unusual” court surface in Riyadh, which was extremely bouncy on kick-serves but was flat and slow during some rallies. “It’s a very unusual indoor court.” Sinner said. “It is a very interesting situation we have to deal with here on the court because it’s quite bouncy, with new balls it’s quite fast and it slows down with used balls.” – The Independent

JANNIK SINNER and Taylor Fritz raced through to the semifinals as the opening day of the Six Kings Slam exhibition fell flat in Saudi Arabia. Sinner thrashed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3 to book a semifinal with Novak Djokovic after Fritz required just 59 minutes to beat Alexander Zverev and set up a clash with Carlos Alcaraz. Both Tsitsipas and Zverev will head home from the six-player exhibition after just one match having received a reported US$1.5 million (RM6.3m) for turning up. The overall champion will win an additional US$4.5 million (RM26m), making the three-day event the biggest prize fund of the tennis season. Zverev earned roughly US$250,000 (RM1.05m) more for his 59-minute defeat to Fritz than he did for finishing runner-up at the

Exhibition events a relief from the tour grind: Alcaraz WORLD NO. 1 Carlos Alcaraz has defended his decision to play in the lucrative Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia after previously saying he would consider skipping ATP Tour events to prioritise his health due to a crowded schedule. The men’s and women’s circuits, which run across 11 months with extended formats at several tournaments, have come under fresh scrutiny during the “Asian swing”, where extreme heat and humidity contributed to a spate of injuries and withdrawals. After winning the Tokyo title last month despite playing with an ankle injury, Alcaraz withdrew from the next event in Shanghai, saying he needed time to recover. His decision to play in the Six Kings Slam stoked plenty of criticism from fans. “It’s a different format, different situation playing exhibitions than official tournaments, 15 16 days in row, having such a high focus and demanding physically,” six-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz said.

The Professional Tennis Players’ Association filed a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies in March, calling the scheduling situation “unsustainable”.

“We’re just having fun for one or two days and playing some tennis, and that’s great, and why we choose the exhibitions.” Last year’s champion Jannik Sinner is also