26/05/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | MAY 26, 2026

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Teen king reigns Antonelli extends title lead after Mercedes teammate’s dramatic retirement F ORMULA ONE championship leader Kimi Antonelli took his fourth win in a row yesterday after a power unit failure forced Mercedes teammate and title rival Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was a close third, overtaken by Hamilton in the closing laps, to take his team’s first podium of the season. Antonelli increased his lead over Russell from 18 to 43 points after five grands prix, all won by Mercedes, and three Saturday sprints.

RESULTS 1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 2. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 5. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 6. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 7. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 8. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 9. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) 10. Oliver Bearman (Haas) 11. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 12. Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) 13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 14. Esteban Ocon (Haas) 15. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 16. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) DNF Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) ; George Russell (Mercedes) ; Alexander Albon (Williams) ; Sergio Perez (Cadillac) ; Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) ; Lando Norris (McLaren) . CANADIAN GRAND PRIX

no electronics, no proper braking. “I’m pretty damned frustrated with what’s happened but what more can I do?” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished an unhappy fourth, despite a half-spin, as the last unlapped driver with Isack Hadjar fifth for Red Bull – after two penalties – and Franco Colapinto continuing to score big points with sixth for Alpine. Liam Lawson was seventh for Racing Bulls, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Haas’s Oliver Bearman. Neither McLaren driver scored, with Oscar Piastri 11th and penalised 10 seconds for a lap 15 collision that put Williams’ Alex Albon out of the race while reigning world champion Lando Norris retired on lap 38 with a gearbox problem. Mercedes now lead Ferrari by 72 points in the constructors’ standings. – Reuters

George Russell out of the Canadian Grand Prix. Russell, starting on pole, had fought for the lead with Antonelli in a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle before coming to a halt by the side of the track on the 30th of 68 laps at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. “Not the way I wanted to win. It was meant to be a good fight with George but we will take it,” said Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton finished runner-up, 10.768 seconds behind the 19-year-old Italian who replaced him at Mercedes last year, and embraced his mother after his best finish for Ferrari in a regular grand prix.

He is the first Italian since Alberto Ascari in 1952 to win four in a row and also the first driver in the history of F1 to take his first four wins con secutively. His podium was the 300th by a Mercedes driver since they returned to Formula One as a works team in 2010. Russell, who has suffered bad luck already this season but had won the Saturday sprint, was lost for words after his hopes vanished at a stroke. “Just everything turned off all of a sudden,” he said. “Just went into the corner, engine stopped,

Djokovic, Zverev off to winning starts, Fritz out

PITLANE ‘I am so happy’

NOVAK DJOKOVIC and Alexander Zverev earned comfortable wins to begin their French Open cam paigns but seventh seed Taylor Fritz became an early casualty as the year’s second Grand Slam got underway yesterday. Djokovic and Zverev are both determined to

missing the cut in the US Open. He was forced to take anger management therapy, pay for the damages and contribute to a club-picked charity to avoid being banned from the site of the 2033 US Open. “What happened last year at Oakmont wasn’t the greatest thing,” Clark said. “The greatest thing about having a downfall like that is the comeback and today feels really special after having a really tough year and grinding it out.” Clark said that his confidence levels were “defi nitely getting back to where they were” after birdies on four of the first six holes and playing the last eight holes in seven-under to overtake Kim. – AFP “Very good start to the tournament, it’s always good to start with a win in straight sets especially against Benjamin who can be a tricky opponent,” Zverev said. Russian Karen Khachanov downed French hope Arthur Gea on Court Suzanne Lenglen before 11th seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic took out Sinja Kraus of Austria. Though heat was less of a factor for Fritz in his late afternoon match, the American’s limited claycourt preparation showed as he fell 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-1 to unheralded compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy. Eighth seed Mirra Andreeva earlier dished out a barrage of baseline winners as she made light work of France’s Fiona Ferro 6-3, 6-3 to advance. Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk beat Russian born Spaniard Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6 3. Fan favourite Joao Fonseca of Brazil made smooth progress to the next round after a 7 6(6), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Luka Pavlovic but it was the end of the road for Briton Emma Raducanu as the 2021 US Open champion fell 6-0, 7-6(4) to Solana Sierra. – Reuters hunt with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win over big-serving French favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard under the lights. “I played him for the first time and it’s practically impossible to see where he’ll serve,” Djokovic said after safely negotiating the tricky challenge. “It’s something I’ve seen one or two times in my career with Reilly Opelka or Ivo Karlovic. “In a match like that, you have to stay focused and wait for an opportunity. It was a bit difficult but in the end I found my best tennis and best return game at the right moment.” Zverev began his bid for a maiden major in more challenging conditions but the second seed overcame the heat to beat Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6 4, 6-2.

make the most of their chances in Paris this year with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz ruled out with a long-term wrist injury, leaving world No. 1 Jannik Sinner as the overwhelming favourite. Djokovic, looking to defy the odds and claim a record 25th Grand Slam trophy, began his latest

DELIGHTED Lewis Hamilton rolled back the years yesterday to finish second for Ferrari in the Canadian GP then declared Circuit Gilles Villeneuve his favourite track in the world. The seven-time champion claimed his best result since joining Ferrari last year, his second podium of the season and the 104th podium of his career. “I am so happy,” he said. “I have to say a huge thank you to my team here. These guys have welcomed me with open arms. It has been really tough over the past year and a bit, so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend…’it’s an amazing feeling. We’ve got an amazing crowd here. I love this track and I can’t wait to come back.” The 41-year-old Hamilton claimed his maiden F1 victory in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix and shares the record of seven wins at the circuit with Ferrari great Michael Schumacher. Max thrilled with podium but slams F1 rules MAX VERSTAPPEN returned to the Formula One podium for the first time this season yesterday but the Red Bull driver, third in Canada, left no doubt about his unhappiness with new rules he considers to be anti-racing. The four times world champion had said on Sunday it would not be “mentally doable” for him to continue beyond this season if the sport backtracked on agreed rule changes for 2027. The 28-year old Verstappen, who has been one of the foremost critics of the existing rules, told Sky Sports television that the tweak would be “the very minimum” acceptable. “The thing is of course I know how pure other motorsports can feel like,” said the Dutch driver, who competed in the Nuerburgring 24 Hours endurance race in between races in Miami and Canada. “So then when you come back to this, it’s just not very nice. I don’t want to be too negative now after a race like this but I know what it feels like to drive pure racing cars and pure overtakes, pure racing and just natural driving. This is all, especially qualifying, very anti driving, anti-racing and that’s not what Formula One should be about.”

Germany’s Alexander Zverev (left) and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. – REUTERSPIC

Clark fires sizzling 60 to win CJ Cup

WYNDHAM CLARK, the 2023 US Open champion, fired a stunning 11-under par 60 in yesterday’s final round to win the PGA Tour CJ Cup Byron Nelson tour nament. The 32-year-old American, who made only two bogeys all week, snapped a two-year win drought for his fourth career PGA title and first since 2024 at Pebble Beach. “There were definitely times I was concerned about it,”Clark said of his win drought.“The one good thing is I saw some momentum in the fall (autumn) working with my swing coach and this whole year I’ve been playing good golf. “I just haven’t had the results so people haven’t maybe seen that it has been good and it’s nice to have it all come together this week.”

Clark made nine birdies and an eagle without a bogey to finish 72 holes on 30-under 254 at TPC Craig Ranch in suburban Dallas. That was enough to defeat South Korea’s Kim Si woo by three strokes after a closing 65 with top ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler in third on 259 after a bogey-free 65. Clark had the lowest final round by a PGA Tour winner this year by four shots and became only the fifth PGA player since 1983 to shoot 28 on the back nine on Sunday on his way to victory. It was also a measure of redemption for Clark, who last year smashed a locker at Oakmont after