F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

As it played in their championship battle this year too, Sebastian Vettel was forced to play second fiddle to an imperious Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale as the Mercedes driver took his 11th win of the season, enjoying a serene performance that perfectly reflected his majestic run to his fifth title this year.

Strong from the very start of the race, having recorded his 11th pole position of the year on Saturday, Hamilton benefitted from an early switch to supersoft tyres under a Virtual Safety Car – brought out after Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire on lap seven in his final race for Ferrari – before biding his time to re-inherit the lead and sweep to his 83rd career victory.

Behind him, Vettel had a lonely run to second place, after dispatching Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas mid-race, while he was followed home by the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, Ricciardo unable to claim that podium he so dearly wanted in his 100th and final race for Red Bull before he moves to Renault. Bottas ended up fifth.

Carlos Sainz, in his own last race for Renault before switching to McLaren, enjoyed a strong run to sixth place to help Renault to seal fourth place in the constructors’ title, while his team mate Nico Hulkenberg fared less well, clashing with Romain Grosjean on lap one and barrel rolling into the barriers, although fortunately not suffering any ill effects from the ugly looking incident.

Charles Leclerc was seventh in his final outing for Sauber before he moves to Ferrari for 2019, ahead of the Force India of Sergio Perez and the Haas of Grosjean in ninth – who managed to continue after his first-lap brush with Hulkenberg. Kevin Magnussen’s run to 10th denied Fernando Alonso the chance to up his points tally in his final Grand Prix before retiring, the McLaren driver employing some questionable cornering techniques in the final part of the race – and getting a five-second penalty for his troubles – in his bid to get after the Dane, but ultimately ending up 11th in his 311th race. Meanwhile apart from Raikkonen, Force India’s Esteban Ocon, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Sauber’s Marcus Ericcson all retired from their last races with their respective teams due to technical trouble.

Women’s World T20: Australia claim title

Two years ago, in the World Twenty20 semi-final, England suffered a humiliation at the hands of Australia, a six-run loss, courtesy of a collapse that saw them lose seven wickets for 60 runs. In the interim they have changed their captain, blooded new players and won a World Cup.

Even so there was a sense of deja vu today as they subsided from 30-1 to 105 all out, the equation this time nine wickets lost for 75 runs. Once again, it was the old enemy Australia who were their nemesis, storming to their fourth World T20 title by eight wickets.

For Australia it was their young leg-spinner Georgia Wareham who unexpectedly stole the show in her first ever outing against England, finishing with 2-11, a catch and a direct hit run-out to her name. Ashleigh Gardner (33*) and Meg Lanning (28*) then shared a 62-run partnership, Lanning stroking the winning single through the off-side after Gardner punished two huge sixes over Kirstie Gordon’s head to ensure the victory came in style, with 29 balls to spare.

Their under-par showing in the final completes what has been a difficult World Twenty20 with the bat for England, only Amy Jones finishing in the top ten tournament run-scorers. For Australia, meanwhile, the challenge was always to live up to pre-tournament expectations which put them as clear favourite: today’s clinical victory shows they have done just that.

Valencia MotoGP 2018: Andrea Dovizioso wins

A smashing and crash ridden finale to the 2018 MotoGP season, Ducati Andrea Dovizioso won the Valencia Grand Prix turning out to be one of the few riders to actually complete the very wet race.

The rain drenched track made for a spectacle at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, as the top riders were pulled out of contention after back-to-back crashes. The race was even stopped at half-point bringing with the red flag out, only to be started again for a 14 lap stint. Dovizioso ended the season just like he started it - with a win. However, the race was a game changed for KTM, which saw rider Pol Espargaro take his and the team's first ever podium in the sport. Suzuki's Alex Rins took his fifth podium of the season, finishing behind Dovizioso.

The Valencia GP started out wet but was drying when the race begun. However, it wasn't long before the clouds were back over the circuit and the track was soaked again. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales started on pole in a surprise qualifying session, but couldn't hold on to the lead for long as Rins and Dovi were quick to pass the rider on Turn 2 of the opening lap. Rins took the lead and was a good 2 seconds clear of Dovi. The next few laps saw Rins extend his gap further to 4 seconds.

Bringing an end to a legendary career, Honda's Dani Pedrosa completed his final MotoGP race in fifth place, ahead of Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami. Tech3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco and KTM's Smith finished at P7 and P8. Tech3's rookie rider Hafizh Syahrin finished tenth behind Stefan Bradl, who was standing in for LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow. Aprilia's Scott Redding finished 11th, ahead of Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo and a damaged Yamaha ridden by Rossi. Bautista, who also crashed, re-mounted to finish 16th, behind Angel Nieto's Karel Abraham, who moves back to WSBK next year and Jordi Torres.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Brazil Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was cruelly robbed of what looked set to be a remarkable win at Interlagos, after a dramatic collision while battling the lapped Force India of Esteban Ocon allowed Lewis Hamilton through to take the race victory, helping to secure Mercedes fifth consecutive constructor title in the process.

Verstappen was enjoying a strong Brazilian Grand Prix, and had seized the lead from Hamilton when Ocon attempted to unlap himself down the pit straight on lap 44. Both drivers refused to yield, with Ocon holding out around the outside of Turn 1 before the pair touched, sending both drivers into a spin, Hamilton gratefully nipping through between them before going on to record his 72nd career win. Verstappen was left unimpressed, as were the stewards, who duly handed Ocon as 10-second stop-go penalty.

Bad for Verstappen but great for Mercedes, who become only the second team – after Ferrari – to claim five consecutive constructors’ crowns, to add to Hamilton’s fifth drivers’ title from last time out in Mexico. In a thrilling final few laps, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen just managed to hold onto the final podium position from a charging Daniel Ricciardo who finished fourth in the second Red Bull. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas took fifth and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel sixth, while Sauber’s Charles Leclerc drove a fine race to claim the best-of-the-rest prize in seventh.

We now head to the season finale at the spectacular Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi on November 23-25. With both titles now decided, this is set to be an enjoyable romp for personal glory, as the drivers – with no championship pressure to dictate their strategies – go all-out for the final race win of 2018.

Malaysia MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez wins

Marc Marquez took a comfortable ninth victory of the 2018 MotoGP season in the Malaysian Grand Prix after long-time leader Valentino Rossi crashed. From second on the grid, Rossi outdragged poleman Johann Zarco to take the lead into the first corner and from there proceeded to build a lead of more than a second.

Marquez meanwhile quickly set about making up for his six-place grid penalty for impeding Andrea Iannone in qualifying and by the end of the fifth lap of 20 he had taken up station behind Rossi. Initially Rossi was able to extend the gap over his former arch-rival, but as the race moved into its second half Marquez began to chip away at the Yamaha rider's advantage.

Closing in at around a tenth per lap, Marquez had managed to get within 0.6 seconds of Rossi when the Italian rider suffered a low-speed crash at Turn 1 with three laps to go, denying the crowd a repeat of the pair's infamous 2015 Sepang duel. Marquez inherited a lead of four seconds over Zarco as a result of Rossi's incident, and from there he was able to cruise to a straightforward 1.8s win and clinch the constructors' title for Honda.

Zarco was passed for second by the Suzuki of Alex Rins on the final lap at Turn 4, allowing Rins to equal his career-best result, while Zarco held on for third to claim his first podium finish since May. Maverick Vinales could well have contended for victory but for his poor grid slot of 11th, which left him losing time stuck behind the Nieto Ducati of Alvaro Bautista in the early laps.

Pedrosa fifth place equals his best result of a difficult 2018 season, while Andrea Dovizioso endured a low-key run to sixth on the best of the Ducati’s. Hafizh Syahrin stormed from 23rd and last on the grid to 12th on the opening lap, and managed to secure the final top 10 position on a day he became the first Malaysian to start a premier class grand prix. Aleix Espargaro was 11th ahead of Franco Morbidelli, LCR Honda stand-in Stefan Bradl, Takaaki Nakagami and Bradley Smith.