F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins French Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton immense run of form continued as the reigning world champion took a commanding lights to flag victory in the 2019 French Grand Prix, his sixth triumph in eight races this season.

The Mercedes driver built a rhythm through the weekend, culminating in a brilliant pole position on Saturday, which he converted with ease on Sunday afternoon at a scorching Circuit Paul Ricard, crossing the line 18 seconds clear of team mate Valtteri Bottas. With his 200th career point’s finish, Hamilton extends his lead over the Finn to 36 points.

It was Mercedes' eighth successive victory of 2019, and their sixth one-two, maintaining their unbeaten record. Charles Leclerc completed the podium after a lonely race to third - though he did give Bottas a fright in the final two laps after benefitting from a late Virtual Safety Car to put the Mercedes driver under pressure.

Leclerc's Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel could only recover two positions from a poor qualifying session to cross the line fifth but he did secure the fastest lap, and the bonus point that comes with it, on his final lap, having boxed the previous lap for softs. Max Verstappen finished where he started in fourth, while Carlos Sainz finished an impressive sixth. His McLaren team mate Lando Norris was set for seventh, but a late hydraulics issues meant he slipped into the clutches of Daniel Ricciardo, who forced his way through on the last lap. Norris had to go off track and dropped behind Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg, limping across the line 10th.

Catalan MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez dominated the Catalan Grand Prix at Barcelona, after a crash for his Honda teammate Jorge Lorenzo took Andrea Dovizioso and the two factory Yamahas out of the race. Lorenzo, who had charged from 10th on the grid to join the lead battle, fell at the sharp Turn 10 left-hander while trying to pass Maverick Vinales, taking down his compatriot, as well as Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi in the process.

Marquez overtook pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo off the line, but yielded to a fast-starting Dovizioso at Turn 1, and was soon also briefly overtaken by Vinales. Having regained second place, the championship leader pressured Dovizioso, and snuck past the Ducati man on the second lap at Turn 10. At that same corner, Lorenzo committed down the inside of Vinales for third place but hit the deck on corner entry. His bike clattered into Dovizioso rear, and the resulting crash removed both Vinales and Rossi – who had gone wide to avoid the pile-up - from the race.

The crash left Marquez on his own up front, and promoted Ducati's Danilo Petrucci to second place, the Italian unable to keep pace with the Honda man but managing to fend off both Suzuki's Alex Rins and Quartararo, who had been as low as ninth after the opening lap. On the 10th lap, Rins launched his bike down the inside of Petrucci at Turn 1, briefly getting ahead but running wide on exit, allowing Petrucci to sweep around the outside of Turn 2.

Rins recovered to fourth, passing the fading Pramac Ducati of Jack Miller on the final lap, with Miller keeping the other Suzuki of Joan Mir at bay at the line. Pol Espargaro was the lead KTM in seventh, while his works teammate Johann Zarco rounded out the top 10, the pair split by LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami and Avintia Ducati's Tito Rabat. Aprilia's Andrea Iannone, Tech 3 KTM's Miguel Oliveira and Suzuki wildcard Sylvain Guintoli completed the list of 13 finishers.

NBA 2019: Toronto Raptors beat Golden State Warriors to win title

The Toronto Raptors won a wild game 114-110 against Golden State Warriors in Oakland for their first NBA Title. Toronto won the series 4-2, finishing it off a few minutes after Klay Thompson used crutches to hobble out of Oracle and into perhaps an uncertain future. The leading team switched throughout the game, with the Raptors clinging to a one-point lead with 18 seconds left.

Stephen Curry missed a contested 3-pointer in the waning moments before Golden State called a timeout it didn't have, giving Leonard a technical free throw with 0.9 seconds left to seal it. Leonard, the NBA Finals MVP for a second time, then got behind Andre Iguodala for a layup as the buzzer sounded, but it went to review and the basket was called off before Leonard's two free throws. That only delayed the celebration for a moment.

When it actually ended, the typically stoic Leonard could let it all out. A Canadian team - and we're not talking hockey here - stood on top of one of the traditional major sports leagues for the first time since the Toronto Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series. Serge Ibaka pulled his head up through the hoop by the Golden State bench as the crowd chanted "Warriors! Warriors!" after a sensational send-off at Oracle Arena. 

Kyle Lowry finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Raptors. Pascal Siakam also went for 26, while Kawhi Leonard and Fred VanVleet each added 22 of their own. Thompson led the Warriors with 30 points, and Andre Iguodala chipped in 22 points. The Warriors were already without Kevin Durant, out with a ruptured Achilles that left the team fielding some criticism about the risk he was taking by returning to the series while already dealing with a lower-leg injury.

Rafael Nadal wins 12th French Open Title

Rafael Nadal remains unbeatable on the clay of Rolland Gaross. Not even a spirited challenge by the world No 4, Dominic Thiem, could stop the 33-year-old Spaniard winning the French Open for a 12th time on Sunday, a feat unlikely to be matched in their lifetimes, if ever.

For two sets the 25-year-old Austrian made a proper fight of it. But Nadal responded to the threat by tearing through the final two sets like the wind that has disrupted the schedule over the past few days to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in three hours.

In his previous 11 finals only a handful of players have detained him longer than Thiem: Mariano Puerta on Nadal’s winning debut as a teenager in 2005, Roger Federer three times and Novak Djokovic in his toughest final, seven years ago. But a string of dazzled contenders have fallen with embarrassing haste – most notably Federer, when Nadal took only an hour and 48 minutes in allowing him only four games in 2008.

In Women’s singles Ashleigh Barty beats Marketa Vondrousova to win title.

Portugal won UEFA Nations League 2019

Portugal have won the inaugural UEFA Nations League tournament beating the Netherlands 1-0 in final. Goncalo Guedes scored the winner early in the second half to give Portugal their first trophy since the 2016 European Championship.

The hosts' victory in UEFA's newest competition denied the Netherlands its first trophy since the 1988 European Championship. The revamped Dutch team was seeking some redemption after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and the 2016 European Championship.

Cristiano Ronaldo, coming off a hat-trick in the semifinals, wasn't much of a factor against Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk in the matchup of likely contenders for the player of the year award, but Guedes couldn't be stopped when he hit a powerful right-footed shot from outside the area in the 60th minute at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto. Guedes started the build-up to the goal with a pass to Bernardo Silva, receiving the ball back at the top of the area and firing a firm low shot past Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, who touched the ball but couldn't parry it away.

Portugal had lost the 2004 European Championship final at home to Greece, but this time the team got to celebrate in front of their fans after a scrappy match. The Netherlands kept pressing but Portugal was able to hold on to clinch the first title in the competition created by UEFA to give national teams more meaningful games and reduce the number of friendlies.

F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins Canada Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton secured a record-breaking seventh win at the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix, after a penalty for Sebastian Vettel, who finished first on the road, demoted the German to second in the standings.

A race-long battle between the pair came to a head on Lap 48 of 70 when race leader Vettel, under pressure from Hamilton, ran across the grass at the Turn 3-4 chicane, in the process squeezing Hamilton when he re-joined the track, for which the stewards later awarded a five-second race time penalty. That meant Hamilton took a record-equalling seventh victory at the Canadian Grand Prix to match Michael Schumacher’s record in Montreal, as well as claiming his fifth win of the season to stretch his lead at the head of the drivers’ standings.

Behind, Leclerc finished third, which at least gave Ferrari their best result of the year so far, while Valtteri Bottas took fourth for Mercedes and the fastest lap bonus point after a late stop of soft tyres. After failing to make Q3 yesterday, Max Verstappen made a 49-lap stint on hard tyres work to finish fifth for Red Bull, ahead of the Renault pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg in P6 and P7, who secured the Anglo-French team’s best result of the season. Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly endured a frustrating race to finish P8, while a strong home race from Lance Stroll saw him finish ninth from 17th on the grid, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat.

Formula 1 hops back over the pond to France and the iconic Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille on June 21-23. The race returned to the calendar last year, and was the scene of Lewis Hamilton’s third triumph of the season.