MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Malaysia

Andrea Dovizioso beat Ducati teammate Jorge Lorenzo in a wet Malaysian Grand Prix to keep his slim MotoGP title hopes alive, as Marc Marquez could manage no better than fourth place. In wet conditions, the two factories Ducati’s of Dovizioso and Lorenzo had the clear measure of the opposition, although it was the Tech 3 Yamaha of Johann Zarco that led the early going.

Marquez fleetingly led into the first corner with a great start from seventh, but ran wide to allow Zarco and Lorenzo through into the top two positions. Dovizioso settled into fourth and pressured Marquez until finding his way past at Turn 14 on the fourth lap, as the top four escaped from the rest of the field. Zarco stretched a lead of almost two seconds before Lorenzo began to reel in the Frenchman, the only one of the top four who opted for a soft compound rear tyre.

Lorenzo made his move on the ninth lap, with Dovizioso following through a few corners later to establish a one-two out front. With Marquez unable to make an impression on Zarco in fourth, it meant Dovizioso could take the title fight to Valencia by finishing ahead of Lorenzo, who received what appeared to be a coded instruction on his dashboard to move aside. It took until lap 16 for the positions to switch, as Lorenzo ran wide at the final corner to allow Dovizioso through and seal his sixth victory of the year by a margin of 0.748s.

Zarco hung on for his second podium of the year, a further eight seconds back, and a similar margin ahead of Marquez in fourth. Marquez's advantage heading to the finale is cut to 21 points, meaning an 11th-place finish in Valencia will be enough for the Honda rider to seal the crown, even if Dovizioso wins. Pole man Dani Pedrosa slipped to fifth by the end of the opening lap, and remained in that position for the rest of the event, albeit 11 seconds behind teammate Marquez.

Scott Redding spent several laps in sixth, but slipped back to 13th in the closing laps behind Alvaro Bautista (Aspar Ducati) and Bradley Smith (KTM). Cal Crutchlow was the final points-scorer in 15th after dropping to 21st on the opening lap, while Michael van der Mark missed out on a point in his maiden MotoGP outing on the second Tech 3 Yamaha. Andrea Iannone also failed to score in what turned out to be another dismal outing for Suzuki, as Alex Rins crashed twice before finally being black-flagged for shortcutting his way back to the pits. Sam Lowes (Aprilia), Karel Abraham (Aspar Ducati) and Loris Baz (Avintia Ducati) likewise all crashed out.

Patna Pirates won Pro Kabaddi 2017

Patna Pirates came back from an early 7-point deficit to win 55-38 in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 5 final against Gujarat Fortunegiants in Chennai. After failing to score big in the two previous encounters against Gujarat, Pardeep Narwal finally came good and scored 19 points to seal a third victory for his side. Monu Gayat and Vijay supported Pardeep well to make life even more difficult for the Fortunegiants.

Rakesh Narwal and Monu effected big raids early on for their respective teams but the Gujarat defence held steady to inflict the first All-Out of the night on Patna, which gave them a 9-3 lead. Sachin and Sukesh Hegde soon came to the party as well as Gujarat extended their lead to 14-7, bringing Patna down to 4 men in the process. The Pirates ship was steadied by Vijay and Monu though, and a brilliant 5-point super raid by Pardeep finally inflicted an All-Out back on Gujarat as Patna leveled at 15-15. The Pardeep-Monu combination marched on from there to take their team 21-18 ahead at half-time.

Gujarat tried hard to avoid another All-Out in the second half but Pardeep’s raids proved too good for them and they conceded an All-Out in the 4th minute. In spite of a having 29-26 lead, Patna were under pressure as they were brought down to 4 men by Gujarat. But all-rounder Vijay once again rose to the challenge to get his team back in the game before another 5-point raid from Pardeep inflicted a third All-Out on Gujarat, giving his team a huge 38-27 lead. Jaideep, meanwhile, held the Patna defence together and soon reached his High 5.

Patna were down to their last man Pardeep in the 16th minute but the season’s highest-scoring raider helped them avoid an All-Out with a super raid and then the defence responded with a super tackle on Chandran Ranjit to put the pressure back on Gujarat. A fourth Gujarat All-Out with little more than a minute left to play ensured Patna would win with a huge margin. The match finally ended with Patna Pirates winning 55-38 and lifting the trophy for the third time in a row. 

England won FIFA U-17 World Cup

England came from two goals down to defeat European champions Spain 5-2 and wins their first FIFA U-17 World Cup title in front of 66,684 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata.

In what was a pulsating final contest at India 2017, Spain raced out to a two-goal lead through a brace from Sergio Gomez. The Barcelona youngster opened the scoring just ten minutes in, nodding home in front of England goalkeeper Curtis Anderson after Juan Miranda’s cross from the left struck Cesar Gelabert and bounced goal wards. Gomez’s second goal just after the half-hour mark was a fine strike from close range, with Gelabert and Captain Abel Ruiz involved in the build-up.

Undeterred, England fought back to score five unanswered goals. They halved the deficit just before half-time through Brewster’s tournament-leading eighth goal. The Liverpool striker headed home Steven Sessegnon’s fine cross from the right. Sessegnon’s willingness to get forward and support the England attack drew them level just before the hour mark, as his low cross found an unmarked Morgan Gibbs White to make it 2-2. The Young Lions then took the lead through Philip Foden’s second goal of the tournament on 69 minutes, as he converted Callum Hudson-Odoi’s run and cross.

Any hopes of a Spain comeback ended on 84 minutes, as Marc Guehi finished off a Hudson-Odoi free-kick for England’s fourth before Foden raced in on the counter-attack for his second of the match in the late stages. England’s win follows the U-20’s success at Korea Republic 2017 earlier this year. Brazil finished as the third place team and also won Fair Play Award. Gabriel Brazao won the Adidas Golden Glove award. Rhian Brewster won the Adidas Golden Boot and Philip Foden won the Adidas Golden Ball. 

Lewis Hamilton wins United States Grand Prix

Ferrari Sebastian Vettel led the opening five laps of the 2017 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, but it was Mercedes Lewis Hamilton who went to dominate the race, winning by 10 seconds from his title rival, whose team mate Kimi Raikkonen clinched third after a last lap pass on him by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was deemed illegal. The result means Mercedes secure the 2017 constructors’ crown, but the drivers’ battle goes on to next weekend’s round in Mexico.

A five-second time penalty for leaving the track while passing Raikkonen meant the fans’ Driver of the Day Verstappen, who started 16th, lost out on the podium by just 0.9s, having seen his team mate Daniel Ricciardo retire early on with engine issues. Valtteri Bottas ended up fifth in the sister Mercedes, followed by the Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, split by Renault new boy Carlos Sainz, who like Verstappen saw his team mate, Nico Hulkenberg, retire. Williams’ Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso returnee Daniil Kvyat completed the top ten, the latter’s rookie team mate Brendon Hartley taking the flag 13th on his F1 debut.

Hamilton had a scare on the 20th lap as he emerged from what transpired to be his sole pit stop, and Vettel, who had stopped three laps earlier, had wiped out a 4.4s deficit and was almost right on him. Hamilton wasn’t amused and rebuked his team, but at the same time he quickly pulled away again, and when Vettel had to stop again on the 39th lap, it was also soon clear that Mercedes would not need to do the same.

Though Hamilton still needs nine points to secure the drivers’ title – just fifth place in Mexico next weekend will be enough – Mercedes cemented the constructors’ championship, and now have 575 points to Ferrari’s 428, Red Bull’s 315 and Force India’s 159. Renault have moved back in front of Haas and to within five points of Toro Rosso in the fight for sixth place.

India won Hockey Asia Cup

India ended their 10 year wait for continental triumph when they beat a gutsy Malaysia 2-1 in a nail biting final to clinch their third Asia Cup Hockey title. India, which won the Asia Cup last time in 2007 in Chennai, scored from field efforts through Ramandeep Singh (3rd minute) and Lalit Upadhyay (29th) to dash Malaysian hopes. Malaysia were in summit clash for the first time since tournament's inception.

The ever-improving Malaysians, however, fought valiantly and didn't give up for a single minute. Their efforts bore fruit in the 50th minute when Shahril Saabah pulled one goal back.The Indians, ranked sixth in the world, were in for nervous last 10 minutes but the defence did enough to hold on to the lead. Pakistan won the bronze medal after edging out Korea 6-3 in the third-fourth place play-off match earlier in the day.

The top-ranked Indians finished unbeaten in the tournament, having won all their matches except for the 1-1 draw against Korea in the Super 4s stage. Today's win was India's second victory over Malaysia in the tournament, having beaten them 6-2 in the Super 4s stage. For Malaysia, it was their best result in the tournament. They had earlier won the bronze in the 2007 edition of the event in Chennai.

It was a battle fought on even keel between the two teams as Malaysia secured their first penalty corner in the 13th minute but wasted it. Harmanpreet Singh was then denied by Razie Rahim as he made a goalline save to keep out the Indian defender's flick from India's first penalty corner. Minutes later Malaysian goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam made double save -- first kept out Akashdeep Sinh's shot and then denied Amit Rohidas from the resultant set piece.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Australia

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez secured his sixth win of the year in a stunning fight in the Australian GP. The latter stages of the MotoGP race saw an eight-rider fight for the win in the latter stages with Marquez taking a close win ahead of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales of Yamaha.

Championship contender Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati was lucky to finish within points after running wide on Lap 2 and was pushed to down to 20th before eventually finishing 13th. Marquez now leads the championship with a 33 point lead over Dovizioso, while Vinales is out of contention, 50 points back with two rounds to go.

Marquez started the Australian GP on pole but couldn't hold for long as Jack Miller of Marc VDS Honda pulled through to take the lead and started pulling away. Marquez was in second while Vinales followed close in third place on the opening lap. Dovizioso, who looked sharp on Lap 1 and was expected to put up a tough fight had the ran wide and dropped to P20. Miller continued to lead for the first five laps pulling eight-tenths clear of the field, only to be passed by the two Yamahas.

However, Marquez was quick to pass the two Yamaha's by mid-race and soon closed in on the Tech 3 rider. Incredibly, with 10 laps remaining, the race turned into an eight-rider fight with Marquez Miller, Rossi, Vinales, Andrea Iannone of Suzuki, Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda; and Alex Rins of Suzuki following the leader. MotoGP will now be moving into its penultimate round at Sepang in Malaysia, and Dovizioso will be looking to cut the points gap. It's going to be one exciting round in Malaysia.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Japan

Andrea Dovizioso claimed his fifth victory of the season and closed the gap to championship leader Marc Marquez to 11 points in a thrilling race at Motegi in the 2017 MotoGP Grand Prix of Japan.

The Ducati rider overtook Repsol Honda's Marquez on the final lap, and the pair were battling to the last corner in one of the great duels in recent memory. Danilo Petrucci completed the podium as he came in third, 10 seconds down from the leading pair, while Italian veteran Valentino Rossi crashed out in the wet.

Marquez made a fantastic start on a soaking wet track in Japan, taking the lead from the off having been third on the grid. However, he could not hold on to the front spot, and it was actually Ducati's Petrucci who led the way for much of the race's opening half. Marquez and Dovi then hit the front with 11 laps of the race remaining, and it became clear the winner would be one of the title contenders.

A thrilling game of cat-and-mouse then ensued between the pair with Italian Dovizioso first taking the lead from his Spanish competitor on the 19th lap. Marquez then re-took the lead with three laps to go, and heading into the final lap, it looked as though the defending world champion would have enough to claim victory. The pair will resume their championship battle in Australia in a week's time.

Roger Federer wins Shanghai Masters

Roger Federer got one over his old rival Rafael Nadal to win the Shanghai Masters 6-4, 6-3 in a showdown between the two best players on the planet. It was a 94th title for the Swiss legend, drawing him level with the great Ivan Lendl, and was a fifth victory in a row against world number one Nadal.

Nadal was ahead in their overall record down the years, with 23 wins to Federer’s 14 but he was up against it almost right away. Number two Federer put Nadal under the cosh immediately on the Spaniard’s serve, breaking him in the first game – to roars of approval from the majority inside the arena. Another break to 36 year old Federer in the pivotal fifth game of the second set put him in a reach of a second Shanghai Masters crown – and a sixth title in 2017.

Federer, fondly known as "Cow" in China for his laid-back personality, had started the better in grabbing the break and he then rattled through his own service game for 2-0. Federer, a 19-time Grand Slam champion, was in full flow under the Qizhong Tennis Center roof, which was closed because of downpours in Shanghai. Nadal, 31, fresh from winning the US Open and China Open, groaned while lashing many of his shots; Federer was all quiet efficiency.

Federer rapidly made it 4-2 with two booming aces in a row, drawing huge cheers from much of the stadium. In contrast, Nadal - a 16-time Grand Slam winner but who had never won the Shanghai Masters - was laboring through his service games. There were suggestions that Federer might not be quite as fresh as his old foe, having been pushed to three sets a day earlier in the second semi-final against Juan Martin Del Potro.

Lewis Hamilton wins Japanese Grand Prix

A thrilling finish saw Mercedes Lewis Hamilton beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just 1.2s to win 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo taking third. The Suzuka round was equally notable, however, for Sebastian Vettel’s second retirement in three races, thanks to a technical problem on his Ferrari.

Hamilton now has a 59-point lead over Vettel in the standings, with only four races remaining and 100 points on the table. The German’s Ferrari was being inspected on the grid, just as team mate Kimi Raikkonen’s had been in Malaysia last week, but he seemed to be okay as he chased Hamilton away at the start. But soon Verstappen passed him in the hairpin to snatch second place, and the next time around fast-starting Esteban Ocon had moved to third for Force India as Ricciardo and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas also passed the Ferrari. Two laps later, Vettel’s troubled day was done, all thanks to a faulty spark plug.

Meanwhile, so was Carlos Sainz’s after the Spaniard lost control of his Toro Rosso in Turn 7 on the opening lap, prompting the first of three safety-car interventions. It was an unhappy ending to Sainz’s last race with the Italian team prior to switching to Renault in place of Jolyon Palmer. Hamilton and Verstappen soon resumed their battle, but gradually the Mercedes driver began to pull away. He was five seconds clear when Verstappen made his sole pit stop on the 21st lap, and Hamilton covered that next time around.

Haas also had a great day after Kevin Magnussen had forced his way by Massa’s Williams in Turn 2 on the 43rd lap; as the Brazilian ran wide, Romain Grosjean also passed him in the second Haas, to give the America team eighth and ninth places and move them a point ahead of Renault in seventh overall. It was a horrible day for the French team as Nico Hulkenberg ran in the points for a long time after starting on softs, but tumbled when he switched to supersofts and then ran into a retirement-prompting problem with the DRS mechanism on his rear wing. Team mate Palmer had an unhappy final race for the team to 12th place. Ahead of the Briton, Massa just held on for the final point by eight-tenths from the aggressive Alonso, as Pierre Gasly brought his Toro Rosso home 13th ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren and Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Spain

Marc Marquez recovered from a crash in qualifying to take an imperious win in the Aragon Grand Prix, retaking sole ownership of the MotoGP points lead in the process. From fifth on the grid, Marquez suffered a slow start but profited from pole man Maverick Vinales running wide at the end of the first lap to take fourth behind a fast-starting Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso, with whom he arrived in Aragon level on points.

It soon became apparent that Marquez had superior pace to his rivals, although it took him until the sixth lap to find a way by Dovizioso, as Lorenzo maintained a small lead over Rossi out front. From there, Marquez quickly cruised up to the back of Rossi, and attempted an audacious double-overtake on him and Lorenzo at Turn 12 on the ninth lap.

This backfired, as he ran out wide and dropped back behind Dovizioso, but the following lap the Spaniard once again passed his main title rival. Two laps later, Rossi was powerless to defend against Marquez, slipping behind at the Turn 16/17 complex, and soon the Honda man was all over the back of long-time leader Lorenzo. What turned out to be the decisive move of the race came on lap 16, as Marquez slithered by Lorenzo's Ducati at Turn 12 and streaked to a fifth victory of the season by a margin of 0.879s.

After being passed by Marquez, Lorenzo was then reeled in by the second works Honda of Dani Pedrosa, who had already made short work of Vinales, Dovizioso and Rossi. Pedrosa made the move on Lorenzo with two laps to go to give the Repsol Honda squad its third one-two finish of the year. Lorenzo nonetheless claimed his first podium finish since May's Jerez race, and enjoyed his longest stint in the lead of a race since joining Ducati with a 15-lap spell out front.

Lewis Hamilton wins Singapore Grand Prix

It was action from the off in Singapore Grand Prix – the first night race in F1 history to be run in wet conditions. With the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen eliminated in a coming together at the start. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton came through for victory, extending his championship lead over Vetter from three to 28 points.

In a race that ran to the full two-hour limit thanks to three safety-car periods, Daniel Ricciardo made the Marina Bay podium for the fourth year in a row, as he took second place for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Carlos Sainz scored his best-ever result with fourth for Toro Rosso; Jolyon Palmer did the same as he finished sixth for Renault; and likewise Stoffel Vandoorne with seventh for McLaren. The remaining point’s places went to Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in fifth and tenth respectively, Williams’ Lance Stroll in eighth and Haas’s Romain Grosjean in ninth.

Vettel, Raikkonen and Verstappen have all been called to the stewards regarding their Lap-1 clash, in which the Red Bull driver appeared to get squeezed between the two red cars. Fernando Alonso made an amazing start for McLaren, briefly vaulting as high as third, but was then an innocent victim of the Turn-1 carnage, sustaining car damage that forced him to retire a few laps later.

Daniil Kvyat put his Toro Rosso into the Turn 7 wall amid tricky conditions on Lap 11, and Marcus Ericsson crashed his Sauber on the Anderson Bridge on Lap 38. The two other retirements – both with technical problems – were Nico Hulkenberg, who had at one point looked set for fourth for Renault, and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen.

US Open 2017

Rafael Nadal against Kevin Anderson in the US Open Final shaped up as quite a mismatch. His game at a high level at the end of an unusually easy path through a Grand Slam field, Nadal overwhelmed first time major finalist Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to win his third championship at Flushing Meadows.

It is the No. 1-ranked Nadal’s second Grand Slam title of the year and 16th overall. Among men, only Roger Federer has more, with 19. Each of those two long-time rivals won two of the four majors in 2017, marking a return of both to the heights of their sport. Not only didn’t an injury-hampered Nadal win a Grand Slam tournament in 2015 or 2016—his first such shutouts since 2004, when he was still a teenager—but he didn’t even make it to a final in that span.

At No.32, Anderson was the lowest-ranked US Open men’s finalist since the ATP computer rankings began in 1973. The 31-year-old South African never had been past the quarterfinals at any major tournament in 33 previous appearances, so when he won his semifinal on Friday, he climbed into the stands to celebrate. There would be no such joy for him on this day. Nadal simply dominated every facet of the 2½-hour final.

Nadal added to his US Open triumphs in 2010 and 2013 and improved to 16-7 in Grand Slam finals. For the first time since 2013, he appeared in three in a single season, losing to Federer at the Australian Open in January and then beating Stan Wawrinka for his record 10th French Open trophy in June. Nadal’s career haul also includes two trophies from Wimbledon and one from the Australian Open. All of his big victories have come while being coached by his uncle, Toni, who is now stepping aside.

Sloane Stephens won Women’s single title. Jean Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau won Men’s doubles title. Chan Yung Jan and Martina Hingis won the Women’s double title. Martina Hingis and Jamie Murray won the Mixed doubles titles.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Italy

World Champion Marc Marquez of Spain won the San Marino MotoGP in slippery conditions to join Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the world championship standings. Marquez, on a Honda, finished ahead of Italy’s Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci on a wet track with Dovizioso, also on a Ducati, finishing third.

Both Marquez and Dovizioso have 199 points in the world championship standings with five races left in the season. It was a 59th career win for Marquez, who started from third on the grid and took the lead from Petrucci on the final lap to secure his 33rd win the MotoGP category. The top three in the title race lined up on the front row but it was Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo who got the best start from the second row. But Lorenzo was one of several riders to come off his bike in the slippery conditions along with fellow Spaniard Hector Barbera.

Petrucci battled with the reigning champion and Marquez finally pounced on the last lap to notch up a 25-point haul. Earlier, Swiss rider Dominique Agerter (Suter) won the San Moto2 Grand Prix ahead of Kalex duo Thomas Luthi of Switzerland and Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin, to claim his second career win. Italy’s Romano Fenati of Honda defied driving rain to claim his eighth career win in Moto3. In a race hampered by numerous falls and skids off the track, Fenati finished ahead of Spanish world champion leader Joan Mir and Italy’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, both also riding for Honda.

Caribbean Premier League 2017

Kevin Cooper late assault saw the Trinbago Knight Riders beat the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots by three wickets in a thrilling final of the 2017 Caribbean Premier League. Batting first, the Patriots lost big hitters Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis to slump to 37/3 before Carlos Brathwaite’s 30 pushed the score to a gettable 135/6.

Sheldon Cottrell’s double strike in his opening over put the Knight Riders on the backfoot immediately before Mohammed Hafeez removed Colin Munro and Darren Bravo off successive overs. The Knight Riders run-chase was in tatters at 90/7, but Denesh Ramdin held the innings together with 26 off 31 balls and Cooper hit a flurry of boundaries late to clinch victory in front of a delirious partisan crowd at Tarouba.

The victory was sweet revenge for the Knight Riders, who had won eight of their 10 preliminary matches before a humiliating loss to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the first play-off on Tuesday. The Patriots, despite the loss, could hold their heads up high as their appearance in the 2017 finals comes after a 2016 season when they finished last with only two wins in 10 matches. Earlier, Dwayne Bravo’s decision to insert the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots paid immediate dividends when Javon Scantlebury claimed the wicket of Gayle (1) off the seventh ball of the innings. The Barbadian would dismiss Hafeez (5) cheaply and Sunil Narine would dispose of the dangerous Lewis (16) to reduce the Patriots to 37/3 in the 8th over.

Narine was at his miserly best conceding only eight runs, with 18 scoreless deliveries in four overs. Brandon King (19) and Devon Thomas had brisk but brief stays at the crease before Jonathan Carter (21) and Carlos Brathwaite combined for an important 6th wicket partnership of 49. Brathwaite hit 30 off 25 balls and added a further 21 with Mohammed Nabi, who blazed 18 off only five balls. The Patriots135/6 looked respectable on a slow surface at Tarouba. The visitors were back in the game immediately with a double strike by Sheldon Cottrell. The big Jamaican had Narine (3) caught and bowled and then disturbed Dwaye Bravo’s stumps second ball he faced for a duck.

At 90/7, Kevon Cooper joined Denesh Ramdin and the pair kept the scoreboard ticking over until the last ball of the 18th over when Cooper launched a massive six over deep cover. With 22 needed off the last two overs, Cooper hit another maximum off a Ben Hilfehaus no ball, struck the free hit for a boundary and pulled the penultimate delivery over midwicket for another four. Ramdin, who ended on 26 off 31 balls, knocked off the winning run off the last ball of the 19thover to complete a three-wicket victory with an over to spare. Cooper was 29 not out off 14 balls to celebrate his second victory in the Caribbean Premier League. He was also victorious in 2015 when the team won as the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel.

Lewis Hamilton wins Italy Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton heads the 2017 driver’s championship for the first time this season after he led Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to a dominant 1-2 finish in Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d’Italia 2017, humbling third-placed Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari on their home ground.

Daniel Ricciardo battled his way through from 16th on the grid to take fourth place for Red Bull, ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, while Esteban Ocon won a race-long tussle with the Williams of Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa to secure sixth for Force India. Ocon’s team mate Sergio Perez was ninth and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who dropped to the back in an early clash with Massa, recovered to complete the top ten.

Hamilton dominated the race from the start, with Bottas riding shotgun from the third lap. The Finn made a poor start but redeemed himself by snatching back fourth place by passing Raikkonen’s Ferrari round the outside of the Parabolica at the end of the opening lap. As the Mercedes ran away and hid, Vettel had no answer for Ferrari and as Hamilton led Bottas home by 4.4s, after a minor scare when he thought his car lost power on the 43rd lap, the former points leader finished 36.3s behind him. Hamilton now has 228 points to Vettel’s 225, with Bottas still in touch on 197.

Kevin Magnussen was a disgruntled 11th for Haas, pushed out of 10th as he and Verstappen collided in the second chicane, and he had Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso less than a second behind him. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg likewise narrowly led Carlos Sainz’s sister car home for 13th. Romain Grosjean suffered front wing damage on the opening lap and trailed in 15th, ahead of final finisher Pascal Wehrlein who had a brush with Sauer team mate Marcus Ericsson.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Britain

Ducati talisman Andrea Dovizioso roared to victory in the 2017 MotoGP British Grand Prix on Sunday after defending World Champion Marc Marquez blew his engine with seven laps remaining. Dovizioso clinched his first place finish with Yamaha pair Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi following in second and third.

Dovizioso moved up to first in the standings and is nine points ahead of Marquez. He ended an eight-year drought at Silverstone, winning his first Moto GP British Grand Prix since 2009. Marquez's late retirement handed his pursuers new hope in making sure he doesn't add a fourth world championship to his collection, with the Spaniard dropping from first as a result.

Rossi was the leader for much of Sunday's meeting at Silverstone and only lost his perch near the race's crescendo, with Dovizioso continuing the best season of his career with a second successive win. The 31-year-old capitalized on Marquez's falter following a daring display in the British midlands. Rossi got a great start and was swiftly followed by Marquez, Vinales and Dovizioso, the three of whom remained on The Doctor's tail for the majority of the race.

Cal Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa formed part of an outsiders' group that battled for seniority outside the main pack, but even they applied pressure on the podium places in a thrilling contest. Marquez's first retirement in more than three months came out of the blue, as he was forced to pull up at the end of the Hangar Straight after smoke busted out of his bike, making for major drama late on in the race. Victory in San Marino could make Dovizioso the first rider to seal three successive MotoGP wins since Lorenzo won four in a row during the 2015 campaign.

Lewis Hamilton wins Belgium Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton took a narrow victory over Sebastian Vettel Formula 1 Pirelli Belgian Grand Prix to slash the Ferrari driver’s championship lead from 14 to 7 points. Just 2.3 separated the title rivals at the chequered flag, as Daniel Ricciardo secured an unexpected podium for Red Bull with third place at Spa Francorchamps.

Hamilton did just what he needed to in his 200th Grand Prix as he scored his 58th career success, but it was an intense nip-and-tuck battle all the way, with Vettel never more than two seconds adrift throughout the 44 laps, and sometimes a lot closer than that. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in the second Ferrari, the Finn having been given a 10-second stop-go penalty for ignoring yellow flags when the luckless Max Verstappen retired his Red Bull with power loss on Lap 8.

Valtteri Bottas finished a disappointed fifth for Mercedes, while Nico Hulkenberg scored his third sixth place of the year for Renault, followed home by the Haas of Romain Grosjean and the Williams of Felipe Massa. Esteban Ocon survived contact with Force India team mate Sergio Perez not once but twice in two separate clashes on the run down to Eau Rouge to take the flag in ninth, with Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz completing the top ten.

Behind them, Hulkenberg easily took sixth, but a mid-race change of strategy helped Grosjean to take seventh for Haas ahead of Massa, whose Williams fended off Ocon’s damaged Force India to the flag. Sainz salvaged 10th and a point for Toro Rosso, as Williams’ Lance Stroll led Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Renault’s Jolyon Palmer, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Sauber Marcus Ericsson home. Perez’s car was withdrawn late in the race, joining McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Verstappen and Sauber Pascal Wehrlein on the retirement’s list.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Czech Republic

A tactical masterstroke from Honda helped Marc Marquez to an emphatic victory in the MotoGP Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno. On a wet track, Marquez was brought into the pits early to put on a softer tyre compound, and he was able to make massive gains on the rest of the field. Eventually he finished 12 seconds clear of team mate Dani Pedrosa in second place with Yamaha Maverick Vinales taking third.

The victory may prove vital in what has been a tight MotoGP season, with Marquez extending his lead to 14 points over Vinales in the race for the world championship; just 10 points had separated the top four in the standings heading into the battle at Brno. After a strong getaway from pole position, Marquez was overhauled by Jorge Lorenzo and found himself slipping back down the field in the early stages. He was clearly uncomfortable on the wet tyres.

Marquez was able to scythe through the field, who were toiling on the wet compound, and back to the head of the pack. As relayed by journalist Simon Patterson, the three-time world champion had quickly established a massive lead over every other rider. It meant that after a frantic beginning to the day; quickly the race looked to be over at the front, with Scott Redding falling back into the pack. In another boost for Honda, Marquez's team-mate, Pedrosa, moved into second spot.

When he started to pull clear of third place, the afternoon was beginning to look routine for the two Honda riders. Marquez, in particular, would have been pleased to see his title rivals—Vinales, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso—out of the podium places. Indeed, it was Rossi who made for the most exciting viewing late in the race, with Marquez, Pedrosa and Vinales almost in a procession on their way to the finish line.

Sebastian Vettel wins Hungary Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel led team mate Kimi Raikkonen home for a Ferrari one-two in Formula 1 Pirelli Magyar Nagydij 2017. With Mercedes Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth, it means Vettel extends his championship lead to 14 points heading into the summer break.

On a day when the Silver Arrows had no answer to the Scuderia, despite Vettel complaining of steering issues, Valtteri Bottas took third ahead of Hamilton, just in front of a recovering Max Verstappen, who had been penalized 10 seconds for taking his Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo out of the race on the opening lap. Fernando Alonso secured his and McLaren’s best result of the year in sixth, winning a race-long battle with fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso. Force India again got both cars in the points, with Sergio Perez beating team mate Esteban Ocon to eighth place, whilst Stoffel Vandoorne rounded out the top ten in the second McLaren.

Vettel and Raikkonen finished less than a second apart after 70 laps of the Hungaroring, but the reds certainly had to work much harder than they anticipated for their 43 points. In the opening stages they were very much in command, as Vettel sprinted away and took Raikkonen with him, and Hamilton dropped behind team mate Bottas and Verstappen at the start. But gradually Raikkonen began to erode Vettel lead as the German started complaining of a steering problem, and when Hamilton’s car came alive on the soft Pirelli tyres in the second stint, Mercedes asked Bottas to let the Briton by.

The result puts Vettel further ahead again in the title chase with 202 points to Hamilton’s 188 and Bottas 169, while Raikkonen closes on Ricciardo 117 with 116. Daniil Kvyat was 11th in the other Toro Rosso, four-tenths ahead of Jolyon Palmer who had run 10th early on before being instructed to let faster Renault team mate Nico Hulkenberg by. The German was fighting for points when he was eased off-track in Turn 2 by Kevin Magnussen (who received a five second penalty as a result), but his R.S.17 malfunctioned right near the end and he was instructed to retire.

That left Magnussen 13th from Lance Stroll who was Williams’ sole finisher after the returning Paul di Resta drove a smooth and incident-free race battling with the Saubers until he too was told to stop near the end due to an oil leak. Pascal Wehrlein beat Sauber team mate Marcus Ericsson for 16th, as Romain Grosjean joined Hulkenberg, di Resta and Ricciardo in retirement when an improperly fastened wheel obliged Haas to tell him to stop.

Chris Froome wins Tour de France 2017

Britain Chris Froome won the Tour de France for the fourth time as Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to victory in Paris on the 21st and final stage. Groenewegen defeated German Andre Greipel in a frenetic final sprint on the Champs Elysee but the day belonged to 32-year-old Froome. The Team Sky rider is now second in the all-time list after completing his third successive victory. Rigoberto Uran was second, 54 seconds behind, with Romain Bardet third.

But the stage ended in the expected bunch finish - with several teams trying to set up their sprinters before Lotto NL-Jumbo's Groenewegen held off his rivals to cross the line first. Lotto Soudal's Greipel banged his head against his handlebars in frustration as he ended a Tour without a stage win for the first time. An unusual thing happened to Froome during the 2017 Tour - he had the yellow jersey taken off him. Froome cracked on the steep incline up to the summit finish at Peyragudes at the end of stage 12, losing 22 seconds to Italian Fabio Aru.

It gave Aru a six-second advantage and the rest of Froome's rivals hope that they could seriously threaten the 32-year-old for the first time in several years. If his rivals thought Froome, who came into the race a little light on miles was vulnerable and he responded superbly, sprinting up to the finish in Rodez at the end of stage 14 to reclaim yellow from the tiring Aru. Froome did not surrender the jersey again. The only time he was seriously threatened was when he had to stop to change a wheel shortly after he had been attacked by his rivals on stage 15 - but he managed to close the gap they had opened.

Froome did not win a stage this year - becoming only the seventh rider to win a Tour without one - but does move second in the list of most Tour titles. Only the legendary Eddie Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain - all with five wins - stand above Froome. And there are now the only three men to have worn yellow on more days - Froome has worn it 59 times and moved above Jacques Anquetil on the all-time list during this year's Tour. The two remaining jerseys were both won by Team Sunweb, with the German team also picking up four stages, two each for Michael Matthews and Warren Barguil. Yates took the white jersey off Pierre Latour at the end of stage four and kept it all the way to Paris.

Roger Federer wins eighth Wimbledon Title

Roger Federer became the first man to win Wimbledon eight times and extended his record to 19 Grand Slam titles with victory over Croatia Marin Cilic. The Swiss third seed won 6-3 6-1 6-4 as seventh seed Cilic struggled with blisters on his left foot and broke down in tears during the second set.

Federer, 35, finished the contest in one hour and 41 minutes to claim his first Wimbledon title since 2012. He becomes the oldest man in the Open Era to win at all England Club. Federer surpasses Pete Sampras and William Renshaw, who won their seventh titles in 2000 and 1889 respectively, with only Marina Navratilova still ahead in terms of Wimbledon single titles on nine.

He has won two of the three Grand Slam Titles so far this year, having returned from a six-month break to win the Australian Open in January. With 19 major titles he extends his lead over Rafael Nadal in the men’s game to four, and now stands joint-fourth on the all-time list with Helen Wills Moody, five behind Margaret Court on 24. Among his long list of achievements, Federer became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1976 to win the Wimbledon title without dropping a set.

In other categories, Garbine Muguruza romps to victory over Venus Williams in Women’s Singles. Lucasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo clinch Wimbledon Men’s double title. Makarova and Vesnina clinch Wimbledon Women’s doubles title. James Murray and Martina Hingis clinch Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title.

Lewis Hamilton wins Britain Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the fifth time matching the record of Jim Clark and Alain Prost – to cut Sebastian Vettel championship lead to just a single point after late tyre dramas hit both Ferraris. They allowed Valtteri Bottas to grab second from Kimi Raikkonen to secure a Mercedes one-two, as Vettel trailed home seventh.

Red Bull – off the pace of the frontrunners all afternoon – were the key beneficiaries, with Max Verstappen fourth and Daniel Ricciardo – the fans’ Driver of the Day after battling his way up from P19 on the grid –fifth. Behind them, Nico Hulkenberg secured a superb sixth place for Renault – some consolation for the French team after Jolyon Palmer in the sister car went out with hydraulic problems on the formation lap. The Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez took the flag in eighth and ninth respectively, with Felipe Massa the final point scorer for Williams in tenth.

As Red Bull fell back, Bottas in the other Mercedes was pushing forward. He moved ahead of Verstappen after the latter’s pit stop on the 19th lap, then ran long on his soft tyres, climbed to second behind Hamilton as the Ferraris stopped, then battled after them on his supersoft tyres after pitting on the 32nd of the 51 laps. Vettel succumbed as the Mercedes slammed past going up to Stowe on the 43rd lap, after an attempt round the outside there the previous lap hadn’t quite worked out, and then Bottas began to slice into Raikkonen’s advantage as he sensed a possible Mercedes one-two.

Stoffel Vandoorne couldn’t quite turn his top 10 qualifying position into points with 11th for McLaren, who lost Fernando Alonso at just over half distance with mechanical problems. Haas took 12th and 13th with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, as Marcus Ericsson was Sauber top finisher in 14th ahead of the delayed Kvyat, who got a drive-through penalty for rejoining the circuit unsafely and thus causing the collision with his team mate. Lance Stroll was 16th for Williams with some ‘aero loss’ late in the race, leading home Sauber Pascal Wehrlein.

Valtteri Bottas wins Austrian Grand Prix

Mercedes Valtteri Bottas drove a masterly race to securely victory – his second season in Austrian Grand Prix, finishing just 0.6s ahead of world championship leader Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was third after fending off Mercedes Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages.

Kimi Raikkonen took a distant fifth in the second Ferrari, with Romain Grosjean an excellent sixth for Haas. The Force India’s of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were seventh and eighth, while Williams staged an impressive recovery with Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll – who started 17th and 18th respectively – completing the top ten. It was a dramatic beginning to the race. As Bottas made a getaway so good the stewards’ investigated a potential jump start, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat braked too late into Turn 1 and ran into the fast-starting Fernando Alonso.

Much to the chagrin of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and his legion of orange-clad fans who sat watching in horror, Alonso's McLaren inadvertently collided with Verstappen, who spun. Verstappen and Alonso had sufficient damage that they were forced to retire. Kvyat continued, receiving a drive-through for his trouble. From there on, in many ways it was a rear-loaded race, with most of the action at the end. The Finn led easily from pole and dominated the first half of the race when the leaders were running Pirelli’s ultrasofts tyres – but once the switch to supersofts came it was a whole different story.

Jolyon Palmer’s best drive of the season saw him see off Renault partner Nico Hulkenberg, and just fail to beat Stroll to the final point by half a second. Stoffel Vandoorne was 12th in the other McLaren, penalized for ignoring blue flags, ahead of Hulkenberg, the Saubers of Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson, and Kvyat. Carlos Sainz had to retire the sister Toro Rosso after falling dramatically from point’s contention early on with mechanical woes. The other retiree was Kevin Magnussen, who was hounding Palmer when he suffered hydraulic failure on his Haas. Vettel now has a 20-point lead heading into the British Grand Prix weekend, with 171 points to Hamilton’s 151, the closing Bottas on 136 and 107 for Ricciardo.

Germany won FIFA Confederations Cup 2017

Germany survived a whirlwind assault by Chile and capitalized on an awful mistake by the South Americans to claim 1-0 victory in a pulsating, bad tempered Confederations Cup Final. Germany won the title for the first time after Lars Stindl scored the only goal in the 20th minute when Chile midfielder Marcelo Diaz gave the ball away on the edge of his own area.

Chile, playing with their trademark high octane style and driven forward by another relentless display by Arturo Vidal, dominated the match but were let down by poor finishing. A dramatic game featured missed chances, defensive howlers, scuffles and two video reviews, one producing a highly controversial outcome in the second half. Chile defender Gonzalo Jara elbowed Timo Werner by the touchline and Serbian referee Milorad Mazic, alerted by the video assistants, let him off with a yellow card instead of a red.

Shortly afterwards, Mazic turned down Chilean appeals for a penalty, stood by his original decision after another review incident and booked Eduardo Vargas for drawing an imaginary television screen. It was a remarkable achievement for Germany to lift the trophy with a young, experimental squad, although it could also be a bad omen as no team has ever won the World Cup after winning the Confederations Cup the year before.

On the other hand, Award list is also dominated by Germans. Julian Draxler won the Golden Ball Award, Claudio Bravo from Chile won the Golden Glove award and Timo Werner won the Golden Boot award. The young Germany team also won the FIFA Fair Play Award. On the other end, Germany beat Spain 1-0 to win the European under-21 championship.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Germany

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has taken an incredible eighth win in a row at the Sachsenring, extending his run from the 125 World Championships to another year of the premier class – with all those wins from pole. It was anything but easy, however – with German rookie Jonas Folger pushing the reigning Champion on home turf throughout the race in a stunning ride to his first podium. Dani Pedrosa completed the podium to get back in contention following a more difficult Dutch GP.

Marquez took the lead into Turn 1 from pole, with teammate Dani Pedrosa slotting into second as Jorge Lorenzo sliced through from P6 on the grid to third, pushing Danilo Petrucci and Jonas Folger back. Marquez and Pedrosa began to pull away in the lead as Folger charged through to get himself into third - and then started threatening the Repsol Honda duo in the lead. Choosing his moment, the German rookie then took Pedrosa and prepared to attack Marquez – pushing through soon after and below lap record pace.

With Petrucci through on Lorenzo into fourth, it was the ‘Doctor’ Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who struck next, with the number 46, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Petrucci then battling for fourth as Pedrosa began to drop back from the lead duo. Folger then headed wide and Marquez took the opportunity, but couldn’t shake the German.

Vinales came out on top in the battle for fourth, limiting his losses after a poor qualifying performance. Rossi came home fifth, while Dovizioso had to settle for eighth. The standings make for tremendous reading ahead of the summer break. We're in for a thrilling climax to the 2017 season when the action returns in the Czech Republic next month.

Daniel Ricciardo wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bulls’ Daniel Ricciardo won a rollercoaster Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, as rookie Lance Stroll took his maiden podium for Williams, pipped on the line by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton to fourth place, despite being penalized for dangerous driving after hitting his Mercedes rival behind the safety car.

The safety car came out first on lap 12 to clear the stricken Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat, allowing Bottas to unlap himself after he had collided with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at the start, dropping to last place with a puncture. The race restarted on lap 17 but just seconds later it was under safety car again due to debris on track. As the safety car prepared to peel off on Lap 19, Vettel ran lightly into the back of the slowing Hamilton. The Ferrari then pulled alongside and banged wheels with the Mercedes, seemingly in frustration.

Racing resumed seconds later on Lap 20, but again it was short lived. Esteban Ocon tipped Force India team mate Sergio Perez into the wall at Turn 2, bringing out the safety car once more. That quickly became a red flag as race control decided the track needed a proper clean up. Twenty five minutes later, with Perez and Raikkonen back in the race after repairs, they were running once more on Lap 24, with Ricciardo storming from sixth to third into Turn 1 on the restart. It would prove to be the move that won him the race.

The drama continued with Hamilton pitting for repairs to a loose headrest on Lap 32 – and as he did came news of a 10-second stop-go penalty for Vettel for dangerous driving. Somehow Vettel emerged from that in seventh place just ahead of his title rival, but by then the race victory had eluded both. The closing laps were about how close Vettel and Hamilton could get to the podium – and whether teenager Stroll could hold off the ever-closing Bottas. The Canadian rookie almost kept second, but couldn’t stop the Mercedes surging ahead on the line by just a tenth of a second. Four seconds ahead of them Ricciardo had already taken the flag for his fifth F1 win and his first of 2017.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Netherlands

Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi won his first race for more than a year, as he came through to take victory in a thrilling MotoGP Netherlands Grand Prix. The veteran hadn't savored glory since the 2016 Catalan Grand Prix, but he showcased all his experience in spades at Assen, as he held off Ducati's Danilo Petrucci in an absorbing battle. Defending world champion Marc Marquez came home in third place for Honda.

Rossi's team-mate Maverick Vinales crashed out, allowing Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso to take the lead of the championship by four points; the top four riders in the standings are now covered by just 11 points. It was Johann Zarco who started the race on pole having produced a storming qualifying performance. The rookie eventually didn't finish in the shakeup for victory, losing ground due to a misguided tactical switch and coming home in 14th spot.

Another rider who endured a disappointing day was Vinales. After enjoying a blistering beginning to the season with his new team, the young Spaniard has lost momentum in recent weeks and paid the price for losing balance at Turn 17 with 14 laps to go. With the duo out of contention, some more seasoned competitors were juking it out at the front in pursuit of the victory, with Rossi moving through into first position. Petrucci was keeping the Doctor on his toes, though, as the pair engaged in a fascinating tussle.

Indeed, as the heavens threatened to open and drizzle sprinkled across the Assen circuit, the riders needed to be careful. Eventually, it was the duo aforementioned who handled the conditions the better, as they pulled away from the rest of the field. The Italians each held the lead in the final stages, as they each pushed their bike to the limit in pursuit of the win. World Superbikes rider Alex Lowes paid tribute to another great Rossi performance, who has now won 10 times at the Assen circuit.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Italy

Ducati Andrea Dovizioso won his second consecutive MotoGP race, turning in an imperious performance to clinch the Grand Prix of Catalunya. After starting in seventh place, Dovizioso moved through the field seamlessly, eventually overtaking Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa who finished second and third.

It was a day to forget for the Yamaha riders, as Valentino Rossi came home eighth and world championship leader Maverick Vinales was only good for 10th. Off the line pole-sitter Pedrosa preserved his advantage, but there was a hairy moment for Marquez further back in the field, as he came into contact with Danilo Petrucci off the line. Marquez recovered and eventually moved into third. Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo took the lead from Pedrosa, who looked vulnerable early on.

Lorenzo started slipping down the order, and Dovizioso went the other way. The Ducati man showed excellent pace to recover from seventh on the grid. Having won the Italian grand prix last time out, Dovizioso showed a lot of confidence and was quickly onto the two Honda drivers up front. The Italian was on course for back-to-back victories at this stage, as he laid down the gauntlet for a Honda response. Marquez responded, as he retook second spot and kept the gap steady for a spell.

As the race entered the final stages, Dovizioso built a gap over Marquez. The Ducati rider enjoyed the moment, coasting over the line ahead of the Honda pairing. There is no doubt Dovizioso is in the form of his career. Prior to last week's triumph at Mugello, he had secured only two wins in nine years in MotoGP. He'll have his eyes on the world title as well now. Dovizioso is just seven points behind Vinales in the standings. With his tail up, the Ducati man will feel confident of overhauling that deficit in a fortnight's time, when MotoGP heads to the Netherlands.

Lewis Hamilton wins Canada Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton stormed to his sixth Canadian Grand Prix victory, leading home team mate Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes dominated in Montreal. Third place went to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo after Ferrari hit trouble early on, with Sebastian Vettel battling back on fourth, his lead in the drivers’ championship cut to from 25 points to 12 points.

It was massively windy in Montreal all day, and that played havoc with the cars’ aerodynamic stability in the race. Vettel picked up front wing damage almost instantly when Max Verstappen made a blinding start from fifth on the grid to go round the outside of him into second place by Turn 1, as Bottas went for the inside to grab third. Further round the lap, exiting Turn 2, Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz tangled, the Haas spinning the Toro Rosso down the grass on the inside of the track until it collected the innocent Felipe Massa’s Williams in the chicane that follows. Exit two cars on the spot, as Grosjean limped back to the pits for a new nose.

Meanwhile, Ricciardo maintained fourth place ahead of Perez, Raikkonen and Ocon. Raikkonen pitted first, for supersofts on lap 17. Ricciardo went for softs on 18, and Perez for supersofts on 19. Force India kept the ultrasofts Ocon out until the 32nd lap, by which time he was running second to Hamilton. The stop dropped him back to sixth, but that became fifth when Raikkonen pitted again for ultrasofts on the 41st lap.

Outside the top ten, Renault’s Jolyon Palmer held on to 11th by a fraction from Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, who was penalized for overtaking under the virtual safety car, as the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein sandwiched Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren for 13th and 15th places. The Montreal result reverses Hamilton’s misfortunes from Monaco, and indicates that Mercedes – who reclaim their lead in the constructors’ standings over Ferrari – have a handle on their tyre problems at last, keeping the mighty title fight right on the boil.