Valtteri Bottas wins Australian Grand Prix for Mercedes

Agencies
March 17, 2019

Melbourne, Mar 17: Valtteri Bottas capitalised on a late pitstop to upset his world champion team mate Lewis Hamilton and clinch the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix for Mercedes in Melbourne on Sunday.

Starting second behind pole-sitter Hamilton, Bottas got the jump on the Briton during a typically messy start at Albert Park and ended up cruising to his fourth win by some 20.80 seconds after delaying a tyre-change.

Runner-up Hamilton, who switched to the medium compound tyres seven laps earlier than Bottas, had to battle to hold off third-placed Max Verstappen and was fortunate the Red Bull driver took a skid in the grass late on to lose vital seconds.

Bottas, who claimed his first race win since Abu Dhabi in 2017, added icing to the cake by clinching a bonus point for the fastest lap at the lakeside circuit in one minute 25.580 seconds.

"I don't know what just happened. The start was really good, it was definitely my best race ever," said the Finn.

"I just felt so good and everything was under control. The car was so good today so truly enjoyable, I need to enjoy today.

"I'm just so happy and can't wait for the next race."

While Hamilton was forced to sweat, the Silver Arrows will have been thrilled that their raw pace was enough to blitz the chasing pack.

"It was a good weekend for the team," said Hamilton. "Valtteri drove an incredible race today so he deserved it."

For Ferrari, however, it was a sobering day as fourth-placed Vettel and fifth-placed new boy Charles Leclerc were reduced to fighting each other for a minor position.

In the midfield battle, Kevin Magnussen was sixth for Haas ahead of Renault's seventh-placed Nico Hulkenberg.

It was a disastrous Renault debut for home hope Daniel Ricciardo as he rolled wide into the grass straight out of the grid and destroyed his front wing over a bump.

He was forced to pit immediately to replace it and ended up retiring midway through the race.

McLaren driver Carlos Sainz also retired after easing into pit lane on the 11th lap with his car on fire.

Haas, who lost both cars due to botched tyre changes in last year's race, showed they were not free of their pit-stop gremlins, as a poor stop caused Romain Grosjean to lose two places.

Grosjean later was forced to retire with a reliability problem.

Prior to the start, drivers and officials stood for a minute's silence at the grid in tribute to the late F1 racing director Charlie Whiting and in remembrance of victims of a mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday.

Australian Grand Prix results:

1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/ Mercedes) 308 Km in 1hr 25min 27.325sec

2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/ Mercedes) at 20.886 sec

3. Max Verstappen (NED/ Red Bull) at 22.520 sec

4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/ Ferrari) at 57.109 sec

5. Charles Leclerc (MON/ Ferrari) at 58.230 sec

6. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/ Haas) at 1:27.156 sec

7. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/ Renault) at 1 lap

8. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/ Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap

9. Lance Stroll (CAN/ Racing Point) at 1 lap

10. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/ Toro Rosso) at 1 lap

11. Pierre Gasly (FRA/ Red Bull) at 1 lap

12. Lando Norris (GBR/ McLaren) at 1 lap

13. Sergio Perez (MEX/ Racing Point) at 1 lap

14. Alexander Albon (THA/ Toro Rosso) at 1 lap

15. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/ Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap

16. George Russell (GBR/ Williams) at 2 laps

17. Robert Kubica (POL/ Williams) at 3 laps

Retirements:

10th lap: Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/ McLaren) engine

30th lap: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/ Renault) mechanical problem

30th lap: Romain Grosjean (FRA/ Haas) mechanical problem

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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News Network
April 12,2020

Mumbai, Apr 12: Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries.

In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars.

A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session.

It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service.

During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said.

Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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