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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s fastest lap on a wet morning held up as the best of the day at Friday’s U.S. Grand Prix practice.
The fading title hopes of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took a big hit when he was given a three-place starting grid penalty for driving too fast under a red flag in the morning. Vettel must win Sunday or finish within seven points of Hamilton to extend the championship to next week in Mexico City.
Hamilton was in dominant form in the soggy early practice. His lap of 1 minute, 47.502 seconds at the Circuit of the Americas was 1.3 seconds clear of teammate Valtteri Bottas. Vettel was fifth in the morning session.
Drivers stayed in the garage for most of the rain-soaked afternoon session. Hamilton only drove the last 8 minutes and couldn’t post a faster time. Vettel drove only the last 12 minutes.
Tennessee forward Lou Brown has torn her anterior cruciate ligament in preseason practice.
Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick announced Brown’s injury Friday and said the Washington State graduate transfer is out indefinitely Warlick said the injury occurred Wednesday.
Warlick said in a statement that “while she may be out of action due to this unfortunate injury, I would not be surprised to see Lou still find a way to impact this team in a positive manner as she goes through the recovery process.”
Brown, a 6-foot-3 forward from Melbourne, Australia, started 23 games for Washington State last season and averaged 6.4 points and a team-high 6 rebounds.
Chasity Melvin has been hired by the Charlotte Hornets’ G League team, the Greensboro Swarm, as an assistant coach.
She becomes the first female coach in Hornets and Swarm history.
The former North Carolina State standout was the 11th overall selection in the 1999 WNBA draft. She played 12 seasons in the WNBA and was an All-Star in 2001.
Melvin was part of the NBA Assistant Coaches Program, which prepares current and former NBA, WNBA and G League players for coaching careers. Former program participants include James Posey (Cavaliers), Jerry Stackhouse (Grizzlies) and Vin Baker (Bucks).
Her hire comes one day after Kristy Toliver became the first active WNBA player to become an NBA assistant when she joined the Washington Wizards.