The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Verstappen wins F1 season opener
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen eased to victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday despite the turmoil surrounding his Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Verstappen started on pole position and was never challenged on his way to a commanding one-two win for Red Bull ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez.
“Today went even better than expected,” Verstappen said. “It was a lot of fun.” He said he felt “one with the car.”
Carlos Sainz Jr. was third for Ferrari.
At the start of the longestever F1 season at 24 races, Verstappen already shows signs of repeating his nearperfect record from 2023, when the Dutch driver won 19 of 22 races on his way to a third straight title.
Saturday was the eighth win in a row for Verstappen going back to September last year. He set an F1 record of 10 consecutive wins last season.
Horner arrived on race day hand in hand with his wife, Geri Halliwell, also known as Ginger Spice of the pop group the Spice Girls. The race came after FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the turmoil around Horner was “damaging the sport,” in comments to the Financial Times.
The F1 paddock’s focus has firmly been on the Red Bull team principal this week, with Verstappen saying his boss was “probably a little bit distracted.”
On Wednesday, the team’s parent company dismissed a complaint of alleged misconduct by Horner toward a team employee. A day later during practice for the Bahrain
Grand Prix, a file alleged to contain evidence against Horner was emailed to nearly 200 people in the F1 paddock, including Liberty Media, F1, the FIA, the other nine team principals and multiple media outlets.
The authenticity of the files has not been verified by The AP; the file came from a generic email account.
NHL Dostal stops penalty shot, saves Ducks
Lukas Dostal made 52 saves and stopped Jack Hughes’ penalty shot with 2.1 seconds to play, and the Ducks held on for a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils late Friday night.
Frank Vatrano scored two goals and Adam Henrique added his 18th goal for the Ducks, but Vatrano also handed a dramatic penalty shot to New Jersey by deliberately knocking the net off its moorings following a scramble around Dostal.
Hughes had a goal and two assists for New Jersey, but he botched the penalty shot by turning over the puck during his tentative approach to Dostal.
Dostal’s performance highlighted the Ducks’ second back-to-back victories of 2024. His 52 saves are
the most ever recorded by a Ducks goalie in a victory, and he matched the secondmost saves by any rookie goalie in a victory since 1977, according to the NHL.
NBA Clippers lose Westbrook to injury
Russell Westbrook fractured his left hand in the first half of the Clippers’ 140115 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
Westbrook, 35, appeared to sustain the injury trying to poke the ball away from Jordan Poole with 10:01 left in the second. He left with 8:10 remaining in the second quarter and did not return.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue did not have an immediate timetable for how long Westbrook will be out.
Westbrook has played in every game for the Clippers this season, averaging 11.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 23 minutes.
GOLF Lowry shares lead at Cognizant Classic
Shane Lowry nearly won at PGA National two years ago. The Irishman has given himself a big chance to get a victory there today.
Lowry, David Skinns and Austin Eckroat were tied for the lead after third round of the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Lowry and Skinns had rounds of 66 to and Eckroat shot a 68. They were at 13-under 200.
• Ayaka Furue of Japan took a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the LPGA Tour’s HSBC Women’s World Championship with a 4-under 68 in Singapore. Furue, 23, who won the Women’s Scottish Open in her first year on tour in 2022, had a 54-hole total of 10-under 206.
• Connor Syme of Scotland and Daniel Brown of England share the lead and are two shots clear of the field heading into the final round of the SDC Championship on the DP World Tour.
Brown, who led after 36 holes in South Africa, shot an even-par 72 and was joined at the top of the leaderboard on 11 under overall by Syme, who had seven birdies in a 67 — the third lowest score of the third round at Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Humbert captures title in Dubai
Ugo Humbert stayed undefeated in ATP tour finals by beating Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-3 to win the Dubai Championships.
The Frenchman, who upset defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, improved to 6-0 in finals. He also won Marseille three weeks ago.
Humbert is set to climb four spots to a career-high No. 14 when the rankings are updated on Monday. He’ll be the first Frenchman in the top 15 since Gael Monfils three years ago.