Verstappen begins defense of F1 title with Saudi Arabia win
Max Verstappen stayed firmly on course for another season of dominance in Formula 1 on Saturday by winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Even after just two races, and despite turmoil at Red Bull, Verstappen seems in near-total control on the track as he aims for a fourth consecutive title this year. Still, he had to share the attention with 18-year-old Oliver Bearman, who was a surprise seventh in his first F1 race as a Ferrari stand-in.
The Dutch driver won easily ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez by 8.6 seconds on the road, 13.6 once a time penalty for Perez was factored in. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third.
Verstappen started on pole and held off Leclerc at the first corner, as he did last week at the seasonopener in Bahrain which he won, before quickly building his lead.
The only interruption came when Lance Stroll’s crash brought out the safety car. Verstappen came into the pits for a tire change and after the restart easily passed Lando Norris — who hadn’t stopped — to retake the lead.
Perez had a five-second penalty because Red Bull released him from a pit stop into the path of another car, but that didn’t matter since he finished far ahead of Leclerc.
Verstappen has won nine races in a row going back to last season, and 19 of the last 20 races in total. The next race in Australia on March 24 offers him the chance to match his own record of 10 consecutive wins, set last year.
Saturday’s race was the 100th podium finish of Verstappen’s career and his 56th win, a signal of just how dominant his recent title-winning seasons with Red Bull have been.
Bearman was seventh for Ferrari, one day after the British driver was called up as an emergency replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr., who needed an operation to treat appendicitis.
Oscar Piastri took fourth for Mclaren, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso fifth and George Russell sixth for Mercedes.
Behind Bearman, Mclaren’s Lando Norris held off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in a fight for eighth place. Nico Hulkenberg was 10th for Haas’ first point in F1 since the Singapore Grand Prix in September.
Djokovic wins in his return, Gauff rallies at Indian Wells
Novak Djokovic made a winning return to the desert, beating Aleksandar Vukic 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday in his first match at the BNP Paribas Open in five years.
The 24-time Grand Slam singles champion joined Rafael Nadal as the only players to win 400 matches in ATP Masters 1000 series events. The top-ranked Djokovic is a fivetime champion at Indian Wells, tied with Roger Federer for most by a male, but hadn’t played in the event since 2019.
Coco Gauff also won — barely — rallying just in time to avoid an early exit by edging Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
The U.S. Open women’s champion trailed 4-0 and then 5-2 in the third set of her opening match in the tournament, leaving her a game away from becoming the second top American upset by Burel this year. The No. 47-ranked player from France beat No. 5 Jessica Pegula in the second round of the Australian Open.
The third-seeded Gauff advanced to face Lucia Bronzetti in the third round. The Italian knocked off No. 32 Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-4.
But Pegula was eliminated in the second round again Saturday, with Anna Blinkova of Russia beating her 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Naomi Osaka knocked out another seeded player, ousting No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, 7-5, 6-3. The four-time Grand Slam champion who returned to competition this year after giving birth won the 2018 BNP Paribas title. She will next face No. 24 Elise Mertens.
No. 27 Victoria Azarenka, who won the event twice, was upset by American Caroline Dolehide 7-5,
2-6, 6-3. Emma Raducanu, the
2021 U.S. Open women’s champion, reached the third round when No. 30-seeded Dayana Yastremska had to retire after Raducanu had taken a 4-0 lead.
Pacers’ Mathurin out for the season after shoulder surgery
Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin will have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder and will miss the rest of the season.
The Pacers said Saturday that the procedure will be performed next week in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal Elattrache.
Mathurin was averaging 14.5 points in his second NBA season. He was the MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge at All-star weekend, which was played in Indianapolis.
A first-team selection to the Allrookie team last season, Mathurin had 19 points Tuesday in a victory at Dallas before he was injured.