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NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz defeated Frances Tiafoe in a gladiatorial US Open semifinal on Friday, setting up a showdown for the title and World No. 1 ranking against Casper Ruud.

The 19-year-old Spaniard triumphed 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 to become the youngest men’s Grand Slam finalist since compatriot Rafael Nadal captured the first of his 22 Slams at the 2005 French Open.

Norway’s seventh-ranked Ruud earlier defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to also reach his first Grand Slam final.

Tiafoe went down fighting, however, saving three match points and retrieving breaks in both of the last two sets.

“We are in the semifinal of a Grand Slam, we have to give everything we have inside, we have to fight until the last ball,” said Alcaraz, the youngest US Open finalist since Pete Sampras in 1990.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re fighting for five hours or six hours. It doesn’t matter, you have to give everything on court.”

For Alcaraz, who unleashed 59 winners, it was his third successive five-setter as he closes in on a maiden Slam and becoming the youngest ever World No. 1.

“It’s my first time in a final of a Grand Slam. I can see the No. 1 in the world, but at the same time it’s so far away,” he added.

“I’m going to give everything that I have. I will have to handle the nerves of being in the final of a Grand Slam but obviously I’m really happy.”

Tiafoe hailed his conqueror.

“I gave everything I had, too good from Carlos tonight,” said Tiafoe.

“Honestly I came here wanting to win the US Open, I feel like I let you guys down. This one really hurts.”

Alcaraz saw two break points come and go in the seventh game of the opener before needing to save a set point in the 12th which featured a breathtaking rally that the Spaniard claimed from two seemingly losing positions.

The teenager saved three more set points in the tiebreak but Tiafoe converted his fifth when Alcaraz served up his third double fault of the 64-minute opener.

Alcaraz saved a break point in the third game of the second set, at one stage stretching for a winning point with his back facing Tiafoe to win another memorable rally.

His flamboyance was rewarded when he broke for 4-2 on his way to levelling the semifinal thanks to Tiafoe burying a return in the net.

Alcaraz had needed nine hours and 10 sets in his last two rounds, including a quarterfinal which finished at 2:50 a.m. Thursday, to reach the semifinal.

However, he looked the fresher of the two men when he raced to a double break, 4-0 lead in the third set, allowing Tiafoe just three points.

For good measure, Alcaraz broke the American a third time in the seventh game.

World No. 26 Tiafoe, who knocked Nadal out of the tournament in the last-16, was hoping to become the first American man in a major final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.

He gamely retrieved two breaks in the fourth set, saved a match point in the 10th game with a nerveless drop shot before claiming the tiebreak to send the clash into a decider.

It was an eighth successful tiebreak out of eight for the American.

Alcaraz broke for 2-0 in the fifth set only for Tiafoe to again claw his way back to 2-2.

The American, however, double-faulted to hand the advantage back in the fifth game.

Tiafoe saved two more match points in the ninth game before Alcaraz went on to seal victory in four hours and 19 minutes when his opponent netted a weary backhand.

Ruud will be appearing in his second Grand Slam final of the season after finishing runner-up to Nadal at the French Open in June.

“After Roland Garros, I was extremely happy but at the same time humble enough to think that could be my only final in a Grand Slam in my career,” said Ruud.

“They don’t come easy. So here I am a couple of months later — it feels beyond words to describe.”

PARIS — Last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool got their Champions League campaign off to a disastrous start in a 4-1 defeat away to Napoli on Wednesday, while Robert Lewandowski hit a hat-trick in a big win for Barcelona.

Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich also got their campaigns underway with victories, but Rangers were crushed 4-0 by Ajax in the Netherlands on their return to the group phase of Europe’s elite club competition.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have won just two of their first six Premier League games this season and there was to be no improvement on their trip to Italy as Napoli raced into an early lead and never looked back.

Piotr Zielinski converted a fifth-minute penalty, and Victor Osimhen then had a second Napoli spot-kick saved by Alisson Becker.

Yet Napoli — who had defeated Liverpool in their own stadium in the group stage in 2018 and in 2019 — were 3-0 up at the break as Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s fine finish was followed by a tap-in from substitute Giovanni Simeone.

Liverpool fell further behind two minutes into the second half as Zielinski followed up to score after his initial effort was saved, but Luis Diaz did pull a goal back.

“We were miles too open. You can’t come to a place like this and not be compact. They were by miles the better team,” Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson told BT Sport.

“We have to wake up and quickly because we can’t perform like that.”

Rangers crushed by Ajax

The six-time European Cup winners’ next Group A outing is at home to Ajax, who could have won by more than four at home to Rangers, last season’s Europa League finalists playing in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2010.

Edson Alvarez headed Ajax in front before a Steven Berghuis shot deflected in and a superb individual strike from Mohammed Kudus made it 3-0 to Ajax by half-time.

Steven Bergwijn pounced on a poor backpass to seal the victory late on in Amsterdam, leaving Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst to give a bleak assessment of his side’s prospects.

“To compete in the Champions League you spend hundreds of millions, for us to compete it is too much to ask,” insisted the Dutchman.

Lewandowski became the first player to score a Champions League hat-trick for three different clubs as the ex-Borussia Dortmund and Bayern star marked his first appearance in the competition with Barcelona in style.

The Catalans crushed Czech champions Viktoria Plzen 5-1 in Group C, with Franck Kessie heading in the opener before Lewandowski made it 2-0.

Jan Sykora pulled one back only for Lewandowski to score again before half-time and then fire in his third goal midway through the second half.

The Pole now has 89 Champions League goals, three more than Karim Benzema, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ahead of him.

Ferran Torres scored the fifth for Barca, whose next game will be away to Lewandowski’s old side Bayern.

The Germans claimed an impressive 2-0 win away to Inter Milan on Wednesday, with Leroy Sane rounding Andre Onana for the first-half opener and then forcing Danilo D’Ambrosio into a 66th-minute own goal.

Richarlison brace for Spurs

Antonio Conte’s Tottenham struggled to break down Marseille in north London until the French side had Chancel Mbemba sent off just after half-time.

Richarlison scored the opener in the 76th minute, heading in Ivan Perisic’s cross, and the Brazilian headed in again soon after to make it 2-0.

“I think we felt a bit of pressure in this competition, but at the end we have to be pleased,” Conte said of the victory.

Also in Group D, Sporting Lisbon scored three second-half goals to win 3-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt, with former Spurs youngster Marcus Edwards, Francisco Trincao and Nuno Santos all on target.

In Group B, Antoine Griezmann headed the winner in the 11th minute of injury time as Atletico Madrid beat Porto 2-1.

In an incredible finish, Porto had Mehdi Taremi sent off late on before Mario Hermoso put Atletico ahead with a deflected 92nd-minute strike.

Hermoso then conceded a penalty for handball, allowing Matheus Uribe to equalise in the 96th minute, only for Griezmann to have the last laugh.

The only other game in Champions League history to feature three goals scored in stoppage time was Porto’s meeting with Atletico in December last year.

In the same group Abakar Sylla’s header was spilled over the line by the goalkeeper to give Club Brugge a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

AMMAN  — As Week 17 kicks off, Faisali lead the Jordan Professional (Pro) Football League with six weeks remaining in the competition.

Last week, Faisali scored a big 5-0 win over Ma’an to go atop the table while Wihdat beat Sarih 1-0 to take second spot and Hussein remained third after beating Mugheer Sarhan 2-0,

Aqaba remained 4th after they held Sahab 0-0 while Shabab Urdun beat Jazira 4-1. Ramtha upset Salt 2-1 in the final minute of the match to improve their spot to 5th following an earlier 6-1 win over Ma’an.

The upcoming week will see Faisali play Salt who have dropped to 8th after earlier losing to Sarih in the final minutes as well, while Wihdat play Ma’an, Shabab Urdun face Aqaba and Sarih take on Jazira.

This week, the Jordan Football Association (JFA) announced the schedule for the remaining part of the season as the league will take a break after week 18 for the Jordan Cup Round of 16 as well as a friendly tourney that will group Syria, Iraq Oman and Jordan.

Furthermore, the JFA has been in discussions with Pro League clubs regarding the 2023 season which is set to kick off in June 2023. Shabab Urdun President Salim Kheir said he hoped the clubs would have a unified vision as to the new shape of competitions, but also underlined “the JFA needs to take note of financial constraints clubs have been facing since before the COVID pandemic and come up with the best scenario possible”.

In two of the 2022 competitions played so far, Faisali won the season opening 35th JFA Shield title when they beat Ramtha who in turn upset Jordan Cup holders Faisali 2-0 in the 39th Jordan Super Cup.

In the 2021 season, Ramtha won the League title for the third time in their history ending a 39-year drought. Newcomers to the Pro League, relatively unknown Jalil, overcame Wihdat to win the 34th JFA Shield. Wihdat beat one-time winners Jazira in the 38th Jordan Super Cup, while Faisali beat Salt to win the Jordan Cup. 

Since the league kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Ahli, Urdun and Homenetmen competing, Faisali are 34-time record league champs while Wihdat were champs 17 times since they joined in 1980.  Ahli won eight times, Ramtha and Jazira three times each, Shabab Urdun twice, Amman and Urdun clubs once each.

PARIS — Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland starred on Tuesday as Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City made winning starts in the Champions League group stage, but big-spending Chelsea suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away to Dinamo Zagreb.

Real Madrid rode their luck at times before demonstrating their class to kick off their title defence with a 3-0 win at Celtic despite the loss of Karim Benzema to injury.

Mbappe showed why PSG were so desperate to keep him at the end of last season when he seemed set to depart for Real by scoring both goals in PSG’s 2-1 victory at home to Juventus, to launch the French champions’ quest for the biggest prize in European club football.

“We played well and we got a win in a tremendous atmosphere at home,” Mbappe told Canal Plus.

“We always want to play against big teams — that’s why you play in the Champions League. It’s that sort of atmosphere we love; matches like this, in which you have to show character.”

The France forward volleyed Neymar’s delightful scoop past Mattia Perin in the fifth minute at the Parc des Princes before adding another brilliantly-worked goal midway through the first half.

Substitute Weston McKennie headed Juventus back into the game but PSG held on and are level with Benfica in Group H. The Portuguese side beat Maccabi Haifa 2-0 courtesy of goals from Rafa Silva and Alex Grimaldo.

Pep Guardiola has warned Haaland alone can not lead City to Champions League glory this season, but the Norway striker kept up his scintillating form for his new team with two goals in their 4-0 rout of Sevilla.

“He has an incredible sense of goal. We have incredible numbers in scoring goals, so we want to continue like that,” said Guardiola.

Having already scored 10 times in six Premier League outings, Haaland put City in front on 20 minutes in Spain as he poked in a Kevin De Bruyne cross.

Phil Foden doubled the lead on the hour before Haaland struck again. Ruben Dias bagged a fourth to compound the misery for a struggling Sevilla side.

Haaland faces a reunion next week with old club Borussia Dortmund, who eased to a 3-0 win over FC Copenhagen earlier in Group G.

First-half goals from Marco Reus and Raphael Guerreiro had the hosts cruising, with 19-year-old England international Jude Bellingham delivering a late third.

Scottish champions Celtic were left to rue not making the most of a bright start against Real in Glasgow as Callum McGregor rattled the post before the Spanish giants made their experience count.

Vinicius Junior, who grabbed the winning goal in last season’s final, opening the scoring on 56 minutes and Luka Modric soon doubled the advantage.

Eden Hazard, who came on for the ailing Benzema, netted his first goal for the club since January to seal victory.

“It was like two games, first half we suffered a bit with intensity, second half we had control,” Ancelotti told BT Sport.

“We were not surprised [with Celtic’s start]. We knew they could start really fast. We were lucky because they hit the post.”

Shakhtar Donetsk romped to a memorable 4-1 win over RB Leipzig in Germany in the other Group F game.

Shakhtar, who have not played in their home town since 2014, did not have any competitive matches this year until August 23 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

They have lost multiple key players since as FIFA allowed foreign players and coaches to suspend their contracts and leave the club.

Marian Shved scored twice on his full debut either side of Mohamed Simakan’s equaliser. Mykhaylo Mudryk and Lassina Traore made sure of the win for Shakhtar.

Chelsea made a miserable start to their Champions League campaign as Dinamo Zagreb ruined Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s debut.

Thomas Tuchel’s side were expected to cruise through Group E after being drawn with Dinamo, Red Bull Salzburg and AC Milan.

But their task might not be so simple after Mislav Orsic’s first-half strike punished the Blues for another sloppy display.

Having spent £250 million ($280 million) on new signings since the end of last season, Tuchel is under pressure to deliver silverware in return for that huge investment.

“We are clearly not there, where we need to be and where we can be. So it’s on me, it’s on us, we need to find solutions. At the moment, everything is missing,” said Tuchel.

Italian champions Milan began with a 1-1 draw at Salzburg as Alexis Saelemaekers cancelled out Noah Okafor’s opener for the hosts.

NEW YORK — Rafael Nadal fell to his earliest US Open loss in six years on Monday when he was knocked out by Frances Tiafoe while Carlos Alcaraz survived a five-set epic to reach a second successive quarterfinal in a tie which finished at 2:23am Tuesday.

Four-time US Open champion Nadal, bidding for a 23rd Grand Slam title, lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the last-16 to 26th-ranked Tiafoe.

The American’s big-hitting performance conjured up 18 aces and 49 winners past a sluggish Nadal.

For Australian and French Open champion Nadal, it was a first Grand Slam loss of 2022 after an abdominal strain forced him to forfeit his Wimbledon semi-final.

His defeat came just a day after World No. 1 and defending champion Daniil Medvedev was knocked out by Nick Kyrgios.

“I wasn’t able to push him back. Tennis is a sport of positions a lot of the time,” said 36-year-old Nadal.

“You need to be very quick and very young. I am not in that moment anymore.”

Tiafoe, 24, will face Andrey Rublev, who he defeated over five sets in the third round in 2021, for a place in the semifinals.

“I don’t know what to say, I’m so happy. He’s one of the greatest of all time and I played unbelievable tennis today,” said Tiafoe who had only previously reached one Slam quarterfinal in Australia in 2019.

“Something special happened today. Honestly when I first came on the scene I wasn’t ready for it mentally and mature enough.

“I’ve been able to develop and I have a great team around me. With you guys, it’s been great.”

Alcaraz defeated 2014 champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in a match which was just three minutes short of equalling the record for the latest finish at the tournament.

In a gruelling three-hour and 54-minute encounter, Cilic was under siege, having to save 12 of 18 break points while committing 66 unforced errors.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz, seeded three and seen as the title favourite after the elimination of Nadal, will face Jannik Sinner of Italy for a semifinal place.

Sinner holds a 2-1 advantage over Alcaraz with both wins coming this year at Wimbledon and Umag. 

“I believed in myself, it was pretty tough,” said Alcaraz.

“I was a break down in the fifth set. It was tough to come back after losing the fourth set.”

Italian 11th seed Sinner reached his third Slam quarterfinal of 2022 with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Ilya Ivashka of Belarus.

The pair served up 27 double faults between them and 119 unforced errors.

Seventh seed Rublev breezed past Cameron Norrie to reach the quarterfinals for the third time with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Swiatek history

Rublev, who also made the last-eight in New York in 2017 and 2020, will be playing in his sixth quarterfinal at the majors but has yet to progress further.

French Open champion and World No. 1 Iga Swiatek became the first woman to reach the US Open quarterfinals.

Swiatek recovered from a set and a break down to see off 108th-ranked German opponent Jule Niemeier, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

In a mistake-riddled clash on Louis Armstrong Court, there were a total of 15 double faults, 12 breaks of serve and 76 unforced errors.

“It’s really satisfying. This is my first quarter-final in New York so I am really proud of it,” said Swiatek.

Wimbledon quarterfinalist Niemeier hadn’t won a hardcourt match in her career before coming to New York.

However, she went into Monday’s match not having dropped a set and fired up to repeat her Wimbledon journey where she had also beaten World No. 2 Anett Kontaveit.

The 23-year-old from Dortmund swept through the opener and broke to lead 2-1 in the second set before Swiatek recovered to take control and reach her third Slam quarter-final of 2022.

Sabalenka stranglehold

Swiatek will face US eighth seed Jessica Pegula for a place in the semifinals.

It will be the pair’s third meeting this year with Swiatek coming out on top on both occasions in Miami and at the French Open.

Pegula became the second American woman into the last-eight after brushing aside two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-2.

World No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarter-finals for a second successive year with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins.

Sabalenka has now beaten the American in New York three times in the last five US Opens.

The Belarusian will face 2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova who downed three-time finalist Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2.

NEW YORK — Australia’s Nick Kyrgios sent defending champion Daniil Medvedev tumbling out of the US Open on Sunday as US teenager Coco Gauff reached the quarterfinals for the first time.

The notoriously temperamental 23rd-seeded Kyrgios produced some scintillating shot-making on his way to a superb 7-6 (13/11), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over the World No. 1 from Russia.

Kyrgios, who was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in July, showed grit and composure to save three set points in the opening set before holding his nerve to win an epic tie-break 13/11 before a raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.

Although Kyrgios dropped the second set, he roared back to dominate Medvedev in the third and fourth sets to clinch victory in 2hr 53min.

“It was an amazing match, obviously Daniil as the defending champion had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, but I’ve been playing amazing the last couple of months,” Kyrgios said after the win.

“What a place to do it — packed house in New York. I’m extremely blessed.”

Medvedev, meanwhile, said the mercurial Kyrgios had elevated his play to the same level as great such as Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.

“Nick today played kind of at the level of Novak and Rafa,” said the 26-year-old after seeing 21 aces and 53 winners whizz past him.

“If he plays like this until the end of the tournament, he has all the chances to win it.”

Kyrgios will face Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Khachanov equalled his best performance in a Grand Slam event by defeating Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in a 3hr 21min five-set thriller.

The 27th-seeded Khachanov dug deep to down Carreno Busta 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 on the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Elsewhere in the fourth round on Sunday, fifth seed Casper Ruud became the first Norwegian man to reach the US Open quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 victory over French lucky loser Corentin Moutet.

The 23-year-old Ruud, seeded fifth, will face Italy’s Matteo Berrettini for a place in the semifinals.

Berrettini extended his impressive run of recent Grand Slam singles performances with a 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 defeat of Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The 26-year-old from Rome missed Wimbledon earlier this year after testing positive for Covid-19, and was injured for the French Open.

But Berrettini has now made the quarterfinals or better in the last five Grand Slams he has played in after Sunday’s win. 

“It’s not a secret for me the Slams are the goal of the season,” he said. 

“I think it proves that my level is high in Slams ... I play my best tennis in the most important stages of the tour.”

In the women’s draw meanwhile, rising American star Gauff kept home hopes alive with a battling 7-5, 7-5 win over China’s Zhang Shuai on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 18-year-old 12th seed will now play France’s in-form Caroline Garcia for a place in the semifinals.

Garcia, the World No. 17, has emerged as a dark horse in New York despite a modest record in Grand Slams. 

The 28-year-old reached her only other Grand Slam last-eight on home ground at Roland Garros five years ago.

But she arrived in New York brimming with confidence after claiming the Cincinnati Masters lead-in event, and so far at the Open has yet to drop a set.

Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic followed up her victory over Serena Williams with another battling display to reach the quarterfinals. 

Tomljanovic — who knocked out tennis icon Williams in the third round on Friday — advanced to the last eight with a 7-6 (10/8), 6-1 victory over Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova.

“The fact that I won, I’m still a little speechless,” Tomljanovic said after her win.

The 29-year-old World No. 46 will play Tunisia’s fifth-seed Ons Jabeur in the quarters.

Jabeur, who became the first African woman to reach the final at Wimbledon in July, secured the first US Open quarterfinal appearance of her career with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win over Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova.

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — World champion and runaway series leader Max Verstappen made the most of his unerring speed and reliability, and the chaotic teamwork of his rivals, to claim a dramatic victory for Red Bull in his home Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Dutchman took full advantage of his team’s cool decision-making, as Mercedes and Ferrari appeared to make flustered choices in the heat of the moment, to come home 4.071 seconds ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

For several laps in the closing stages, it appeared that seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton might win until a late Safety Car resulted in him being left out on worn tyres by Mercedes, as Verstappen and Russell took softs. 

Exposed and unable to defend his position Hamilton was furious, but the sea of 105,000 ebullient fans packed into the Zandvoort circuit revelled in their hero’s good fortune as he passed Hamilton and pulled clear to claim a second successive Dutch triumph, a fourth consecutive win and his 10th of the season.

“It wasn’t straightforward, but we pushed and we made the right calls,” said Verstappen. 

“It’s worked out really well and it’s always special to win at home.”

As the forbidden flares and fireworks were lit and smoke spilled across the track, Hamilton came home fourth ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.

In a race punctuated by interruptions and influenced heavily by strategic decisions related to tyre-wear, it was Red Bull’s exploitation of their opportunity that gave Verstappen his 30th career win while, for Hamilton, it seemed defeat had been clutched from the jaws of victory. 

Verstappen now has 309 points ahead of Leclerc and Perez on 201 in the championship, making it possible for him to take his second drivers’ crown in Singapore on October 2.

Hamilton anguish

Verstappen who cut across from his 17th pole position to lead into the first corner followed by Leclerc and Sainz, who resisted a bruising charge from Hamilton.

On the tight track, with such a short lap, the action was intense. Leclerc pushed to stay in touch with the flying Dutchman, but by lap 12 was 1.7 seconds adrift with Sainz a further eight seconds down, ahead of Hamilton.

Sainz came in after 15 laps, taking mediums, along with Perez. 

“Oh my God”, said Sainz as his crew searched for an errant left-rear tyre. His stop cost 12 seconds and left Hamilton third ahead of Russell. Sainz re-joined 11th.

Leclerc’s stop was a much smoother affair for Ferrari and he was followed by Verstappen. Hamilton took the lead ahead of Russell, the ‘silver arrows’ making the most of their choice of medium tyres.

Verstappen showed pace in pursuit of the Mercedes’ pair, running one and two for the first time this year, as the Alpines also impressed.

To the delight of the “orange army”, Verstappen swept round Russell at Turn One on lap 27 to chase old foe Hamilton, who pitted at the end of lap 29 for “hards”, re-joining fifth.

Russell pitted after 31 laps for ‘hards’ and re-joined fifth behind Hamilton.

The Mercedes men traded fastest laps before Hamilton swept past Perez at the second attempt on the banked final corner.

Sainz and Leclerc pitted again, for hards, the Monegasque re-joining fourth behind Russell before a bizarre intervention when Yuki Tsunoda, after two stops, retired his Alpha Tauri.

A Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed triggering another rash of stops.

Verstappen took hards, both Mercedes took mediums and the racing resumed on lap 50. 

“Let’s go guys”, said Hamilton praising his team’s double-stacked stop before realising he was second, 12 seconds behind the champion.

“That VSC has stuffed us,” said Hamilton, knowing that instead of Verstappen having to pass him, it was he who had to pass the Dutchman with 18 laps to go.

A full Safety Car was then deployed when Valtteri Bottas parked his Alfa Romeo at the Turn One entry, prompting Red Bull to pit Verstappen again for softs, a move that put the Mercedes first and second again.

Racing resumed on lap 60, with 12 to go, and on his worn, cold medium tyres Hamilton had no defence as Verstappen, taking a tow, cruised past to lead again.

Hamilton vented his understandable anguish in an expletive-laden team radio message at seeing a great chance to win snatched away. 

“Why am I the only guy not out here on softs?” he asked.

Russell flew by a lap later and Leclerc too, on lap 66, leaving him fourth as the party started.