Sports

BARCELONA — Gerard Pique bowed out at Camp Nou on an emotional night as Barcelona beat Almeria 2-0 to move top of La Liga, despite missing several clear chances on Saturday.

This was the 35-year-old defender’s last home game for the club, whom he has played for 616 times, and the World Cup winner will retire from football after Tuesday’s visit to Osasuna.

Goals from Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong allowed Pique to go out in style in front of the home fans as Barcelona eased two points clear of Real Madrid, who visit Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

A giant banner was draped over the centre-circle bearing the message “Sempr3” — a play on “always” in Catalan and Pique’s shirt number — as he led the team out wearing the captain’s armband, instead of Sergio Busquets.

Whistles from recent weeks because of Pique’s struggles turned to cheers every time he touched the ball, as fans paid their respect to a club legend and arguably their best ever central defender.

“Sometimes loving is letting go,” Pique told supporters in a tearful speech after the game.

“I am sure in the future I will be back here again. It’s not a goodbye.

“I left after 17 years to get some air. My grandfather made me a club member. I was born here and I will die here. Visca Barca.”

Pique, who won 30 trophies with the cub over 14 years since re-joining from Manchester United, lined up in a makeshift defence featuring three left-backs.

Jordi Alba played in his natural position, while Alejandro Balde started at right back and Marcos Alonso at centre-back, as Barcelona wait for their injured defenders to return.

Missed chances

Barcelona had the chance to go ahead early on when they were awarded a soft penalty for a handball by Kaiky, but Lewandowski scuffed his effort wide, off the outside of the post.

Fans had called for Pique to take the penalty, but the defender appeared to turn the opportunity down and left the league’s top goalscorer, and player of the month for October, with the ball.

Almeria created an opportunity of their own when Largie Ramazani broke through and Marc-Andre ter Stegen rushed out to deny him, while Gonzalo Melero cleared a Ferran Torres effort off the line.

Then the Barcelona winger, when well placed to shoot himself, generously crossed for Dembele.

The French international inexplicably headed straight at Almeria goalkeeper Fernando Martinez with the rest of the goal gaping.

Dembele finally grabbed the opener early in the second half, dribbling in from the right wing and then slotting home superbly.

Minutes later he had another huge chance but after dribbling around goalkeeper Fernando, refused to pull the trigger, and the recovering defence managed to stifle Dembele before he got a shot away.

Ansu Fati, on as a substitute, should have scored himself but fired straight at Fernando from Alba’s fine cross, but De Jong was on hand to turn home the rebound.

Pique received an ovation as he was replaced in the final stages, embracing each of his teammates on the pitch and blowing kisses to supporters before departing.

The game continued, virtually unnoticed, as Camp Nou paid homage to Pique by chanting his name as he hugged Barca coach Xavi, the substitutes and the staff.

“It was a historic night and complete for everyone, especially for Gerard,” Xavi told DAZN.

“We had a great game, we wanted to say goodbye to him in the best way possible.

“The bigger the game is for him, the bigger he plays. I have already said he is a Barca legend and we are very grateful to him.”

Earlier an impressive Chimy Avila brace helped Osasuna win 2-1 at Celta Vigo and climb provisionally fifth, continuing their strong start to the season. It was a disappointing start to life at Balaidos for new Celta coach Carlos Carvalhal.

PARIS — Danish teenager Holger Rune defeated the in-form Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the first Masters final of his career in Paris.

Rune avenged his loss to Auger-Aliassime in last weekend's final in Basel. He will take on defending champion Novak Djokovic for the title in the French capital.

"I lost to Felix last week in two sets, beat him this week in two sets. I learned a lot from last week, and trying to do a lot differently today. I'm super happy that it worked," said Rune.

The 19-year-old is through to his fourth successive final. He beat Tsitsipas to lift the trophy in Stockholm last month after finishing as the runner-up in Sofia.

"You're always a bit more nervous when it's the final because it's so close to winning the tournament," said Rune.

"It's going to be super tough... For me it's just really about playing my game because that's what can get me the closest to winning tomorrow."

A quarter-finalist at this year's French Open, Rune collected his fourth straight victory over a top-10 player this week by ending Auger-Aliassime's 16-match winning run.

The Canadian was attempting to become the first man to win four tournaments in as many weeks since Ivan Lendl swept five over a five-week span in 1981.

Auger-Aliassime paid the price for a hesitant swinging volley after a gentle looping return from Rune as he conceded the lone break in the third game of the opening set.

Rune then broke the eighth seed twice in succession to start the second set, inflicting a first defeat on Auger-Aliassime since his first-round loss at the Astana Open a month ago.

Having arrived in Paris with just three wins at the Masters level, Rune began his run to the final by saving three match points to beat three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in the first round.

He then took down Hubert Hurkacz followed by Andrey Rublev before seeing off Carlos Alcaraz as the World No. 1 retired with injury while trailing by a set on Friday.

"Often it's like this. You're on the edge to lose and then you go deep in the tournament. Hopefully I can go all the way," said Rune.

Rune is set to climb to a new career high of 12th after reaching the final. He will break into the top 10 for the first time if he wins the title.

Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending seventh Paris crown and 39th Masters triumph.

He has won the past eight meetings with Tsitsipas and leads 9:2 in head to head meetings. Tsitsipas made his first semifinal appearance at this event.

The Greek fifth seed has a tour-leading 60 wins this season. He has reached seven finals in 2022 which is joint most alongside Alcaraz.

LOS ANGELES — The Brooklyn Nets shook off controversy and eased to a 128-86 NBA victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday in their first game since star guard Kyrie Irving was suspended.

Kevin Durant came up just shy of a triple double, delivering 28 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.

Nic Claxton added 18 points for the Nets, who notched just their third victory of a young season that has already seen plenty of turmoil.

The Nets sacked head coach Steve Nash on Tuesday, and suspended Irving for at least five games on Friday — a week after he sparked a firestorm with a social media post featuring a link to a film widely condemned as anti-Semitic.

Hours after the suspension was announced Irving did apologise via Instagram, but the fallout continued on Friday as Nike suspended its relationship with him and cancelled the upcoming launch of his Kyrie 8 signature shoe.

"Let's put the joy back in basketball," Nets owner Joe Tsai said in a tweet after the victory.

Durant certainly did all he could in that direction, shining in his hometown of Washington where the margin of defeat was the largest at home in Wizards history.

Up by 12 at halftime, the Nets roared out of the gate in the third quarter and out-scored the Wizards 59-29 in the second half.

"We just continued to move the basketball all night. Everybody touched it, everybody got to the paint and was able to generate some good offence," Durant said.

"That's how we want to play moving forward," added Durant, whose highlights included a wicked crossover dribble that brought Wizards centre Daniel Gaffort to the floor in the first quarter.

A change of look didn't change the fortunes of reigning NBA champions Golden State, who fell 114-105 to the Pelicans in New Orleans for a fifth straight defeat.

Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all sat out as Warriors coach Steve Kerr made good on his assertion that he was "willing to play anybody" in a bid to turn things around.

Youngsters Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome kept it close, but couldn't get over the hump against a Pelicans team led by Brandon Ingram's 26 points.

The Los Angeles Lakers also lost again as Lauri Markkanen scored 27 points to lead the surprising Utah Jazz to a 130-116 victory.

Jordan Clarkson added 20 points and Kelly Olynyk scored 18 for the Jazz, who improved to 7-3.

Russell Westbrook had 28 points and six assists off the bench for Los Angeles, who fell to 2-6. LeBron James, who has been battling flu and a sore left foot, had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Lakers coach Darvin Ham called the game a "huge step backward", pointing to lackluster defense that saw the Jazz score 75 points in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks kept rolling, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-102 to improve to 8-0, the best start in franchise history.

Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo had his 30th career triple double with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists and Jrue Holiday scored 29 points for the Bucks, the only unbeaten team remaining.

Doncic milestone 

In Dallas, Luka Doncic scored 35 points as the Mavericks held off the Toronto Raptors 111-110.

The Serbian star notched his eighth straight game and joined NBA great Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to score 30 or more in eight or more straight games to start a season.

Chamberlain did it twice — including his run of 23 games with 30 or more to start the 1962-63 season.

The New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and Portland Trail Blazers also pulled out narrow victories. The Knicks edged the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers 106-104, the Pacers held off the Miami Heat 101-99 and the Blazers downed the Phoenix Suns 108-106.

Despite the absence of ailing Joel Embiid and injured James Harden, the Sixers led by 12 early in the fourth quarter but they couldn't resist the Knicks rally.

Portland's Jerami Grant was the hero in Phoenix, where his season-high 30 points included the buzzer-beating game winner.

PARIS — AC Milan reached the Champions League knock-out stage for the first time in nine years on Wednesday with a 4-0 victory over Salzburg, while RB Leipzig also qualified by thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk.

Paris Saint-Germain will be the team group winners want to avoid in Monday’s last-16 draw after missing out on top spot in Group H despite a 2-1 win at Juventus, as Benfica hammered Maccabi Haifa 6-1 to snatch first place on total away goals.

Seven-time European champions Milan knew a point would be enough to send them into the last 16 for the first time since the 2013-14 season after a group-stage exit last term.

“These kinds of nights is what we wish for,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli told Sky Sport.

“We wanted to show we improved compared to last season in the Champions League. We’re ambitious now, so let’s see what happens next.”

Pioli’s side eased any nerves at the San Siro inside 14 minutes as Olivier Giroud headed home.

Milan’s return to the knockouts was all but confirmed less than a minute after half-time when Giroud headed the ball across goal for Rade Krunic to nod past Philipp Kohn in the Salzburg goal.

Giroud added his second before the hour mark, allowing the home fans the opportunity to celebrate for the remainder of the match and Junior Messias added further gloss to the scoreline in added time.

Milan qualified from Group E in second place behind Chelsea, who came from behind to beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 at Stamford Bridge with goals from Raheem Sterling and debutant Denis Zakaria.

Leipzig also only needed to avoid defeat to go through against Ukrainians Shakhtar in Warsaw.

Shakhtar, playing their home matches in Poland and having seen most of their foreign players leave due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had stunned Leipzig 4-1 in their Group F opener.

But the Bundesliga side were too strong after Christopher Nkunku’s early strike left Shakhtar with a mountain to climb.

Andre Silva and Dominik Szoboszlai netted in the second period and Dani Olmo’s shot was deflected into his own net by Valeriy Bondar to wrap up a 4-0 win.

“I’m really proud of the team. We didn’t start well in this Champions League campaign, but we put in a solid performance today and are really happy to be through,” Leipzig forward Emil Forsberg told DAZN.

Holders Real Madrid secured first place in the group by hammering Scottish champions Celtic 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Luka Modric and Rodrygo both scored penalties awarded for handball in the opening stages, before Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved Josip Juranovic’s spot-kick.

Second-half goals from Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde completed the rout despite Jota’s late consolation for Celtic who finished bottom.

Karim Benzema also made his return from injury as a substitute to complete a good night for Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

Benfica snatch first 

from PSG

PSG lost top spot in Group H despite Nuno Mendes’ 69th-minute winner in Turin as Benfica scored five goals in the second half at Maccabi.

Kylian Mbappe’s brilliant individual effort put PSG in front, before Leonardo Bonucci dragged already-eliminated Juventus level.

Mendes scored only a minute after coming off the bench, but late drama in Israel saw PSG slip to second.

Possible last-16 opponents for the Qatari-owned club include 14-time champions Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and in-form Napoli.

“It doesn’t matter, we qualified... We’ll watch the draw and we’ll play to win,” Mbappe told RMC Sport.

Three goals in 14 minutes in the second half gave Benfica hope of matching PSG’s goal difference and pipping them on away goals.

It appeared as though the Portuguese would come up two short, but Henrique Araujo scored in the 88th minute and Joao Mario struck in injury time to complete the job.

Juventus will drop into the Europa League after finishing third despite losing five of their six group matches.

Manchester City came from behind to round off their Group G campaign with a 3-1 win over Sevilla at the Etihad.

Rafa Mir gave the Spaniards the lead, but 17-year-old full-back Rico Lewis fired City level. Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez sealed the match.

Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Copenhagen.

NEW YORK — Zach LaVine produced a fourth-quarter scoring blitz as the Chicago Bulls piled on the misery for the crisis-hit Brooklyn Nets with a 108-99 win on Tuesday.

A tumultuous day that began with Brooklyn’s sacking of head coach Steve Nash ended with the Nets blowing a 12-point third-quarter lead as Chicago surged to victory at the Barclays Centre.

Interim coach Jacque Vaughn took over on the sidelines for the Nets, but could only watch in dismay as Brooklyn wilted in the fourth quarter once again.

Chicago outscored the Nets 31-19 in the fourth quarter, with LaVine raining down 20 points in the final frame to finish with 29 points, including five assists and four rebounds.

DeMar DeRozan provided offensive support with 20 points while Goran Dragic added 15 and Patrick Williams 12. Ayo Dosunmu added 17 points from the bench.

The Nets meanwhile saw Kevin Durant tally 32 points with nine rebounds and six assists while Royce O’Neale chipped in with 20 points. Yuta Watanabe and Nic Claxton added 10 points apiece.

Kyrie Irving had a frustrating night for Brooklyn, finishing with four points after shooting just 2-of-12 from the field.

Durant admitted afterward that Nash’s abrupt dismissal earlier Tuesday had been on his mind in the hours before the game, revealing that he had first learned of it on television.

“I woke up from my nap and turned to my right and saw it on ESPN,” Durant said. “I was shocked. You’re always shocked when a move like this happens, but it’s normal in the NBA.

“So you just get ready for the game. It’s a quick turnaround in the league so you can’t think too much about it — but it was on my mind for a little bit today.”

‘I liked Steve’

Durant — who requested a trade from Brooklyn in the offseason before later issuing an ultimatum to replace Nash or let him go — insisted he had a good relationship with the dismissed coach.

“I liked working with Steve, I liked the coaching staff,” Durant said. 

“It was a roller coaster last few years but the core of it — the basketball — is something we all loved to do. I enjoyed coming to work with Steve.

“We didn’t have a healthy team, and we didn’t play well. That’s what happens in the league. It doesn’t take away from Steve’s basketball IQ, or how he teaches the game. It just didn’t work out.”

Brooklyn fell to 2-6 with the defeat and are languishing near the foot of the Eastern Conference while Chicago improved to 4-4, snapping a two-game losing streak.

In other games on Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors slumped to a third straight loss with a 116-109 defeat to the Miami Heat in Florida.

A back-and-forth game saw nine lead changes before Miami finally pulled clear in the closing stages of the fourth quarter to claim a win that leaves the NBA champion Warriors at 3-5 for the season.

Max Strus led the Miami scoring with 24 points while Jimmy Butler added 23 with six rebounds and eight assists.

Stephen Curry had a triple double for the Warriors, with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists but it was not enough to drag Golden State over the line.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr took positives from his team’s performance despite the loss.

“I thought we played well enough to win but we didn’t close it out,” Kerr said. “I give Miami credit, they stifled us in the last five minutes. We knew they were going to be competitive, and we got their best punch in that fourth quarter. 

“We just couldn’t close the deal.”

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns notched their fifth straight victory with a 116-107 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Arizona, thanks to 29 points from Cameron Johnson.

PARIS — Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored a 95th-minute winner as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 and reach the Champions League knockout stage on Tuesday, where they were joined by Eintracht Frankfurt after their victory at Sporting Lisbon.

Liverpool ended Napoli’s unbeaten start to the season with a 2-0 success at Anfield, but the Italian club did enough to finish top of Group A.

Atletico Madrid crashed out of Europe altogether with a loss to Porto, while Bayern Munich made it six wins from six matches by beating Inter Milan.

At a raucous Velodrome, Tottenham knew they would progress if they could avoid defeat by Marseille, although manager Antonio Conte had to watch from the stands after being red-carded in last week’s dramatic draw with Sporting.

Spurs were camped inside their own half for the majority of the first period and fell behind just before the break when Chancel Mbemba headed in Jordan Veretout’s cross after a quickly-taken corner.

The Premier League side were much improved after the restart and Clement Lenglet glanced in a 54th-minute equaliser.

Former Arsenal left-back Sead Kolasinac nodded a glorious late opportunity to send Marseille through wide.

He was made to pay as Hojbjerg struck on the counter as Spurs snatched top spot in the group and denied Marseille the consolation of a Europa League place.

“I just spoke with Antonio. He’s tired because to watch from the crowd is not normal,” Tottenham assistant coach Cristian Stellini told BT Sport. “He wasted a lot of energy.”

That Hojbjerg goal pushed Eintracht, who also won 2-1, down into second in Group D and kept Sporting in European competition.

Like Tottenham, Sporting only needed a point to qualify and they forged ahead six minutes before half-time as Arthur Gomes volleyed home at the back post.

But Frankfurt, playing in the competition for the first time since losing the 1960 European Cup final to Real Madrid, did not give up and Daichi Kamada scored a 62nd-minute penalty awarded for handball.

Randal Kolo Muani provided the winning moment, latching onto Ansgar Knauff’s hooked pass and hammering the ball into the far corner.

The players celebrated wildly on the pitch after the Europa League titleholders’ latest European exploit, with Sporting coach Ruben Amorim left looking stunned on the touchline.

“We didn’t start well at the beginning of the game,” said Frankfurt midfielder Sebastian Rode.

“But we are a comeback team, we gave everything in the second half and deservedly make the next round.”

Liverpool down Napoli

Liverpool brought an end to Napoli’s 21-game unbeaten run but could not win by four goals to take first place.

Both teams were already assured of a knockout-phase berth.

Liverpool put Saturday’s surprise Premier League home loss to Leeds behind them, as late goals from Mohamed Salah, scoring in a fifth straight Champions League game, and Darwin Nunez gained a measure of revenge for the 4-1 loss in Naples in September.

“I would have really enjoyed the game even without the goals,” Reds manager Jurgen Klopp said.

“We showed tonight a reaction. Being compact makes all the difference.”

Ajax saw off Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox to inflict a sixth straight defeat in Group A on the Scottish giants.

Earlier, Atletico failed to finish third in Group B and drop into the Europa League as a 2-1 loss at Porto saw Bayer Leverkusen take third thanks to their goalless draw at Club Brugge.

Atletico, the 2014 and 2016 runners-up, were beaten by early goals from Mehdi Taremi and Stephen Eustaquio despite Ivan Marcano’s stoppage-time own goal.

Bayern finished with a 100-per cent record by seeing off Inter 2-0 at the Allianz Arena in Group C.

Benjamin Pavard headed home a corner and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting crashed in his seventh goal in six games.

Barcelona’s bitterly disappointing tournament came to an end with a 4-2 victory at bottom club Viktoria Plzen.

Barca will have to settle with being one of the favourites to win the Europa League.

“We’re one of the candidates, the Europa League is looking like a good competition, the objective is to reach the end and win it, compete for it,” said coach Xavi Hernandez.

Ferran Torres scored a brace, with Marcos Alonso and teenage midfielder Pablo Torre also on target.

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — As Manchester United defender Raphael Varane left the field in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea, the Frenchman’s face sank into his shirt to hide his tears from the cameras.

Within seconds of pulling up at Stamford Bridge, Varane was aware his appearance at the World Cup was in jeopardy.

The former Real Madrid centre-back may have got lucky, with an initial diagnosis of a small hamstring tear giving him a chance of making it to Qatar.

Many more have not been so fortunate.

N’Golo Kante will not feature in France’s defence of the tournament.

Uruguay will be without Ronald Araujo and Portugal shorn of Diogo Jota.

Germany have concerns over the fitness of Bayern Munich duo Manuel Neuer and Leroy Sane.

Meanwhile, England manager Gareth Southgate’s prediction of a catalogue of injuries for the Three Lions is proving prescient with Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips major doubts.

“What see is a really packed schedule now with a lot of players playing a lot of minutes,” said Southgate earlier this month.

“I think realistically we will lose more. It’s so intense, and the players are playing so much football.”

No time to prepare

The uprooting of football’s traditional calendar to fit in a first ever mid-season World Cup has resulted in fixture congestion at club level and little time to prepare for international managers.

Europe’s major leagues will pause just a week before the World Cup kicks off on November 20.

To make space in the schedule, the group stages of European club competitions were squeezed into two-month period.

As a result, many clubs will have played 13 times in 42 days before the World Cup break.

“I am pretty sure they have one eye on the World Cup,” said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

“Now it is just two or three weeks before the end, so it is the last effort.

“I always say the best way to not get injured is to be focused and give your maximum in the game. When you lose the attention is when you are at risk.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp claimed his players remain “1000 per cent” committed to the cause at club level.

But Klopp has pointed to injuries and players playing too often in a short timeframe as the major factor behind his side’s wretched start to the season.

“With the amount of games we have some players are overplayed,” said the German after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Leeds.

Heading into the final games of the Champions League group stage this week there are four places in the last 16 still up for grabs.

Many more games have top spot in the group or a place in the Europa League in the new year on the line.

But the fixture pile-up leaves both countries wounded by the loss of stars for what should be football’s marquee event, and clubs wary of players protecting themselves to be fit for the World Cup.

“It is a very intense period of the season with too many games in my opinion,” said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

For those headed to the Middle East, there is no let-up once in Qatar either.

Most sides face playing their three group games in just eight days.

According to a report earlier this year by global players’ union FIFPro, 54 per cent of players said they had suffered an injury due to schedule overload, while 82 per cent of coaches said they observed mental health issues in players caused by playing too many games.

But player welfare has been forgotten as governing bodies, national associations and clubs all fight for their slice of the pie from football’s commercial appeal.

MEXICO CITY — Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed a record 14th victory of the Formula One season by winning the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday.

World champion Verstappen finished a comfortable 15.186 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes while Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished third on home soil.

It was the second win inside a week for Dutchman Verstappen, who also triumphed at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Verstappen has now beaten the record previously held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel for the most wins in a single season.

“It has been an incredible year so far, we are definitely enjoying it and we’ll try to go for more [victories],” said Verstappen.

Hamilton lamented his team’s decision to choose medium and then hard tyre compounds while Verstappen went from softs to medium.

“I was close in the first stint, but the Red Bulls were too fast today and they probably had the right tyre strategy,” Hamilton said.

Perez was cheered loudly by a sell-out crowd.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out today, but it is great to get third place here and be on the podium,” Perez said.

George Russell finished a frustrated fourth for Mercedes, but clocked the fastest lap ahead of the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, both unable to find the pace to make any impact on the leading quartet.

Daniel Ricciardo was seventh for McLaren, after a mid-race collision for which he was given a 10-second time penalty, ahead of Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Lando Norris in the second McLaren and Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo.

As the lights went out, Verstappen made a near-perfect start from pole position while, behind him, Hamilton fought his way past Russell to take second.

To the delight of his fans, Perez also passed Russell to take third.

After lap one, the Dutchman held a lead of 1.39 seconds which he gently extended to 1.6 by lap 10 and 2.2 by lap 20 as the leaders ran in consistent formation, the race only punctuated by Stroll taking the first pit stop on lap 18.

Verstappen reported his soft tyres were deteriorating shortly before Perez came in after 23 laps to switch from soft to medium compounds, but his stop was hampered by a sticky rear wheel change and took five seconds.

He re-joined sixth.

Two laps later, Verstappen came in and out in 2.5 seconds, passing the lead to Hamilton, who was 5.5 seconds clear of Russell as the Dutchman re-joined third behind him.

Hamilton came in on lap 30 to switch to hards and re-joined third, Russell taking over as leader until lap 35, when he also pitted to take hard tyres. He came back in fourth and the leading group were back as they had been.

Tyre turmoil

“This tyre is not as good as the medium,” Hamilton said on team radio, prompting Mercedes to reply suggesting it would last longer than the medium, as taken by Red Bull.

Hamilton, however, was struggling for grip and impatient as he slipped 9.5 seconds adrift of the champion with Perez, third and pressing, only 1.9 seconds behind.

By lap 40, both Mercedes men were grumbling in unison about the hard tyre’s lack of performance.

Verstappen extended his lead to more than 10 seconds by lap 50, but Hamilton clung on.

“Are we on the wrong tyre?” Hamilton asked his team. “No, Lewis, we think we’re on the right tyre and it’ll get to the end. No sweat,” replied his race engineer, Pete Bonnington.

With six laps to go, Mercedes’ hard tyre gamble appeared to have failed when two-time champion Fernando Alonso pulled off at turn one in his Alpine.

It was a brief pause without any pitstops, leaving Russell frustrated in his requests for new rubber.

“Stay out,” said Mercedes, only relenting on lap 70 to give him a chance to go for fastest lap

Red Bull have already claimed the constructors’ championship.