Category News

McLaren’s title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri struggled in first practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace.

Norris and Piastri ended the session on a dusty track in sixth and eighth places after a series of off-track moments.

Norris was 0.456 seconds slower than Leclerc, who headed Williams’ Alex Albon by 0.166secs.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz was fifth, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took seventh with his final lap of the session. Mercedes’ George Russell was ninth, ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Norris took to the escape road at Turn 14 at the end of Las Vegas’ famous Strip twice on consecutive laps as he fought to find pace in his McLaren.

He also hit the wall early in the session, although he escaped without damaging the car.

Piastri, 24 points behind the Briton at the head of the championship, had his off-track moment at Turns Eight and Nine around the Sphere.

The Australian was 0.192secs slower than Norris, continuing the performance trend between the two in most recent races.

Norris has gained 58 points on Piastri in the past six races, to take control of the season and put himself within sniffing distance of the championship.

Leclerc was quick all session, but Hamilton ended up 0.759secs behind his team-mate.

The session is unlikely to be representative of the rest of the weekend as the track is so dirty and will improve as the sessions tick by.

McLaren’s title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri struggled in first practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace.

Norris and Piastri ended the session on a dusty track in sixth and eighth places after a series of off-track moments.

Norris was 0.456 seconds slower than Leclerc, who headed Williams’ Alex Albon by 0.166secs.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz was fifth, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took seventh with his final lap of the session. Mercedes’ George Russell was ninth, ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Norris took to the escape road at Turn 14 at the end of Las Vegas’ famous Strip twice on consecutive laps as he fought to find pace in his McLaren.

He also hit the wall early in the session, although he escaped without damaging the car.

Piastri, 24 points behind the Briton at the head of the championship, had his off-track moment at Turns Eight and Nine around the Sphere.

The Australian was 0.192secs slower than Norris, continuing the performance trend between the two in most recent races.

Norris has gained 58 points on Piastri in the past six races, to take control of the season and put himself within sniffing distance of the championship.

Leclerc was quick all session, but Hamilton ended up 0.759secs behind his team-mate.

The session is unlikely to be representative of the rest of the weekend as the track is so dirty and will improve as the sessions tick by.

Germany completed a remarkable comeback to beat Argentina in a thrilling doubles decider and set up a Davis Cup semi-final against Spain.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz saved three match points in a final-set tie-break to overcome Horacio Zeballos and Andres Molteni 4-6 6-4 7-6 (12-10) in a gruelling contest lasting two hours and 31 minutes.

Argentina had put the first point on the board when world number 60 Tomas Etcheverry hit 23 aces to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7) in a high-quality encounter.

But world number three Alexander Zverev launched Germany’s recovery, beating world number 21 Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to force the deciding doubles.

Zverev, the only top 10 singles player competing in the Davis Cup this week, was not at his best but a brilliant tie-break performance kept Germany’s hopes of progressing to a second straight semi-final alive.

Those hopes were on their way to being extinguished when Zeballos and Molteni dominated the opening set of the doubles rubber.

But Krawietz and Puetz, who have three Grand Slam doubles titles between them, took the second set before a stalemate in the decider sent the match to a tie-break.

The Germans missed four match points, including three in a row, in an astonishing tie-break before clinching victory with the fifth.

“Incredible. There’s not many matches you play in your career like that,” said Puetz. “It feels better to win in the end but what a great match and a great Davis Cup tie.”

Not since their title-winning 1993 campaign have three-time champions Germany reached the final of the tournament.

Earlier on Thursday, Spain brushed aside the absence of Carlos Alcaraz to come from behind and beat the Czech Republic 2-1 and move one step closer to a first title in six years.

A “heartbroken” Alcaraz pulled out of Spain’s squad for the Finals on Tuesday after the new world number one was advised not to compete because of swelling in his right hamstring.

In the absence of their talisman, things started shakily for the Spanish team after the big-serving Jakub Mensik – with 20 aces – defeated Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5 6-4.

World number 36 Jaume Munar, with his first singles win at the Davis Cup, took the tie to the deciding doubles with an impressive 6-3 6-4 victory over US Open quarter-finalist and world number 17 Jiri Lehecka.

The Czechs were left to rue their missed opportunities in a two-hour tussle, having held a 4-1 lead and three set points in the first-set tie-break, while two further set-point chances were missed in the one in the second set.

Former doubles world number one Granollers said: “We are really happy that we fought hard for all of the team. We believed and here we are in the semi-finals.

“Last year was difficult for us [exiting in the quarter-finals] but we know this competition is very difficult. We can see here how good the teams are. We have a young team but we are still alive.”