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Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia

Jeddah Dates: 18-20 April Start time for the race: 18:00 BST on Sunday

Lando Norris says he is “on the right track” for the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia after setting the pace in Friday practice.

The Briton led teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.16 seconds on a day that was hampered by a Yuki Tsunoda crash.

At the end of the second session, the Japanese, who had previously raced in two races this season, clipped the inside wall and was thrown into the wall on the outside.

McLaren once more appeared to have an edge over the competition: Max Verstappen from Red Bull finished the day third fastest, at least on one-lap pace, 0.280secs ahead of Norris’ best.

He claimed he had been working hard to improve his confidence while driving on the fast-paced Jeddah street track.

A respectable first day, Norris declared. Because of how fast it moves, how many walls, and how many near-misses it causes, everything feels chaotic around here.

“Today, I’ve been working more on myself and my driving than probably on the car.” gaining more self-assurance.

“A good place to start, productive, and empowering. On the right path, from what I wanted to learn today.

We are confident, in my opinion, but the rest are not far behind. I had hoped for a bigger gap than it did today, probably. We are quick, after all. We are confident in our vehicle. Not as cozy as we would like.

Piastri once said, “I’ve been feeling pretty good and the car is moving.” I’ve made a few cuts, which I need to make better use of tomorrow.

Verstappen finished third overall, but the Dutchman was behind Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of race pace both during the first and second sessions.

The four-time champion said, “We tried some different things, trying to find maybe a different direction, and we came away with a lot.”

Still, not where I wanted to be. You have to move away from what you feel in the car, I don’t really look at the gaps. Although it is slightly better over a lap, our long runs were still very challenging.

Leclerc finished the day 0.48 seconds slower than Norris, but he did not finish the day with a clean lap on the day’s quickest soft tires.

The championship leaders’ advantage appeared bigger than ever at any race this season, despite the fact that he and Russell appeared the closest thing to a McLarens’ challenge on a race run.

A challenging day, Leclerc declared. It’s a very difficult track, and at best, one’s confidence must be very high.

We changed a lot about the car, but it turned out to be very positive because I learned a lot. I believe that once we adjust the window, the vehicle will experience a little more performance.

Lewis Hamilton, a teammate, however, acknowledged his difficulties. The seven-time champion was 13th place, 0. 622 seconds slower than Leclerc, and eighth fastest, 5 places, and 0. 506 seconds behind in the first session.

Hamilton called him “not the greatest.” Our main concern was getting the tires to work today.

“Sunday usually goes backwards, but there isn’t much going backwards for me to leave.”

“The car needs to be improved. A few times throughout the session, the soft tyre didn’t appear until the soft tyre is reached. Tonight, we’ll make some adjustments, and we’ll probably come back stronger tomorrow.

The late in the second session race simulation runs were halted by Tsunoda’s crash.

The left-front track-rod was damaged when he first struck the wall, which caused the car to crash into the outside wall, where the front right also suffered damage.

Heavenly Heather, a 200-1 outsider, won in a major horse racing shock on Good Friday in Newcastle.

The filly is the joint highest-priced winner in British Flat racing history and was trained by Tracey Waggott at her stables close to Durham.

On All Weather Finals Day, Heavenly Heather, ridden by Amie Waugh, won the Fillies and Mares Championships Handicap.

In each of her previous five starts, the horse had lost.

Waggott said, “We always knew she was a really good horse.” Simply put, it was sufficient to get her in shape. She puts a lot of effort into getting fit because she’s such a big, heavy mare.

Before she passed away a year ago, Chris Rain, a part-owner, claimed his mother had given him the name Heavenly Heather.

Equinoctial, who won over hurdles at Kelso in November 1990, was the longest-priced winner in British racing history. Equinoctial made the 250-1 start.

Halo World Championship

Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 19 April to 5 May

Seven-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan says he will overcome “stage fright” to take on Ali Carter in the first round of the World Snooker Championship.

O’Sullivan, 49, who only confirmed his participation on Thursday, has not played competitively since snapping his cue at the Championship League in January.

“Because it is the World Championship and the last tournament [of the season] I thought I need to try and break that cycle,” he told BBC Sport.

“Call it stage fright, I just haven’t had the [will] to go and compete. Call it lost my bottle. You sometimes lose your nerve. Just to come here is an achievement for me.

“The kind of nerves I have [been] feeling off and on for the last two years have not been good nerves. I have just been not wanting to go out there – sometimes struggling to even take my eyes off the floor. The confidence has been draining away, so it has not been a great place to be.”

Next Tuesday’s meeting with Carter, who at 18th in the world is the highest ranked qualifier, is a repeat of the 2008 and 2012 Crucible finals, which were both won by ‘The Rocket’.

The pair also contested a Masters final in 2024, which O’Sullivan triumphed in, but there were genuine fears that he would not go for a record eighth world title in the modern era this year having been an ever-present at the sport’s showpiece event since turning professional in 1992.

He pulled out of the Masters at Alexandra Palace on medical grounds, missed the German Masters in Berlin and apologised to fans after electing not to play at the Welsh Open.

He also withdrew from the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong in March and has not played in anything over a best-of-seven match since his first-round loss to Barry Hawkins at the UK Championship in November.

“Ali is a really good match player and I will have to play better than I have been just to give him a game,” added O’Sullivan.

“I really have nothing to lose. I have done well to just get here to be honest. If it was any other tournament I probably wouldn’t have come.

“I don’t know how excited I am because the reason I stopped was because my game was suffering and I wasn’t getting anything from it. Not much has changed but I thought at some point I have to try and play.

In the build-up to the 17-day tournament, O’Sullivan said that he received “a proper good hiding” while practising with world number 11 Barry Hawkins.

However, recent footage of him constructing a maximum 147 break in less than seven minutes in practice suggests he is acclimatising well to a new cue.

“It is the second time I broke my cue. The first time was a similar situation, I was struggling for maybe a year or two and you just get tired in the end and so frustrated,” O’Sullivan added.

“That was kind of like the end of my tether. Obviously regretted it but that is how the game got me.”

O’Sullivan, who has won a record 41 ranking titles, also outlined that he is not ready to pack away his cue just yet.

“I’d like to do another two or three years playing so the aim is to try and just focus on this event,” he continued.

O’Sullivan has previously stressed that he has had to take medication to deal with anxiety and also had a candid studio discussion on TNT Sports with Mark Selby earlier this season around the mental health pressures faced by snooker players.

That prompted some debate around the potential for players to be offered a counsellor at tournaments to help them deal with issues.

And four-time world champion Selby, who has had well-documented struggles of his own to contend with, believes that service would be a valuable addition to the professional tour.

“I don’t think we have carried on and progressed with it but I think something definitely needs to happen,” Selby told BBC Sport.

“Ronnie hit the nail on the head. There are probably a lot more players on the tour going through it than you think that just don’t speak out or feel strong enough to speak out.

“If you had someone like that there, who you could go in a room with for 20 minutes or half an hour to speak to, a neutral person, to get things off your chest, it would be a great addition to the tour for all the players. You would definitely use it for sure.”

Selby, 41, also believes that O’Sullivan did the right thing by taking some time away from snooker.

“He obviously wasn’t in the greatest place to miss all these tournaments. He must be suffering a lot off the table. If I look back at how I was last year going into the World Championship, if I was in the same position now coming in as I was 12 months ago, there is no way I would be playing.

“I would pull out and I have learnt from that, and know if I am in the same position I won’t make that mistake again.

“He’s definitely done the right thing. At the end of the day it is a game of snooker and you have to put yourself first and be selfish.