Hamilton Dances in the Rain to Take Pole in Mercedes Lockout
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MMLBLB | Page 5 GGOLFOLF | Page 7 Devers gets Red Tway on top Sox even, Betts in Canada, fi nishes off No.1 Johnson Twins in 10th on charge Sunday, July 29, 2018 FOOTBALL Dhul-Qa’da 16, 1439 AH Ozil shines on GULF TIMES return as Arsenal ease past PSG 5-1 SPORT Page 2 FORMULA 1 Hamilton dances in the rain to take pole in Mercedes lockout After winning the rain-hit German GP last Sunday, Briton claims fifth pole this year even as Ferraris line up third and fourth AFP Budapest HUNGARIAN GP QUALIFYING RESULTS ewis Hamilton danced in the 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) rain on his way to a memora- 1:35.658 ble pole yesterday ahead of his 2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:35.918 Lteammate Valtteri Bottas as 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:36.186 Mercedes secured a front row lockout for the Hungarian Grand Prix. 4. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:36.210 The championship leading Briton, 5. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Renault) 1:36.743 who is battling with Ferrari’s Sebastian 6. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) 1:37.591 Vettel for a fi fth drivers’ world title, delivered another master-class in wet- 7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) weather driving and perfect timing. 1:38.032 He chose to go for his fi nal fl ying lap 8. Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) in the dying seconds of the session and 1:38.128 grabbed pole with a lap that produced 9. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1:39.858 his team’s fourth lockout of the season. 10. Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1:40.593 Six days after his epic drive from 14th on the grid to win the rain-hit German 11. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) Grand Prix last Sunday, he claimed his 1:35.214 sixth pole in Hungary, his fi fth this year 12. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) and the 77th of his career. 1:36.442 “Are we good?” Hamilton asked 13. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) his team over the radio. “We’re good,” 1:36.506 came the reply. 14. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1:37.075 I crossed the line on pole and 15. Lance Stroll (Williams) No time then Lewis had a better lap... 16. Stoff el Vandoorne (McLaren) He was quicker, but a one-two 1:18.782 for the team — it could have ‘ 17. Charles Leclerc (Sauber) 1:18.817 been worse! We are free to fi ght so I’m looking forward 18. Esteban Ocon (Force India) to it. 1:19.142 — Valtteri Bottas, 19. Sergio Perez (Force India) after locking the front grid for Mercedes 1:19.200 20. Sergey Sirotkin (Williams) “It’s great for the team to have a 1:19.301 one-two,” added Hamilton. “Jeez. We couldn’t have expected this. The heav- ens opened and it was fair game...” Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Marcus Hamilton was nearly three-tenths Ericsson and Stroll missing the cut to quicker than Bottas who was second the top-ten shootout which began with ahead of fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen everyone on ‘full wet’ tyres. and his Ferrari teammate Vettel, Car- In succession, Verstappen, Bottas los Sainz of Renault and Pierre Gasly of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (also inset with teammate Valtteri Bottas) steers his car during the qualifying session for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at the and then Hamilton topped the times Toro Rosso. Hungaroring circuit near Budapest yesterday. (AFP) on their fi rst runs with Vettel down in “When it was drier it was a bit like sixth, as a patch of blue sky appeared doing ballet and tip-toeing, trying to fi ght so I’m looking forward to it.” fi rst time in his Toro Rosso, Kevin Mag- a week earlier, and the use of ‘interme- dia teammate Esteban Ocon, and Wil- over the Turn 14 grandstand. fi nd a line,” added Hamilton. nussen and his Haas teammate Romain diate’ tyres as thunder crackled and liams’ Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin With fi ve minutes remaining, Ham- “It was give and take all the way THUNDER CRACKLED Grosjean. black clouds swirled. were eliminated. ilton led Bottas before Raikkonen went around. We’ve got a great position so Raikkonen refl ected: “The weather was Ferrari had been clearly fastest in dry Ferrari and Mercedes were the last to When Q2 began, Vettel went out on top by four-tenths ahead of the two we’re going to do our best to keep the the most important thing today and the conditions, but after a sweltering morn- switch to the ultra-soft slicks, leaving intermediates while the rest remained Mercedes men. red guys behind us...” car was driveable and enjoyable. I was a ing with a track temperature touching 58 their drivers in danger of failing to clock on slicks. Within seconds, it was clear On new full wets, Vettel was un- Bottas said: “I crossed the line on pole bit unlucky with the tyres...” degrees Celsius, qualifying began in dra- a lap time before more rain fell. that his decision was a wise one as able to fi nd much extra pace as, with and then Lewis had a better lap... He was Max Verstappen was seventh for Red matically diff erent conditions. As Vettel led at the top, McLaren’s rain swept in and the pack returned to two minutes remaining, Hamilton and quicker, but a one-two for the team — it Bull ahead of New Zealander Brendon This created tricky conditions, simi- Stoff el Vandoorne, Charles Leclerc of change tyres. Raikkonen rejoined on new rubber for could have been worse! We are free to Hartley, who made the top ten for the lar to those during the race in Germany Sauber, Esteban Ocon and his Force In- This all resulted in Fernando Alonso, their fi nal — and dramatic — fl ying laps. FOOTBALL New season will be diff erent, says Al Sadd’s Hamid Ismail By Sports Reporter am delighted to renew my contract with the team’s best interests.” are capable of doing that and making Doha Al Sadd. This is the best place for me. I As for the competition from the the Qatari fans happy.” have played in the team since the mid- team’s rivals in the upcoming cam- Hamid has not played for the Qatar way point of last season, putting up a paign, Hamid said: Al Duhail will be national team of late, despite impress- l Sadd star Hamid Ismail can’t satisfactory performance and I was able very strong, having won all the titles ing with his club performances and wait for the new QNB Stars to be of benefi t to the team after miss- last season. The change of coach (Tu- he now wishes to return to the squad League season to start, say- ing the fi rst half of the season.” nisian Nabil Maaloul took over after again. Aing players are looking ahead Hamid also shared his thoughts on Algerian Djamel Belmadi left) won’t “In football, one doesn’t look at the with fresh optimism after being up- the new additions to the squad. “Jung be an issue. Our aim is to be better and age of a player but at his performances staged by Lekhwiya and Duhail over the Woo-young and Gabi Fernandez will stronger. We are capable of doing that on the pitch. The upcoming phase with past few years. both be great additions to the squad. and competing for the league title from the club will be crucial and obviously, I “This season will be completely dif- Everyone knows about their capabili- day one.” aim to be in the national team like the ferent from the last, especially we have ties. This is the fi rst time that we have He also spoke of Al Sadd’s chances in other players. a full squad this time,” said Hamid. had all their players with us at the pre- the AFC Champions League quarter- “Lately, I felt it was unfair that I “This helps the coaching staff to pre- season camp, except for Saad al-Dosa- fi nals. wasn’t called up but I respect the pare the team in a suitable manner.” ri, who we hope to have in Doha after “The AFC Champions League is a coach’s decision. I have full confi dence He added: “Inside the camp (in our return. All this leads to optimism special tournament for Al Sadd. We are in my ability to be in the squad for the Europe), everything is great and the with regards to the team’s targets for not new to it. There have been teams 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the UAE.” preparation is going well. Thank God the new season. at Al Sadd who have won the title in Finally, Hamid had a message for we haven’t had any injuries until now. “All the players are working on im- more diffi cult situations. We now have the Al Sadd’s fans: “Al-Sadd fans, you The coaches are working on improv- plementing the coaching staff ’s techni- an important game in Iran (against Es- make the diff erence in the league and ing our physical fi tness, using the two cal instructions. Any player who plays theglal on August 27) and we will try to are always a motivation for us in the friendlies as a rehearsal for the upcom- executes his role perfectly. There is be at our best in front of 100,000 fans. AFC Champions League. We await you ing league matches.” strong competition for all places and The Al Sadd players have enough ex- in the stadium.