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5 days ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
COMMENTMax Verstappen is without a doubt one of the most naturally gifted drivers to ever strap himself into a Formula 1 car. But the incident with George Russell in the closing laps of the Spanish Grand Prix has left him on the cusp of a one-race ban.
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6 days ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
Alexei Popyrin is set to rise to a career high No.21 in the world rankings despite being knocked out of Roland-Garros in straight sets to American Tommy Paul. Popyrin never really looked in the fourth-round contest against the world No.12, bowing out 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. But it still represents the 25-year-old Aussie's deepest run at the clay slam. He had only once from his seven previous attempts made it beyond the first round.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
Alpine boss Flavio Briatore will continue to "experiment" with the team's driver line up as Franco Colapinto's early struggles continue. The Argentine was "rotated" into Jack Doohan's race seat for the Imola race two weeks ago and was given three tasks by Briatore - drive fast, score points and don't crash. To date, he has been slow, not scored points and crashed out of qualifying in his first race in the seat.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
Lewis Hamilton has labelled a tiny rule change a "waste of money" after Oscar Piastri stormed to yet another pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. Ahead of this weekend's race a Barcelona, a rule tweak surrounding the flexibility of the front wings came into effect. McLaren were expected to be hardest-hit by the change, but still managed to lock out the front row for Sunday night's race.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
Aussie Paralympic star Jaryd Clifford has bounced back from heartbreaking disqualification in Paris to shatter his own T12 1500m world record at a meeting in France. Nine months after he was stripped of a bronze, Clifford shaved nearly a second off his 2021 record. Competing against able-bodied runners, he stopped the clock in 3:40.39 – 0.95 seconds quicker than the 3:41.34 from 2021.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
It's July 1997, and The Open Championship is underway at Royal Troon. Darren Clarke and Jim Furyk finished the opening day in a share of the lead at 4-under. Aussie Greg Norman was a shot back. But to say his countryman Ian Baker-Finch had a shocker would be the understatement of the century. He signed for a 21-over 92, withdrew from the tournament, and never played again.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
Sprinter Lachlan Kennedy has become just the second Australian – and the first in 22 years – to break the 10-second barrier in the men's 100m. Competing in the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kennedy ran a sizzling 9.98 seconds (-0.7), to become the first Aussie since Patrick Johnson in 2003 to achieve the feat. The 21-year-old was unfazed by a false start delay and was the only one at the meeting to go sub-10.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
Knights coach Adam O'Brien blamed scheduling for his decision to block Kalyn Ponga from backing up from State of Origin after his side's 20-6 loss to the Dragons. Having been named to back up only 48 hours after the Origin series opener, O'Brien pulled his gun fullback only hours before play to give an ankle injury he took into game one time to recover. Ponga's Maroons teammate Valentine Holmes backed up for the Dragons. He kicked four from four.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
Newcastle Knights five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe has kicked a candidate for the worst drop out of the year. Late in the first half of their clash against the Dragons at Kogarah, Sharpe's high effort never looked close to breaking the 10m plane, and instead drifted back towards the Knights' dead ball line. After a couple of bounces, over it went, several metres inside the touchline.
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1 week ago | 
nine.com.au | Damien McCartney
A simple rule change from this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix could put a dampener on Oscar Piastri's charge to a maiden F1 world championship. A tiny tweak in the technical regulations will come into effect this weekend, with McLaren expected to be the team that suffers the most. McLaren has been the car to beat this season, winning six of the eight races so far. Part of its advantage has been attributed to the design of the front wing, which flexes significantly under load, boosting top speed.
