e_Paper, Monday, May 15, 2017

Sports
21
MONDAY, MAY 15, 2017
DT
Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during their Madrid Open semi-final on Saturday
Hamilton wins thrilling
Spanish Grand Prix
• AFP, Barcelona
Lewis Hamilton roared back into serious
contention for a fourth drivers’ world title
yesterday when he drove to a well-judged
victory for Mercedes in a dramatic Spanish
Grand Prix.
The three-time champion recovered after
losing the lead from his 64th pole position
to make the most of key strategic decisions
and win with power and precision ahead of
championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.
Hamilton finished the 66-lap contest 3.5
seconds ahead of the four-time champion
German, having blasted past him to regain
the lead after 44 laps.
It was his second win in five races this year
and the 55th of his career and it brought him
within six points of Vettel in the title race.
The German now has 104 points and Hamilton
has 98.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished third
for Red Bull, more than a minute adrift of the
leaders, ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez and
his Force India team-mate Frenchman Esteban
Ocon.
German Nico Hulkenberg came home
sixth for Renault, ahead of compatriot Pascal
Wehrlein of Sauber, who lost his place due to
a time penalty for a pit-lane mistake during
the race.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz was eighth on the
road, but classified seventh, ahead of Russian
Daniil Kvyat who did a superb job for
Toro Rosso after starting at the back of the
grid, and Frenchman Romain Grosjean of
Haas.
Every driver, apart from those on the podium,
was lapped during an exhausting contest
that saw Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari
and last year’s winner, Dutch teenager Max
Verstappen, crash into retirement on the first
lap.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate, Finn
Valtteri Bottas, also retired when his engine
failed while he was running third.
“Guys what can I say?” said Hamilton on
his team radio. “A fantastic job this weekend
- thank you. The strategy was right on it.” •
Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton
celebrates winning the Spanish Grand Prix AFP
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English Premier League
Chelsea v Watford
REUTERS
Nadal primed as Murray
seeks redemption
• AFP
Whether he likes it or not, Rafael
Nadal will seek to rubber-stamp
his status as the favourite for
the French Open when he heads
to the Rome Masters today looking
to underline his return to form on
clay.
World number one Andy Murray
may have wowed the crowds at
the Foro Italico last year when he
bossed Serbia’s four-time champion
Novak Djokovic in the final to
claim his maiden win in the Italian
capital.
But what was just the Scot’s
third title on the surface, following
wins in Munich and Madrid, has
never looked further away.
A year on from a triumph that
suggested Murray had finally
mastered the toughest surface of
them all, the 29-year-old is back to
square one after a humiliating exit
to unseeded 20-year-old Croat Borna
Coric before the business end of
the Madrid Masters began earlier
this week.
By contrast, Nadal cruised to a
14-0 win record on clay when he
ousted long-time rival Novak Djokovic
in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Currently ranked fifth in the
world, the Spaniard will now meet
Austrian Dominic Thiem in the final.
“It is a great result,” said Nadal.
“To win against Novak by that
score you have to be playing very
well, otherwise it’s impossible.”
Yet Nadal, coming back into
form after two underwhelming
years, was quick to play down
suggestions he was already the favourite
for the French Open and,
by default, the Rome Masters - a
tournament he is looking to win for
the eighth time.
“I know that I am playing well.
I’m on the right track,” added Nadal.
•