Novak Djokovic had predicted "fireworks" in Sunday's Wimbledon final with Nick Kyrgios, tennis' self-proclaimed bad boy and as combustible a sports star as they come.

In some regards that proved true, with Kyrgios providing those in attendance and watching at home with a run-through of his greatest hits.

There was plenty of ranting from start to finish – some perhaps going too far – with the odd interaction with the crowd and a broken racquet or two thrown in for good measure.

In between all that, Australia's first finalist here since Mark Philippoussis in 2003 produced some remarkable shots, an underarm serve and brilliantly executed tweener included.

Love him or hate him, this was Kyrgios at his ill-tempered best, and he went a long way to showing there is more to him than just a petulant twentysomething by taking the first set.

At that point, Kyrgios had reeled off five sets in a row across three meetings with his opponent without dropping one. But this is Djokovic, on Centre Court, in a grand slam final.

 And so at the end of a three-hour battle, it was Djokovic who prevailed 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to make it 21 major titles, pulling him back to within one of Rafael Nadal's record.

It was the enforced withdrawal of Nadal that gave Kyrgios his route into the biggest match of his career, and thus denied the millions viewing around the world their dream final.

While witnessing tennis' two greatest ever players face off once more would have made for quite the spectacle, this was a Championship clash that provided subplots galore.

One of the themes of this year's tournament has been Djokovic's uncharacteristically slow starts, almost teasing opponents into thinking they had his number before striking back.

He trailed Jannik Sinner and Cameron Norrie in the past two rounds and so that proved again versus Kyrgios, who with those slow starts in mind let Djokovic serve first.

That appeared to be a masterstroke when Djokovic double-faulted first up, yet the Serbian recovered – as he so often does – to hold and settle into the match.

But Kyrgios went on to earn the only break of the first set in the fifth game and let out a huge roar of "Let's go!". If anything, that only worked to fire up his opponent even more.

This was hardly unchartered territory for Djokovic, who also lost the opener in last year's final against Matteo Berrettini before battling to victory in four sets.

The second set proved far more comfortable for the 35-year-old, promoting Kyrgios to take a different approach as he let loose at the umpire. It would not be the last time.

If Kyrgios stuck to his half of the bargain by being his usual self, Djokovic did likewise by focusing solely on his tennis and taking a well-contested third set with a solitary break.

As the lowest-ranked finalist in a grand slam final since Marcos Baghdatis (50) at the Australian Open in 2006, world number 40 Kyrgios surely knew his number was up.

And so it proved as for the 13th time in 15 grand slam matches when losing the opening set, it was Djokovic left celebrating as he claimed a seventh Wimbledon crown.

 This latest comeback also made Djokovic the first player since Ted Schroeder in 1949 to win the title after dropping the first set in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

It will almost certainly not be the four-in-a-row champion's final title, either, though it remains to be seen if Kyrgios will scale these heights again any time soon – if at all.

On this occasion, Djokovic simply proved a step too far as Kyrgios' fireworks fizzled out at the climax of a fascinating Wimbledon campaign.

Novak Djokovic overcame a spirited Nick Kyrgios in four sets to claim his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st grand slam crown on Sunday.

Centre Court played host to a match-up of contrasting experience, with Kyrgios playing his maiden major singles final in what was Djokovic's 32nd such showpiece – an Open Era record.

Djokovic ultimately held his nerve, taking a fourth straight title at the All England Club with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory to move one behind Rafael Nadal's record 22 grand slam titles.

The Serbian also moved level with Pete Sampras in terms of Wimbledon triumphs, only one behind Roger Federer's eight.

 Kyrgios was offered a shot at the title after Nadal withdrew from their semi-final with injury, and he struck first with a break in the fifth game as a nervy Djokovic produced a double fault.

Djokovic continued to struggle to cope with the big-serving Kyrgios, who registered back-to-back aces to take the first set, in which he did not offer the Serbian a single break point.

But Djokovic soon regained his composure and finally broke Kyrgios for the first time in their third career meeting, before saving four break points in the ninth game to level the match.

Kyrgios, irked by a code violation for audible obscenities when displeased with a member of the crowd, then failed to hold his serve at 4-4 as frustrations grew, with Djokovic keeping his cool to secure the third set.

World number 40 Kyrgios rediscovered his serving rhythm to take the fourth set to a tie-break, yet he then made a series of unforced errors as Djokovic secured the title in SW19 once again.

Data slam: Djokovic's Wimbledon dominance continues

At 35 years and 49 days old, Djokovic became the second-oldest man to lift the Wimbledon title in the Open Era, and the Serbian's four consecutive successes at the All England Club only rank behind the five-win streaks of Bjorn Borg (1976-1980) and Federer (2003-2007).

Djokovic has also won 86 times at the London major, his best record in a single grand slam, with only Federer (105) winning more matches at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, having lost the opening set in each of his past three matches, Djokovic became the first player in the Open Era to win the title at Wimbledon after dropping the first set in the quarter-final, semi-finals and final – and the first overall since Ted Schroeder in 1949.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic – 46/17
Kyrgios – 62/33

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Djokovic – 15/7
Kyrgios – 30/7

BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic – 2/4
Kyrgios – 1/6

Max Verstappen was pleased to have minimised the damage from a difficult Austrian Grand Prix despite seeing Charles Leclerc claim victory at the Red Bull Ring.

Verstappen, who had won three of the previous four Austrian Grands Prix at the circuit and prevailed at last year's Styrian Grand Prix at Red Bull's home track, looked set to continue his dominance having claimed pole position in qualifying and eased to first place in Saturday's sprint.

Despite a clean getaway helping him stay in the lead exiting turn one, Verstappen's Red Bull lacked the pace of the Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as he struggled with tyre degradation.

Sergio Perez's collision with George Russell and subsequent retirement left Verstappen without a team-mate on track and at the mercy of the two Scuderia drivers, and Ferrari executed their strategy superbly to put themselves in position for a one-two.

However, Sainz's engine failed on lap 58 as he was preparing an overtake of Verstappen for second place, meaning the Dutchman was able to keep his championship lead at 38 points as he came home behind Leclerc, who managed a throttle problem in the closing laps to end a seven-race winless run.

Asked about the end result given his struggles compared to Ferrari, Verstappen replied to Sky Sports:

"It was better than expected. If you look at the whole race, we were lacking pace. There was a lot of deg and I don't really understand why it was that bad. 

"It looked like Carlos was also going to overtake me, but unfortunately he encountered engine trouble. At the end, to only lose five points over a weekend is not too bad on a bad day.

"It's been a bit more tricky than I expected it to be today, but sometimes these things can happen."

Pressed on the exact issue with the tyres, Verstappen said: "There was no grip and I could not manage my tyres like I wanted to because they were degrading a lot.

"It seemed like we had a bit of an off day and they [Ferrari] had a very strong day."

Verstappen's commanding lead at the halfway stage of the season makes him the clear favourite to retain the drivers' championship.

However, Ferrari's obvious advantage on Sunday suggested the race is far from run with 11 races still to go.

Verstappen said when asked if the battle will go the wire: "It's a bit difficult to say after today; if you look at today, it looks not that great for us, but things can turn really quickly, so it's a bit difficult to tell."

After being counted on to be 'the man' for much of his career, John Wall is excited about being on a Los Angeles Clippers team where he will not be the focal point of the offense.

Wall, who signed a two-year deal with the Clippers after being waived by the Houston Rockets, said he does not now need to be "Batman every night".

"That's the ultimate goal for me is [at] this part of my career, I don't want to have to be the Batman every night to try to win," Wall said.

"On our team that we have, I think anyone can be Batman."

The Washington Wizards selected Wall with the number one overall pick in 2010, and he led the team in scoring in five of his nine seasons in the nation's capital before being traded to the Rockets for Russell Westbrook in December 2020 after sitting out the entire 2019-20 season while recovering from heel surgery.

Wall averaged 20.6 points with the Rockets in 2020-21 but only appeared in 40 games. Last season, he did not play at all as Houston tried to figure out what to do with the five-time All-Star as they rebuilt the roster with younger players.

Wall's 40 games in 2020-21 mark his only appearances in the NBA over the past three seasons.

"My last three years, I was in the darkest place I have ever been,” he said. "I don't think a lot of people could have gotten through what I went through."

The Clippers are looking forward to the 2022-23 season with Wall on the roster and Kawhi Leonard returning after missing all of last season due to a torn ACL.

"I kind of looked at the picture of like, where can I go [where] I don't have to be the John Wall from 2016 and have to carry the load and do all those [things] and have the pressure on me," Wall said.

"I think [the Clippers were] missing a piece of having a point guard, and it's a great situation for me to be there."

Wall is expected to compete with Reggie Jackson for the starting point guard job with the Clippers, who lost both games in the play-in round last season after going 42-40.

"For me, I'm just happy to play basketball again," Wall said.

"I'm a competitor. I know a lot of people ask me, 'Are you mad if you start or not start?' I don't care. I'm a competitor, and I just want an opportunity to go out there and compete for a spot, and if I get it, I get it.

"And if I don't, we know how talented Reggie Jackson is and what he's done for this team and helping these guys out, especially when Kawhi and [Paul George] were out. Even when they were [healthy], he's a great piece. Whoever gets the spot is great."

Charles Leclerc reignited his Formula One world championship ambitions with victory in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Throughout qualifying and Saturday's sprint, all signs pointed to defending world champion Max Verstappen continuing his run of dominance in Spielberg and extending his lead in the drivers' standings.

However, in cooler conditions on Sunday, the Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had a clear edge over the Red Bull of Verstappen, who had a clean getaway to stay in the lead into the first corner.

The Scuderia also made the perfect strategy calls to get themselves in position for a one-two, only for Sainz to be denied by an engine failure on lap 58.

Despite a worried Leclerc experiencing problems with his throttle, he held on to clinch a third victory of the season, although Verstappen's advantage in the standings remains 38 points.

Sainz had to go off the track at turn one to protect against a fast-starting George Russell, who was soon given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision after he made contact with Sergio Perez at turn four, with the Mexican sent into the gravel and eventually forced to retire because of the damage.

Leclerc got past Verstappen with a brilliant overtake down the inside of turn four on lap 12, and Perez's exit from the equation put Ferrari in full control of the race and in the rare position of seeing their strategy working to a tee.

Following his second stop, Leclerc got ahead of Verstappen for good on lap 53 at turn three, and Sainz appeared set to repeat the feat five laps later on turn four, only for smoke to begin billowing from the back of his car.

Sainz's fiery exit, which led to a virtual safety car under which Leclerc and Verstappen both pitted, understandably caused nerves for his team-mate.

Leclerc, who saw victories in Barcelona and Baku taken away from him by an engine failure, was soon reporting issues with the throttle, and Verstappen began to loom in his mirrors.

But his car held together to allow him to weave across the finish line in delight, with Lewis Hamilton profiting from Sainz's misfortune to take third behind Verstappen and ahead of Mercedes team-mate Russell. Esteban Ocon was fifth for Alpine.

Erling Haaland is aiming to follow Sergio Aguero into the hearts of Manchester City supporters after drawing thousands to his presentation on Sunday.

The former Borussia Dortmund striker has joined as the spearhead of the latest incarnation of Pep Guardiola's City team.

After winning the Premier League title last season while often playing with a 'false nine' forward, City will put their faith in penalty box predator Haaland in the new campaign.

Haaland, who turns 22 on July 21, has joined a City side who have yet to win the Champions League, which is the big target now.

The new boy will be expected to contribute a flood of goals both domestically and in Europe, and he said: "I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be really nice. I'm sure we're going to have a good time together.

"The expectations for this season is to come into the new team, to get to know everyone of course now and get the connections and have fun. When I have fun, I score goals, I win games, so it's easy."

There is good reason for the high expectation that has surrounded Haaland's arrival. The Norwegian scored 86 goals in 89 appearances in all competitions during two and a half years at Dortmund, with only Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (123 in 108 games) and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe (93 in 111 games) from Europe's top five leagues scoring more in that time.

Last season, Haaland scored 29 goals in 30 games on all fronts at a rate of one goal every 3.6 attempts, and he put away 65.8 per cent of his big chances.

"It's an amazing team and we just have to continue and to get a little bit better," Haaland said of his City challenge. "It's not much to say, I'm just looking forward to everything."

Haaland's father, Alf-Inge, played for City and was present on Sunday for the presentation that took place outside the Etihad Stadium.

"It's going to be nice, my father played here for a couple of years," said Haaland. "It's always special when your father did something, and you get to do some the same things that he did, it's a bit special."

Asked about his idols as a boy, Haaland said: "Of course my dad, but in City I have many jerseys at home from Aguero, so of course him, so from City it was him.

"I love strikers because I've always been a striker myself. Aguero's a good example of scoring goals."

Argentinian Aguero is City's record scorer, leaving for Barcelona a year ago after netting 254 goals for the club in a 10-year spell. He has since retired.

City paraded Haaland along with fellow forward Julian Alvarez and new back-up goalkeeper Stefan Ortega on Sunday. They could make their first appearances on the upcoming pre-season trip to the United States.

Kalvin Phillips, acquired from Leeds United, was expected to join them at the presentation but was reportedly absent due to illness.

Asked which team he was most looking forward to facing, Haaland could not resist expressing his impatience for derby day. City are due to play Manchester United on October 1.

"I have to say I don't like to say the words, but Manchester United, yeah," Haaland said. "I think it's going to be a really good time together.

"Let's get this pre-season gone quick and good and I can't wait to get started with the important games, and games all the time."

Dinesh Chandimal put Sri Lanka in control of the second Test against Australia with an unbeaten century on day three.

The hosts, playing in Galle amid the backdrop of political unrest in the country, picked up where they left off at the end of day two as they continued to excel with the bat to reach 431-6 at stumps in response to Australia's 364 all out.

Sri Lanka resumed on 184-2, but Kusal Mendis – one of the stars of the second day – added just one to his overnight total as he went for 85.

However, Sri Lanka found stability in the form of ex-captain Angelo Mathews (52) and Chandimal (118 not out), who combined for an 83-run fourth-wicket partnership.

Australia paid the price for wasting their reviews on unsuccessful leg before appeals against both Mathews and Chandimal, leaving them with none to use when Nathan Lyon trapped Mathews with a delivery that DRS showed would have hit the stumps and when ultra edge showed Chandimal had edged Mitchell Starc behind on 30.

Marnus Labuschagne's catch at short leg did eventually end Mathews' innings, but Australia found no way through the defences of Chandimal, who brought up his hundred with a quick single off Lyon.

Chandimal found yet more support from Kamindu Mendis, who struck 61 on debut, and will look to work with the tail to make Australia toil further after guiding Sri Lanka to a lead of 67 runs at the close.

Lucky 13 for Chandimal

Chandimal's century was his 13th in Test cricket and his second of the year following his 124 in Bangladesh in May. He will now look to go beyond his high score of 164 against India in 2017 and press home Sri Lanka's advantage.

Sri Lanka's show of strength

Encapsulating Australia's struggles to make inroads, this innings marked the first time five Sri Lanka batters have scored 50 or more against them. Additionally, this is only the fifth time five of Sri Lanka's top six have scored half-centuries.

Wolves winger Chiquinho is facing a long spell on the sidelines after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a pre-season friendly.

The Portugal Under-21 international made a positive impression after arriving at Wolves from Estoril in the January transfer window.

He made nine appearances in all competitions for Wolves in the final three months of the 2021-22 season and assisted three goals in six Premier League outings.

Chiquinho had been expected to play a prominent role under Bruno Lage this coming season, but he may now miss the remainder of the year.

Wolves announced on Sunday that the 22-year-old suffered the injury during a collision with a Burnley player in a behind-closed-doors friendly the previous day.

Scans confirmed an injury to the ACL and Chiquinho will now undergo surgery before beginning a period of rehabilitation.

Wolves, who finished 10th in the Premier League last season, begin their 2022-23 campaign with a trip to Leeds United on August 6.

Cofidis star rider Guillaume Martin had to abandon the Tour de France before Sunday's ninth stage of the race after a positive COVID-19 test.

The 29-year-old Frenchman had been hoping to improve on last year's overall eighth-placed finish.

He sat 14th overall, three minutes and two seconds behind yellow jersey holder Tadej Pogacar, after Saturday's stage from Dole to Lausanne, but tests since then have confirmed he has the coronavirus.

Cycling's governing body, the UCI, said Martin had been withdrawn "due to the application of the COVID-19 health protocol". There have been several such cases during this year's race, prompting the UCI to urge all participants to wear masks when not racing while also encouraging social distancing.

Lewis Hamilton is "disgusted and disappointed" amid reports of racist, homophobic and abusive behaviour by spectators at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull Ring plays host to Formula One this weekend, but the behaviour of supporters has already been repeatedly in the spotlight.

Mercedes driver Hamilton questioned the crowd after many cheered a crash involving the seven-time world champion on Friday.

The 37-year-old labelled the reaction of supporters as "mind-blowing", with many supporting home favourite Max Verstappen, who was jeered by sections of the crowd at the British Grand Prix last weekend.

The race weekend at Spielberg has also seen reports of sexist and homophobic abuse, and the F1 released a statement saying they were investigating the matters on Sunday.

Hamilton has since taken to Instagram to condemn the behaviour in Austria, where the abuse, as well as harassment, has clouded the 11th race of the season.

"Disgusted and disappointed to hear that some fans are facing racist, homophobic and generally abusive behaviour at the circuit this weekend," Hamilton posted. 

"Attending the Austrian Grand Prix or any GP should never be a source of anxiety and pain for fans and something must be done to ensure that races are safe spaces for all.

"Please, if you see this happening, report it to circuit security and to @f1, we cannot sit back and allow this to continue."

Hamilton, seeking his first victory of the 2022 campaign, will start the race in eighth, with Verstappen in pole after triumphing in the sprint on Saturday.

England head coach Eddie Jones says rugby union's laws are "out of control" after a high number of cards were again issued across this weekend's Test matches.

Jones saw up close two players get sin-binned in England's 25-17 win over Australia on Saturday as Marcus Smith and Izaia Perese were penalised for deliberate knock-ons.

The 62-year-old did not feel either player deserved to be issued a yellow card, which was also the general view of spectators watching on.

Referee Jaco Peyper was even more card happy in Ireland's historic away win in New Zealand, meanwhile, dishing out three yellows and a red in the first half alone in Dunedin.

On the back of another day of contentious decisions, Jones has called for "common sense" to prevail from officials.

"The game's out of control," he said. "You saw the New Zealand and Ireland Test – at one stage, commentators couldn't count how many players were on the field! 

"You had three backs packing a scrum. We've gone the full hog where everything's a red card, yellow card and there needs to be some common sense.

"I picked the referee's pocket [before the game] – he had plenty of cards in it."

While Jones was adamant neither Smith nor Perese should have been cautioned, opposite number Dave Rennie said he could understand the referee's call.

"There's no doubt Izzy is trying to catch it," Rennie said. "It's certainly different from an intentional slap down, but I have no issue with that decision."

Head coach Andy Farrell says his "little old Ireland" can compete with anyone in the world after setting up a series decider with New Zealand.

Ireland were comprehensively defeated in the first Test against the All Blacks, losing 42-19, but responded with a 23-12 victory in the second meeting to claim their first away win in New Zealand on Saturday.

Victory in Dunedin teed up a winner-takes-all decider at the Sky Stadium in Wellington next weekend, with New Zealand looking to set the record straight and seal the series win on the North Island.

While Farrell expects another tough task, the 47-year-old insists Ireland will not shy away from the challenge as they fancy themselves against any side in the world.

"We always get a response, don't we?" he said. "Everyone knows that, history tells you that. We're used to it by now. We'll look forward to that.

"We've created a little bit of history for ourselves, little old Ireland, but we've earned the right to take it to the last weekend to see what we can do in the final week.

"The players back themselves against anyone and the more we can keep giving them, these occasions of playing the best teams in the world, the better they're going to get."

The task for Ireland in the second Test was somewhat eased by the first-half dismissal of New Zealand prop Angus Ta'avao.

Ireland did have to absorb some pressure in the second half, though, and Farrell pinpointed their defensive resolve as proof of the continued development of his side.

"I suppose the most impressive thing that we are doing pretty well at this moment in time is understanding where we're at, each moment at a time and staying calm and not getting too overawed or frustrated with errors or decisions or not executing," he continued.

"We're pretty good at trying to stay neutral and stay on task and it's helping us to play in these big games and compete."

A second-string Ireland team were defeated 32-17 by the Maori All Blacks at the end of June in Hamilton, and Farrell also plans to offer those players a chance to make amends against the same team on Tuesday.

"There are bigger things to think about in regard of this tour for us," he added.

"We've some young lads in that changing room that have been inspired by these lot [the Test team], who want to get back out there again on Tuesday night and perform well against the Maoris.

"These lads have taken a lot of pain, that's what we've put them under, the pressure of taking them out of their comfort zone.

"The weeks have been totally different to what they've been used to before because of us trying to play five games in such a short space of time and there's been no whinging.

"They've been mentally really tough and they'll back the lads up as well to make sure they're in good form for Tuesday night."

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool will head into the 2022-23 season "as confident as possible" about the prospect of challenging on all fronts once again.

Liverpool fell short of an unprecedented quadruple last season, faltering in both the Champions League final and on the last day of the Premier League season after lifting the EFL Cup and FA Cup.

Liverpool relied on penalties in both of their cup successes as they failed to score in five and a half hours of football in major finals last season, which led to concerns over their ruthlessness in front of goal.

Darwin Nunez has since arrived at Anfield from Benfica in a deal reportedly worth £64million (€75m), with a further £21.4m in potential add-ons, in a move that Klopp will hope provides greater reliability in attack.

Star forward Mohamed Salah has also penned a contract extension and, despite Sadio Mane leaving for Bayern Munich, Klopp remains convinced Liverpool can compete with Manchester City once more.

"As confident as possible. You never know obviously but I saw today on the plane a squad full of quality," he told reporters at Sunday's news conference in Thailand, where Liverpool are on a pre-season tour. 

"You always need a little bit of luck, how we all know, if you want to win a trophy. But to play a good season you need first and foremost consistency, that's what it's all about and that's what we will try.

"I have no doubt about the quality of the boys. We brought in new players – yes, we lost a few players – but we brought in new players; if you want, fresh blood, really helpful.

"There are no places already sorted, who will play where. The boys will make pressure, which is important.

"We have five subs from now on in the Premier League as well – we have to get used to that, we have to adapt to that. I'm really looking forward to it.

"There are no guarantees in football but there's a good chance that we play another good season, I would say."

Liverpool face fierce rivals Manchester United in Bangkok on Tuesday in what will be Erik ten Hag's first game in charge of the Red Devils.

The Reds hammered United by an aggregate scoreline of 9-0 in the Premier League last season, and Klopp insists there will be no such thing as a friendly between the two teams.

"Manchester United, a new manager, trained a little bit longer than us so might be, I'm not sure, in a better situation in the moment," he added.

"But we see it as an important test because it's against United and we don't play friendlies, obviously both teams don't play friendlies against each other, so we will see what we can do.

"We never prepare for one match, we prepare for a full season. That means the boys who started Monday last week had a proper start so far, we could train in the way we wanted.

"We had now a full week already and we are now here to play two games in Asia, first this one and then in Singapore against Crystal Palace. So, we have to see.

"We have to train and we have to play, it means the games are actually like a session as well but the boys have to go really hard.

"Let's see where we stand in this specific moment and then we can go home to England and then we go from there to Austria for another camp."

Formula One chiefs are investigating "unacceptable" behaviour from spectators at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The conduct of fans at the Red Bull Ring this weekend has been in the spotlight after Lewis Hamilton was cheered following a crash in qualifying on Friday.

Mercedes driver Hamilton hit out at the "mind-blowing" reaction of supporters, which are mainly made up of Max Verstappen followers at Red Bull's home race.

It comes a week after Verstappen was jeered by a section of the grandstands at the British Grand Prix, where Hamilton is a home favourite.

The race weekend at Spielberg has also seen reports of sexist and homophobic abuse, as well as other forms of harassment.

F1 addressed those allegations in a statement released ahead of the main event on Sunday.

"We have been made aware of reports that some fans have been subject to completely unacceptable comments by others at the Austrian Grand Prix," the statement read.

"We take these matters very seriously, have raised them with the promoter and event security, and will be speaking to those who reported the incidents.

"This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

Verstappen will start Sunday's race on pole after winning Saturday's sprint, while Hamilton – still seeking his first victory of the 2022 campaign – is down in eighth.

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