Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes still have their work cut out to beat Max Verstappen and Red Bull, despite the victory in an eventful Russian Grand Prix that took him back to the top of the Formula One standings.
Reigning title-holder Hamilton leads Verstappen in the drivers' championship by two points after claiming his 100th F1 triumph in Sochi.
Hamilton passed McLaren's Lando Norris, who was eyeing a maiden victory from pole position, to become the first driver to reach a century of wins.
Norris spun off the track while leading with three laps to go as rain caused late havoc, Hamilton's British compatriot finishing seventh as Verstappen was able to secure second place having started at the back of the grid.
"What a race the weather provided. It's taken a long time to get to 100, and I wasn't sure it would come," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
"Lando did such an amazing job, he had incredible pace and is doing such a great job for McLaren. It was bittersweet to see my old team ahead, and they're doing fantastically."
Hamilton made amends having been disappointed with a qualifying performance that saw him start fourth on the grid, though he remains naturally wary of the threat posed by Verstappen.
"Going to bed last night I was not the happiest with the job I did yesterday," Hamilton said.
"I watched the replay and they were subtle mistakes but not ideal. I was so determined when I woke up this morning, and I was determined to just do the best job I could. I lost a lot of ground at the start trying to stay out of trouble.
"Max must have done a really great job to come up to second from last. We've got our work cut out.
"It would have been tough to get past Lando unless we came up to some traffic or he made a mistake, which he hasn't been doing, so then the rain came and it was very opportunistic."
Ansu Fati marked his return with a brilliant late goal and Luuk de Jong opened his Barcelona account in a 3-0 LaLiga defeat of Levante.
Luuk de Jong doubled Barca's lead in his fourth appearance for the club following his move from Sevilla after his Netherlands team-mate Memphis Depay opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
An inspired performance from Aitor Fernandez prevented Barca from significantly boosting their goal difference as they totally dominated the game, with under-pressure boss Ronald Koeman watching on from the stands as he serves a two-match ban.
Fati, on as a late substitute, put the icing on the cake in his comeback following 10 months out with a knee injury, finishing superbly in stoppage time as Barca ended a run of three games without victory.
Depay sent Fernandez the wrong way from the spot just six minutes in, having produced great trickery to beat two defenders before being upended by Nemanja Radoja.
De Jong opened his Barca account eight minutes later, finishing clinically with his right foot after Sergino Dest had slipped him in.
Gerard Pique somehow failed to add a third from point-blank range and Gavi was unable to lob an advancing Fernandez, who showed great reflexes to tip the lively Depay's header over the crossbar.
Levante were unable to contain Depay and Fernandez diverted his right-footed drive around the post after some shambolic defending.
Teenager Nico Gonzalez, making his first Barca start, flashed a venomous long-range drive wide and Fernandez thwarted Depay yet again.
Sergio Postigo almost turned the impressive Gavi's cross into his own net before Fati was given a great ovation when he came off the bench with 10 minutes to go.
The 18-year-old looked like he had never been away as he spun away from a defender then beat another before finding the back of the net with a right-footed shot from outside the area.
Hubert Hurkacz collected his fourth ATP Tour title after defeating Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets at the Moselle Open.
The Pole did not drop a set on his way to the final and produced yet another impressive outing to down Carreno Busta 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 in just 82 minutes.
Carreno Busta did, however, take an early lead and have Hurkacz reeling from a break down in the first set but the 24-year-old, who defeated former world number one Andy Murray this week, responded efficiently.
Having come from 3-1 down to 4-4, Hurkacz did not look back as his sharp first serve caused Carreno Busta all sorts of problems, most notably to secure the first-set tiebreaker with ease.
The pair continued to exchange breaks at the beginning of the second set but Hurkacz played well from the baseline and held serve to clinch his first trophy outside of the United States.
His victory means he holds a 4-0 record in ATP Tour finals and also saw him inflict revenge on Carreno Busta, who won the previous head-to-head clash in Cincinnati last month.
Hurkacz will be looking for doubles glory on Sunday as well, as he teams with international compatriot Jan Zielinski.
Anett Kontaveit sealed a second title of the season as she overcame Maria Sakkari in straight sets at the Ostrava Open.
The unseeded Estonian, who is ranked 30th in the world, saw off fourth seed Sakkari 6-2 7-5 to claim the trophy in the Czech Republic.
Kontaveit has now won two tournaments in four weeks, having won in Cleveland last month to end a four-year wait since winning her first title in 2017.
This was Sakkari's first final in over two years as well, but Kontaveit cruised past the Greek in just over an hour and a half as she did not drop a set all week.
That flawless level of tennis saw her eliminate Petra Kvitova, Paula Badosa and Belinda Bencic en route to the final, where the 25-year-old faced only one break point as she powered to a comfortable victory over a player who reached semi-finals at the French Open and US Open this year.
Sakkari managed more of a fight in the second set, where she battled for her sole break point, but Kontaveit breezed past any pressure and kept her serve to maintain control.
Sakkari, who is likely to move into the top 10 despite losing, had boasted a 5-3 head-to-head record in main-draw clashes between the pair coming into Sunday's final, but 23 unforced errors outnumbered the 20 winners from her racket as Kontaveit collected her most notable title to date.
Massimiliano Allegri confirmed Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata will miss Juventus' Champions League clash with Chelsea following injuries suffered against Sampdoria.
The Bianconeri's second successive Serie A win came at a cost as both Dybala and Morata were ruled out of their Group H showdown with the reigning European champions.
Dybala was on target with the opening goal as Juve moved up to ninth in Serie A, eight points behind leaders Milan, with a 3-2 defeat of Sampdoria.
Yet Allegri did not appear overly concerned by the absence of the two forwards.
"We'll see how to play against Chelsea without Dybala and Morata," he said.
"It's not a decisive game anyway. The key games for the qualification are those against Zenit."
Manuel Locatelli told DAZN of Dybala's injury: "I hope it's nothing serious. He is our great champion and we hope he'll be back as soon as possible."
It was an unconvincing win for a Juve team who have not looked like title contenders in the first season of Allegri's second spell in charge.
Leonardo Bonucci's penalty doubled their lead before Maya Yoshida pulled one back prior to half-time.
Locatelli restored Juve's two-goal lead but Antonio Candreva's 83rd-minute goal set up a tense finish.
"We are all responsible, we all know what we have to do on the field and to help each other out. The fundamental thing today was to win," Locatelli said.
"What happens in the locker room stays there, we listen to what the coach says and must get our way back up the table."
Ravindra Jadeja was the hero as Chennai Super Kings pinched a dramatic two-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
Kolkata mustered 171-6 from their 20-over allocation and looked heavy favourites, with MS Dhoni's Super Kings needing 24 off the final 10 balls.
However, Jadeja (22) smashed 20 off Prasidh Krishna's final four balls in the penultimate over, with number 10 Deepak Chahar (one not out) then holding his nerve to hit the winning run off the final ball of the match.
Shardul Thakur and Josh Hazlewood took two wickets apiece, and Jadeja picked up 1-21, but Eoin Morgan's Knight Riders still posted a handy total, with Rahul Tripathi (45) and Nitish Rana (37) providing much of the impetus.
Dinesh Karthik played an important hand with a late 26 from just 11 deliveries, but that did not seem to matter as Chennai made a dashing start to their reply, openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad making 43 and 40 respectively.
Once they both fell, Sunil Narine and the Knight Riders attack began to make an impact with the ball as the Super Kings collapsed from 102-1 to 142-6, despite Moeen Ali making 32.
Yet Jadeja then came up with the late intervention that earned him man-of-the-match honours, launching two sixes before immediately adding a pair of fours in the 19th-over burst.
Jadeja fell to the penultimate ball of the contest in Abu Dhabi, pinned lbw by Narine, but Chahar came up with the single required to give Chennai the win.
Nervy Narine
Narine's first two overs were blasted for 25, but the off-spinner led the Knight Riders' recovery as he removed Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran and Jadeja.
He kept his team in the match all the way to the final ball, after Super Kings' top three earlier piled on the runs, but Jadeja's big-hitting had made it too much of a tall order.
More needed from Morgan?
Morgan struggled for fluidity with the bat, and he may feel his slow scoring ultimately cost his side as they were pipped on the final ball.
The England captain failed to capitalise on Tripathi's top-order impetus as he limped to just eight off 14 balls before being removed by Hazlewood in the ninth over with the score at 70-3.
Lewis Hamilton collected his 100th Formula One victory at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday after pipping Lando Norris to top spot.
Norris, who secured pole position and was eyeing a maiden victory, spun off the track with three laps to go as rain started to cause chaos in Sochi.
That allowed Hamilton to capitalise and sneak into a late lead to secure his century of race victories, the first F1 driver to achieve such a haul.
McLaren, who collected their first win since 2012 at the Italian Grand Prix last time out, were left heartbroken as Norris limped to a seventh-placed finish, with Max Verstappen making important ground to finish second.
Verstappen, who led the championship going into the race, had started from the back of the grid after Red Bull had a new engine installed, but he magnificently recovered to make the podium and ensure Hamilton moves into just a two-point lead.
Carlos Sainz took the lead on the first corner, with Norris, George Russell and Lance Stroll in close company.
Daniel Ricciardo, who would eventually settle for fourth, was back in fifth as Hamilton and Fernando Alonso looked to make ground on the McLaren man who was the shock Monza winner.
Verstappen, meanwhile, was climbing slowly up the grid as he overtook Valtteri Bottas and then Charles Leclerc, moving ominously through the field.
Norris' pole position looked to be paying off when Alonso and Perez had to pit, giving the 21-year-old the lead with 16 laps to go.
He had Hamilton in close company four laps later, and it appeared to be a two-car battle as the Englishmen jostled for first place.
Hamilton took the lead 11 laps later and went on to win as Norris spun out, with Verstappen coasting to his podium placing after making the smart decision to put the intermediate tyres on early.
Mercedes magic
Mercedes made the early decision to put on the inters as their rain radar suggested the wet weather was going to come before the finale.
With others choosing to stick out there and get through it, Hamilton surged into a late lead as Norris' tyres failed him, while Bottas climbed up from 17th on the grid to finish fifth to prove the Mercedes team's decision was an excellent one.
McLaren mistake
A visibly upset Norris addressed the television cameras after the race in Sochi but stood by the decision to stay out there.
The Briton battled to pole position in the adverse conditions the previous day but, for as long as Norris remains without a race win, this will resemble a missed opportunity for him and for McLaren to collect back-to-back wins after their success in Monza.
IN THE POINTS
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +53.271
3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +1:02.475
4. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) +1:05.607
5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +1:07.533
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +1:21.321
7. Lando Norris (McLaren) +1:27.224
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) +1:28.955
9. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +1:30.076
10. George Russell (Williams) 1:40.551
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 246.5
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 244.5
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 151
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) 139
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 120
Constructors
1. Mercedes 397.5
2. Red Bull 364.5
3. McLaren 234
4. Ferrari 216.5
5. Alpine 103
WHAT'S NEXT?
There is another two-week gap until the next race, which is the rearranged Turkish Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton broke new ground with his 100th Formula One victory at Sunday's Russian Grand Prix.
The defending champion already had the most victories in F1 history, having surpassed Michael Schumacher's 91 last season.
And Hamilton became the first driver to reach three figures as he emerged victorious in a dramatic race in Sochi, where Lando Norris spun off the track in the rain.
The Mercedes superstar badly needed this triumph, having fallen behind Max Verstappen again following the mid-season break.
Another championship this year would take Hamilton past Schumacher outright in another regard as an eight-time F1 king.
The records continue to pile up, with Stats Perform examining the numbers that make up Hamilton's latest stunning achievement.
CLEAR OF THE CROWD
Schumacher's 91 wins represented a daunting total until Hamilton came on the scene, with Alain Prost's 51 second on the list at the time of the Briton's breakthrough triumph in Canada in 2007.
Now Hamilton is on top and seems set to stay there for a long, long time.
Sebastian Vettel is his closest rival among active drivers, but the Aston Martin man – winless since Singapore in 2019 – is way back on 53 victories.
Hamilton also owns the record for the most wins with a single team, with 79 of his century secured in a Mercedes.
One benchmark that appears out of Hamilton's reach is Juan Manuel Fangio's remarkable winning percentage, with 24 victories from 51 grands prix giving the five-time champion a success rate of 47.1 per cent.
Among drivers with three or more wins, Hamilton's 35.5 per cent – 100 from 281 – is third, also behind Alberto Ascari (40.6 per cent).
PROFITING FROM POLE
Of course, the win was Hamilton's second F1 century, having clinched his 100th pole at this year's Spanish GP – a tally he improved with another in Hungary at the start of last month.
Of those 101, 59 have brought victories. Schumacher's 40 wins from pole put him a distant second on that particular list.
That means Schumacher is well clear still in terms of successes from further back on the grid, accounting for 51 of his wins but only 41 of Hamilton's.
After Sunday, Hamilton now has three victories from fourth, plus 27 from second, seven from third, one from fifth and two from sixth. Only in Germany in 2018, having qualified in 14th, has the 36-year-old won from behind the front three rows.
HEROICS AT HOME... AND IN HUNGARY
Hamilton passed up the opportunity to reach three figures at the Hungarian GP, where victory would have made him the first man to register nine wins at a single event.
He also has eight British GP triumphs, while Schumacher had the same number at the French GP.
Of course, the eight Silverstone successes mean Hamilton has the most home wins in F1 history. Prost previously held the record with six victories in his native France.
Seven British GP celebrations in the hybrid era are also unsurpassed.
The Silver Arrows great has come out on top at 28 different events and 29 different circuits – two more highs, ahead of Schumacher (22 and 23).
SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
Having signed a two-year contract extension in early July, it appears inevitable that Hamilton will move clear of Schumacher by another measure in 2022.
The pair are currently tied with victories in 15 different F1 seasons, both achieving the feat in successive campaigns.
With five successes this year through 15 rounds, Hamilton faces a huge ask to match his 11-win mark from the past three years.
The former McLaren man has never had more than 11 in a single campaign, also finishing with that tally in 2014.
That followed his worst year in terms of wins, with just a single victory in 2013. Only in 2017 (nine) has Hamilton since dipped below double-figures until 2021.
President of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Ricky Skerritt, is calling on West Indies cricket fans everywhere, to throw their full support behind the West Indies team when they defend the ICC T20 World Cup title next month.
Paulo Dybala left the pitch in tears after scoring the opening goal as Juventus beat Sampdoria 3-2 in Massimiliano Allegri's 400th Serie A game in charge.
Dybala showed his class with a great finish but was forced off midway through the first half three days before a Champions League clash with Chelsea, having seemingly sustained a muscular problem.
Leonardo Bonucci doubled Juve's lead from the penalty spot, but Maya Yoshida's header gave Samp hope just before half-time at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Manuel Locatelli's first goal for the Bianconeri gave them breathing space and although Antonio Candreva's strike set up a tense finale, the Turin giants secured a back-to-back Serie A home wins – and their first at home this season – in boss Allegri's landmark match.
Dybala put Juve in front with a fine finish in the 10th minute, rifling into the bottom-right corner with his left foot from outside the penalty area after Locatelli had set him up.
Alvaro Morata failed to beat Emil Audero when he went one-on-one with the Samp goalkeeper after being slipped in by Dybala, who was the best player on the pitch before he was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski just 22 minutes in.
Bonucci took the armband from an emotional Dybala and he doubled Juve's lead in the 43rd minute after Nicola Murru handled Federico Chiesa's shot.
The Bianconeri had only just finished celebrating when Yoshida rose to nod in Antonio Candreva's inviting cross to half the deficit just before the break.
Locatelli restored Juve's two-goal advantage 12 minutes into the second half, though, slotting Kulusevski's cutback into the empty net to punish Omar Colley for a terrible pass inside his own area.
Audero showed sharp reflexes to palm over Rodrigo Bentancur's rasping drive and Morata failed to round off a swift break when he fired wide.
Candreva finished clinically with his left foot against his former club when Adrien Silva picked him out seven minutes from time, but Juve held on to secure three much-needed points.
Paulo Dybala was in tears as he left the pitch during Sunday's Serie A clash between Juventus and Sampdoria having suffered an injury.
Dybala was limited to just 14 league starts last season as he struggled with his fitness, but has started each of Juve's five Serie A game so far this season.
He scored on the opening day against Udinese and took his tally for the season to two with an exceptional first-time strike from the edge of the area to give Juve the lead against Sampdoria.
However, his day came to an abrupt end 12 minutes later when he pulled up with an apparent muscular problem and immediately had to be taken off.
The 27-year-old was visibly distressed and emotional as he left the pitch, with his team-mates comforting him as the Argentine forward used his shirt to wipe away his tears. He had been hugely impressive, creating three chances and having two attempts.
It is not just a worry for Dybala, but also Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri, whose side have had a poor start to the Serie A campaign, taking only five points from their opening five matches, while the Bianconeri face Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Kwon Soon-woo claimed his maiden ATP Tour title with a straight-sets defeat of James Duckworth at the Astana Open.
The South Korean came out on top in the battle of the unseeded first-time finalists on Sunday, winning 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in Nur-Sultan.
Kwon won 86 per cent of points behind his first serve and came from behind in both sets to be crowned champion.
Australian Duckworth failed to convert three set points in a tie-break and Kwon made him pay, grasping his first opportunity to go a set up.
Kwon was broken in the first game of the second set, but the battling world number 82 hit straight back to draw level.
Duckworth, who had not dropped a set en route to the final, was broken again to trail 4-2 and he was unable to find a way back as the 23-year-old Kwon celebrated his finest hour.
Valtteri Bottas will start the Russian Grand Prix in 17th place on Sunday after Mercedes fitted his fifth power unit of the Formula One season.
Bottas took seventh place in qualifying at the Sochi Autodrom, a track where he had never previously qualified outside of the top four.
The Finn will start towards the back of the grid, though, due to a second penalty in as many races.
Mercedes revealed on the morning of the race: "Valtteri Bottas will start the RussianGP from P17 after taking his fifth Power Unit of the season.
"The Team has taken the tactical opportunity to add another PU into VB's pool for the remainder of the season."
Championship leader Max Verstappen, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Williams' Nicholas Latifi will also have ground to make up after they took penalties for new power units.
Lando Norris claimed a shock maiden F1 pole ahead of Carlos Sainz, while George Russell will start in third place.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is fourth on the grid, primed to regain the championship lead from Verstappen, who holds a slender five-point advantage over the Briton.
Alex Volkanovski defended his featherweight belt after overcoming Brian Ortega in one of the most dramatic fights of the year at UFC 266.
Volkanovski withstood two submissions in a brutal showdown with Ortega in Las Vegas, where the Australian champion prevailed by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-44) on Saturday.
Ortega (15-2) – largely outclassed – looked to be on the brink of victory after a mounted guillotine and then a triangle choke in the third round left Volkanovski in trouble at T-Mobile Arena.
But Volkanovski (23-1) silenced his critics, emerging from the jaws of defeat to celebrate his 10th consecutive win in the UFC.
"All you doubters, I'm going to prove you wrong time and time again," Volkanovski said in his post-fight interview.
"Bring it. About f****** time [you put respect on my name].
"Keep doubting me. I love it. I'll be underdog to the day I die."
Of the submission attempts, Volkanovski – who has not lost since May 2013 – said: "Some of them were pretty tight.
"For some reason I went to the ground with him. Obviously, he's good. ... I thought I was in his head and he came back even stronger."
Ortega added: "I thought it was done. That's what we trained for my entire camp. ... That little bastard is f****** tough as hell."
In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko completed her sixth straight title defence at the expense of Lauren Murphy.
Shevchenko (21-4) scored a devastating fourth-round TKO against Murphy in the flyweight title showdown.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
