Lukas Nmecha scored the trophy-winning goal as Germany beat Portugal 1-0 in the European Under-21 Championship final. 

The Manchester City striker, who spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan at Belgian side Anderlecht, scored early in the second half to ensure Germany claimed the trophy for the third time, following 2009 and 2017 triumphs.

It made Nmecha the outright top scorer in the tournament with four goals.

Portugal, who carved out just one shot on target in Ljubljana, have now finished as runners-up in the competition on three occasions.

Tiago Tomas flashed an effort wide early on, while Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot twice went close inside the opening 15 minutes as Portugal started brightly.

Florian Wirtz, who scored twice in the semi-final win over the Netherlands, went agonisingly close to handing Germany the lead after 15 minutes when his deflected effort from outside the penalty area crashed back off the underside of the crossbar.

Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa was called into action soon after to deny Nmecha and Arne Maier as Germany found their footing in the game.

Germany then deservedly went ahead in the 49th minute when Nmecha latched onto Ridle Baku's superb pass, rounded Costa and rolled into an empty net.

Substitute Karim Adeyemi squandered a golden opportunity to double Germany's advantage 18 minutes from full-time, firing straight at Costa after picking Dalot's pocket, before the Portugal goalkeeper kept out Nmecha's powerful drive from distance.

Adeyemi was denied again by the excellent Costa late on, but it mattered little in the end as Stefan Kuntz's side saw the game out with the minimum of fuss to spark jubilant scenes.

Romelu Lukaku was on target and Eden Hazard made a long-awaited international return as Belgium beat Croatia 1-0 in their final Euro 2020 warm-up game.

The impressive Lukaku struck in the first half at King Baudouin Stadium on Sunday to give the Red Devils a deserved victory.

Injury-blighted Hazard came off the bench late on to make his first Belgium appearance for 19 months, just six days before Roberto Martinez's side face Russia in their first match of the European Championship.

Zlatko Dalic's Croatia side lacked a cutting edge in Brussels a week prior to their opening game of Euro 2020 against England at Wembley.

Croatia started positively but the Red Devils started to look increasingly threatening, Nacer Chadli blazing over the crossbar from outside the penalty area.

Lukaku was proving a real handful and the striker rattled the post with a left-footed strike after turning sharply, with Yannick Carrasco heading against the crossbar following up.

Croatia were made to pay by Lukaku seven minutes before the break after some slack defending, the prolific Inter frontman drilling home with his right foot from six yards after Jason Denayer nodded the ball into his path.

Bruno Petkovic twice called Thibaut Courtois into action early in the second half as Croatia went in search of an equaliser.

Carrasco spurned a good opportunity to double the Red Devils' lead when he sliced wide and a Lukaku header deflected off target.

Croatia boss Dalic made a whole host of changes in the second half, but Belgium saw out the victory and Real Madrid man Hazard gave them another lift when he came on with nine minutes to go.

Hazard was given a short outing and Lukaku came close to a second goal when his close-range header was superbly kept out by Dominik Livakovic.

Josip Brekalo could have snatched a stoppage-time equaliser, but his shot was well saved by Courtois as Belgium held on for the win.

Spain captain Sergio Busquets has tested positive for COVID-19 just eight days before the team are due to begin their Euro 2020 campaign.

The news was announced on Sunday by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which said Tuesday's planned friendly against Lithuania would now see Spain represented by the Under-21 team.

That is one of a number of measures being taken to avoid any further risks before Spain begin the upcoming tournament, with the entire squad isolating.

Spain, coached by Luis Enrique, start Euro 2020 against Sweden on June 14 in Seville.

The RFEF's statement read: "The RFEF regrets to announce that its captain Sergio Busquets has given a positive result in the last PCR test that was carried out this morning at the national team training camp in Las Rozas. The rest of the members of the camp have all tested negative.

"The federation's medical services have adopted all the necessary measures in a case of these characteristics in accordance with the protocols established by both the Ministry of Health and UEFA, so that the footballer has left the camp in a medical vehicle."

The RFEF said Busquets' colleagues and close contacts would go into isolation, with personalised training routines implemented.

Declaring the change of plans for the Lithuania friendly, which was to be Spain's final match before the European Championship begins, the RFEF confirmed the game would now "be held under the direction of Luis de la Fuente and with members of the Under-21 national team".

England manager Gareth Southgate seemed unimpressed by Jordan Henderson's decision to take a penalty – which he ultimately missed – off Dominic Calvert-Lewin in Sunday's 1-0 win over Romania.

The Three Lions were in action for the last time ahead of Euro 2020, with England set to face Croatia at Wembley next Sunday.

Marcus Rashford scored the winning goal with a cool spot-kick after the excellent Jack Grealish had been hauled down.

But Henderson, a half-time substitute, was unable to follow suit as Romania goalkeeper Florin Nita saved his penalty late on following a clumsy Vlad Chiriches foul on Calvert-Lewin.

The Everton striker was expected to take the kick, but Henderson – playing for the first time in 106 days – stepped up as he looked to score his first senior England goal.

His failure was not punished by Romania, though Southgate suggested he will be having words with Henderson.

"We had Marcus Rashford on penalties, then James Ward-Prowse but both came off," Southgate explained to ITV.

"I was expecting Dominic to take it and when Hendo walked over I thought he was making sure that happened, so I will have to check Hendo's thought process."

When it was put to Southgate that Henderson had pulled rank as captain, Southgate replied with a smile: "We will pull rank next time."

Otherwise it was a largely unremarkable match and performance from England, who were perhaps fortunate to get their victory such were the quality of some of the Romanian chances.

"Yes, we had chances to make it more comfortable but so did they, the first half we did not work hard enough without the ball, we were too stretched and did not press well," Southgate added.

"After half-time, I thought we improved and it was helpful. We went to 4-3-3 later and I have to say it was a good exercise, players needed the minutes and learned a lot from the game. It was good to win."

Kevin De Bruyne has retained the men's PFA Players' Player of the Year award, matching the achievement of Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry.

Belgium star De Bruyne saw off competition from Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, Tottenham's Harry Kane and three of his Manchester City team-mates – Ilkay Gundogan, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden, who scooped the Young Player of the Year accolade.

Foden had been nominated for the young player prize alongside fellow England internationals Declan Rice, Mason Mount, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka and Mason Greenwood.

De Bruyne's win in voting for the Professional Footballers' Association main prize sees him match Ronaldo and Henry, greats from United and Arsenal who are the only previous players to have won the award in back-to-back seasons.

"The fact that the players chose me for this award means that I've done really well. You want to win all the trophies with the team, and this is probably the most important one as an individual trophy in the league," De Bruyne said.

"To be voted for by your competitors... that means a lot.

"When you have these things, you can show your kids and say, 'Look! This is what Daddy did when he was younger.'"

Only three Premier League players created more chances in the competition in 2020-21 than De Bruyne (80) – Fernandes (95), Mount (87) and Jack Grealish (81) – though all of them made more appearances than the 29-year-old.

De Bruyne crafted 19 big chances – defined by Opta as an opportunity from which a player would reasonably be expected to score – with only Fernandes (20) managing a higher total.

The City playmaker scored six goals and created a further 12 in the Premier League. In that regard, he was below his expected goals estimation (9.26), but some way above his expected assists of 6.21. Ten of his assists came from passes in open play, with two from set-pieces.

On average, De Bruyne created 3.6 chances per 90 minutes, more than any of those who made the PFA's final list.

 

Foden, meanwhile, made fewer league appearances than any of his competitors for the Young Player of the Year award, and also tallied the fewest minutes (1,613).

However, his nine goals put him two ahead of the haul that Greenwood – his nearest challenger in that regard – managed, with his five assists second only to Alexander-Arnold.

Indeed, when calculated per 90 minutes, Foden averaged 0.5 goals and 0.28 assists, ranking him top among those in the frame for the award, while he also attempted more dribbles (4.18) with the highest success rate (2.83).

Another City player to scoop an award was Lauren Hemp, who took the women's Young Player of the Year prize.

Chelsea and England forward Fran Kirby won the women's Players' Player of the Year award after a prolific campaign for Emma Hayes' side in the WSL and Women's Champions League.

Saturday had seen more awards sent City's way, with Pep Guardiola named the Premier League's Manager of the Season winner, while Ruben Dias took the league's own Player of the Season prize.

England beat Romania 1-0 thanks to a Marcus Rashford penalty in their final pre-Euro 2020 warm-up match but the game was once again marred by supporters booing the Three Lions for taking the knee.

Fans jeered England players for showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement at the start of the 1-0 win over Austria earlier in the week, and despite Gareth Southgate clearly explaining on Saturday that his team's gesture was motivated by racial injustice rather than politics, boos were clearly audible once more at the Riverside Stadium.

Potentially deflated by those fans' blatant disregard for the team's feelings, perhaps England's rather subdued start in Middlesbrough had a straightforward explanation, with Southgate's side not posing much of a threat until Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jadon Sancho hit the crossbar after the half-hour mark.

The visitors looked as much of an attacking threat as England, but good work from Jack Grealish earned a penalty with 22 minutes to go and Rashford – captain for the day – converted with aplomb, with Jordan Henderson unable to follow suit from the spot a little later.

Romania looked much sharper than England initially, with Denis Alibec shooting just wide of the top-right corner and Razvan Marin firing at Sam Johnstone following a flowing move.

Florin Nita in the visitors' net had very little to do before having the bar come to his rescue in the 32nd minute, keeping out a ferocious Calvert-Lewin header, and then again six minutes later as Sancho's bending effort following a clever offload by Grealish had left the goalkeeper looking helpless.

But Romania still posed a threat at the other end, with Deian Sorescu testing Johnstone after being released in behind the suspect Tyrone Mings.

An encouraging aspect was the performance of Rashford, who after a difficult spell at club level, did well in the 62nd minute as he collected Calvert-Lewin's lay-off and burst into the Romania half before shooting wide on the stretch after a lung-busting run.

Rashford was decisive soon after, however, coolly slotting in a penalty after Grealish – who was fouled on five occasions more than anyone else – found himself tripped by Tiberiu Capusa.

Henderson, introduced at half-time for his first outing since February, passed up the chance to make it 2-0 from the spot as Nita saved his kick following a foul on Calvert-Lewin by Vlad Chiriches.

That came hot on the heels of Johnstone producing a wonderful stop to thwart Andrei Ivan, with England ultimately settling for the 1-0 win.

Memphis Depay scored one and created another in his latest dominant display as the Netherlands defeated Georgia 3-0 on Sunday ahead of Euro 2020.

Lyon striker Depay had scored both goals in the prior friendly against Scotland to rescue a draw and played a key role again a week out from the Oranje's tournament opener at home to Ukraine.

The first from Depay came from the penalty spot after 10 minutes and he then teased a gorgeous pass through for Wout Weghorst's first international goal in the second half. Ryan Gravenberch later broke his own duck.

Depay and Weghorst again headlined a Frank de Boer XI that showed only two changes from the team that faced Scotland, hinting at his finals line-up, but Matthijs de Ligt was one of those to make way due to a groin complaint.

He was a miss in the defence as Saba Lobzhanidze advanced inside two minutes and squandered a big chance with a tame finish.

The Netherlands would not be as wasteful when they forged a similarly straightforward path through the Georgia back line and Depay converted the penalty won from his pass by Denzel Dumfries, who was tripped by Lasha Dvali.

Dumfries and Depay soon combined again, but the latter's stretching effort was superbly saved by Giorgi Loria, a stop that should have allowed the visitors to equalise when Valeriane Gvilia instead steered wide.

Loria was at his best again to touch over Frenkie de Jong's drive, yet Weghorst's close-range strike escaped his clutches 10 minutes into the second half.

Although more agile goalkeeping kept out Depay's blast, pressure continued to build on Loria's goal and he blocked again from the same man only to see Gravenberch nod in.

A sensational Jambul Jigauri volley beat Maarten Stekelenburg five minutes from time but bounced away off the crossbar, ensuring a one-sided final scoreline.

 

What does it mean? Steady stuff from De Boer's men

De Boer clearly has a settled side, which might give the Netherlands an edge over some opponents, but they will have to beat better teams than Georgia to become champions of Europe.

This was not the most convincing display, although there could have been more home goals if not for some excellent work from Loria, who prevented 1.19 goals using expected goals on target data.

Depay devastating once again

Depay was involved in a goal every 38 minutes in qualifying (six goals and seven assists in 495 minutes), the best rate among the 54 players to have a hand in five or more. A goal and an assist in 90 minutes meant he was only marginally less effective on Sunday.

With the defence looking a little shaky and Weghorst still making his way on the international stage, the Netherlands' campaign will live or die by Depay's performances.

Daley a disappointing deputy

It was no surprise to see Daley Blind removed in De Boer's only half-time change, having replaced De Ligt in the line-up. The Ajax defender was preferred to Nathan Ake, the substitute that took his place.

Blind failed to complete a tackle or interception as he was exposed by the pace of Lobzhanidze. Euros opponents will be more clinical if Blind has to step in again for De Ligt.

What's next?

All eyes now are on the Euros, which begins for the Netherlands against Ukraine in Amsterdam next Sunday.

Serena Williams crashed out of the French Open in the fourth round as 21st seed Elena Rybakina sealed a stunning 6-3 7-5 victory on Sunday.

Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, had not previously been past the second round at Roland Garros but she is enjoying a strong run this fortnight and showed no nerves against her illustrious opponent, hitting a series of impressive winners that the 39-year-old Williams could not match.

After breaking back and then moving 5-4 ahead in the second set, it seemed 23-time grand slam champion Williams might take the match to a decider, but Rybakina reeled off the next three games to seal the biggest win of her career and set up a quarter-final clash against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. 

Rybakina started in a confident mood, winning her first two service games without dropping a point.

Williams came under intense pressure on her second service game, with Rybakina breaking and opening up a 3-1 lead when the American sent a backhand long.

Williams broke back in the seventh game of the match, but she squandered the opportunity to pull level when Rybakina broke again in the next game.

A nervy Rybakina needed four set points to win the opener 6-3, sealing it in 36 minutes when Williams flashed a cross-court backhand long.

Williams found herself in more trouble at the start of the second set, Rybakina comfortably breaking to move 1-0 up, but the three-time Roland Garros champion restored parity in the next game with four consecutive winners.

Rybakina missed a golden opportunity to set up a break point in the fifth match of the second set, sending a backhand long with Williams out of position, the American surviving to serve out the game and move 3-2 up.

The 21-year-old won the next game with an ace, setting the stage for her to break Williams and move 4-3 ahead.

Williams roared back, though, winning the next two games to leave Rybakina serving to stay in the set.

Not only did she do that, but she won the next two games as well to put the seal on a memorable victory that took one hour and 19 minutes.

 

DATA SLAM: RYBAKINA PUNISHES SLOPPY WILLIAMS

Williams looked well off the pace against an opponent who certainly made the most of her first appearance in the fourth round of a grand slam tournament. Williams won just 59 per cent of the points from her first serve, compared to Rybakina's 69 per cent, while the Russian-born player won 86 per cent of points at the net compared to Williams' 50 per cent.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Williams – 15/19
Rybakina – 21/13

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Williams – 2/1
Rybakina – 4/4

BREAK POINTS WON

Williams – 3/5
Rybakina – 5/7

Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Joel Embiid was cleared to start Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

Embiid has been managing a knee injury and missed the final game of the first-round series against the Washington Wizards, having bowed out after just 11 minutes in the previous encounter.

The center's return against a tricky Hawks team represents a big boost for the 76ers, though.

While Embiid has been limited to 24.0 points per game so far in the 2020-21 playoffs due to his knee complaint, he tallied 28.5 points along with 10.6 rebounds in the regular season.

The 27-year-old will be expected to improve on his 19.7 points per game across three meetings with Atlanta this year, although he was limited to 25 minutes or fewer in each clash.

Embiid was selected to start alongside Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Danny Green, the Sixers' most-used starting five this season. They were 27-5 across 32 games.

Lewis Hamilton apologised to the Mercedes team after a "humbling experience" left the Formula One world champion outside the points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Hamilton overcame difficulties in practice to clinch second on the grid in a red flag-laden qualifying session on Saturday, yet he finished 15th in Sunday's race.

Max Verstappen, Hamilton's championship rival, crashed with three laps remaining, and a red flag resulted in a standing start.

Hamilton, who had swiftly caught pole holder Charles Leclerc but had been delayed by Pierre Gasly in the pits, resumed the race behind Sergio Perez.

Yet the seven-time world champion, with his brakes smoking, careered off the track moments after the restart, enabling Perez to cruise to victory.

"Today was a humbling experience," Hamilton tweeted, having initially apologised to the team from his car.

"We worked so hard to put ourselves back in the top 10 today after a rocky week here in Baku. We gave it our all today and a small error caused the brakes to switch off.

"Sorry to the team, we'll come back stronger for the next race."

Mercedes' official team account echoed Hamilton's sentiment.

"This is hard to take. We worked so hard this weekend to put ourselves into the fight after a really difficult start on Friday – only to leave with nothing," the team's tweet read.

"[We] need a big reaction next time out in France."

Sunday's drama means Red Bull hold a 26-point lead in the constructors' championship, with Verstappen (105) four points ahead of Hamilton in the drivers' standings.

Fabio Quartararo was left baffled as to why his leather race suit split open as he slipped from pole position to a fourth-place finish at the Catalan Grand Prix.

MotoGP championship leader Quartararo was aiming to seal back-to-back wins in Barcelona following his triumph on the circuit in 2020, but the Monster Energy Yahama driver slipped up early on and failed to finish on the podium.

Miguel Oliveira got Red Bull KTM's first win of the season, and the third race victory of his career, with Johann Zarco and Jack Miller completing the top three.

Quartararo was second until the final three laps, when Zarco made a daring overtake and caught the Frenchman out.

To complicate matters, Quartararo's suit had opened, with the 22-year-old's chest protector also slipping out.

He cut two corners as he battled with Miller for third, and was handed a three second penalty which cost him a third straight podium position at the Catalan Grand Prix.

"What happened I don’t know, I just know that I had the leathers completely open," he explained to reporters.

"I tried to just put it in a normal position again, I couldn't do it. So was difficult to ride, but unfortunately, it happens.

"It happened today, so Alpinestars is looking at how it's possible because at the end of the race it was possible to close it again.

"But it's like this, it was not our day but I can be happy with this fourth position… well, third, but finishing fourth."

Former MotoGP champion Casey Stoner tweeted his thoughts on the incident, insisting Quartararo should have been disqualified from the race.

"Well, I think I already have a penalty that I don't agree [with], demoted three seconds from P3 to P4," Quartararo said when Stoner's comments were put to him.

"I think this penalty is quite enough. It's finished, the race is finished, everything is safe.

"So, I think right now it's not enough to talk anymore because the race is finished. I think there's no point to talk anymore about these possible things."

It was a race which belonged to Oliveira, with the Portuguese rider holding the lead for 23 laps.

"The most difficult thing about the race was the mental ability to stay calm, it was so easy to be aggressive or to just override the tires at the beginning," he said in a news conference.

"I felt like that was the key, stay calm and the race will come to me."

Elsewhere in a frantic race, six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez crashed out on Turn 10, which also claimed Valentino Rossi and Aleix Espargaro.

Marquez has now failed to finish the last three races, a career first for the 28-year-old.

Christian Horner described the "rollercoaster" of Red Bull's Azerbaijan Grand Prix success as Sergio Perez revealed he almost followed team-mate Max Verstappen out of the race.

Red Bull claimed consecutive wins for just the second time in the Hybrid Era, but it was Perez rather than Verstappen who led them to glory.

Verstappen was in complete control and set to head a Red Bull one-two when his left-rear tyre blew out in the closing stages. The same issue had ruled out Lance Stroll of Aston Martin.

That left the door open for title rival Lewis Hamilton to profit, but an error from the defending champion from the restart allowed Perez to race clear.

Red Bull boss Horner told Sky Sports: "I think I've aged about 20 years.

"We were staring down the barrel of our first one-two since 2016. Everything in control, we'd just checked in with Max, all okay, and then boom.

"The tyre went, and we don't know why. It looked like the wear was in good shape, so whether it's debris or something has happened.

"You can see it's a big place to have an accident. Thankfully, he's okay."

He added: "We were feeling at that point like the world had dropped from under us."

Worse might have been to come for Red Bull as Perez finished the race but then immediately broke down, receiving frantic messages over the radio as he celebrated his first victory for the team.

The Mexican, who has five consecutive top-five finishes for the first time in his career, said: "I'm so, so happy for today. Normally, Baku is pretty crazy.

"First of all, I have to say for Max I'm sorry. He did a tremendous race and really deserved the win, and it would have been incredible to get that one-two for the team.

"But at the end, it is a fantastic day for us. We were close to retiring the car but, luckily, we were able to finish the race. It was quite difficult all the way in the end."

Horner lauded Perez, whose victory moved Red Bull 26 points clear in the constructors' championship on a day Mercedes failed to score.

"He's a wily driver, a canny racer. He races really, really well," Horner said.

"We went from the despair of 'We've lost Max, we're going to lose the championship lead, Lewis could pass him at the restart and win the race'.

"It just shows the rollercoaster you go through in this sport.

"Suddenly it not being quite so bad, we've actually maintained the same lead in the drivers' championship leaving here and extended the constructors'."

Red Bull dedicated the victory to Mansour Ojjeh, the McLaren shareholder who passed away ahead of the race.

"He had the biggest heart and always carried the biggest smile," ex-McLaren man Hamilton posted on Twitter. "I am so grateful to have known such a man."

Roger Federer withdrew from the French Open on Sunday after winning through to the fourth round, citing a desire not to rush his return from injury.

The 39-year-old Swiss prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 over Dominik Koepfer on Saturday in the longest match he has played in 18 months, following double knee surgery. The contest lasted three hours and 35 minutes.

Federer laboured at times, making 63 unforced errors, fighting hard to triumph in front of an empty crowd locked out by Paris' 9pm curfew, with the match finishing at close to 1am.

The 20-time grand slam winner has played few tournaments over the past 18 months and said a need to rest his body was behind his decision to withdraw.

In a statement released by the French Open, Federer said: "After discussions with my team, I've decided I will need to pull out of Roland Garros today.

"After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it's important that I listen to my body and make sure I don't push myself too quickly on my road to recovery.

"I am thrilled to have gotten three matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court."

Tournament director Guy Forget said: "The Roland Garros tournament is sorry about the withdrawal of Roger Federer, who put up an incredible fight last night.

"We were all delighted to see Roger back in Paris, where he played three high-level matches. We wish him all the best for the rest of the season."

Federer entered the clay-court major with a 1-2 win-loss record for the year, most recently losing to Pablo Andujar in Geneva last month, and little was expected from him.

However, three wins on the spin showed he is not finished yet at the highest level, with his withdrawal suggesting he wants to preserve himself for Wimbledon, which starts at the end of the month.

Federer had been due to play ninth seed Matteo Berrettini in the last 16 on Monday.

Remarkable late drama at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw Sergio Perez handed victory after Max Verstappen crashed out and title rival Lewis Hamilton incredibly finished outside the points.

Verstappen looked to be coasting to a second consecutive Formula One win and seventh straight podium – both career firsts.

The Red Bull driver, four points ahead of Hamilton in the standings prior to the race, was well in the clear after earlier benefitting from a slow Hamilton pit stop.

But Verstappen's left-rear tyre blew out and ended his race, prompting the furious Dutchman to kick his car in anger.

Lance Stroll had encountered the same issue with the hard Pirelli tyres, swerving out of control when he had been fourth, albeit without pitting.

A red flag – requested by a concerned Red Bull team – followed Verstappen's crash with just three laps remaining, meaning a standing start with Perez ahead of Hamilton on the front row of the grid following the delay.

In another twist, Hamilton and his smoking brakes careered off the circuit from the restart and Perez raced away to lift Red Bull spirits.

With Hamilton way back in 15th, it meant a positive end to the day for Verstappen's team, even if the season leader will continue to rue his misfortune.

Both Verstappen and Perez jumped ahead of Hamilton when he was delayed in the pit lane by Pierre Gasly, having quickly caught pole-sitter Charles Leclerc.

Stroll's mishap threw a spanner in the works, yet Verstappen pulled ahead clear from the restart following the safety car, with Perez again getting the better of Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel's climb to fourth and attempt to reel in old foe Hamilton looked the most likely source of intrigue in the closing stages, only for Verstappen's blow to bring the race to a standstill.

Hamilton admitted his error when his restart sensationally failed, though, and Perez hung on, his car breaking down moments after crossing the line before Vettel – who achieved a first Aston Martin podium.

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