Charles Leclerc is confident “the best is yet to come” after signing a contract extension with Ferrari.

Leclerc was one of a raft of Formula One drivers heading into the final year of his contract, along with Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, but the Scuderia announced on Thursday that the Monegasque has agreed a new long-term deal.

The 26-year-old, who made his F1 debut with Sauber before joining the Italian team in 2019, has won five grands prix including a famous home victory for Ferrari at Monza in his maiden season.

Leclerc finished fifth in the standings last season as Ferrari, who have not won a drivers’ title since 2007, continued to trail Red Bull and Mercedes but he is confident that he is in the right team to achieve his dream of winning the world championship.

“I’m very pleased to know that I will be wearing the Scuderia Ferrari race suit for several more seasons to come,” Leclerc said.

“To race for this team has been my dream since I was three years old: I used to watch the Monaco Grand Prix from the window of a friend’s apartment and I would always look out for the red cars.

“This team is my second family ever since I joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016 and we have achieved a lot together, fighting through thick and thin over the past five years.

“However, I believe the best is yet to come and I can’t wait for this season to start, to make further progress and be competitive at every race.

“My dream remains that of winning the world championship with Ferrari and I’m sure that in the years ahead, we will enjoy great times together and make our fans happy.”

The 2024 season gets under way in Bahrain on March 2, with Ferrari hopeful their car will be able to fight with a Red Bull team who have dominated the sport for the last two seasons.

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur added: “We are determined to give Charles a winning car and I know that his determination and commitment are elements that can make the difference in helping us reach our goals.”

James Maddison is available for Tottenham’s FA Cup tie with Manchester City but boss Ange Postecoglou has yet to make a decision on whether he will start Friday’s clash.

Maddison has not played for Spurs since he sustained ankle ligament damage in a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea on November 6.

England international Maddison flourished after he moved to the club in a £40million deal from Leicester last June, scoring three goals and providing six assists in 12 appearances, and he will return to action against FA Cup holders Man City.

Postecoglou revealed: “He’s trained all week and he is fine.

“He is available and ready to start… when someone is available I assume they are ready to start.

“Whether they do or not depends on what I see with everyone else tomorrow and I usually make those decisions on game day.

“Like I said, the beauty of it is he’s got through the week really well and is ready to go.”

Kerry National winner Desertmore House will look to tee up a potential crack at the Irish Grand National in the Finlay Ford At Naas Novice Chase on Sunday.

Martin Brassil’s nine-year-old has come of age this season, winning twice at Kilbeggan before landing the valuable prize at Listowel against far more experienced rivals over fences.

He needs one more run over the bigger obstacles to qualify for Fairyhouse at Easter and Brassil then has his eyes set on Aintree next season for a horse who runs in the same colours as Numbersixvalverde, Brassil’s past Irish National and Aintree hero.

“Desertmore House runs in Naas on Sunday in a Grade Three Chase,” he said.

“He’s a novice. He has no penalty because he won two handicaps. He’ll be nice enough in that race but I’m hoping the ground won’t be as soft as it is, he’s more of a spring ground horse.

“He needs to run six times over fences to make an entry for the National and I just have that in the back of my mind – the Irish National is the main aim this year and Aintree next year.”

Another nice horse in Brassil’s Dunmurray yard is bumper winner Goldinthemountains, who won what is traditionally a hot race at Leopardstown over Christmas

“We’ll probably keep him for the Punchestown Festival, the winners-of-one bumper there. The owners (Sean and Bernardine Mulryan) are local to the track and like runners at that meeting,” said Brassil.

“He’s a nice horse to look forward to. You could run him before that but he’s a lovely, big horse we are just going to mind – and he’ll be hurdling this time next year.”

Paul Nicholls views Saturday’s Paddy Power Cotswold Chase as the “perfect race” for his star novice Stay Away Fay.

The Ditcheat handler has saddled five previous winners of the recognised Cheltenham Gold Cup trial, with See More Business triumphing in 1998 and 2001 before the subsequent victories of Taranis in 2010, Neptune Collonges in 2011 and Frodon in 2019.

Stay Away Fay, a winner at last year’s Cheltenham Festival in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, has run just twice over fences, making a successful debut at Exeter before outstaying Giovinco in the Grade Two Esher Novices’ Chase at Sandown last month.

Nicholls is well aware his charge has plenty on his plate as he takes on more seasoned campaigners this weekend, but he is happy to roll the dice.

“He has got to go somewhere before the Cheltenham Festival and this gives him more time than if he goes to the Reynoldstown (Novices’ Chase) at Ascot and has a hard race. He has worked well and schooled well since Sandown and we are looking forward to it,” he said.

“This race has always been on my mind for him. For a horse like him it is the perfect race. He might have to take on some better ones, but apart from Royale Pagaille there are no real Gold Cup horses in there.

“This would do him good and it is all good experience and that is what you need. He has not been over fences around Cheltenham and that is why we are quite keen to do it.

“He is fit, stays well and he is in good order and we think he will run a nice race.”

While Nicholls has given Stay Away Fay an entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, he is currently planning to revert to novice company come the big meeting in March.

He added: “I’ve given him an entry in the National Hunt Chase and Gold Cup, but I would say he would be one for the Brown Advisory at the Festival after this.”

Stay Away Fay is set to face five rivals over an extended three miles and a furlong, with last year’s winner Ahoy Senor and Betfair Chase hero Royale Pagaille heading the field.

The Real Whacker won his first three starts over fences at Cheltenham last season, including a Festival win in the Brown Advisory, but has not troubled the judge in two starts so far this term.

Jamie Snowden’s Coral Gold Cup winner Datsalrightgino and the Willie Mullins-trained Irish raider Capodanno complete the line-up.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will take on first-time grand slam finalist Zheng Qinwen for the Australian Open crown on Saturday.

Sabalenka reversed the result of the US Open final, beating Coco Gauff 7-6 (2) 6-4, while 12th seed Zheng ended the run of qualifier Dayana Yastremska with a 6-4 6-4 victory.

Britain’s Alfie Hewett is one win away from defending his wheelchair title and will again face Japanese teenager Tokito Oda for the trophy.

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The men take centre stage on Friday, with Novak Djokovic putting his 33-match unbeaten run at Melbourne Park on the line in a semi-final clash against fourth seed Jannik Sinner.

In the night session, familiar foes Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev will do battle for a place in the final.

Britain’s Neal Skupski goes for a fourth grand slam title alongside American Desirae Krawczyk in the mixed doubles final, with the pair taking on Hsieh Su-wei and Jan Zielinski.

Ben Duckett insisted there was never any question of Tom Hartley “hiding away” after his first ball in Test cricket was hit for six, with England rallying behind the debutant.

After being bowled out for 246, the tourists opted to open the bowling with their Lancastrian newcomer.

The left-arm spinner is used to fronting up with the new ball in limited-overs cricket but had never done so in his first-class career before he went head-to-head with Yashavi Jaiswal in front of 30,000 fans in Hyderabad.

It was not a bad loosener but disappeared all the way over the ropes as Jaiswal threw everything into a slog sweep that set the tone for India’s aggressive response of 119 for one.

The blow meant the 24-year-old joined a short list of players who have endured such a start, with Zimbabwe’s Sohag Gazi and South Africa’s Faf Du Plessis thought to be the only others, and another six followed just four balls later.

More conservative captains might have ended the experiment early but, although the runs continued to flow, Ben Stokes gave his new team-mate an uninterrupted nine-over spell costing 63 runs.

He came close to repaying some of that faith with a close lbw shout against Shubman Gill and Duckett says Hartley was guaranteed resounding support.

“We all back Tommy,” said the opener. “You know what Stokesy is like, he will throw him the ball and back him all day.

“He gives him however many overs to bowl, where other captains might take you off after two overs and then you’re then hiding away for the rest of the game.

“That’s Stokesy: he keeps bowling him and Tom nearly gets Shubman at the end. I’m not quite sure how that is going over the stumps, but he came back really well. I wouldn’t say I appreciated it but he (Jaiswal) played well too.”

Duckett earlier shared a bright opening stand of 55 with Zak Crawley, a partnership which proved something of a false dawn as regular wickets followed them for the rest of their innings.

Stokes was the pick of the batters with a battling 70 from number six, including three sixes and six fours.

It was his first action of note since surgery on his left knee at the end of November and the skipper looked fighting fit as he worked hard to build a competitive total.

There was plenty of turn on offer throughout the day and if, as expected, there is more where that came from, Duckett feels England may be in a better position than they seem.

“I think we were over par to be honest. It was a tricky day one pitch with consistent spin from early on,” he said.

“Stokesy, to get us to where we are, was fantastic. Come day three, day four that could be a match-winning knock if the pitch keeps getting harder to bat on.

“Pay credit to India, they played well tonight and were really attacking. They don’t always go about it like that, so it shows they think the pitch is going to get quite a bit worse. That’s good signs for us.”

Aryna Sabalenka has her sights on a second straight Australian Open title after a successful revenge mission against Coco Gauff.

Gauff denied Sabalenka a second grand slam title of the year with victory in the US Open final last summer but her winning run at the majors came to an end with a 7-6 (2) 6-4 defeat under the roof on Rod Laver Arena.

Sabalenka will now be a big favourite to successfully defend her title at Melbourne Park on Saturday when she takes on first-time slam finalist Zheng Qinwen, who defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-4 6-4.

Sabalenka has been in tremendous form this fortnight, not losing more than three games in any set prior to this semi-final meeting.

Gauff’s stellar powers of defence, which turned the tables in New York after she had lost the first set, ensured she got significantly closer than any of Sabalenka’s previous opponents, but it was still not enough.

“It was (an) incredible match,” said the second seed. “She’s a great player, always tough battles against her. I think the key was that I was able to stay focused no matter what. I just kept trying my best, kept fighting for it.

“Of course I’m super happy to be in another final of the grand slam. Hopefully I can do a little bit better than the last time.”

Gauff made a poor start, with five double faults in her first three service games helping Sabalenka open up a 5-2 lead.

But Gauff’s ability to get one more ball back in play better than anyone else in the women’s game had put Sabalenka into meltdown mode in New York and she threatened the same here.

Sabalenka failed to serve out the set at 5-3 and Gauff saved a set point in the next game before making it four games in a row, the crowd gasping as the Belarusian pushed a forehand wide with the whole court at her mercy.

Gauff was two points away from taking the set but Sabalenka refused to let history repeat itself and forced a tie-break, where she put on a display of awesome power that even the athletic American could find no answer to.

The second was nip and tuck but Sabalenka got the crucial break at 4-4 and served out the victory to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 and 2017 to reach successive finals here.

Gauff looked emotional leaving the court but she rated her performance as better than in the US Open final, saying: “I felt like it wasn’t a great match for me. Yes, I won. I think I played better tonight.

“I wish I could have made more first serves. I think that was the difference. She had a higher first-serve percentage, and it’s tough to also go for the second when you double-faulted a couple times.

“I put myself in the position to serve out the set. At the end of the day, it came down to a couple of points. Same in the second.”

The 19-year-old immediately found perspective at the end of her final slam as a teenager, saying: “I watched these matches growing up, watching Serena (Williams) and (Maria) Sharapova lose these matches.

“When you’re in it, it feels like the end of the world. But then, when you look at history, they didn’t let one match define their career.

“I’m going to dwell on it tonight but, as (coach) Brad (Gilbert) told me as soon as the match was over, the sun is going to rise tomorrow and you have a new chance to live a good day. Tomorrow I’m going to try to go to the movies or something, be proud of myself.”

Twelfth seed Zheng has kept her head while the more fancied players in the top half of the draw have fallen around her.

Yastremska was trying to emulate Emma Raducanu by reaching a grand slam final as a qualifier but she came out second best in a big-hitting encounter.

Zheng, who has not yet faced a top-50 opponent, is the first Chinese player to make it to a slam decider since Li Na won the title here a decade ago.

The 21-year-old said: “It feels unbelievable. I’m super excited to have a such a great performance today and arrive in the final.”

Manchester City have completed a move for highly-rated Argentinian midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate, the Premier League champions have announced.

The 18-year-old, who is understood to have cost City in the region of £12.5million with add-ons, has signed a contract until the summer of 2028, but will remain at River until January next year.

A statement on the club’s official website said: “Manchester City have completed the signing of Argentinian midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate.

“Everyone at Manchester City is looking forward to welcoming Claudio to the club and we wish him the best of luck in his remaining time with River.”

Echeverri will travel the same path as Julian Alvarez, who arrived at the Etihad Stadium from River Plate in 2022.

The teenager, who turned 18 earlier this month, has already made six senior appearances for the Buenos Aries club, which is managed by former City defender Martin Demichelis, and captained Argentina to the semi-finals of the Under-17 World Cup in November and December last year.

Echeverri, who has trained with the senior national team, scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 quarter-final victory over Brazil, but saw his side lose out on penalties to Germany in the last four.

England were given a sharp reality check on the opening day of their Test series in India, spun out for 246 in Hyderabad before a bruising introduction for debutant Tom Hartley.

India have lost just three times in their last 46 games on home soil and were quick to offer a reminder of the task that faces England’s Bazball brigade over the next seven weeks.

England captain Ben Stokes, who was on crutches after knee surgery in November, struck a vital 70 to give his side a fighting chance in their first innings but on a predictably helpful surface eight of his team-mates fell to spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

England, who were dismissed for less than 200 six times in eight attempts on their last visit in 2021, had loaded their own attack with three slow bowlers of their own but they were unable to replicate the same threat as India made 119 for one in reply.

Left-armer Hartley, a selectorial hunch fancied to flourish in the sub-continent, had never opened the bowling in his first-class career but accepted Stokes’ challenge to do so. It proved a gamble too far.

The 24-year-old’s first delivery in the Test arena was brutally smashed for six by Yashasvi Jaiswal, reaching to drag it high into the leg-side in what looked a pre-meditated assault. Four balls later, Jaiswal cleared the ropes again.

Stokes backed his man, keeping him on for an extended spell and keeping the field up, and the runs continued to flow. He struggled to hold both line and length, dragging a couple of long hops into the middle of the pitch and drifting down the leg side as Jaiswal continued to feast.

In amongst the carnage he showed glimmers of promise, and one promising appeal, but his nine-over spell cost a damaging 63 – including 44 in boundaries. It was impossible not to ponder the fate of Hartley’s Lancashire predecessor, Simon Kerrigan, who shipped 53 runs in eight overs on debut in the 2013 Ashes and never played for his country again.

The current regime are less likely to cut players adrift but it was a painful welcome. England’s only wicket came from the more established finger spin of Jack Leach, who had Rohit Sharma caught by Stokes trying and failing an elaborate strike down the ground.

Jaiswal, seen as an up and coming star, finished 76 not out from 70 balls having cashed in on his takedown of Hartley.

England’s day started positively, Stokes batting first after winning a handy toss and watching as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett shared an opening stand of 55.

Despite some evident swing, the pair backed themselves and picked up an early flurry of fours before Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj made way for spin after eight unsuccessful overs.

The change was profound, with England losing three wickets for five runs in the space of 21 deliveries. Ashwin removed both set batters, Duckett lbw propping forward for 35 and Crawley driving low to mid-off for 20.

In between, the returning Ollie Pope lasted 11 skittish balls and edged Jadeja to slip for just one. Pope has not played since dislocating his shoulder in the second Test of last summer’s Ashes and the cobwebs accrued over six months were there for all to see.

Jonny Bairstow led a restorative partnership of 61 with his fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root, securing a promising lunch score of 108 for three, but further trouble arrived in the middle session. Bairstow (37) had his off stump taken by a cracker from Patel, moments before Root (29) top-edged a sweep to fine leg.

However, Stokes shepherded things impressively at the back end of the innings, which seemed to be disappearing swiftly when Ben Foakes’ nick behind made it 155 for seven. Having played his way in smartly with a secure defence, Stokes began to make his presence felt as he ran out of partners.

The reverse sweeps came out of his bat sweetly, he got value when he opted to drive and after tea he reached his half-century with back-to-back sixes off Jadeja.

Before he was finished he dealt Ashwin a similar blow, but he was last man out in the 65th over when Bumrah got one to jag away off the pitch and part his stumps.

As he walked off England’s score felt close to competitive but Indian aggression and the failed experiment with Hartley made it look slimmer and slimmer. Worse still, England used all three reviews unsuccessfully in just 14 overs – two in an attempt to win Hartley a first scalp.

Oisin Murphy is relishing the prospect of being reunited with Mawj when she lines up in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan on Friday.

Globetrotting Murphy has kept himself busy overseas this winter, having most recently plied his trade in Florida.

He will jet into Dubai to link up with the horse that provided him and trainer Saeed bin Suroor with Classic honours last season, before returning to America for the big-money Pegasus World Cup meeting at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

After outbattling Tahiyra to scoop the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, Mawj missed the height of summer with a setback before travelling to America herself, where she added to her top-level tally at Keeneland before being cruelly denied by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.

She now returns to the nine-furlong trip over which she won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in Kentucky last October and bids to maintain her unbeaten Meydan record in this Group One event.

“I’m really looking forward to riding her and she obviously had a great year last year,” said Murphy.

“She has won over a similar distance at Keeneland in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and she seems to be nicely drawn in the middle, so it will be interesting to see how the pace sets up.

“She can take a lead or make the running – she is very happy doing lots of things, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Spirit Dancer gave Richard Fahey and famous co-owner Sir Alex Ferguson a day to remember when striking in Bahrain in November and having flourished over the last 12 months, now tries his hand in Group One company for the first time.

“We’ve always liked him and he’s relatively lightly raced, but we’re getting a good go with him now as he’s been a bit of a backward horse who has taken time to mature physically and mentally,” said Fahey.

“We’re not surprised he’s improving, but he will need to improve again now.”

Charlie Appleby has won this race three times in the past eight years and after rattling the crossbar with third-placed Master Of The Seas 12 months ago, he now saddles three seeking to get his hands back on the trophy.

Stable jockey William Buick has elected to partner Al Rashidiya winner Measured Time, with the son of Frankel and half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Rebel’s Romance winning four of his five career starts.

“Measured Time was an impressive winner of the Al Rashidiya and has done well physically since,” the Moulton Paddocks handler told the Godolphin website.

“This will obviously be more of a test, with Mawj and San Donato in the field, but he heads into it in great order.”

Measured Time is joined in the race by the reliable Ottoman Fleet and Highland Avenue, who were both behind their stablemate in Meydan’s pre-Christmas Group Two.

Appleby added: “Ottoman Fleet has proved ultra-consistent over this trip and doesn’t know how to run a bad race. He deserves to be in the line-up and I’m sure he will give his usual running.

“Highland Avenue has been competitive at Group level and was unlucky to get stuck wide in the Al Rashidiya. Hopefully he can get a better run around this time, which will help his chances.”