Jake Paul has called off his fight against Hasim Rahman Jr. due to a weight dispute less than a week before the bout at New York's Madison Square Garden.
The pair were set to clash in the ring on August 6 as part of a card that also featured Amanda Serrano, but Paul has now cancelled the bout after Rahman failed to meet the agreed weight of 200 pounds.
Paul's Most Valuable Promotions released a statement claiming Rahman had agreed to fight at 200lb, only for his team to later look to increase the weight limit to 215lb.
"Hasim Rahman Jr. has pulled out of the fight. This is not a joke, I am devastated, I can not f****** believe this. We just found out this news," Paul posted on Twitter.
"This is just another case of a professional boxer, like Tommy Fury, being scared to fight me.
"It's clear as day that these guys have been so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to suck more money out of this event, to coerce us into doing things.
"From the jump, I knew from the bottom of my heart that this guy didn't want to get into the ring with me. It's clear as day."
Rahman initially stepped up to face Paul as a replacement for Tommy Fury, who pulled out of a scheduled fight against Paul last year due to injury and then could not travel to the United States due to a visa issue.
While Rahman confirmed he was not able to meet the agreed weight, he disputed Paul's claims about money and said he would have fought for $5,000.
"I signed a contract to make 200 pounds within the three and a half weeks I had to do it, but I couldn't do it. My body simply would not let me do it, would not let me get down to 200 pounds," he said in a video message.
"But when in boxing do you see them cancelling fights a whole week in advance? I didn't even get my last week to get down as low as I could.
"I told this man: 'If there’s penalties involved, keep the purse. I'll fight you for the $5,000 minimum.'
"That's how much it means to me and that’s how much faith I have in knocking him out."
Paul would have received a WBC ranking for the first time had he defeated Rahman.
Former Formula One race director Michael Masi has revealed he received death threats following the conclusion of last season, declaring he was "the most hated man in the world".
The Australian came under intense scrutiny for his handling of the controversial final race of the 2021 F1 season in Abu Dhabi, which subsequently saw Red Bull's Max Verstappen beat Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton to the world title.
Masi did not follow the F1's procedure behind the safety car for the late restart, only allowing the lapped cars between Verstappen and Hamilton to pass rather than them all, which left Hamilton defenceless as Verstappen swiftly overtook him to clinch his first world title.
An investigation found Masi had failed to follow the rules and he was removed from his role in February, before leaving the FIA entirely earlier this month.
Criticisms directed towards Masi were not just professional, however, who has spoken about the abuse he sustained in the aftermath of last season's finale.
"There were some dark days. And absolutely, I felt like I was the most hated man in the world," he told Australia's News Corp.
"I got death threats. People saying, they were going to come after me and my family.
"They were shocking. Racist, abusive, vile, they called me every name under the sun.
"And they kept on coming. Not just on my Facebook but also on my LinkedIn, which is supposed to be a professional platform for business. It was the same type of abuse.
"I didn't want to talk to anyone. Not even family and friends. I only talked to my close family but very briefly.
"It did have a physical impact, but it was more mental. I just wanted to be in a bubble. I had no desire to talk to them. I just wanted to be alone, which was very challenging. The whole experience has made me a much stronger person."
Ahead of the 2022 season, F1 made several changes to race procedures, with two race directors now sharing responsibility over the course of the season.
Julio Rodriguez left the Seattle Mariners' win over the Houston Astros in the ninth inning, prompting fears he may have suffered a broken hand.
All-Star Rodriguez is the AL Rookie of the Year favourite after an outstanding first year in the major leagues.
The 21-year-old outfielder has helped boost the Mariners into a wild card spot as they bid to end their 21-year playoff drought.
Seattle improved to 55-47 on Saturday with a 5-4 victory at the AL West-leading Astros, who had won the teams' previous five meetings.
But Rodriguez was out of the game by that point, with Abraham Toro – in as a pinch-hitter as his replacement – delivering the decisive two-run single.
Rodriguez had been hit on the back of the hand batting at the top of the eighth; he struck out and completed the inning in the field before being lifted.
"He did not feel comfortable with a bat in his hand," Mariners manager Scott Servais explained. "So, we'll pray that it is not broke."
This was the Mariners' ninth win this year after trailing in the ninth inning or later.
In the modern era, no MLB team have more such victories before August, with the Mariners' nine tied with the 1921 St. Louis Browns, the 1970 Kansas City Royals, the 1991 Chicago White Sox and the 2003 Cincinnati Reds.
Although Rodriguez's absence was a blow, it was perhaps no surprise Toro was the hero this time.
The former Astro has 52 RBIs as a Mariner, with 20 of those coming against the team he left partway through last season.
"He has been a thorn in our side since we traded him over there," said Astros manager Dusty Baker. "It was a big hit that he got tonight."
Amanda Nunes completely dominated in her bantamweight championship rematch against Julianna Pena at UFC 277 on Saturday, reclaiming the title she lost back in December.
Nunes, 34, was considered arguably the most dominant woman in the history of mixed martial arts heading into that December showdown, which resulted in a shock upset loss – her first defeat since 2015.
The Brazilian appeared slow and off her game that night, but any hopes from Pena's camp that it would be a similar showing the second time around were dispelled early.
Nunes dominated from the first bell to the last, with three clean knockdowns in the second round alone as it appeared a knockout finish was inevitable.
To Pena's credit, the champion did not have an ounce of quit in her, somehow surviving the entire 25 minutes to lose in emphatic fashion on the judges' scorecards 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43.
Earlier in the night in the co-main event, Mexico's Brandon Moreno won the interim flyweight title with a third-round body-shot knockout against New Zealand's Kai Kara-France in the Fight of the Night.
The first two rounds were closely contested, with Kara-France favouring a leg-kick heavy attack while Moreno was landing the cleaner shots to the head.
All three judges disagreed on how to score the first two rounds, with one judge having it Moreno 2-0, another with Kara-France 2-0 and the third had things tied at 1-1.
But the judges were not needed after Moreno connected with a body kick in the third, digging his toes into the stomach of Kara-France, dropping him before finishing the fight with ground-and-pound.
With the win, Moreno has earned another shot at Deiveson Figueiredo. The pair have fought three times for the title to this point, with a draw in the first contest, followed by a Moreno win, before Figueiredo won the third bout.
'Moreno v Figuiredo IV' promises to be one of the most anticipated fights of the year, with two of their previous three contests winning Fight of the Night on their respective cards.
Aaron Judge became the second-fastest player to ever hit 200 career home runs as he connected on his 42nd of the season in the New York Yankees' 8-2 home victory against the Kansas City Royals.
Judge's moment came in the second inning, but it was not his side's first home run of the night after D.J. LeMahieu blasted a 410-footer to center-field as the Yankees' first batter of the game.
After All-Star catcher Jose Trevino got on base, Judge took one opposite-field to put the Yankees 4-0 up. He reached his 200th home run in his 671st career game – 13 games slower than former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard.
That was not all Judge would do in this contest, getting on base four times as he finished with a pair of hits and a pair of walks. He now has 10 more home runs than second-placed Kyle Schwarber (32).
On the mound, Nestor Cortes put in a strong showing to be credited with the win, giving up two runs in five innings, striking out five.
After a clean Aroldis Chapman inning in relief, Clarke Schmidt then came in for a three-inning save, striking out five batters and throwing 52 pitches.
Twins stars go deep against Padres
Both Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa hit home runs in the Minnesota Twins' 7-4 win on the road against the San Diego Padres.
Stars on both sides were swinging a heavy bat, with Padres MVP candidate Manny Machado opening the scoring with his own solo shot in the third inning.
But the Twins had all the answers, as Buxton destroyed a baseball 434 feet over the left-field wall an inning later, before Correa kick-started his side's five-run eighth frame with his own two-run homer.
Shohei puts on a show
The Los Angeles Angels rallied back late to defeat the Texas Rangers 9-7, headlined by reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani's 22nd home run of the season.
The superstar designated hitter – who has also pitched the sixth most strikeouts in all of baseball this season (146 in 17 starts) – connected on a 424-foot, three-run home run to center-field in the third inning to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Only 15 players have hit more home runs this campaign.
Texas fought back in the middle innings through home runs to Marcus Semien and Meibrys Viloria, but the Angels scored five in the eighth inning to steal the result.
Alex de Minaur booked his place in the Atlanta Open final with a come-from-behind 5-7 6-2 6-2 win against Ilya Ivashka on Saturday.
It was a tight first set, which was interrupted at 5-5 by a three-hour rain delay. Upon returning, Ivashka broke instantly and served out the set – but it would be his last break of serve.
De Minaur had to save two break points to hold in the opening game of the second set, but from that point on he took over, collecting two breaks in the frame.
The Australian, who is the tournament's third seed and ranked 30th in the world, controlled the decider, winning 69 per cent of his points on serve compared to 50 per cent for Ivashka as he figured out the Belarusian's serve, allowing no aces down the stretch.
He will meet Jenson Brooksby in the final after the American put on an impressive showing against compatriot Frances Tiafoe, winning 6-1 6-4.
Brooksby has been in great touch this tournament, running over Mackenzie McDonald in the quarter-final in what was meant to be a competitive matchup, and then upsetting second seed John Isner in the semi-final, breaking his incredibly tough serve three times.
Against Tiafoe, the story was about how dominant Brooksby was early on when he got the chance to see a second serve, winning 87 per cent (11-of-14) of the points off Tiafoe's second serve in the opening set.
Tiafoe never really got a chance to fight back in the second frame, getting broken in the opening game, and from there Brooksby closed the door, not allowing a single break point opportunity.
Ash Barty took to social media on Saturday with a post confirming her marriage to her long-time partner in a discreet ceremony as she continues to thrive in her life after tennis.
Her husband, Garry Kissick, is an Australian professional golfer, and the pair met at the Brookwater Golf Club back in 2016. Showing more strings to her bow, the multi-sport star who has also played professional cricket won the Brookwater Golf Club's championship in 2020.
Barty, 26, retired from the sport earlier this year at the peak of her powers, as a dominant world number one and reigning Australian Open champion.
In an interview with friend and former Australian tennis player Casey Dellacqua, she said the decision was due to being burnt out.
"I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top of the level any more," she said. "I am spent."
Barty's most recent high-profile public appearance was during The Open, where she competed in the celebrity four-ball competition in a team that featured Kevin Pietersen.
Tony Finau posted the equal-best score from the third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Saturday, with his seven-under 65 pulling him even with Taylor Pendrith after entering the day one stroke off the pace.
Finau and Pendrith were co-leaders after the first round, and after building a multi-stroke buffer from the rest of the field after 36 holes, they added to it again to finish at 21 under – four strokes clear of Cameron Young in third-place.
Each player showed a different skill set, with Pendrith displaying a strong feel in his ability to finish holes – posting the seventh-best strokes gained figure from Data Golf on approach shots (2,07 strokes gained) and the 11th-best with the putter (1.98).
Finau, on the other hand, shined with his driver, finishing second in strokes gained off the tee (1.98) and third in tee-to-green (3.97) while being just average around the greens.
After winning this past weekend's 3M Championship, Finau now has a chance to win back-to-back PGA Tour events for the first time in his career, while Pendrith is hunting his first PGA Tour victory.
Young was one of five players to match Finau's 65, and he sits alone in third at 17 under, with Germany's Stephan Jaeger in fourth at 16 under, and Patrick Cantlay rounds out the top-five as the only player at 15 under.
Scott Stallings is alone at 14 under, with South Korea's Kim Si-woo and Canada's Adam Svensson in the groups at 13 under and 12 under respectively to complete the top-10.
Reigning champion of this event Cam Davis also shot 65 to fly up the leaderboard, tied for 16th at 10 under after finishing his second round right on the cut-line of three under.
It was the opposite story for compatriot Adam Scott, who entered the day in a strong position at nine under and proceeded to shoot a 78, finishing as by far the worst putter on Saturday, losing 5.62 strokes on the greens.
Phase 1 and The Caribbean Basketball Academy booked their spots in Saturday’s final as the Jamaica Basketball Showcase continued at the University of Technology on Friday.
In game one on Friday’s penultimate day, CBA beat the Central Warriors 39-36 with CBA’s Lushane Wilson being named player of the game.
Phase 1 beat Lignum Vitae 49-43 in game two. Romar Parkes of Lignum Vitae was named player of the match despite his team losing.
Game three saw Blue Mahoe scoring a 44-40 victory over Hummingbirds. Blue Mahoe’s Alex Levy was player of the match.
Lignum Vitae rebounded from their earlier loss to beat Central Warriors 47-44. Parkes was player of the match, this time in a winning effort.
Game five saw Phase 1 beat Hummingbirds 49-41 thanks to a player of the match performance from Nicolai Brown.
Game six was the highest scoring on the day with CBA outscoring Blue Mahoe 80-75 with CBA’s Matthew McGowan and Blue Mahoe’s Alex Levy sharing player of the game honours.
Phase 1 and CBA booked their spots in the final thanks to preliminary round records of 4-0 and 3-1, respectively.
Henrik Stenson carded a two-under-par 69 to retain his lead after the second round of LIV Golf Bedminster, his first event on the controversial tour.
The Swede – stripped of Europe's Ryder Cup captaincy over his defection from the DP World Tour – showed steely focus on the fairways on Saturday at Trump National Golf Club.
The 2016 Open Championship winner moved clear of first-round co-leader Patrick Reed to top the standings outright at nine under, rallying after a double bogey on his third hole.
Stenson said: "I was hanging in there. I didn't feel I had my best stuff today, certainly a lot less than we played with yesterday."
Former Masters winner Reed slipped to a tie for third with a two-over 73, but he nevertheless retained a share of the lead in the team standings. Reed's 4 Aces GC team-mate Dustin Johnson moved second in the individual standings with a 69 to sit three shots off the lead at six under.
The 4 Aces advantage was cemented by a super round from Talor Gooch, who carded a best-of-the-day 64 to join Reed on five under through 36 holes, with Carlos Ortiz on the same mark.
It proved a miserable day at the office for Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau as they posted 73 and 74 respectively, with DeChambeau carding six bogeys in his round. He sits tied for 28th, with Mickelson in a share of 40th place on six over – a full 15 shots behind Stenson.
Carlos Alcaraz's defence of his Croatian Open title will go down to the wire, with the Spaniard set to face Jannik Sinner in Sunday's final.
Alcaraz, the number one seed, defeated Giulio Zeppieri over three sets in Saturday's semi-final – securing his 42nd win of the year. That is the joint-most victories in 2022 on the men's tour alongside Stefanos Tsitsipas, and extends his record in Umag to 8-0.
The 7-5 4-6 6-3 win sees Alcaraz reach an ATP Tour-leading sixth final in 2022 and will lift him to fourth in the world rankings ahead of Tsitsipas – a career high for the 19-year-old.
"It's amazing to be in a final here again. I enjoy playing here in Umag and I'm really happy with the win today," Alcaraz said in an on-court interview.
Alcaraz will bring up his first century of ATP matches when he tackles Italian Sinner.
"It would be amazing in my 100th match to get the win, and of course it is amazing to be number four on Monday," Alcaraz said. "It's something great for me, but right now I am just focused on the final."
Sinner, who beat Alcaraz at Wimbledon to set up a quarter-final against Novak Djokovic, saw off compatriot Franco Agamenone 6-1 6-3 in Saturday's other semi-final.
The 20-year-old Sinner is looking for his first title of 2022, having won at Antwerp, Sofia, Washington and Melbourne last year. He has reached the quarter-finals in two of the three grand slams played so far this year.
Carlos Sainz is relishing the prospect of battling against front-row rival George Russell in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Mercedes driver Russell stunned Ferrari's drivers with a stellar lap in the closing stages of qualifying to snatch the first pole position of his career, with Sainz lining up second on the grid and team-mate Charles Leclerc in third.
It sets up an interesting race in Hungary, the last before F1's summer break, with McLaren's Lando Norris in fourth while the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez begin in 10th and 11th respectively.
While Mercedes have an advantage at the start, their car continues to be a largely unknown quantity and Ferrari will fancy their chances of securing a win – with Sainz confirming the team will be pushing for that goal.
"I'm not very happy with the final result as I feel I could have done a better lap on the final attempt," he said after qualifying.
"However, I prefer to focus on the positives: we are in a good position for tomorrow, I've been comfortable in the car all weekend, and we keep making steps in the right direction.
"I'm confident we can carry the good pace of Friday into the race, so we'll definitely go for it.
"Congrats to George on his first pole. He did a very good lap today and I look forward to the battle tomorrow."
Leclerc is equally confident Ferrari can respond after a frustrating qualifying session, as he too looks to challenge team-mate Sainz and Russell for the win – which would provide a boost after last weekend's crash in France.
"The pace is there and we know we have some work to do," Leclerc said. "I'm confident we can come back stronger tomorrow."
Max Verstappen felt he had the pace to at least qualify in the top three for the Hungarian Grand Prix and said an engine problem with his Red Bull was not serious.
Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez failed to make it out of Q2, qualifying 11th, and the championship leader will start 10th after a power unit issue on his out lap ahead of a second flying effort ended hopes of pole.
The Dutchman had looked ominously fast in Q2, having been behind the Ferraris in both of Friday's practice sessions.
However, he now has a recovery mission if he is to avoid nearest challenger Charles Leclerc eating heavily into his 63-point lead at the top of the drivers' championship at a Hungaroring circuit where it is notoriously difficult to overtake.
Leclerc will start third behind team-mate Carlos Sainz, who had appeared destined for pole until Mercedes' George Russell snatched it with a remarkable lap.
But Verstappen, having turned the air blue as he lost power, was composed when asked about his car's issues and the task ahead of him on Sunday.
He told Sky Sports: "I don't think it's a big issue but something we couldn't solve on track. It's very unfortunate.
"The turnaround from yesterday was amazing. There was a lot of analysing going to understand what was not really working that well yesterday.
"In a way, that's positive about today, we understood what went wrong and the car was so much better today in terms of handling on a track that doesn't really suit us.
"So that's a big positive for the rest of the year anyway that we can, even on a track where we're not that strong, be competitive, but of course I would have liked to start in the top three, and I definitely think we had the pace for it because even in Q2 we looked very strong.
"So yeah, good turnaround but unfortunately the little glitch we had makes us start 10th."
Asked about his prospects for the race and the choice between a one or two-stop strategy, Verstappen added: "It can be a tough one if you're stuck, I hope of course not too long. We have to just stay calm and wait for our moments to go forward.
"It [the strategy] depends also a bit on what is happening in front of you, behind you as well, so we just need to be on it and be flexible."
Caroline Garcia eased into the Poland Open final by dominating against Jasmine Paolini a day on from a superb win over Iga Swiatek.
Garcia defeated Swiatek in three sets on Friday, ending the world number one's 18-match winning streak on clay.
Paolini should have provided a far more straightforward task, and so it proved, as Garcia raced through 6-1 6-2 to make the title match.
The fifth seed will now face first-time WTA Tour finalist Ana Bogdan – a 7-5 7-5 victor against Kateryna Baindl – in that Warsaw decider.
Garcia will hope for better conditions for the showpiece, with rain having added another factor on Saturday, when the in-form French star was still recovering from stopping Swiatek.
"It's been a challenging week, especially today, with the big win yesterday, only a couple of hours to recover and be ready," Garcia explained.
"Conditions were very difficult, a lot of rain. I'm just very happy with the way I played, and I stayed very focused on the present, and it paid off."
At the Prague Open, Anastasia Potapova will face Marie Bouzkova in the final, the seventh seed playing the eighth seed.
Potapova had it largely her own way against Wang Qiang, who succumbed to a second-set bagel in going down 6-3 6-0, while Bouzkova also won in two but needed a tie-break in the opener against Linda Noskova, progressing 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
Potapova faces a busy Sunday, as she had already advanced to the doubles final alongside partner Yana Sizikova.
Sebastian Vettel's retirement announcement ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix has been the biggest talking point on the grid, with the German's departure set to leave a significant void for Aston Martin to fill.
The four-time world champion played an integral part in Red Bull's rise to become an F1 powerhouse, winning back-to-back championships between 2010 and 2013.
Vettel's championships make him an F1 great, with only Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton (both seven) and Juan Manuel Fangio (five) winning more world titles.
In terms of race wins, Vettel is again near the summit with 53 victories, only behind Hamilton (103) and Schumacher (91), while he is one of only five drivers to secure at least 100 podium finishes – alongside Hamilton, Schumacher, Alain Prost and Kimi Raikkonen.
Those regular appearances in the front three have also given him an honour that only Hamilton can equal, with the pair being the only drivers in F1 history to have secured over 3,000 career points – with Vettel having 3,076 ahead of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Singapore has been Vettel's favoured venue, with five victories and 195 points, and the Far East has been where Vettel has excelled in qualifying – securing pole position on eight occasions in both Singapore and Japan.
Throughout the course of his career, Vettel has raced for five different teams – starting with Sauber, where he scored points in his only outing for the team and then signed for Toro Rosso – securing his first pole and victory in August 2007 in Italy.
After 25 races with the Italian team, Vettel moved to Red Bull, for whom he appeared in 113 races, with only Mark Webber (129) and Max Verstappen (130 so far) featuring more for the Austrian outfit.
Vettel also boasts the most wins (38), the most pole positions (44) and the most fastest laps (24) for Red Bull.
In 2011, Vettel was on pole position for 15 of 19 races, an F1 record, and he won 13 races in 2013 – a joint-record alongside Schumacher.
Vettel's era of dominance came to an end at the start of F1's hybrid era, finishing fifth in the standings in 2014 with just four podiums from 19 races, and he subsequently joined Ferrari for the 2015 season.
The German continued to struggle, with just three wins and one pole position in his first year with the Italian side – although those wins were the most registered in a single season for Ferrari since Fernando Alonso in 2012 (also three).
Overall, Vettel raced 118 times for Ferrari and amassed 14 race wins, 55 podiums, 12 pole positions and 1,400 points.
Should all go to plan, Vettel's final fling in his F1 career will come in Abu Dhabi, the season finale and his 300th career race.
So far for Aston Martin, he has a single podium, in Azerbaijan in 2021, and has earned 58 points from 32 races.
Roberto Bautista Agut made light work of underdog Filip Misolic in the Austrian Open final on Saturday.
Bautista Agut entered the day's play not knowing the identity of his opponent, as Misolic's semi-final against Yannick Hanfmann had been halted in a third-set tie-break.
Misolic – a 20-year-old from Graz ranked 205th in the world – was the man to advance, continuing his dream run with a 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4) success.
But his fairytale campaign came to a disappointing conclusion soon after as he was quickly thrust into action against the ruthless Bautista Agut.
Misolic scarcely laid a glove on the third seed, unable to convert any of his three break points in a 6-2 6-2 defeat.
Bautista Agut insisted afterwards this had been no straightforward task as he celebrated his 11th ATP Tour title, but only his second on clay, following on from a 2014 victory in Stuttgart.
"I enjoyed the final," he said. "I think I managed the pressure very well.
"I knew I was a little bit the favourite today, but he had so many good wins this tournament and I knew it was going to be difficult. I played a very good match."
Misolic added: "I want to congratulate Roberto. I have watched you on television, and to play here against you in the final is an honour for me."
George Russell was left with an "incredible feeling" after he upset the odds to claim his first pole position for Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix as Red Bull endured a dismal day.
Carlos Sainz, seeming more comfortable in the Ferrari with every race, appeared destined for pole from his flying lap at the Hungaroring.
However, Russell, having complained of a lack of grip throughout the practice sessions, came almost from nowhere to put together a remarkable final lap and take top spot with a time of one minute and 17.377 seconds.
He prevented a Ferrari one-two after the Red Bulls had been removed completely from the equation. Sergio Perez failed to make it out of Q2, alleging he was blocked by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, and Max Verstappen then complained of a loss of power in the top-10 shoot-out. Championship leader Verstappen will start 10th, ahead of Perez in 11th.
Ferrari are still in a tremendous position to take advantage of Red Bull's woes, with Sainz set to start second ahead of Charles Leclerc in third.
"I'm over the moon. Absolutely buzzing," said Russell, whose team-mate Lewis Hamilton could only manage seventh amid an issue with his DRS.
"The lap time kept on coming. I came across the line and saw we went P1 and that was an incredible feeling."
Asked if it means Mercedes are back, Russell replied: "I don't know to be honest, we need to look and understand where that came from, there's a few ideas we had.
"There's no points for qualifying. Generally we had good race pace, but the Ferraris looked very fast on Friday, but we are going to be absolutely going for it [tomorrow], but either way that was a pretty special day no doubt."
Leclerc and Sainz appeared relaxed despite missing out on locking out the front row.
Leclerc will have the McLaren of Lando Norris for company on the second row, with the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso behind them in fifth and sixth.
"Mostly we are focusing on ourselves," Ferrari's Leclerc said when asked about Red Bull's problems. "I've been struggling massively with the tyres. I struggled to put a lap together.
"I'm pretty sure we've got the pace in the car to come back at the front. I'm pretty sure we can come back tomorrow."
Sainz looked much more assured than his team-mate but echoed Leclerc's sentiments after losing critical time in the final part of his final flying lap.
"Definitely feeling better and better every race and every qualifying session," Sainz said. "I felt like I had the pace to do the pole position, it went away from us.
"We have the [race] pace; the start and the tyre management will play a key role. The Mercedes pace is a bit of an unknown."
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION
1. George Russell (Mercedes) 1:17.377
2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.044
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.190
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.392
5. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +0.641
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +0.701
7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.765
8. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) +0.780
9. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) +1.002
10. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +1.446
Novak Djokovic hopes he could still be allowed to play at the US Open despite refusing a coronavirus vaccination.
The 35-year-old Wimbledon champion has his route to Flushing Meadows blocked by red tape at present, with the United States refusing to allow unvaccinated foreign visitors to enter the country.
US tennis authorities have pledged to adhere to government rulings surrounding coronavirus protocols, despite including Djokovic on their entry list.
For Djokovic to be allowed into the United States, it appears he would require a change of policy from law-makers, or he would have to be considered suitable for an exemption.
Among those who would be eligible for such an exemption are "persons whose entry would be in the national interest".
Djokovic said in a statement on Saturday: "I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to US. Fingers crossed!"
With 21 grand slam titles, Djokovic sits second on the men's all-time list behind Rafael Nadal, who has 22 victories at the majors.
Djokovic was not allowed to play in Australia, where issues surrounding his visa ended with him being deported from Melbourne on public health grounds due to not taking the vaccine.
The three-time US Open winner senses a pull of public support for his situation, as he insists he will not consider receiving a vaccine.
In his message on Saturday, Djokovic said: "I just wanted to take a moment and say to all of you how grateful I am to see so many messages of support and love from all around the world these days.
"I wasn't expecting it, and that's why it feels so mindblowing. Just wanted to say THANK YOU.
"It feels special that people connect with my tennis career in such a loving and supportive way and wish for me to continue to compete."
He has found backing from John McEnroe, the American tennis great, who told Tennis 365 in July: "I hope someone finds a way to sort this out. It's crazy that Novak misses the US Open at this stage."
Djokovic lost to Daniil Medvedev in last year's men's singles final in New York, when the current entry rules were not in place.
Senator Marsha Blackburn also spoke out, saying last week that it was "absurd that Novak Djokovic is not allowed to enter the USA".
Sebastian Vettel's hopes of a successful first race since announcing his Formula One retirement suffered a setback as he crashed in third practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion this week confirmed he will end his F1 career at the end of the season.
His move to Aston Martin in 2021 has not delivered the desired results, with Vettel claiming just one podium since his switch from Ferrari.
But Vettel was impressing amid heavy rain at the Hungaroring, only to lose control of his rear tyres and spin into barriers at turn 10.
That saw the session briefly red-flagged before it was brought to a conclusion by the Williams of Nicholas Latifi surprisingly posting the fastest time on intermediate tyres on a drying track.
It is the first time Latifi has been quickest in an F1 practice session.
His team-mate Alexander Albon was third, sandwiching the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, with the changeable conditions setting the stage for a fascinating qualifying session.
The session was largely defined by Mercedes' struggles for grip. George Russell did find enough to go fifth fastest, but Lewis Hamilton could only manage 11th.
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