Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant hailed James Harden after his "special" performance in the 116-103 win over the Toronto Raptors.
Harden flirted with a triple-double, posting 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Nets celebrated their fifth consecutive victory on Sunday.
Former NBA MVP Harden scored 16 of his points in the fourth quarter to lead the championship-chasing Nets (7-3) past the Raptors (6-5) in Toronto.
"James was special there in the fourth," Durant said post-game.
Brooklyn's Blake Griffin – who put up 14 points and 11 rebounds – added: "When he's at that level, he makes us go. We, as a team, can go to a different level."
"I thought in the first half, he didn't give himself enough credit. I thought he had opportunities to attack more. I tried to implore him to go and to be aggressive. In the second half, he was excellent," said Nets head coach Steve Nash.
"This game, the Atlanta game and games he gets to the paint, he can really cause a lot of problems for the defence."
Durant had 20 points for the 10th successive game, extending his career-best streak to begin a season and Brooklyn's record for 20-point games at the start of a campaign.
He finished with 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field, making three of his six three-pointers.
"Like we said since day one, he's been unbelievable this season at both ends of the floor, rebounding, scoring, facilitating" Nash said.
Lewis Hamilton was critical of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas for leaving the "door open" to Max Verstappen at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix as the reigning Formula One champion's hopes took another hit.
Mercedes locked out the front row for Sunday's race after Bottas claimed pole position ahead of Hamilton, but F1 championship leader and Red Bull star Verstappen reigned supreme.
Verstappen went from third to first following the opening turn as he claimed a 19th career win and ninth of the season by more than 16 seconds ahead of second-placed Hamilton.
Hamilton now trails Verstappen by 19 points at the summit of the drivers' championship with four races remaining.
"I had envisaged it differently, naturally, in the sense that maybe Valtteri had got a better start and I would have tried to get into his tow," Hamilton said.
"But I was alongside him which was good, and then I was just covering my side of the track trying to make sure that no-one could come up the inside.
"So I was trying to keep whichever Red Bull I could see in my mirror behind, and I thought Valtteri would be doing the same.
"But obviously, he left the door open for Max, and Max was on the racing line so did a mega job braking into Turn 1. Because I was on the inside on the dirt, there was no hope for me."
Bottas told Sky F1: "The start was OK, not too bad, but Verstappen got a bit of a tow and he braked really late.
"But then suddenly at the apex at Turn 1 I think Daniel [Ricciardo] hit me in the rear and right there I spun I couldn't do anything and then after that the race was tricky to make progress.
"I was too close to cars and managing engine and brakes so I could manage it until I was getting too close then it was not easy."
Despite Red Bull's pace and losing ground in the race to defend his crown, Hamilton insisted he is not giving up.
"I feel like I maximised what I had," Hamilton told Sky F1. "But jeez... their pace was just unbelievable today. There was nothing I could do to battle that."
"If they carry that pace into the next races then we might be in trouble," said Hamilton. "We've got four races to go and we just have to keep pushing.
"I don't know where this performance has come from today but they were half a second quicker than us a lap, which is what we saw earlier on in the weekend.
"All I can do is just squeeze everything out of this car. They clearly have a stronger car so I think all I can do is just make sure we don't leave any stone unturned and we just maximise all we have, and give it my all."
The Los Angeles Dodgers declined to extend a qualifying offer to Clayton Kershaw as the veteran ace prepares to enter free agency amid uncertainty over his MLB future.
Kershaw, who did not pitch in the MLB playoffs as the Dodgers lost to the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) due to the recurrence of a forearm problem, has spent his entire 14-year career in Los Angeles.
The World Series champion and three-time Cy Young Award winner is a free agent following the conclusion of his three-year, $93million contract with the Dodgers.
While the Dodgers lodged offers to free agent All-Stars Corey Seager and Chris Taylor prior to Sunday's deadline – worth $18.4m for one year – there was none forthcoming for future Hall of Famer Kershaw.
However, the Dodgers are reportedly still keen on bringing Kershaw back to LA for at least one more season as both parties take time to determine the 33-year-old's health.
Kershaw – an eight-time All-Star and 2014 NL MVP – made his debut for the Dodgers in 2008.
In 2021, Kershaw finished with a 3.55 ERA, the worst of his illustrious career since his rookie year (4.26) with the Dodgers.
Kershaw had a 10-8 record this season with 144 strikeouts in 121.2 innings pitched.
Overall, Kershaw has a 185-84 win-loss record with 2,670 strikeouts and a career 2.49 ERA.
Max Verstappen insists there is a long way to go in the Formula One drivers' championship race despite a "straightforward" win at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 24-year-old never looked back after moving from third to first after the first turn, wrapping up a 19th career win and ninth of the season by more than 16 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second and Red Bull team-mate and home favourite Sergio Perez in third.
The result meant Verstappen overtook Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Jim Clark as the driver to win most races in the Mexican Grand Prix, with this victory added to triumphs in 2017 and 2018.
Verstappen holds a 19-point lead over Hamilton at the summit of the drivers' championship with just four races remaining, but he is refusing to get carried away.
"There's still a long way to go," he said. "It's of course looking good, but it can turn around quickly. I'm looking forward to Brazil [next Sunday]. I also have good memories there.
"It was quite straightforward today, which was really nice."
Speaking about his electric start, which saw him power past Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, Verstappen said the key was holding off from breaking for as long as possible.
"It was three-wide, and it was just about trying to brake as late as you can," he explained.
"I went from third to first and that was basically what made my race because then I could just focus on myself. There was incredible pace in the car, so I could just do my own thing."
Verstappen's team-mate Perez put on a superb show in front of his home crowd, becoming the first Mexican driver to finish on the podium in this grand prix.
He also briefly led the race when Verstappen went into the pits to become the first Mexican to lead a lap at his country's grand prix.
"Having Checo [Perez] as a team-mate, coming to Mexico is amazing – actually even before that," Verstappen added. "All the fans here have been incredible, they love Formula One. It's really nice to be here."
Brazil awaits the drivers next Sunday in the second of November's triple-header, before a trip to Qatar.
Max Verstappen extended his lead at the summit of the Formula One drivers' championship to 19 points after roaring to victory in the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 24-year-old had already moved from third to first by the first corner, which saw Valtteri Bottas – who had started in pole position – drop down to last after being hit from behind.
Verstappen was rarely troubled after that, claiming a 19th career win and ninth of the season by more than 16 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second and Red Bull team-mate and home favourite Sergio Perez in third.
The race started in dramatic circumstances, Verstappen blitzing past Bottas and Hamilton before the first turn to take an immediate lead.
Things quickly deteriorated for Bottas, who dropped to 18th after Daniel Ricciardo clipped him as he navigated the first turn – an incident that took Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher out of the running.
Verstappen wasted little time stamping his authority on the race after the safety car departed on lap four, opening up a 3.3-second advantage by the 10th lap.
That lead had reached 8.5 seconds by lap 27, before a pit stop gave the home fans reason to celebrate when Perez briefly became the first Mexican to lead a lap at his country's grand prix.
Verstappen soon resumed his position at the front of the pack and, with a comfortable win looking likely, attention turned elsewhere for drama.
That came in the shape of the battle for second, with Perez's team confidently telling the 31-year-old he would catch Hamilton inside the remaining 24 laps.
Despite falling just short, he could at least celebrate becoming the first Mexican driver to finish on the podium in this grand prix.
Novak Djokovic claimed his sixth Paris Masters title on Sunday, overcoming Daniil Medvedev and gaining revenge for his defeat in the US Open final in the process.
Prior to this week's Masters 1000 event, Djokovic had not played since going down 6-4 6-4 6-4 to world number two Medvedev at Flushing Meadows in September.
That defeat ended Djokovic's hopes of sealing a calendar Grand Slam, but he was in fine form this week as he regained the title he last won in 2019, having not played in the competition last year.
Defending champion Medvedev started the final brilliantly, but Djokovic rallied to win 4-6 6-3 6-3, claiming a record-setting 37th Masters title in the process.
And the world number one explained how he learned from the mistakes he made in New York to prevail this time around, taking his head-to-head record with Medvedev to 6-4 in the process.
"I went back and reviewed the final of the US Open to see what I did wrong and what I did right," Djokovic told the Tennis Channel.
"I tried to read the patterns of his serve and the ball toss, maybe. I tried to look for the small details, because it was a match of small margins."
Reflecting on the showdown in Paris, Djokovic added: "He started better, broke my serve in the first game and I came back. He served the first set out pretty comfortably, but I felt as if I was there.
"I thought it was only a matter of time when I was going to read his serve better and start to make some plays.
"You can't go through him. You have to find a way to play with controlled aggression, play the right shots at the right time and make him come in. It's variety that wins matches against him. We both suffered on the court and there was a lot of gruelling rallies."
Djokovic, who had already secured a record seventh year-end number one, has won 49 matches in 2021, losing on just six occasions.
Scotland held off Australia to claim a narrow 15-13 win in their first November Test at Murrayfield, ending the Wallabies' five-match winning run.
Sunday's hosts had beaten Australia in the sides' previous two meetings, but Dave Rennie's men came into the clash in their best spell of form since a sequence of seven straight victories across September and October 2015.
Finn Russell's penalty 12 minutes from time ultimately proved the difference, prompting Hamish Watson to tell Amazon Prime: "Something special is building here."
Watson had opened the scoring in a tense back-and-forth encounter, powering over in the 22nd minute following a lineout.
Michael Hooper thought he had replied before the break, but the TMO intervened to rule out his try – Allan Alaalatoa sent to the sin bin for catching Matt Fagerson in the face – and James O'Connor's penalty instead provided Australia's only first-half points.
The Wallabies' 14 men had their first lead early in the second half through Rob Leota's score, only for debutant Ewan Ashman to squeeze the ball down in the corner for Scotland.
Another O'Connor penalty put Australia back in front heading into the closing stages, but the game was decided from Scotland's tee and the boot of Russell.
Novak Djokovic came from a set down to defeat Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-3 6-3 and win the Paris Masters on Sunday.
Djokovic lost to Medvedev in the US Open final in September, with that defeat ending his hopes of a calendar Grand Slam.
But the Serbian, whose semi-final win over Hubert Hurkacz ensured he will be the year-end world number one for a record seventh time, got his revenge in France.
It marks a fifth title of the year and a sixth triumph at this event for Djokovic, who did not compete in the tournament last year – Medvedev winning it in his place.
The 34-year-old had it far from his own way, with Medvedev instantly going a break up, and although Djokovic hit back to draw level at 2-2, the world number two held off a second break point before nosing himself ahead at 4-3.
Yet having served out the first set at the first time of asking, the US Open champion slipped up in the fourth game of the second as Djokovic reeled off some superb returns, and he did not look back.
With the momentum and crowd on his side, Djokovic broke Medvedev twice in quick succession in the decider, and although he was denied claiming the win on his serve, it merely delayed the inevitable.
Medvedev's powerful serve was not enough, with Djokovic keeping his composure to seal a record-setting 37th Masters 1000 title with a sublime forehand into the corner of the court following a draining rally.
Francesco Bagnaia's late-season rally did not come in time to push Fabio Quartararo all the way for the 2021 MotoGP title, but the Ducati rider's outstanding form has shown him how to compete next year.
Quartararo clinched the championship at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix when second-placed Bagnaia dramatically crashed out.
On Sunday, at the Algarve Grand Prix, Bagnaia – starting from pole for a fifth consecutive race – won while Quartararo crashed.
If not for his untimely previous retirement, the Italian would be still within touching distance of the season leader heading into the final round.
"If I had the win in Misano, today was perfect for me," Bagnaia told a news conference. "But it's not like this."
Bagnaia's result clinched second and also delivered the constructors' championship for Ducati, who now lead the teams' standings, too.
But attention can start to turn towards next year, when Bagnaia will hope to be competitive from the outset.
"I think we didn't lose the championship in Misano," he said. "I lost a lot of points before and I started to be so competitive after some races.
"For sure, it's a really great base for next year. Also we have worked so hard and so well with our bike, so for next year we have a really great base."
Of course, Bagnaia would have to cope with significant pressure if he were to lead the title race from the outset, and he acknowledged riding this week without the championship on the line was an easier experience.
"I didn't change it compared to Misano," he explained. "But in Misano, I was trying to [keep] open the championship but I was knowing that it was very difficult to win it.
"Today, if I had the win in Misano, for sure Quartararo was not crashing. I was racing without the pressure of the championship, so I just did the same thing."
Quartararo took the title from Joan Mir, who is also keen to respond in 2022 after a difficult championship defence.
He finished second on Sunday for the second time this year but has not won a single race and said Suzuki would have to work on a "better base".
For now, Mir was simply delighted to be back in contention on race day, saying: "Honestly, I'm so happy, I'm especially happy for this podium.
"It's not for the result, it's more for the weekend that we did. It was unbelievable. I felt so good from the first moment and I was able to be competitive from FP1.
"Then, as Pecco said, when you feel good with the bike and the base is good, everything came easily. What I needed was a weekend like this one."
England captain Owen Farrell has been cleared to return to the squad after his coronavirus test was revealed to be a false positive.
The 30-year-old went into isolation and missed England's 69-3 over Tonga on Saturday after a PCR test taken on Thursday came back positive.
However, England revealed on Sunday that the result has been reviewed and determined as a false positive test.
He tested negative in subsequent PCR tests and has therefore been given the green light to link up with his team-mates at Pennyhill Park.
Farrell will be in contention to return to action for Eddie Jones' side when they take on Australia at Twickenham next Saturday.
Francesco Bagnaia returned to winning ways with a dominant Algarve Grand Prix victory as he closes on the end of his debut season with the Ducati factory team in top form.
Bagnaia was unable to take the MotoGP title race right down to the wire, with Fabio Quartararo clinching the championship last time out when his nearest rival retired.
But Bagnaia has undoubtedly been the form man on the grid from September onwards. Indeed, had he not crashed at the Emilia Romagna GP, the Italian would have had Quartararo firmly in his sights – the new champion went down at Turn 5 with five laps remaining on Sunday, his first error of the season.
Meanwhile, Bagnaia had continued his stunning run of poles with a fifth in succession at Portimao and, as in the first two races in that sequence, protected his position for a third win of the year.
That was enough to seal the constructors' championship for Ducati, who also moved into the lead in the teams' standings as Jack Miller joined Bagnaia on the steps.
The pair both started from the front row and Miller jumped ahead of the pole man into the first corner but then relinquished the lead.
Joan Mir caught Miller, too, while Bagnaia steadily disappeared into the distance, finishing well clear.
Mir held off Miller for his joint-best result of the year, while Alex Marquez also nipped ahead of the second Ducati man when his pace just relented slightly.
Marquez, pursuing a first podium of the year, could not keep Miller at bay, though, and a run of nine races without appearing on the steps ended for the Australian as the grand prix was prematurely brought to a close.
Home hopeful Miguel Oliveira was involved in a nasty crash with Iker Lecuona, prompting a red flag and the end of the race with more than three quarters completed. Both riders were quickly confirmed as conscious.
Jamaica-born bodybuilder Shawn Rhoden died Saturday of a reported heart attack, according to multiple reports.
Luka Doncic was compared to Dirk Nowitzki by Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd after netting a buzzer-beating three-pointer in Saturday's win over the Boston Celtics.
The 22-year-old finished with 33 points as the Mavericks edged out the Celtics 107-104 to move to 6-3 for the season and climb into third in the Western Conference.
With his latest last-gasp heroics, Doncic matched German legend Nowitzki for the most game-winning buzzer-beaters in Dallas' history with three.
Kidd featured in the same side as Nowitzki in his playing days and is enjoying seeing Doncic – widely regarded as Nowitzki's successor – continue to blossom.
"I played with a player like that before here; everybody knows the ball's going to 41 and he delivers," Kidd said.
"I think everyone knew the ball was going to 77 and he delivered.
"Luka did what he's done in the past by getting a shot off. He's done it so many times. It's a beautiful thing to watch in person."
The Mavericks have now won back-to-back games and return to action on Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel says it is understandable his players reacted badly to their loss away to the Portland Trail Blazers as they have high expectations of themselves.
Without the injured LeBron James and with Anthony Davis managing just seven minutes, the Lakers fell to a 105-90 defeat as their up-and-down early season form continued.
Russell Westbrook in particular struggled in Saturday's contest as he made just one of 13 shots for eight points, while turning the ball over on six occasions.
The defeat caps a poor week for the Lakers, having blown a 19-point lead to lose 107-104 to the lowly Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.
Now 5-5 for the season and down in 10th in the Western Conference, Vogel is hopeful his side can grow stronger on the back of a tough run of results.
"We do have high expectations," Vogel said. "We're going to be a little edgy when we lose. I hope we're edgy when we lose. When we fail, failure is just fertiliser for growth.
"That's the mindset that you have to have, and if you play the way we're playing and you win by one, maybe you're not as focused or locked in on correcting things or improving. We're just taking the silver lining in it."
Vogel confirmed Davis was replaced due to feeling unwell, but stressed the illness was not coronavirus related.
"He woke up today with a bit of a stomach bug," Vogel said. "He came back in and said his thumb felt pretty good, good enough to play, then he went and threw up in the back.
"He still wanted to give it a go, but by the time tip-off came he had already thrown up four times. He wanted to see if getting out on the floor would change it, but wasn't able to go."
The Lakers will hope to have Davis back for the visit of the Charlotte Hornets on Monday as they attempt to get their NBA campaign back on track.
"We have a good process with our coaching staff, we have a good system in place, and the mindset is to stay positive, stay together and grow each day," Vogel said.
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers savoured the nature of Saturday's win over the Chicago Bulls, not his personal achievement of 1,000 NBA career victories.
Rivers became the 10th NBA coach to reach 1,000 wins in the league following Philadelphia's 114-105 triumph in Chicago.
Joel Embiid fuelled the 76ers to their sixth straight win with 30 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the absence of Tobias Harris, Danny Green and Ben Simmons.
It clinched a milestone for former Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers coach Rivers – a Chicago native.
"I had no idea that I was at 999," Rivers – an NBA champion with the Celtics – told reporters. "I don't count. That's not why I do it and this win being shorthanded, being in Chicago means a lot, and it also means I'm very lucky.
"When I go back and look at the coaching staff that I've had and all the players, wins like tonight, obviously, winning the title is great, but wins like tonight is why you coach.
"When you when you just piecemealing it together and the guys are pulling together. We did it in Detroit, we did it in the last Chicago game, we did it again tonight.
"These are these are the games that are when you sit back and think special wins, these are the ones that are really special."
Eastern Conference leaders the 76ers (8-2) have won eight of their opening 10 games for the first time since a 10-0 start in 2000-01.
The 76ers were inspired by another red-hot performance from three-point range as Philadelphia shot 50 per cent – Embiid was four-of-five shooting from three, while Furkan Korkmaz (25 points) matched a career high with seven made threes.
"The chemistry that we have is very different from the previous years," Last season's MVP runner-up Embiid said. "We're complete. We're on the same page.
"Everybody feels like they have something to prove."
Korkmaz added: "I gotta say this is coming from the coaching staff for sure because they trust me more. They give me more confidence. They are running more plays for me and not just for scoring, not just for shooting, I'm trying to make more plays also for my team-mates.
"I've been working on this, but I think this year, I have equal opportunity, especially in the second unit to show this, and definitely, I can say this is coming from the coaching staff."
Kamaru Usman retained his welterweight championship by unanimous decision over Colby Covington in the second instalment of their rivalry at UFC 268.
Usman and Covington went head-to-head in a rematch after the former won via a fifth-round TKO at UFC 245 in December 2019.
It was the same result at Madison Square Garden, where champion Usman outlasted Covington for his 15th consecutive victory – the second longest streak in UFC history behind Anderson Silva (16) – in New York on Saturday.
Usman almost finished Covington in the second round with some huge left strikes, though the latter rallied and hurt the titleholder courtesy of a body kick in the fourth.
Ultimately, Usman (20-1) produced enough to remain the dominant force in the welterweight division.
"There was a lot of trash talk, a lot of bad blood," Usman said in the octagon after the fight.
"I'm sure there's going to still be some after tonight. But this guy is a tough son of a b****. He's tough as s***."
"He's tough -- he's super tough," Usman said. "I wanted to get crazy and get him out of there. But that's not what the best do."
Covington (16-3) added: "Love me or hate me, I'm just getting started. You haven't seen the best of Colby 'Chaos' Covington yet."
In the co-main event, Rose Namajunas (11-4) successfully defended her strawweight crown thanks to a split decision against Zhang Weili (21-3).
Joel Embiid starred as the Philadelphia 76ers extended their winning streak to six games by topping Eastern Conference hopefuls the Chicago Bulls 114-105 in the NBA on Saturday.
Embiid – last season's MVP runner-up – posted 30 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks to fuel the in-form 76ers on the road in Chicago.
He also made four of five three-pointers as the 76ers finished 50 per cent from beyond the arc, while Furkan Korkmaz (25 points) matched a career high with seven made threes.
It was a memorable night for 76ers head coach Doc Rivers, who celebrated his 1,000th career victory – the 10th NBA coach to achieve the feat.
Eastern Conference leaders the 76ers (8-2) have won eight of their first 10 games for the first time since a 10-0 start in 2000-01.
Doncic on the buzzer
Luka Doncic hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer as the Dallas Mavericks topped the Boston Celtics 107-104. Doncic finished with 33 points.
The Denver Nuggets edged the lowly Houston Rockets 95-94 behind reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. Along with 28 points and 14 rebounds, Jokic also made the crucial block on Jae'Sean Tate's drive to the basket as time expired.
Kyle Lowry put up a triple-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists – the 19th of his career – to key the high-flying Miami Heat's 118-115 victory at home to the Utah Jazz. Donovan Mitchell's 37 points were not enough for the Jazz.
Westbrook headlines Lakers' woes
Without LeBron James (abdominal strain) and Anthony Davis (two points) only managing seven minutes, Russell Westbrook struggled in the 105-90 loss away to the Portland Trail Blazers. Westbrook made just one of 13 shots for eight points, while he turned the ball over on six occasions.
Lewis Hamilton admitted he was "as shocked as everyone" after Mercedes outpaced Red Bull to lock out the front row for the Mexican Grand Prix.
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was the fastest in qualifying as he and star team-mate Hamilton stunned Max Verstappen's Red Bull on Saturday.
Red Bull had been the team to beat in practice, but that form was thrown out the window after Bottas turned the tables with a 1:15.875 qualifying time to claim pole position.
After Mercedes set a record with their 81st one-two qualifying performance, eclipsing Ferrari, Hamilton revelled in the surprise display.
"I've really no idea," Hamilton said when asked about Mercedes' turnaround. "They [Red Bull] were like six tenths ahead at some stage, then four-tenths, but whatever happened, we went into qualifying and we had better pace. I'm just as shocked as everyone, but we'll still take it."
Defending world champion Hamilton, who is 12 points adrift of Verstappen in the title race, added: "We've come into this weekend from P1 onwards we've generally been behind by half a second, so through the whole weekend working away at trying to improve the car, extract as much as we can from it but knowing they've generally got higher downforce, a bigger wing they use in places like Monaco, but so we've struggled in certain parts of the track.
"It's a real surprise and shock to us to see we're on the front row, I don't really have an answer for it but I'll take it for sure, grateful to be up there with Valtteri to get a 1-2."
After clinching his 19th career pole – 0.145s ahead of Hamilton and 0.350s from Verstappen, Bottas said: "Everything came together even better than I was expecting.
"I definitely surprised myself but as a team it was a big surprise as well that we were one-two because we seemed a bit off [the pace] in FP3.
"So a really rewarding feeling that all the changes we made were still in the right direction, stay calm and still try and execute the best out of the car. And it worked."
"This sport continues to amaze me," said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. "You can see that it can change so quickly from one session to the other.
"In Austin we were dominant on the Friday and then we lost the performance. Then here we were far behind then suddenly in Q2 we unlocked the potential of the car and it came together."
Verstappen, however, was not surprised by the pace of Mercedes.
"We just had a terrible qualifying. So nothing surprising," the Dutchman said. "I just think we were really slow and had terrible grip in Q3. I think my last lap, we recovered it a little bit by getting the tyres into a little bit of a better window, but we were still not what we would have liked and how the car was behaving in all the practice sessions.
"So that was a bit of a mystery. But then tomorrow we maybe race on different tyres anyway so I expect the balance to be good again."
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
