29/07/2019

Formula One: German Grand Prix - Verstappen avoids incident to win second race of the year

On a wet day in Germany, Max Verstappen held on to win his second race this year after a chaotic Grand Prix.
Photo from Autoblog
Max Verstappen claimed his second win of the year as the Red Bull in a wet and incident-strewn race in Germany.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finished second from bottom with Toro Rosso's Daniil Kyvat third.
Lewis Hamilton finished 11th with two mistakes, but his team-mate Valterri Bottas' crash means the Brit didn't lose any ground in the race to the championship.
It was not the result that Mercedes will have wanted, having celebrated their 125th anniversary in motorsport and their 200th Formula One race this weekend.
It was just Mercedes that suffered though, with six safety cars required and the winner requiring five pit stops to change between wet and dry tyres.
Vettel's team-mate Charles Leclerc crashed when in a good position to hold on to second, while Renault's Nico Hulkenberg also crashed at the penultimate corner where Hamilton also went off the track.
Photo from BBC Sport
Red Bull and Verstappen made all the correct decisions with regard to strategy, with the Dutchman judging the conditions brilliantly.
Amid the chaos, he drove flawlessly, tracking Hamilton in third in the first half and then pouncing to take the lead as the defending world champion's race fell apart.
He ran wide at the penultimate corner, sliding across the slippery run-off area and hitting the wall, but that was only the start of Mercedes problems, rejoining the track with a damaged front wing, unlike Leclerc who was stuck in the gravel.
Hamilton pulled straight into the pit - breaking the rules by going the wrong side of a bollard - spending 50 seconds stationary as the Mercedes mechanics, who were expecting Bottas, struggled to replace his front wing and find the right set of tyres.
The bollard-infringement earned him a five-second penalty, rejoining the race in fifth before passing the Toro Rosso well-driven by Alxander Albon and Hulkenberg's Renault into third.
The safety car deployed when Hulkenberg went off at the same second-to-last corner went a long way to define the finishing positions.
Verstappen soon pitted for fresh tyres but Mercedes did not, when Hamilton questioned the decision, the team said they did not want to have to serve the penalty then, even though it seemed the obvious thing to do.
The race restarted on lap 46 - 18 to go - and the track began to dry so the drivers soon pitted for the dry-weather tyres.
Mercedes pitted Hamilton a lap after Verstappen and Bottas, rejoining in 12th place.
While trying to make up for lost ground, Hamilton had a massive spin at Turn One with 11 laps to go, the stop for fresh tyre cost him any chance of points from then on.
You would think that this would be Bottas' chance to close the gap on his team-mate by taking some points here while Hamilton got none, but the Finn soon made a similar mistake to that of Hamilton, four laps after the Brit.

 On his return to the track where he crashed out while leading last year, Vettel spent most of the race in the lower top 10.
But he came alive in the latter stages, after being fourth at the time of the final safety car following the Bottas crash, the German picked his way past McLaren's Carlos Sainz, Racing Point's Lance Stroll and Kyvat to take a well-deserved second.
Stroll and Kyvat were in second and third when their team pitted them towards the end of the safety car period for Hulkenberg's crash.
Kyvat passed Stroll into second, but couldn't hold off Vettel's second wind.
Stroll managed an excellent fourth while Sainz finished fifth and Albon in a career-best sixth in his debut season.
The Anglo-Thai was unfortunate - he was well ahead of Kvyat all race and running consistently in the points, but he suffered when his team gambled on Kyvat pitting under the safety car while leaving Albon out in fourth.
Vettel's performance was a much-needed boost for Ferrari, after both cars dropped out of qualifying with engine problems leaving Leclerc 10th on the grid and Vettel last.
Leclerc started better, with the team making the perfect strategy calls in the first half of the race.
But he ran wide at the penultimate corner on lap 28, just after gambling on dry-weather tyres on a drying track. 
He got on to the slippery run-off and slid into the gravel, his wheels spinning as he vainly fought to extricate himself.
Photo from BBC Sport
2019 German Grand Prix Results
#
DRIVERCARLAPSTIME/RETIREDpts
C
M VerstappenRED BULL641:44:31.27526
2
S VettelFERRARI64+7.333s18
3
D KvyatTORO ROSSO64+8.305s15
4
L StrollRACING POINT64+8.966s12
5
C Sainz Jr.MCLAREN64+9.583s10
6
A AlbonTORO ROSSO64+10.052s8
7
R GrosjeanHAAS64+16.838s6
8
K MagnussenHAAS64+18.765s4
9
L HamiltonMERCEDES64+19.667s2
10
R KubicaWILLIAMS64+24.987s1
11
G RussellWILLIAMS64+26.404s0
12
K RäikkönenALFA ROMEO64+42.214s0
13
A GiovinazziALFA ROMEO64+43.849s0
14
P GaslyRED BULL61DNF0
NC
V BottasMERCEDES56DNF0
NC
N HulkenbergRENAULT39DNF0
NC
C LeclercFERRARI27DNF0
NC
L NorrisMCLAREN25DNF0
NC
D RicciardoRENAULT13DNF0
NC
S PerezRACING POINT1DNF0
Formula One Driver's Championship Standings
#/Driver/Team/Points/Wins/Podiums
1/L Hamilton/Mercedes/225/7/9
2/V Bottas/Mercedes/184/2/9
3/M Verstappen/Red Bull/162/2/4
4/S Vettel/Ferrari/141/0/5
5/C Leclerc/Ferrari/120/0/5
6/P Gasly/Red Bull/55/0/0
7/C Sainz Jr./McLaren48/0/0
8/D Kvyat/Toro Rosso/27/0/1
9/K Räikkönen/Alfa Romeo/25/0/0
10/L Norris/McLaren/22/0/0
11/D Ricciardo/Renault/22/0/0
12/L Stroll/Racing Point/18/0/0
13/K Magnussen/Haas/18/0/0
14/N Hülkenberg/Renault/17/0/0
15/A Albon/Toro Rosso/15/0/0
16/S Pérez/Racing Point/13/0/0
17/R Grosjean/Haas/8/0/0
18/A Giovinazzi/Alfa Romeo/1/0/0
19/R Kubica/Williams/1/0/0
20/G Russell/Williams/0/0/0

2019 Races and Results
Australian Grand Prix
Melbourne, 15-17 March
1. Bottas, 2. Hamilton, 3. Verstappen

Bahrain Grand Prix
Sakhir, 29-31 March
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai, 12-14 April
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Vettel

Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Baku, 26-28 April
1. Bottas, 2. Hamilton, 3. Vettel

Spanish Grand Prix
Barcelona, 10-12 May
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Verstappen

Monaco Grand Prix
Monte Carlo, 23, 25-26 May
1. Hamilton, 2. Vettel, 3. Bottas

Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, 7-9 June
1. Hamilton, 2. Vettel, 3. Leclerc

French Grand Prix
Le Castellet, 21-23 June
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

Austrian Grand Prix
Spielberg, 28-30 June
1. Verstappen, 2. Leclerc, 3. Bottas

British Grand Prix
Silverstone, 12-14 July
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

German Grand Prix
Hockenheim, 26-28 July
1. Verstappen, 2. Vettel, 3. Kyvat

Hungarian Grand Prix
Budapest, 2-4 August

Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, 30 August-1 September

Italian Grand Prix
Monza, 6-8 September

Singapore Grand Prix
Marina Bay, 20-22 September

Russian Grand Prix
Sochi, 27-29 September

Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, 11-13 October

Mexican Grand Prix
Mexico City, 25-27 October

United States Grand Prix
Austin, 1-3 November

Brazilian Grand Prix
Sao Paulo, 15-17 November

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, 29 November-1 December
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Betfred World Matchplay Darts, Final - Cross holds off Smith comeback to win second major

Michael Smith nearly completed a huge comeback in the World Matchplay final, before Rob Cross saw it out to win 18-13.
Photo from sportinglife.com
(5) Michael Smith 13-18 (2) Rob Cross
Rob Cross ended his wait for a second major title after defeating Michael Smith in the World Matchplay final at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
The 2018 world champion is still only in his third year as a professional, but already got his name on the two biggest titles in the sport, but it was not without incident against Bully Boy.
The St Helens man made a terrible start with both scoring and finishing - and will surely conclude that the damage was predominantly self-inflicted - as Cross stormed into 9-0 lead.
After his incredible comeback from 14-7 down the night before to win against Daryl Gurney, Voltage was on a run of 17 successive legs won on the Winter Gardens stage, threatening to break the record for the biggest ever victory in a World Matchplay, held by Phil Taylor who thrashed Terry Jenkins 16-4 in 2009.
But that all changed as Smith threatened to make Cross the victim of a huge comeback, bringing it back to 11-4 at the third interval.
The 2018 Premier League, 2018 World Series and 2019 World Championship runner-up, who is still seeking his first major title at the age of 28, managed to get his average above 90, helped by a 147 checkout.
He managed to reduce the deficit to three legs at 14-11, but Cross knocked Smith back with a 110 checkout with his opponent waiting on 16.
Smith closed the gap to two legs at 15-13, with the Blackpool crowd roaring missed doubles from Cross with six in one leg, as Smith missed five but pinned tops for a 20-darter.
Photo from BBC Sport
Cross reeled off the next three legs - having survived Smith's darts at bullseye in two of them - to become only the fourth player in history to do the World Championship and World Matchplay double - after Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson.
He's also the second quickest to achieve it out of the elite group
Having turned pro at the start of the 2017, Cross completes the double in his third season while Taylor (1994-95) did it in two, van Gerwen (2007-2015) in eight and Anderson (2009-2018) in 10.
His is only the ninth different name to be on the Phil Taylor trophy since the tournament's inception in 1994, though that isn't surprising given the dominance of a certain 16-time winner after whom the trophy is named.

 MATCH STATS
Smith - Cross

 Averages
95.91 - 95.16

 180s
8 - 5

 Doubles
13/44 (29.55%) - 18/41 (43.9%)

 Ton+ Checkouts
147 - 115, 100

 Draw
(1) Michael van Gerwen (NED) 10-6 Steve Beaton (ENG)
(16) Adrian Lewis (ENG) 4-10 Glen Durrant (ENG)
(8) James Wade (ENG) 13-12 Jeffrey de Zwaan (NED)
(9) Mensur Suljovic (AUT) 10-1 Jermaine Wattimena (NED)
(5) Michael Smith (ENG) 10-7 Jamie Hughes (ENG)
(12) Dave Chisnall (ENG) 9-11 Max Hopp (GER)
(4) Gary Anderson (SCO) 10-6 Danny Noppert (NED)
(13) Nathan Aspinall (ENG) 5-10 Mervyn King (ENG)
(2) Rob Cross (ENG) 10-3 Chris Dobey (ENG)
(15) Darren Webster (ENG) 5-10 Krzysztof Ratajski (POL)
(7) Gerwyn Price (WAL) 12-13 Stephen Bunting (ENG)
(10) Ian White (ENG) 10-0 Joe Cullen (ENG)
(6) Peter Wright (SCO) 10-5 Vincent van der Voort (NED)
(11) Simon Whitlock (AUS) 10-8 John Henderson (SCO)
(3) Daryl Gurney (NIR) 10-7 Ricky Evans (ENG)
(14) Jonny Clayton (WAL) 8-10 Keegan Brown (ENG)
=
(1) Michael van Gerwen (NED) 11-13 Glen Durrant (ENG)
(8) James Wade (ENG) 13-11 (9) Mensur Suljovic (AUT)
(5) Michael Smith (ENG) 12-10 Max Hopp (GER)
(4) Gary Anderson (SCO) 8-11 Mervyn King (ENG)
(2) Rob Cross (ENG) 11-5 Krzysztof Ratajski (POL)
Stephen Bunting (ENG) 14-12 (10) Ian White (ENG)
(6) Peter Wright (SCO) 11-2 (11) Simon Whitlock (AUS)
(3) Daryl Gurney (NIR) 11-9 Keegan Brown (ENG)
=
Glen Durrant (ENG) 16-7 (8) James Wade (ENG)
(5) Michael Smith (ENG) 16-11 Mervyn King (ENG)
(2) Rob Cross (ENG) 16-14 Stephen Bunting (ENG)
(6) Peter Wright (SCO) 13-16 (3) Daryl Gurney (NIR)
=
Glen Durrant (ENG) 10-17 (5) Michael Smith (ENG)
(2) Rob Cross (ENG) 17-15 (3) Daryl Gurney (NIR)
=
(5) Michael Smith (ENG) 13-18 (2) Rob Cross (ENG)

 Day One Results and Report
Day Two Results and Report
Day Three Results and Report
Day Four Results and Report
Day Five Results and Report
Day Six Results and Report
Day Seven Results and Report
Semi-Finals Results and Report
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