Sports News: Antonelli leads Formula 1 testing in Madrid, expanding the DR Congo national team squad

On Saturday, Italian Kimi Antonelli, driver of the Mercedes team, recorded the fastest time in the third free practice of the Spanish Grand Prix, scheduled to be held on Sunday, within the Formula 1 World Championship, after the test was stopped for a long period due to work that took a long time to repair the barriers, after Briton Lewis Hamilton, driver of the Ferrari team, collided with them.

Antonelli, the driver's leader, recorded the fastest lap time. He recorded a time of 1 minute and 32.797 seconds, beating Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc by 0.166 seconds. Australian Oscar Piastri came in third place, followed by his British McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

The Dutchman Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver, came in fifth place, then the British George Russell, the second Mercedes driver, came in sixth place.

The third free trial was stopped with about 36 minutes left until the end, after Hamilton lost control of his car at the final turn and drove straight into the wall, which led to the red flag being raised.

Hamilton was able to put the car in reverse, and began moving it back to the maintenance area, and despite being informed by the team to stop, the seven-time world champion continued driving. But the Ferrari team succeeded in convincing him to stop the car and allow it to be removed from the track.

Perhaps Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, was trying to return to the pit area himself, so that the team could repair the car and return to complete the free trial.

It is not yet clear whether Hamilton will receive a penalty for driving a car in unsafe conditions.

The time continued to be counted at the beginning, before it was finally fixed at 15 minutes and 38 seconds, while the experiment was stopped due to the difficulties faced by the race organizers in repairing the barriers.

The free trial resumed after a pause that lasted more than 40 minutes.

Hamilton's accident was the second incident at the new Madrid track, which appears for the first time on the Formula 1 racing schedule, and which was described as "crazy", "scary" and "the most complicated" of the season.

Another accident occurred at the end of the third trial, when Briton Oliver Berman collided with the barriers and slid along them.

The Madrid track represents a great challenge. Due to its fast turns, it also includes several sections in which drivers have almost no vision of what awaits them in front of them, in addition to the scarcity of off-track areas (safety zones).

The official trial will be held later on Saturday, while the main race will be held on Sunday.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's success at this year's FIFA World Cup has resulted in the addition of a host of European-born players to its squad; Team coach Sebastien Desabre seeks to expand the player base and build on reaching the round of 32 in the finals held in North America.

Later this month, the Democratic Republic of the Congo will play its first match since the World Cup when the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers begin, after being just 15 minutes away from pulling off a resounding upset against England in Atlanta.

Six new players from European clubs joined the squad to face Equatorial Guinea in Kinshasa on September 24, and then to face Zimbabwe in Harare four days later.

The list saw the summoning of Willy Kambwala, the former Manchester United defender and current player for the Italian Como, along with Ezequiel Panzozi (Leipzig), Stanis Idumbo (Monaco), Jordi Makingo (Freiburg), Noah Bamba (Lorient), and Kevin Pedro (Saint-Etienne).

Panzozi, Idombo, Mbamba and Pedro represented the junior national teams of the Netherlands, Belgium and France, respectively, and will need the approval of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to change their sporting nationality.

The FIFA sports nationality change platform reveals that none of the four players has obtained FIFA approval yet.

In the past, the Democratic Republic of the Congo included players in its squad without obtaining their approval, or officially completing the procedures for changing sports nationality.

However, Desabre has conducted extensive networking tours in Europe in recent months, seeking to persuade players of Congolese origin to commit to playing for the African country.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo skipped the group stage in the World Cup for the first time in its history during this year's edition, which was hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Panzozi announced on social media this week that he had switched to playing for the Democratic Republic of the Congo national team after playing for the Netherlands U-21 national team, where he was born, and published a picture of himself holding a Congolese national team shirt.

Desabre plans to use the two friendly matches against Uganda on October 2 and 5 to try to convince more players to join, in the hope of building a strong squad less than one year before the Africa Cup of Nations finals scheduled in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda next June.

For the two matches against Uganda, six other new players from European clubs were invited, including the youngster Jorthy Mukio of Ajax Amsterdam, who played for Belgium last year, and the England Under-20 national team duo, Paris Maghoma and Stevie Mvedidi, who play in the English second division.

The list also includes Anthony Musaba, a former Netherlands U-21 player and current player for Norwich City in the English second division.

Mukio expressed earlier this year his desire to play for Congo, but his participation with Belgium in the European Nations League in March 2025 requires him to wait for 3 years.

Players under the age of 21, who have not played more than 3 official matches with the first team, have the right to change their sporting nationality, but with a waiting period of 3 years.

The two matches against Uganda are not classified as official competitions. This gives Mukio an opportunity to begin integrating with the team, even if his official appearance will not take place until 18 months later.