Young Italian Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli continued his brilliance by winning the Canadian Grand Prix in the fifth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, in the early hours of Monday morning.
In the 68-lap race at the Montreal Circuit, Antonelli outperformed both Britain's Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, and the Ferrari driver, who finished in second place.
Hamilton snatched the runner-up from Dutchman Max Verstappen, driver of Red Bull, who was on the podium for the first time this season among the top three.
As for the young Italian, he achieved his fourth consecutive victory in the first five rounds of this season, topping the drivers’ championship standings with 131 points, 43 points ahead of his colleague in the same team, Briton George Russell, who was forced to withdraw from the race.
Briton Landos Norris, McLaren driver and holder of the Drivers' Championship title, also withdrew from the race due to a technical failure.
Spanish coach Pep Guardiola said that he will contact his successor in Manchester City to provide advice, after the curtain came down on Sunday on a golden contract that changed the club’s position in English and European football.
The loss to the guest Aston Villa 1-2 did not spoil the atmosphere of celebration among City fans, who gathered to honor the Catalan coach, who won 20 titles in ten seasons at Etihad Stadium.
Reports indicate that one of Guardiola's former assistants and the former Italian coach of Chelsea, Enzo Maresca, will succeed him in the task, to fill the large void left by the former coach of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“When the club tells me who he is, of course I will call him,” Guardiola said. “I will tell him the same thing I said before: Be yourself.”
He added, "The club will support you unconditionally. This is the greatest compliment, or the greatest luck, that any coach here can have. You have to protect that more than any other club. Be free and move forward with your ideas. Work hard and everything will be fine."
Guardiola announced his decision to leave on Friday, less than three days after losing the English Premier League title to Arsenal.
However, his final season with City resulted in a League Cup and FA Cup double, so he left the club with a revamped squad that was supposed to remain capable of competing for titles after his departure from the Etihad.
Guardiola entered the stadium on Sunday to a huge reception, next to a giant banner bearing his picture and the phrase: “Game changer. History maker. City forever.”
Catalan flags were raised behind one of the goals, while the other side witnessed the operation of the “Pep Guardiola” stadium, which was renamed and expanded, for the first time.
The 55-year-old coach was moved when the players of the two teams lined up in honor of Portuguese Bernardo Silva when he was substituted in the second half.
After 19 seasons of combined service, Silva and John Stones also received a lengthy tribute in their final appearance for the club.
Guardiola said: "I don't cry, but when I see Bernardo crying, I cry."
During their joint career, Guardiola, Silva and Stones won six Premier League titles and the club's only Champions League title in 2023, among 17 major titles.
Guardiola revealed earlier this week that he does not plan to train again in the near future, stressing that he is looking forward to a rest period after 17 seasons he spent with three of Europe's largest clubs over 18 years.
"I'm very tired. I won't miss it for a while. For this club and these players, this is the right decision, and I thank the club for respecting it," he said.
British Emma Raducano was eliminated from the women's singles competition at the French Open tennis tournament "Roland Garros" in the first round, for the first time after committing many mistakes against Argentine Solana Sierra.
The first-seeded British player chose to return to competition in the last two weeks of the clay court season, after an absence of two and a half months due to a viral illness, instead of focusing on grass courts, but this decision was not correct.
Raducano narrowly lost to Frenchwoman Diane Barry in the Strasbourg tournament a few days ago, and her performance improved in the second set of her match at the Roland Garros tournament, which is held in extremely hot conditions, before she lost with a score of 6/0 and 7/6 (7/4).
Raducano failed for the first time to qualify for the second round, in her third participation in the Roland Garros tournament.
Emma gave a disastrous performance in the first set, which she lost after only 25 minutes.
On the other hand, Sierra has a strong performance on clay courts, but her ranking of 68 in the world is far behind her competitor Raducano, who is ranked 39 in the world and is participating in the sixth Grand Slam tournament in her career.
Raducano was threatened with one of her worst defeats, falling behind by 1/4 in the second set, but she regained her balance with exchanging blows that confused her Argentine opponent.
Raducano reduced the deficit to 4/3, and coughed twice into the towel when changing courts, which shows that she has not yet recovered from the viral infection she suffered in early February.
However, the British star held on more and tied the score at 5/2, breaking Sierra's serve when she was about to decide the match, extending the confrontation to a tiebreak.
Sierra led 5/1, but Raducano did not succeed in reducing the gap again, and her total number of unintentional errors reached 42.
The 23-year-old British player hopes to improve her physical fitness and regain her level before the grass court season, which will witness her brilliance.
