Red Bull’s Max Verstappen outgunned his two title rivals from McLaren to take pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and strengthen his bid for a fifth successive title. Verstappen flew to the top of the leaderboard with time of 1 min 22.207 secs, thanks to a tow from teammate Yuki Tsunoda. The McLarens scrapped it out for the other place on the front row with Norris finishing 0.201 secs behind the Dutchman, and just 0.029 secs ahead of Piastri, who was third quickest. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
07 December,2025 09:42 AM IST | Abu Dhabi | AFPSix runners are in the fray for the A C Ardeshir Trophy (Gr 3), the feature event of Sunday's small, six-race card. The top two contenders, Santissimo and Psychic Star, are both from Pesi Shroff's yard; and while Psychic Star has kept herself busy by racing thrice during the Pune season, Santissimo has stayed indoors for nine months. It will be interesting to watch who between the two performs better on Sunday, especially as others in the race can complicate the pace equation of the race. My choice is Santissimo. First race at 2.30 pm. Selections: IA Rahimtoola Trophy (For 5y&o, Class IV; 1200m)Believe 1, Majestic Warrior 2, Ariyana Star 3. JM Shah & CM Shah Gold Trophy (Class III; 1400m)Big Bay 1, Eagle Day 2. Sir Rahimtoola Chinoy Cup (Class IV; 1600m)Brasilier 1, Ekatarina 2, Semurg 3. AC Ardeshir Trophy - Gr 3 (For 3y&o; 1600m)Santissimo 1, Psychic Star 2, Once You Go Black 3. Prince Karim Aga Khan IV Memorial Trophy (For 2y, Maidens; 1200m)Nebula 1, Lady Scarlet 2, Soleva 3. Samuel Nathan Plate (For 4y&o, Class V; 1200m)You 1, We Still Believe 2, Sentinel 3. RecommendationsBest bet: NoneUpsets: Red Merlot (1-4), Giant Gold (3-2) & Staria (5-12) Today's poolsSuper jackpot pool: 1,2,3,4,5,6Jackpot pool: 2,3,4,5,6Treble pool: 3,4,5Tanala pool: All races.
07 December,2025 09:30 AM IST | Pune | Prakash Gosavi1981: Piquet vs Reutemann vs Lafitte winner: Piquet Heading into the title-decider at the Caesars Palace GP, Carlos Reutemann held a one-point lead over Nelson Piquet and a five-point lead over Jacques Laffite. However, amid the gruelling desert heat in Las Vegas, a visibly unwell Piquet pushed through to win the title by finishing fifth. FINAL STANDINGSN Piquet (Brabham): 50 ptsC Reutemann (Williams): 49 ptsJ Laffite (Ligier): 44 pts Nelson Piquet 1983: Piquet vs Prost vs Renoux winner: Piquet Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, and Rene Arnoux were the three protagonists here. However, in this anti-climactic finale in South Africa, two of the three contenders did not finish the race. On Lap 9, Arnoux had to retire due to an engine failure, while Prost’s car succumbed to a turbo failure on Lap 35. Piquet then safely brought home his car in fourth place to clinch the crown. FINAL STANDINGSN Piquet (Brabham): 59 pts A Prost (Renault): 57 ptsR Arnoux (Ferrari): 49 pts Alain Prost 1986: Prost vs Mansell vs Piquet winner: Prost Nigel Mansell saw his title hopes explode in the same way his left rear tyre did with just 19 laps to go at the Australian GP. Mansell was cruising in third place at the time — the minimum he needed to be crowned champion. Instead, it was Alain Prost who won the race and the title, having benefitted from fellow title-rival Nelson Piquet’s decision to pit in order to avoid Mansell’s fate. FINAL STANDINGSA Prost (McLaren): 74 ptsN Mansell (Williams): 72 ptsN Piquet (Williams): 69 pts Kimi Raikkonen 2007: Raikkonen vs Hamilton vs Alonso winner: Raikkonen This was Lewis Hamilton’s title to lose, but the rookie driver suffered an unfortunate issue with his car’s hydraulic valve, which compromised his race in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. The championship leader thus finished 7th, while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who began the race third in the championship — trailing the Briton by 17 points — went on to win the title by finishing first. Hamilton’s teammate and fellow title contender Alonso (12 points behind the Briton), crossed the finish line in third place. FINAL STANDINGSK Raikkonen (Ferrari): 110 ptsL Hamilton (McLaren): 109 ptsF Alonso (McLaren): 109 pts Sebastian Vettel 2010: Vettel vs Alonso vs Webber vs Hamilton winner: Vettel This is the only instance where four drivers were in title contention at the final race in Abu Dhabi. Table-topper Fernando Alonso held an 8-point lead over Mark Webber at the start of the race, but it was Vettel, who emerged champion, courtesy of a strategy error by Ferrari, who pitted Alonso early, leaving him stuck behind Vitaly Petrov for the rest of the race. Alonso ended 7th with Webber 8th, while Vettel won the race and the title. FINAL STANDINGSS Vettel (Red Bull): 256 ptsF Alonso (Ferrari): 252 ptsM Webber (Red Bull): 242 ptsL Hamilton (McLaren): 240 pts
06 December,2025 09:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Ronan CarvalhoIndia defeated Belgium 4-3 via penalty shootout in their quarter-final clash at the Junior Hockey World Cup here on Friday. Both teams were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time. Belgium took the lead through Gaspard Cornez-Massant (13th minute). India equalised through Rohit (45th) and took the lead through Sharda Nand Tiwari (48th). Nathan Rogge (59th) made it 2-2 for Belgium. Meanwhile, India blanked Ireland 4-0 in their Pool ‘C’ match at the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 09:18 AM IST | Chennai | AgenciesJavelin throwers Jimmit Mehta of Children’s Academy (Malad) and Drishti Poojari of Sanjeevani World School (Dahisar) clinched gold medals in the Dreams Sports Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school annual athletics meet held at Priyadarshani Park, Nepean Sea Road, on Friday. The boys U-16 event was a thriller as Himesh Paswan of SFIT Convent High School (Kandivli), in his last throw, matched Jimmit’s previous best effort of 43.12m, only for the latter to clinch top honours with a final throw of 44.01m. Vedansh Tripathi of Vasudev C Wadhwa Arya Vidya Mandir (Bandra) took bronze (39.29m). In the girls U-16 event, Drishti bagged gold (22.50m), while Bhakti Gaykar of Thane Police School finished second (21.53m), and Hiral Sidhpura of Children’s Academy (Malad) took bronze (21.33m).
06 December,2025 09:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamMcLaren boss Zak Brown on Friday confirmed they will exercise team orders to secure the drivers’s title in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP if it becomes clear during the race that only one can win. “We’ll be practical. If it is clear that one has a significantly better chance than another, then we’ll do what we can to get that driver to win the race,” said Brown in reference to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri — the former leads Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 12 points and is 16 ahead of his teammate. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 09:01 AM IST | Abu Dhabi | AFPSeries leader Lando Norris topped the second practice session on Friday to boost his bid for a maiden drivers’s world championship ahead of title rival Max Verstappen at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Briton had also outpaced the Dutchman in the first practice session earlier in the day. Norris clocked a best lap in 1 min 23.083 secs in his McLaren to outpace Red Bull’s four-time world champion by 0.363 secs. Norris has a 12-point lead over Verstappen, with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri a further four points behind — the Australian struggled with balance issues in the second practice session and finished 11th. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 08:58 AM IST | Abu Dhabi | AFPAfter the Hyderabad lockdown due to Glanders, and five horses testing positive for the same disease at Bengaluru, comes the news that a horse which travelled from Chennai to Mysore is reported to have tested positive. Glanders is a bacterial disease which affects horses and can be fatal. It can also be transferred to humans.
05 December,2025 07:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Prakash GosaviArjun Erigaisi beat five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand in an all-Indian final to clinch the Jerusalem Masters title. After the duo drew the opening rapid games, Erigaisi won the first Blitz tie-break and drew the second to emerge victorious. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 December,2025 07:26 AM IST | Jerusalem | PTILando Norris says he won’t ask his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to give up a place to favour him in the three-way F1 title fight including Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Norris has a 12-point lead over Verstappen going into Sunday’s race, with Piastri four points further back. If Verstappen is far ahead of both McLarens, it’s possible Piastri could be in a situation where he can’t take the title himself, but can aid Norris’s title bid. If Verstappen wins on Sunday, a top-three finish would be enough for Norris to secure the championship. “I would love it, but I don’t think I would ask it because it’s up to Oscar if he would allow it,” said Norris on Thursday. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 December,2025 07:23 AM IST | Abu Dhabi | AP | PTIFive horses stationed in Bangalore stables have tested positive for glanders, forcing closure of racing activity for at least three months. The ban came into effect immediately on Wednesday after test results came in. Hyderabad was the first centre to be closed due to glanders last month. With Chennai and Ooty racecourses closing down due to land issue, the winter season is presently continuing only at four centres: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata & Mysore.
04 December,2025 10:16 AM IST | Mumbai | Prakash GosaviADVERTISEMENT
