Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen made a strong start to Formula One's European season by dominating Spanish Grand Prix free practice on Friday. The Finn, championship leader after the opening three long-haul races, set a best time of one minute 20.649 seconds in the morning and then topped the afternoon timesheets in 1:21.935.
In a thrilling race with two safety car periods, reigning champion Hamilton went from pole position to the rear of the field before finishing second for Mercedes in a superb fightback. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third.
Asked to lead the England attack in the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, in the absence of spearhead James Anderson, Stuart Broad became only the fifth English bowler to reach the 300 Test wickets milestone.
Kimi Raikkonen made a forgettable start to his world title defence when a fuel pump problem ruined his chances of securing pole position at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Finn will start Sunday's race from the unfamiliar place of 16th on the grid after his Ferrari broke down at the end of Saturday's first qualifying session at Albert Park.
"What an incredible finale, what a thrilling finish!" the former Ferrari driver said in a statement on his Web site (www.michael-schumacher.de) after Raikkonen and Felipe Massa took the first two spots for Ferrari to clinch the championship.
His unexpected title triumph ended 22-year-old Briton Lewis Hamilton's dreams of becoming the youngest champion in his debut season with McLaren.
Valtteri Bottas seized his first pole position of the Formula One season in Austria on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second.
Pre-season testing times suggest that Ferrari and McLaren, who won all the races between them last year, are still in a class of their own.
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen seized the first pole position of his Formula One career at the British Grand Prix on Saturday.
Saurabh Tiwary scored an unbeaten 98 as India rallied from the loss of three early wickets to win their final warm-up match by six wickets.
Lewis Hamilton will have to pay $335,700 for his licence to race in Formula One in 2008.
Usain Bolt secured a sweep of the three men's sprint titles for a third successive Olympics when Jamaica successfully defended their 4x100 meters relay title in 37.27 seconds on Friday.
India's Surinder Singh pipped Finnish rival Jitsi Utiranen in thrilling fashion to win the 21-km race at the Mumbai Marathon.
Sebastian Vettel trimmed Lewis Hamilton's Formula One lead to 17 points with eight races remaining.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum smashed the fastest fifty in the history of the World Cup during the Group A match against England in Wellington.
Roger Federer began the defence of his Hamburg Masters title with an effortless 6-1, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen.
The Finn will race for McLaren next year in a straight swap with Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who has taken his place at Renault.
Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen will lead the way when Formula One returns to Barcelona this weekend for the first race of the season in Europe. The Finn is top of the standings after the first three long-haul races, a novel sensation for a driver who won his title by clawing back a 17-point deficit in the last two rounds of 2007.
Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen will lead the way when Formula One returns to Barcelona this weekend for the first race of the season in Europe. The Finn is top of the standings after the first three long-haul races, something of a novel sensation for a driver who won his title by clawing back a 17-point deficit in the last two rounds of 2007. Only once before, with McLaren in 2003, has he returned to Europe in such a position of strength.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica second and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen third.
Roger Federer beat Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4 to defend his title in Basel and top the year-end rankings.
The world No 1 will face unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen, who defeated 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Raikkonen was in third place when he suddenly slowed, allowing Spaniard Alonso past. The Finn nursed his car back to the pits and climbed out.
Fernando Alonso believes this year's world title race ended when stewards decided not to punish McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton seized pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday in a damp qualifying session that saw both the Formula One world champion and his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg skid off on their final laps.
Kimi Raikkonen took pole position on an all-Ferrari front row for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Finn revived Ferrari's spirits with the fastest laps in free practice for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Ferrari's Formula One title contender Kimi Raikkonen escaped injury when he crashed at high speed in Saturday's final practice for his team's home Italian Grand Prix.
England have recalled Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord's next week, but paceman Jimmy Anderson misses out with a shoulder injury. Uncapped Middlesex seamer Roland-Jones Ball was named in their 12-man squad, announced on Thursday.
India witnessed another fruitful day at the Canada Open as all its shuttlers, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, entered the third round of the $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary, Canada.
England have won nine of their last 12 ODIs and head coach Trevor Bayliss said there was never any doubt Morgan and Hales would return despite deciding not to go to Bangladesh.
Five-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes front-row lockout with a blistering pole position at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Russian was embroiled in a betting controversy after he retired from his match against Vasallo Arguello in Sopot last week.
Finn Kimi Raikkonen reported back to work as Formula One world champion on Tuesday.
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It was a remarkable comeback by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who had trailed Lewis Hamilton by 17 points with two races to go.
Ferrari made a strong start to the first day of Formula One testing, on Monday, with four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel top of the timesheets at lunchtime with 72 laps completed.
James Anderson set the tone for England's win with a wicket in the very first over of the match.
The Ferrari driver said he had nothing to lose and everything to gain after winning the Chinese Grand Prix and setting up a three-way showdown for Formula One title.
