Jenson Button seized pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday in a fairytale front row sweep for his new Brawn GP team. Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello will line up alongside in Sunday's race in a remarkable turnaround for a team who were fighting for their Formula One survival earlier this year.
Rubens Barrichello wore his feelings on his chest, if not his sleeve, at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday when he turned up for duty in a 'Mr Happy' T-shirt. After angrily accusing his championship-leading Brawn GP Formula One team of costing him victory at the previous race in Germany, the Brazilian made clear that he has calmed down and made his peace with the world.
Rubens Barrichello accused his Brawn GP team of losing him the German Grand Prix in Nuerburgring on Sunday and said he did not want to hear any excuses from them. In an extraordinary outburst, the Brazilian told BBC television that the afternoon had been "a good show from the team on how to lose a race."
The former Honda Formula One team has been saved and will race this season as Brawn GP under new owner Ross Brawn, the renamed team said in a statement on Friday.
A round-up of Saturday's matches in the English Premier League.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel seized his second pole position in a row while Formula One leader Jenson Button could qualify only sixth for his home British Grand Prix on Saturday.
Despite it all, the participants, from across the American continent, show up as they vie for the medals and glory. Along the way, they give us some moments that are captured for posterity. Here are some eye-catching scenes from the Pan Am Games...
Rubens Barrichello ruled out playing a subservient role to Brawn GP team mate Jenson Button on Sunday and said he would quit Formula One if he got the slightest sniff that the Briton is being favoured. The Brazilian, who finished second to the championship leader after a sudden strategy switch at the Spanish Grand Prix, told a Speed TV reporter he would "hang up his helmet" if he suspected the team are not giving him an equal chance.
Valencia tore Real Madrid apart 3-0 on Saturday to give Barcelona the chance to wrap up the Primera Liga title as early as Sunday's game against Villarreal.
Jenson Button and Brawn GP team mate Rubens Barrichello rocked Formula One to the core on Saturday by running away with Australian Grand Prix qualifying. The team who arrived in Melbourne with no sponsors, a barely-tested car and two drivers written off as has-beens only a few months earlier, were in a class of their own.
Breaks, lighter schedules can help players improve, says Federer
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello moved to console compatriot Bruno Senna on Monday after beating him to the last remaining seat in Formula One with the Brawn GP team. Barrichello, the sport's most experienced driver who was close to Senna's uncle Ayrton before the triple champion died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, said the youngster has an obvious future in the sport.
Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella will start his 200th Formula One race, Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, in last place. The Italian, who had already collected a five-place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, was the slowest qualifier on Saturday.
Renault's Fernando Alonso needs one more point to become only the sixth driver to score 500 points in Formula One whereas Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen (currently on 491) needs to win in Monaco.
Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix will be the 1,000th race of the Formula One world championship since the first at Silverstone in 1950.
Switching to hard tyre helped Giancarlo Fisichella overcome a wobbly start and the Force India driver benefitted from Rubens Barichello's drive-through penalty to gain five places and finish 12th in the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang on Sunday.
Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said on Wednesday he is confident his team would bounce back in Malaysia this weekend after making a terrible start to the season at the Australian Grand Prix. Neither of the Italian team's drivers completed last weekend's Grand Prix, although world champion Kimi Raikkonen picked up a point after Honda's Rubens Barrichello was disqualified from a race that only seven cars completed. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Atletico Madrid cruised to a 3-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Tuesday to close the gap behind La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points.
The return of attacking midfielder Dele Alli to full fitness could help England's squad "write their own stories" at the World Cup, manager Gareth Southgate said ahead of Tuesday's last-16 clash with Colombia.
Prakash Amritraj began his campaign at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships with an easy straight sets win over Flavio Cipolla, in Newport.
With a third of the F1 season already wrapped up in white and neon green, here are a few facts we can glean from this insanely topsy-turvy year so far.
World number one Roger Federer got back into his old routine with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of France's Gael Monfils to reach the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals on Thursday.
UEFA have postponed a meeting due to be held on Saturday to discuss the crisis at FIFA which led to Sepp Blatter saying he would step down as president of world soccer's governing body.
Barcelona's hopes of wresting the league title from Real Madrid suffered another blow on Saturday when they twice surrendered the lead to draw 2-2 at relegation-threatened Recreativo Huelva. The draw left Barca six points behind leaders Real Madrid with six games to play but the champions could extend that to nine if they beat struggling Real Murcia at the Bernabeu on Sunday.
Pipped by Honda's Rubens Barrichello in the last corner, Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella will start 17th in the Malaysian Grand Prix after yet again coming tantalisingly close to making the cut for the second qualifying session in Sepang on Saturday. Fellow Force India driver Adrian Sutil will start 21st. Ferrari occupied the front row of the grid with Felipe Massa grabbing the pole just ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton dominated a wet and chaotic British Grand Prix on Sunday to storm back to the top of the Formula One standings in front of his home fans.
Departing European champions Greece lost their third game out of three when they were beaten 2-1 by Group D winners Spain at Euro 2008 on Wednesday. Striker Angelos Haristeas opened the scoring for Greece with a header in the 42nd minute, his team's first goal of the tournament, but Spain equalised in the 61st through Ruben de la Red and took victory with a Daniel Guiza goal two minutes from time.
Chelsea went second in the Premier League with a comfortable 4-0 win at Burnley, on Sunday, which maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
Federer was two points from an embarrassing exit from the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday before rallying to beat Spanish qualifier Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 to reach the third round. The world number one, who failed to retain his Australian Open crown earlier this year, was 5-4 and 30-15 down in the third set before his opponent, ranked 137th by the ATP, crumbled under the pressure.
Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella finished second fastest in the second day's testing in Barcelona.
Favourites Bayern Munich scraped through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup after a dramatic extra-time away goals win over Getafe while Rangers beat Sporting Lisbon. Getafe played all but six minutes of the game with 10 men but looked to be heading for a famous upset victory, only for Bayern to twice come back from the dead -- first to force the game into extra-time and then to snatch a last-gasp equaliser to level the match 3-3.
Giancarlo Fisichella once again outshone team-mate Adrian Sutil even though both the Force India drivers managed to better their morning timings in the afternoon free practice session ahead of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Valencia stunned Barcelona 3-2 at the Mestalla to reach the King's Cup final 4-3 on aggregate on Thursday. Barca, who had scrambled an injury-time equaliser to draw 1-1 in the first leg, were hit by a Ruben Baraja piledriver and a breakaway goal from Juan Mata before the break in an intense encounter they dominated throughout.
Gijon spoiled Asier Illarramendi's return to Real Sociedad's midfield after rejoining from Real Madrid this week when they held the Basque club, coached by Scot David Moyes, to a 0-0 draw in San Sebastian.
Manchester United climbed two places up to second in the Premier League after Marcus Rashford scored deep into stoppage time to give them a fortuitous 1-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted a first-half penalty as injury-depleted Real Madrid recovered from their derby defeat by Atletico Madrid at the weekend with a 3-1 win at Levante on Wednesday.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Real Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for a record fourth time on Saturday after thrashing local side Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi with the help of impressive distance strikes in either half from midfielders Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente.
Colombia beat Argentina 2-1 after a first-half red card for Carlos Tevez in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
