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George Russell wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix for eighth career F1 victory and first since the Austrian Grand Prix in June.

George Russell held off Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen to complete a lights-to-flag win in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Mercedes, with teammate Kimi Antonelli limiting the damage to his championship lead by finishing fifth.

Russell took the flag 0.196 seconds ahead of the flying Dutchman, who started eighth but crossed the line nearly side-by-side with his Mercedes rival after two safety car phases turned a cruise into a fight for survival for the Briton.

Frenchman Isack Hadjar, who was handed a contract extension by Red Bull earlier this week and had missed the last three races with a wrist injury, completed the podium on his racing return.

The win around the Baku street track was the eighth of Russell’s career, the third of the season and his first since the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June.

It allowed him to close the gap in the overall standings to Italian championship leader Antonelli by 15 points to 66 after 15 rounds.

“It’s amazing to be back on the top step of the podium,” said Russell.

“Every race since the (summer) break I’ve gone from strength to strength and I feel more like myself again.”

Antonelli had started 16th after a rare error saw him crash out of Friday’s qualifying.

His drive on Saturday was less like his Monza charge — where he went from 19th to first — and more of a slow-burn recovery.

Charles Leclerc took fourth for Ferrari ahead of the 20-year-old Italian. His seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton was sixth.

Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad finished seventh. Esteban Ocon took eighth ahead of teammate Oliver Bearman in a double points finish for Haas.

Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 for Williams.

Championship titles are constructed on a bedrock of solid sessions interspersed with the occasional spectacular one – and Hain and Barnard’s efforts were the epitome of solid.

Resuming on 130-4, already five runs in front, they added 51 without loss in a morning session truncated by bad light.

Hain and Barnard did exactly what their team required, advancing steadily to lay the platform for a big lead and potential innings victory.

The Bears’ fifth-wicket pair continued to concentrate hard after lunch until, with the lead already 126, Barnard departed livid with himself at edging a big drive at a wide ball from Ben Green – just 12 shy of a century.

Chris Woakes chipped his second ball to mid-on, but Kai Smith and Manny Suthar enjoyed useful cameos before also falling to the persevering Hull.

They had accompanied the excellent Hain towards his century which was greeted by a standing ovation from the big audience, then Bamber added further useful runs before being bowled by a beauty from Patel.

Even then the Foxes’ frustration went on as last pair Hain and Olly Hannon-Dalby added 35.

Leicestershire opener Sol Budinger then came out firing, hitting 43 not out off 36 balls, But Bamber struck twice in three balls, trapping Sheridon Gumbs and then flattening Rishi Patel’s off-stump two balls late.

After a bad-light interruption, Woakes then pinned Steve Eskinazi lbw in the gloom to leave Warwickshire maybe only one strong session away from the title.

EW YORK: Aryna Sabalenka kept alive her hopes for a third straight US Open championship by fighting off Linda Noskova 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) on Tuesday in a thrilling quarterfinal matchup of major champions.

Sabalenka finished off the match with a second-serve ace to turn back the Wimbledon champion and reach the semifinals in Flushing Meadows for the sixth straight year.

Sabalenka — who needed to win to maintain the No. 1 ranking — will face either No. 3 Jessica Pegula or No. 26 Emma Navarro on Thursday in the semifinals.

Noskova, the No. 6 seed, won her first major title at the All England Club and narrowly missed becoming the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to follow a title on the grass by reaching the final four on the hardcourts of New York.