Grand

Ferrari have an upgrade on their car this weekend, focused on a new floor, but Leclerc was downplaying expectations.

“It felt good but it is not the gain I have seen or heard about,” Leclerc said. “It is small gains but we could still see them on the car. It is a small step forward and we started the weekend on the right foot with a good balance and that is the outstanding thing with this Friday.

“It has been a very clean Friday for me, but the others seem to be gaining more than us from Friday to Saturday and seeing the little gap there is, it is not going to be so easy tomorrow.”

Leclerc picked up on Verstappen’s complaints about the track surface on Thursday by saying: “It was very poor. The first sector is particularly poor and very bumpy.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris was seventh fastest, although the world champion did not set a time on his qualifying simulation run on soft tyres after making a mistake at Turn 16.

Norris was the fastest on the long runs, at about 0.2secs on average faster than Verstappen, but cannot be compared as he was running the hard tyre.

McLaren have introduced the first of three consecutive planned upgrades this weekend, but he was not happy with his performance.

“Difficult,” Norris said. “The pace is not bad. We seem a step away from Red Bull and Ferrari, probably Mercedes as well, but the car is very difficult to drive, too difficult to be consistent and get a nice feeling consistently.

“To get the car be quick we just have to try so hard to be perfect and you can’t be perfect. I am sure everyone has similar problems in a way but we are just not quick enough yet to be there consistently enough.”

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eighth quickest, ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Haas driver Oliver Bearman.

The track is built on former marshland and that has made it difficult for organisers to keep it in good condition, but the four-time champion rejected that as a reason not to try to solve the issue.

“You can use the excuse that the soil is the problem but then you should have known that and you need to make sure that you reinforce it more,” Verstappen said.

“Last year, for example, you pull around 5-6G in a corner, but I had some impacts, vertical load, which was over 9G on my spine, which I can tell you is really not fun, and especially the older you get, you think about that more and more.”

Verstappen said the problem was likely to be exacerbated this year because although the cars from 2022-25 had lower ride-heights overall, the way the cars are run under the latest regulations means they are running lower in corners than last season.

That’s because of the switch between having the front and rear wings open in drag-reduction mode on the straights and closing in corners means the cars drop down towards the ground when they brake.

“You bottom out way harder, because when the wings close and the ride-height comes down, under braking is actually a very stressful moment, and I know around here in some places, it’s very bumpy under braking,” he said.

“Especially when it’s like these kind of awkward bumps, not just bumps from the track getting older, but the surface underneath the soil just moving up and down, sometimes (it’s) very hard to expect, or if you’re like a tiny bit offline, you don’t know what is there, because no-one really drives here sometimes.

“I can tell you from the checks that I’ve done from my spine, the bottom end doesn’t look that great.

“I know that’s part of racing. I know that can be part of sport, but it’s also further damage from the cars that we had the last few years.

“And now if we continue with finding this acceptable to drive on, then you are going to suffer with that much more.”

And the DRC’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said in a statement last week that “giving (Rwanda President) Paul Kagame this platform would help polish the image of an authoritarian leader whose government has helped fuel a devastating war in our country”.

She pointed out that the US had sanctioned the Rwandan army and four senior officers for their role in destabilising the region, conducting military operations inside the DRC and supporting, training and fighting alongside the M23 rebel group.

She added that F1 “should require credible, independent guarantees that no money used to host the race comes from conflict-linked minerals or the exploitation of Congolese resources”.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton said: “Africa is a place that deserves to have a grand prix. It’s about more than just one country. It’s about the continent itself, and there are so many beautiful countries within it.

“The people are so lovely. The culture is so rich, and I think it’s important that we get to show that to the world. We get to do that with our sport. We get to go to all these different countries, and people see some of these countries they didn’t really know too much about.

“All of a sudden, it becomes something that’s on the screen, and kids are talking about it. They go to school talking about it. So, I’m really, really hopeful for that grand prix.”

However, the Ferrari driver added: “Going there doesn’t mean that you neglect the things that are happening there.

“So hopefully many people start to educate themselves a little bit more about what is happening there and what has happened there for hundreds of years. I hope that does spark the conversation.

“And then I guess I’ll finish it off with this: I think we need to make sure we’re pushing to free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria, free Palestine. I think there’s a lot of peace that I’m hoping we get to at some stage.”

Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has called an early finish to what she described as “one of the most challenging” seasons of her career.

Poland’s Swiatek failed to qualify for the end-of-season WTA Finals – for the first time since 2019 – after pulling out of the Ningbo Open on Tuesday with a thigh injury.

Shortly afterwards, the 25-year-old announced she was bringing a largely barren season to a close, in order to recharge over a longer period of time before returning in 2027.

Former long-time world number one Swiatek – who has ended a season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2021 – has dropped to ninth in the rankings.

“The past few months, or actually the past couple of years, have been incredibly intense,” said Swiatek, who will have an opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January.

“I feel I need to rest and recover my body fully, so that’s exactly what I will do – [for] a bit longer this time.”

Her most recent Grand Slam triumph came at Wimbledon last year.

Swiatek has managed one WTA title this season – the Canadian Open in August – and ends 2026 with a 42-16 win-loss record.

On Saturday, she lost to fellow Pole Maja Chwalinska in the Wuhan Open semi-finals, only her fourth defeat in 23 matches.

“I’m especially proud of the work we’ve done in the second half of the year and the progress that came with it,” said Swiatek, who needed treatment on her thigh but played on against Chwalinska.

“It gives me a lot of confidence in what’s ahead.”

Grand Designs viewers were left disgruntled as Kevin McCloud returned to a build from 25 years ago.

Grand Designs viewers claimed to “turn off” the Channel 4 programme as they rushed to social media to share their complaints.

Kevin McCloud’s architectural programme has been airing a new series, which has so far seen a ‘pink cloud house’ in London built by an eccentric couple, and a Cornwall family home designed to overlook the sea. On Wednesday, 14 October, the Channel 4 show took viewers back in time 25 years, revisiting a build in Yorkshire.

It looked back on earlier Grand Designs clips, where Chris and Gill designed and built their dream home from a 19th-century Mill. Kevin shared at the start of the episode: “West Yorkshire has always been a place of innovation, manufacturing and mills.”

He spoke about the disrepair of one mill, before it was brought back to life by “gutsy pioneers”. Kevin continued: “25 years ago, Chris and Gill put that same spirit of innovation into the restoration of one of these forgotten buildings.

“They took an abandoned mill and turned it into a high-tech home, and they did it in proper Yorkshire style – no nonsense, with grit.” Gill and Chris had bought the derelict 19th-century mill in 1999, without seeing the site.

“What a dump,” Kevin had declared at the time. But the couple were determined to transform it, and had high ambitions for “a radical hybrid home”. Looking back on the build, Kevin went on: “Amazingly, it’s been a quarter of a century since I last saw Chris and Gill, that is a really long time! So long in fact, that you have to ask, have they changed? Is the building as radical as it looked then, and most importantly, how well has that building over 25 years looked after them?”

As Kevin shared their story from over two decades ago, and reflected on where Gill and Chris were now, viewers were disgruntled at the revisit, rather than a new project on their screens. A number of fans quickly took to social media to share their frustrations.

“Another pointless edition of #granddesigns,” one person fumed, as another said: “Always disappointing seeing ‘new’ @granddesigns and its the revisited version.” Someone else said: “There obviously hasn’t been many new ‘grand design’ projects in the country over the last few years as it’s a ‘revisited’ episode four shows into the new series.” Someone else replied by saying they’ve “turned it off”, as another added: “Was exactly my point too.”

Someone else wrote: “#granddesigns revisit, in other words, it’s a repeat.” However, other viewers were more excited about the revisit episode, with one sharing: “I can’t wait! This one was amazing at the time.” Someone else declared: “This was one of my favourite GD’s of all time.”

Ahead of the new series airing, Kevin spoke about the success of Grand Designs, and was asked about if the series has changed the way people build houses. He replied: “It is very chicken and egg, what came first?

“I think the great thing about television is that it can reflect society, and I think television is at its best when it is able to do that and hold a mirror up and say, this is us now. Channel 4 are very good at doing this, I think it is one of the most compelling things about the channel.

“Grand Designs has been going forever, and so the question is whether it holds a mirror up and I believe the answer is yes, it does so because we have no real formula. We find projects in the real world and we observe, that is it.

“Grand Designs strengths and its longevity are down to the fact it doesn’t really have a format other than that. It has a beginning and a conclusion, but what happens in the middle is not up to us, it is up to the people who are building. We, of course, go out of our way to find interesting and challenging projects that are more at the margins, that show us where we might be as a society in 5,10, 20 years time, not just where we are now. So, my short answer is possibly, but it is much more important for us to show examples of stuff which show the rest of society how we might be building and living in the future.”

Grand Designs airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Channel 4

Hamilton had started on the medium tyres while Verstappen and Leclerc chose the softs. Despite his theoretically more durable tyres, the Briton pitted on lap 18 to switch to the softs, while Leclerc waited until lap 24 to swap his softs for mediums.

Leclerc came out of the pits from his stop just ahead of Hamilton, who had stronger pace on his softer tyres.

Yet Ferrari chose not to order Leclerc to let Hamilton through to maximise his pace, a decision that was questioned by Hamilton from the car.

A virtual safety car was called on lap 39 and Leclerc and Antonelli, who had chased the Ferraris closely from the start from his fourth place on the grid, took the opportunity for a cheap pit stop – it takes 10 seconds less to stop under a safety car than under racing conditions.

Yet Hamilton, despite having older tyres, did not stop, a decision that promoted him to second behind Verstappen.

As Leclerc was catching Hamilton, the Briton was told he needed to stop again; he pushed back to suggest he try to go to the end, but was told they were six laps short to make it in terms of tyre life.

Leclerc soon caught Hamilton and passed him on lap 46 and set off after Verstappen, but could get no closer than 7.3 seconds to the Red Bull.

Hamilton never did stop, but as his tyres lost grip he fell back into the clutches of Norris and Antonelli.

A passing attempt by Norris on lap 54 with eight to go saw Hamilton run off track and take to the escape road at Turn One, but as he did, Antonelli grabbed the chance to pass the McLaren, and then Hamilton later on the same lap.

Norris followed him through, and now Hamilton fell back towards the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who passed him on the final lap after a resolute attempted defence from Hamilton.

It was Hamilton’s call not to stop and he apologised for it on the slowing down lap – but there remain a number of questions as to the choices made.

Russell’s fight back through the field took him up to seventh as he delayed his pit stop as long as possible.

But after dropping back to 10th behind Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, he passed Gasly after trailing him for 10 laps or so, but could not make it past Hulkenberg, who was himself chasing Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar took the final point in 10th after starting from the back.

Marco Bezzecchi triumphed at the Indonesian Grand Prix, while Jorge Martin finished third to retake the lead from Marc Marquez in the MotoGP world championship.

Italian Bezzecchi made his move on pole-sitter Raul Fernandez with nine laps to go at a sweltering Mandalika International Circuit.

Fernandez finished second ahead of compatriot Martin, with the Spanish duo locking out the podium for Italian manufacturer Aprilia.

Ducati’s reigning seven-time world champion Marquez finished sixth, losing the championship lead he had taken for the first time this season by winning Saturday’s sprint race.

Fernandez and Bezzecchi had clashed and crashed out in that race, with the Spaniard needing to brake with his middle finger for the whole of Sunday’s race after fracturing his index finger.

Starting at the front of the grid, the pair negotiated the first turn and then surged away from the chasing pack.

Having initially looked comfortable, Fernandez began to fade and Bezzecchi seized an opportunity on lap 19 before putting distance on his rival.

The result for 2024 world champion Martin moves him up to 355 points at the top of the championship standings, with Marquez second on 353 and Bezzecchi third with 309.

There are five grands prix remaining in the 2026 season, with the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island the next meeting in the calendar in a fortnight’s time.

If that is not a major concern for Antonelli, it certainly is for McLaren.

They had their own purple patch in the summer, when Lando Norris took consecutive wins in Hungary and the Netherlands, and would have won in Madrid had it not been for the unfortunate timing of a virtual safety car.

But the world champions have slipped from competitiveness in recent races, and before the Singapore Grand Prix they lie in third place in the constructors’ championship, only 11 points ahead of Red Bull.

Saturday in Singapore was a bad day at the office for McLaren.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were heading for fourth and fifth places in the sprint when Norris made a dive down the inside of his team-mate at Turn Five on the final lap.

This is not a common overtaking spot and from a McLaren point of view it was a move with no reward, only risk.

The move might have made sense if it had come earlier in the race and enabled Norris to challenge Leclerc, struggling in front of them, for third.

But on the last lap, Norris was not going to have a go at Leclerc even if he had got through – the only remaining overtaking place was at the end of the following straight into Turn Seven.

If the McLaren drivers swapped places, it would make no difference to the team in terms of a collective points haul, but if it went wrong, the cost could be high.

And so it did. Norris was in a position to make a legitimate move, but they came together, pirouetted in tandem, Piastri into the barriers and out of the race and Norris slipping down to eighth. Nine points had become one.

The stewards took no action, feeling that “both drivers had contributed to the incident”.

Piastri had explained in the hearing that he did not expect Norris to try a move there, and attempted to leave space when he saw him.

Norris argued that his his car was in a position that, according to the rules, entitled him to make an overtaking attempt, so expected to be left space and had braked and gone over the kerb when he realised he was not going to get as much as he expected.

He said: “There are two sides, one is what the stewards say and that’s a fair reasoning, no-one’s to blame. But I did apologise because it was still me attacking, as I had the right to do. If I just sat there and was boring like I should be, nothing would have happened. So really it’s still my fault but I deserved to go for the space and I still believe I had the right for it.”

Norris added: “As you probably expect, no-one’s very happy. I’m not happy, Oscar isn’t happy. None of us wanted it to go that way. There was things both of us could have done better and, yeah, we spoke about it and we moved on.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his second pole position in a week by beating the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s first lap in final qualifying was enough to take pole, his time fending off a second lap from Leclerc that was 0.054 seconds off pole.

Hamilton was closest to Verstappen after the first runs but was unable to improve on his second run.

In fact, most of the front runners struggled to improve on their second runs, as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took fourth on the grid, from McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell was sixth fastest but will drop to the back of the grid with a penalty for using too many engine parts.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was the only driver in the top four teams other than Leclerc to improve on his second run but could do no better than qualify seventh.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.

More to follow

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won an incident-packed sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix after Mercedes driver George Russell crashed out of the lead.

Russell was leading in tricky conditions, with half the track dry and half wet, when he got a little too wide at the final corner at the end of the first lap.

He lost control of his Mercedes, which spun across the track into the inside wall, before bouncing back again to the outside, the rest of the field somehow avoiding him.

A final-lap collision between the McLarens as Lando Norris tried to pass Oscar Piastri at Turn Five promoted Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli to fourth place.

In combination with Russell’s retirement, that extends the Italian’s championship lead to 89 points.

More to follow

Verstappen’s pole lap appeared to be further confirmation of Red Bull’s resurgence after his dominant win in Malaysia but he faces an investigation for overtaking under yellow flags shown before the first session was stopped for the Perez incident.

The four-time champion said he had not believed pole was possible before qualifying.

“We have some difficulties with the car in ride, as we know,” he said, “but at least when we went to the soft tyres (in the final session), it made the car a bit more stable in places where before you were a bit unsure.

“I did not expect this but you take it, I’m happy for sure. Qualifying tomorrow is still the main goal and for us the start is always a critical point but at least a positive end to our day.”

Russell’s performance compared with that of Antonelli raises further doubts about the efficacy of the Mercedes upgrade introduced in Malaysia.

It was their biggest car update since the Canadian Grand Prix in May but team boss Toto Wolff said at Sepang that it had appeared to take them backwards rather than forwards.

Mercedes split the car spec here in Singapore in an attempt to better understand its performance but Antonelli ended the session 0.573secs behind Russell.

The Briton said: “As a team there is still nothing telling us it isn’t working but it’s all driven by the stopwatch and, yeah, the stopwatch hasn’t been great for the upgrade yet. Maybe tomorrow’s a different day.”

Antonelli, who leads the championship by 84 points going into the weekend, said: “Already FP1 I was struggling and there is still a lot to understand about this package. Really the car is very difficult, very unpredictable, very difficult to put a lap together. It’s a shame. I was coming with high hopes but so far it has been very difficult.

“It’s going to be a difficult weekend unless we can pull something out tomorrow. Other than that it is going very tricky. I don’t really see where we can find 0.7secs but you never know.”

Wolff said before sprint qualifying: “The new car seems to be a little more tricky to drive. Not saying it’s necessarily slower, because there will be goodness in it, but maybe we haven’t just found a way of putting it all together and tuning it. The older car is a bit more stable, grippy, but that is really just one data point.”

Leclerc was 0.243secs off pole, and ruing what he said was Ferrari “losing a little bit of our raw performance” in the past three or four races.

However, he added: “Still I feel there is potential in the car and maybe tomorrow we can be there or thereabouts in fighting for pole.”

Hamilton said: “We did a slightly different run plan to the others. It was my choice, but I think we got that wrong. But ultimately, the car was very oversteery on that lap. If the rears [tyres] are not ready or they are overheating, it’s difficult to say. But it was very snappy and oversteery in the lap overall.”

The Singapore Grand Prix has been declared a heat-hazard race, the second weekend in a row that the designation has been used in Formula 1 and the fourth time this year.

The definition allows teams to fit cooling devices to their cars that pump liquid through a vest worn by the driver to manage temperatures in the cockpit.

A heat hazard is an official status for an event where it is forecast that temperatures will exceed 31C at some point during the race. It was first introduced in 2025.

Singapore is close to the equator and has long been known as one of the most demanding for drivers – in 2024, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were treated for heat exhaustion after the race.

Temperatures in the city are always in the 31-33C region across the race weekend, with high humidity and a chance of rain every day.

The race is held at night, but temperatures remain in the region of 30C even after dark.

A cooling kit is not mandatory, but any driver who chooses not to use it has to carry 5kg of ballast in their car to ensure he does not have a competitive advantage.

The system uses a cooling tank and pump, usually situated in the car’s nose, that delivers a cooled liquid, such as glycol, through a system of pipes in a fireproof top worn under their overalls.

Some teams and drivers prefer not to use the system because of two key compromises.

It is difficult to keep the liquid cool enough for long enough so that it lasts for an entire grand prix – a problem exacerbated in Singapore because it is the longest race of the year.

And some drivers find the cooling top uncomfortable in the tight confines of the cockpit.

If the liquid cannot be kept cool, it reverts to car temperature, which is considerably higher than ambient. It is not unusual for temperatures in an F1 cockpit to rise above 40C.

Mercedes are one of the teams who have decided against running the system because they preferred to devote the resource that would have been involved in making it robust enough to last a race into car performance.

Governing body the FIA has granted teams an allowance under the cost cap of $50,000 (£38,000) if they can make a system that keeps the liquid cool for an entire grand prix, and a further $75,000 (£57,000) if they could make the top comfortable.

Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord described the allowance as “small”, adding: “We didn’t believe that allowance was sufficient for us to be able to develop a solution that would be robust enough to last for the entire race.”

Singapore follows the Austrian, Italian and last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia in being declared a heat-hazard race this year.

Price, who was playing in a fourth Grand Prix final, claimed the first set with a stunning 132 three-dart average.

He raced into a 3-0 lead and Humphries admitted afterwards that avoiding a 6-0 clean sweep was on his mind such was the brutality that Price was producing.

The fourth set saw the momentum swing however. With Price waiting on tops to move to within two sets of victory, Humphries nicked it by taking out a brilliant 105, with what he said “felt like the biggest shot of my career”.

From there his levels started to rise and he claimed the following three sets to lead.

Price rallied in set eight and won three successive legs to force a best-of-three finale, but, after a short break, Humphries found another gear.

Set nine went to a deciding leg, but unlike the previous four sets in the match where that had happened, there was a break of throw, with Humphries finishing in 10 darts.

That left Price dejected and Humphries won three unanswered legs to claim a ninth major PDC title.

“The sport is in such a special place that when you pick these trophies up they mean a lot more,” said Humphries.

“When I was winning, I don’t think there were so many good players. I’m happy to win a couple a year – one a year is great.

“To go on and win like I did is going to be tough. I don’t think I can’t do it, I’m just trying to pick up as many titles as I can.

“I worked incredibly hard, showed a lot of grit and determination. I think these are a lot sweeter than the ones you win with ease.”

Nico Hulkenberg – 7/10

Missing Q2 was disappointing but he responded with a strong recovery on Sunday. Climbed from 15th on the grid to finish just outside the points and comfortably ahead of Audi team-mate Bortoleto after the Brazilian’s penalty.

Lance Stroll – 6.5/10

A much more competitive weekend for Aston Martin generally. Stroll joined Alonso in Q2 and kept himself out of trouble through a chaotic race to finish 12th, even if his team-mate ultimately extracted more from the opportunity.

Franco Colapinto – 7/10

Started 21st due to grid penalties, so 13th represented a very respectable recovery. Kept things clean after his costly mistake last time out and made up plenty of ground in difficult conditions.

Oliver Bearman – 5/10

Another fairly anonymous weekend for Haas. Knocked out in Q1 and although he gained a couple of places during the race, 14th was about all there was to show for it.

Esteban Ocon – 5/10

Frustrated with Haas’ qualifying run plan after going out in Q1 and never really recovered from there. Great start and was fighting well inside the top 10. Ultimately finished behind Bearman and was unable to make the changing conditions work sufficiently to threaten the points.

Pierre Gasly – 5.5/10

Qualifying ninth was an excellent start but Sunday unravelled almost immediately. Nearly lost the car on slicks during the formation procedure and ultimately fell all the way to 16th as Alpine’s gamble failed to pay off.

Carlos Sainz – 6/10

Williams struggled for pace throughout the weekend but 13th represented a good qualifying. His race was then further compromised by contact with Bortoleto, for which the Audi driver was penalised, so 17th doesn’t tell the whole story.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 4.5/10

There was plenty to like about reaching Q3 in the Audi, but the race undid that good work. Contact with Sainz earned him a penalty and left him 18th after starting inside the top 10.

Sergio Perez – 4/10

Qualified last and never looked likely to make meaningful progress even amid all the chaos. Reaching the chequered flag was at least something for Cadillac, but 19th completed another difficult weekend.

George Russell – 8/10

A far better race than his eighth place in qualifying suggested. Made an excellent start, ran inside the top three for virtually the entire afternoon and, even if he couldn’t match Mercedes team-mate Antonelli, was heading for another podium before a power-unit failure stopped him with five laps remaining.

Alex Albon – 4.5/10

Williams lacked pace from the outset and qualifying 20th left him with an enormous amount of work to do. His eventual retirement was caused by a gearbox problem rather than a driving error, but there had been little sign of any kind of meaningful challenge before then.

Valtteri Bottas – 3.5/10

A weekend to forget. Qualified ahead of Cadillac team-mate Perez but admitted his decision to run slicks was a risk before spinning into the gravel on lap nine and triggering the first safety car.

World number two Luke Humphries secured his place in the World Grand Prix final with a 5-3 victory over James Wade.

Humphries averaged 96.92 and threw 10 180s as he reached the final for the fourth successive time.

The 31-year-old Englishman will face Welshman Gerwyn Price on Sunday evening in Leicester after he beat Nathan Aspinall in the other semi-final.

“I’ve got to do it again because there’s so many major finals I’ve let slip. Gezzy [Price] is playing well but if I play like that again, it’s going to be a cracking game and I hope it is,” Humphries told Sky Sports.

“To make four Grand Prix finals on the trot is super special. It’s history for myself and I’m proud of that but unless I pick that trophy up, unfortunately that history doesn’t mean anything.”

Humphries, who won this title in 2023 but has lost in the past two finals, took the opening set of the semi-final but Wade produced a brilliant 141 checkout en route to drawing level.

The pair exchanged the next two sets before Humphries took control of the contest to move 4-2 ahead.

Wade refused to go quietly and pulled one back to keep the match alive but Humphries held his nerve in the eighth set to seal victory on double top.

In the other semi-final, Price beat a spirited Aspinall 5-2.

The Welshman took a three-set lead as Aspinall struggled to reproduce the form that had seen him average 105.15 in his quarter-final win over Ryan Joyce.

Aspinall briefly rallied and produced a superb 132 checkout – the highest of the match – to get a set on the board.

The 35-year-old then threatened to turn the match around when he reduced the deficit to one set at 3-2.

However, Price regained his composure and closed out the next two sets without reply to secure his place in the final.

Price said he was “frustrated” by Aspinall’s antics during the match as he interacted with a partisan crowd at the Mattioli Arena.

“I’m glad to come through the game. Nathan was complaining about the crowd, but they were on his side,” Price said.

“He’s performing a little bit on stage. I’m great friends with Nathan, but take it on the chin sometimes when you’re losing.”

Two years on from relegation, Wakefield Trinity beat Warrington Wolves 23-10 at Old Trafford to win the Grand Final and become champions of England for the first time since 1968, long before the Super League era.

MATCH REPORT: Warrington Wolves 10-23 Wakefield Trinity

Available to UK users only.

World number two Luke Humphries breezed into the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix with a 3-0 victory over Niels Zonneveld.

The Englishman did not quite hit top gear against the Dutchman – averaging 85.91 and throwing four 180s – but was clinical at the key moments with a checkout success of 33.33%.

Humphries has yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament having whitewashed Dave Chisnall and Jermaine Wattimena in previous rounds.

The 31-year-old will face compatriot James Wade in the last four after he knocked out third seed Gian van Veen with a 3-0 win.

“The way I’m practising, I feel really good, it’s just not been coming out this week. Against James, I know I need it to come out, it’ll be a tough task,” said Humphries, who won the tournament in 2023.

“To make four World Grand Prix finals on the trot would be super special. There’s not many players that will ever do that and James will know he’s got a tough game as well.”

Elsewhere, Nathan Aspinall produced a stellar performance at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena to secure his spot in the last four with a 3-0 victory over Ryan Joyce.

He will play Gerwyn Price in the semis after the Welshman’s superb 3-2 comeback success against his compatriot Jonny Clayton, who spurned a two-set lead and match darts in a thrilling tie.

World champion Luke Littler’s hopes of defending his World Grand Prix title were dashed as he fell to a shock first-round defeat by Luke Woodhouse in Leicester.

Littler, 19, had been looking to bounce back from his quarter-final exit to Jonny Clayton at the World Series of Darts Finals just over a week ago.

But despite taking the first set, he was distinctly below par throughout the best-of-three encounter, averaging just 82.41.

That allowed Woodhouse to level the match and deliver a checkout of 75 to win the deciding set 3-1 in legs.

Woodhouse will face 2022 runner-up Nathan Aspinall in the last 16, who edged past Dutch debutant Kevin Doets 2-1.

Earlier on Monday, six-time winner Michael van Gerwen lost five legs out of the last six as 2024 semi-finalist Ryan Joyce fought back to win 2-1.

England’s Joyce will play Dutchman Danny Noppert, who advanced past Germany’s Niko Springer by the same scoreline.

Elsewhere, Wales’ Gerwyn Price only lost a single leg as he comfortably beat Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki 2-0 to set up a meeting with England’s Ross Smith, who came from behind to triumph 2-1 against Scotland’s Cameron Menzies.

Welshman Clayton edged past Krzysztof Ratajski 2-1, and he will take on the Netherlands’ Wessel Nijman, who overcame 2018 world champion Rob Cross in straight sets.

World champion Lando Norris has called for Alpine’s Franco Colapinto to be banned for causing an accident at a restart at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris was taken out in a chain reaction when the Argentine locked up his brakes and slid into team-mate Pierre Gasly, who then hit Norris. All three cars retired as a result of the incident.

Norris told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Give him a ban. It’s quite simple.”

Colapinto said: “I can be sorry to everyone. It’s been a big mistake, of course. I just locked up and then I was very out of control.”

Briton Norris said he believed governing body the FIA should take such incidents more seriously because of the impact it has on other drivers who are blameless, and the cost in terms of damaged parts.

“The FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff,” Norris said.

“It’s careless from people. It costs a lot of money. All my parts are in the bin now, so people should just get banned for this kind of driving. (They) don’t deserve to be in Formula 1.

“If you cause a crash on a restart like this, yeah, you should have at least a one-race ban.”

Russell appeared on course for a comfortable win as the race unfolded with few incidents of note in the opening stages.

Piastri moved up from third on the grid to second by passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the start but the Australian lacked the pace to chase Russell, who edged away into a comfortable lead.

Behind, Piastri soon found himself holding off Hadjar, who won an early battle with McLaren’s Lando Norris and then passed Leclerc to challenge the McLaren.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was making his way up from eighth place after a qualifying session in which a cascade of problems had prevented him qualifying second to Russell.

By lap seven, he was past Hadjar into third place after the Frenchman did not fight him.

The three cars circulated together in a stalemate, with no-one able to pass and the teams all waiting for the expected accident that would lead to a safety car and a cheap pit stop.

That happened on lap 30, when Williams’ Alex Albon crashed at Turn Five.

On the restart, six laps later, Verstappen passed Piastri into Turn One to move into second place.

But the race was almost immediately put back under caution after a pile-up at the first corner caused by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, who cannoned into team-mate Pierre Gasly, who in turn clattered into Norris.

Behind them, the two Racing Bulls also came together, Arvid Lindblad tipping Liam Lawson into a spin, leading to a sarcastic response from the New Zealander on the radio.

That put Verstappen on to Russell’s tail for another restart but the Briton handled the situation coolly, accelerating early and catching the Dutchman somewhat unawares.

He was unable to shake Verstappen, who was always about 0.5secs behind but never quite close enough to try a move into Turn One, the only significant overtaking place.

There was one last chance for Verstappen on the final lap.

Valtteri Bottas crashed his Cadillac at Turn 15, and after backing off for the yellow flags, Russell lost his turbo which in turn cost him electrical boost.

Verstappen closed in on the run to the line and there was just 0.196secs between them as they crossed the line, the closest green-flag finish to a grand prix since the 2002 United States Grand Prix.

Russell has now finished on the podium in three of the four races since the summer break and asked what has changed for him since then, he said: “I think it’s just having more experience with this new driving style I’ve adopted and every race since the break I feel like I’ve gone from strength to strength. I feel more like myself again.”

Watch highlights as Warrington Wolves earn a thrilling narrow Super League semi-final win over Leeds Rhinos to reach their first Grand Final for eight years.

Pictures courtesy of SuperLeague+.

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MATCH REPORT: Warrington edge past Leeds to reach Grand Final

Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur said:

“I’ve not whinged or complained the whole time I’ve been here. I’m extremely proud of our team and our club and players.

“I don’t know what more we could have really done. We got a couple of bits and pieces wrong but so did they. It just would have been really nice if the game was decided by an individual or a piece of skill.

“We’re talking about a field goal or something like that rather than a soft penalty to decide such a big game. It is a soft penalty.

“Ned got escorted four or five times tonight on kicks and I wasn’t expecting penalties for them. But that’s a soft penalty to decide such a big game.”

Warrington Wolves captain George Williams told BBC Radio Merseyside:

“Nerve-wracking, mad game, just pleased we’ve came through the other side.

“Credit to Leeds, they gave it a good crack. They’ve been a great team all year but we rode the waves and the main thing is we’re through to the big dance next week.

“They were probably dominant for the first 20 [minutes], we came home strong in the back end [of the first half]. It’s no good for the nerves but sometimes it’s better when you’re out there, you can do something about it.”

[On earning the match-winning penalty] “People think it might be a bit controversial but I was chasing the ball and I got a little nudge. I was off balance and nowadays, with the escorts, they give them. Luckily, it went to us and that was the game.”

Leeds: F. McCormack; Lumb, N. McCormack, Newman, Hall; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, O’Connor, Lodge, Watkins, McDonnell, Palasia.

Interchanges: Holroyd, Jenkins, Smith, Cassell.

Warrington: Josh Thewlis; Hopoate, Lindop, King, Ashton; Williams, Irwin; Byrne, Walker, Harrison, Bentley, Stone, Currie.

Interchanges: Yates, Powell, Philbin, Tanginoa.

Referee: Chris Kendall.