Zak

The crash and Verstappen’s subsequent sprint win cut the four-time champion’s deficit to Piastri to 55 points, while he is now 33 behind Norris.

The Australian led Verstappen by 104 points after the Dutch race on 31 August, so nearly half that advantage has been eroded in three grands prix and a sprint. There are still six races and two further sprints to come.

In the normal run of things, it seems inevitable that Piastri will lose more ground to Verstappen on Sunday in Texas. Norris has a chance to get ahead, but as he pointed out, the McLaren has not looked like a Verstappen-beating car at any point this weekend.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Norris said. “We were hoping to learn a lot in the sprint in terms of how the car set-up would be from qualifying to race and hopefully make tweaks but that didn’t go to plan so we are certainly on the back foot. But we won’t make it an excuse for tomorrow.

“It’s clear we were not going to be as quick as the Red Bull so we have to be happy with second. It’s not being distracted by the mess and nonsense that everyone creates.

“Saturdays have never been as good this year so I’m hoping we can turn it up tomorrow and be a little bit quicker.

“I have to be optimistic. Every lap we did today was 0.3-0.5secs off Max so to turn that around will be pretty difficult. I’m sure if Max had done his final lap he would have gone a good step quicker anyway.

“They have been quick in a lot of races recently. They have been doing a very good job and seemed to catch us up a little bit. It’s not a lot, just enough that they are more consistently ahead. And then you can get more opportunities and of course Max is good at making the most of them.”

Meanwhile, Stella admitted that McLaren were even more aware of just how potent Verstappen can be for the remainder of the season.

“I would have expected a smaller gap here, if anything, so we have to look at the facts, we have to look at the numbers,” he said. “Just objectively, not necessarily we maximised what the performance was available today in the car.

“But we need to be ready as a team and as drivers for Max and Red Bull being competitive and possibly the fastest car at every one of the remaining races.”

Zak Crawley was dismissed from the penultimate ball of day three after England had started to make steady progress in pursuit of an imposing 374 to win the fifth Test against India at The Oval.

The opener was bowled by Mohammed Siraj for 14 as the hosts reached 50-1 at the close, needing a further 324 runs to win, with Ben Duckett unbeaten on 34 to conclude another gripping day.

Despite Crawley’s departure, England will be boosted by the much-improved batting conditions after they spent most of the day in the field as India racked up 396 under brighter skies.

The pitch flattened and offered far less seam movement, with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s sublime 118 the highlight for the tourists.

There was also a surprising maiden Test fifty for Akash Deep, who added 107 for the third wicket with Jaiswal as England started poorly, unable to take the wicket of the nightwatchman until the final 10 minutes before lunch.

Deep was put down on 21, one of six dropped catches in the innings for England as their makeshift bowling line-up – without the injured Chris Woakes – toiled admirably but were again let down in the field.

Gus Atkinson pinned captain Shubman Gill lbw for 12 with the first ball after lunch as England improved, but Ravindra Jadeja continued his fine form with 53 and Washington Sundar, with India nine down, blitzed four sixes in a 39-ball fifty to give India the upper hand.

Josh Tongue claimed the final three wickets, having also dismissed Jaiswal earlier, to finish with 5-125 for his wholehearted efforts.

It feels fitting that England chased 371 to beat India in the opening match at Headingley to ignite a fiery series, though there is rain forecast for Sunday which could impact their aim of comfortably completing the highest Test chase at The Oval, which is currently England’s 263-9 against Australia in 1902.

Centuries from Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett highlight a dominant batting display as England wrap up day one on 498-3 in the first innings of their single Test match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.

MATCH REPORT: Pope, Crawley and Duckett tons flatten Zimbabwe

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For British drummer Zak Starkey, the last few months with rock band the Who have been quite the whirlwind.

Starkey, who the band fired in April and reinstated days later after “some communication issues,” announced Sunday the “Baba O’Riley” group had fired him again. The veteran drummer, son of Ringo Starr, shared his side of the split on Instagram and disputed the band’s separate announcement about his departure.

The Who, in a joint Instagram post with guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, said Sunday, “after many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change.”

“Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best,” the post said, before adding that drummer Scott Devours would fill his seat for the band’s remaining farewell shows.

Starkey, 59, added his own text atop the band’s statement for his post. In his caption, he claimed he “was asked” to share his own announcement that he would leave the Who to pursue other projects. “This would be a lie,” he wrote. “I love The Who and would never had quit.”

He added: “So I didn’t make the statement…quitting The Who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me…thru the weeks of mayhem.”

Starkey, who has played with Oasis and the Icicle Works, among other acts, began performing with the Who in the mid-1990s and said he rarely faced conflict juggling his duties with the band and other endeavors. He also noted that the group has, for the most part, “been sporadic or minimalist in touring.”

“None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them,” he continued in his caption, which offered a timeline of his various musical commitments. “The lie is or would have been that I quit The Who — I didn’t. I love The Who and everyone in it.”

A representative for the Who did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

In a second Instagram post Sunday, the band noted that it is “heading for retirement” and their now-ex-drummer is younger and must “devote all his energy into making” new endeavors a success.

When the Who announced Starkey’s reinstatement, Townshend said in a blog post to the band’s website the drummer needed “to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line up and he has readily agreed” and shared more details about the sound issues that seemingly led up to Starkey’s initial firing.

“Maybe we didn’t put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage. The sound in the centre of the stage is always the most difficult to work with,” Townshend wrote. “[The Who co-founder] Roger [Daltrey] did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised . Albeit with a rubber duck drummer.”

He added: “We are a family, this blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen. It’s over. We move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies.”

The Who embarks on its Song Is Over North America Farewell tour in August. The group will make two stops at the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 17 and 19.