Sam Darnold turned into a pumpkin on Sunday. But he can still be Cinderella

The Vikings’ surprise package was one of the NFL best quarterbacks all season long until Sunday night’s stinker in Detroit. Was it an anomaly or regression to the norm?If you were waiting this season for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to fail – not in an evil schadenfreude sense, but more in an “Oh, there’s the Sam Darnold of old” sense – then Darnold’s Sunday night performance against Detroit in a 31-9 Lions win gave you a lot of ballast for that position.Darnold had become one of the NFL’s best stories this season. The third overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2018 draft had three middling seasons with his original team, two more with the Carolina Panthers in 2021 and 2022, and a backup role with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023. He signed a one-year, $10m deal with the Vikings this past offseason to be first-round rookie JJ McCarthy’s backup, but when McCarthy suffered a turn meniscus in the preseason, it was all on Darnold and he responded brilliantly

Lewis Hamilton at 40: F1 trailblazer has it all to prove again at Ferrari

A jet-set lifestyle has riled critics who too easily forget the social endeavour and drive to overcome all obstacles on an unlikely journey from Stevenage to MonacoAs he turns 40 on Tuesday, Lewis Hamilton is hearing plenty of voices scornful of his decision, announced almost a year ago, to leave Mercedes, his home for more than a decade, and join Ferrari for the 2025 season. For a man whose record of seven F1 world titles is matched only by Michael Schumacher, and whose total of 105 grand prix wins is unequalled, he will step into one of the red cars for the first time knowing that he has everything to prove – and not just to the Italian team’s global army of supporters.Obstacles and challenges are nothing new to Hamilton, who has been listening to criticism from the day he first ventured into a historically all-white sport, a mixed-race child whose father worked three and sometimes four jobs at a time to pay for his kart racing.From his cutting-edge wardrobe and his friendships with rappers to his use of a private jet and his decision to live in Monaco rather than Stevenage, Hamilton’s activities have provoked those nursing a barely concealed resentment of his presence in the world of grand prix racing, attracting more publicity than his work for charities including Unicef and Save the Children and his success in persuading Mercedes to replace their traditional silver bodywork, which goes back to the 1930s, with a new livery acknowledging the Black Lives Matter movement.The current chorus of scepticism, however, is directed at his activities on the track

Cruz Hewitt crashes out of Australian Open qualifying in front of packed-out crowd

A near-full court three at Melbourne Park was treated to a glimpse of Australia’s tennis future on Tuesday as Cruz Hewitt pushed former top-20 player Nikoloz Basilashvili in his first formal match at his home grand slam, before the Georgian prevailed 6-1, 6-4 in 73 minutes.The 16-year-old’s Australian Open debut drew hundreds for the first round of qualifying which would usually be played in front of largely empty stands at Melbourne Park. The curious onlookers were joined by more than a dozen in the Hewitt box including mother Bec and father Lleyton, who sat beside coach Peter Luczak and was briefly accompanied by Australia’s top-ranked player Alex de Minaur.The teenager showed promise with several forehand winners, but was unable to match the powerful groundstrokes of Basilashvili, who is mounting a comeback after four surgeries to his arm. The first set flashed by, and the Australian was broken twice before he retreated to beneath a towel at the change of ends with the score 0-5

Sheel Seidler, widow of late Padres owner, sues in-laws for control of team

The wife of late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler, Sheel Seidler, sued brothers-in-law Matthew and Robert on Monday, attempting to prevent another brother, John, from taking control of the team rather than her.The suit comes at a time when the Padres are among the teams recruiting Japanese pitcher Rōki Sasaki.In a petition filed in Travis County Probate Court in Austin, Texas, Sheel Seidler sued Matthew, who became executor of Peter Seidler’s estate last year, and Robert, the prior executor. She claimed fiduciary breaches of trust, fraud, conversion and egregious acts of self-dealing.The petition accused Robert’s wife Alecia of making “multiple racist, profane and hateful communications directed at Sheel – a woman of lndian descent

Local protest group launches legal action over Wimbledon expansion plans

A local campaign group is taking legal action to stop the expansion of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC), as the row over the future of Wimbledon reignited on Monday.Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) said it has made submissions to the Greater London Authority arguing for a judicial review of plans to convert a swathe of the former Wimbledon Golf Club into a vastly expanded grand slam venue. The protest group says it has taken this “momentous” decision to stop “inappropriate” development of the 29-hectare (73 acres) site.The move comes after the decision by the mayor of London’s office to approve planning permission for the development in September. The deputy mayor, Jules Pipe, spoke at the time of the “very significant benefits” that would come from the plans, which promise 39 new courts, an 8,000 seat show court and the restoration of a lake designed by Capability Brown

Ascot leads racing’s ‘Premier League’ tracks in exploiting overseas markets

Having gone into the busy holiday schedule amid talk of plummeting betting turnover and a black hole on the sport’s balance sheet, there is at least a smattering of reasons to be cheerful as racing sets off into 2025.The domestic Christmas programme delivered on every level, with Constitution Hill, Sir Gino and The New Lion in particular hinting at a long-awaited revival in UK jumping’s competitiveness at the spring festivals. Galopin Des Champs, meanwhile, set up an attempt to become the first three-time Gold Cup winner for 20 years with an emphatic success at Leopardstown’s four-day meeting, where Brighterdaysahead also looked like an exciting new talent over hurdles.And while the weather wiped out the jumps programme on the first weekend of 2025, Ascot chose the slightly odd time of 2pm on Sunday afternoon to announce a big boost to the prize fund for Britain’s most prestigious all-aged Flat race, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in late July. This year’s race will be worth £1