Lewis Hamilton unlikely to drive for Ferrari in F1 post-season testing

Lewis Hamilton is unlikely to get behind the wheel of a Ferrari in post-season Abu Dhabi testing with his Formula One debut looking set for the start of next year.The seven-time world champion is leaving Mercedes after 12 seasons and will switch to the Italian team for 2025, but any hopes that he could familiarise himself with their car before the new season have receded. Mercedes have given no indication the Briton would be released early from his commitments for the post-season tyre test in Abu Dhabi after December’s season finale.It is understood Hamilton will still have to undertake some end-of-year promotional commitments that include an appearance for Mercedes’ sponsor Petronas on the day of the Abu Dhabi test. Fred Vasseur, the team principal, said Ferrari’s plan was to ease Hamilton into his new surroundings by getting him to drive some of their older race cars

Carlos Alcaraz beats Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6: ATP Finals tennis – as it happened

Here’s the report from the Turin, nose plaster and all.Thanks for your company this afternoon during a very entertaining game. We’ll be back tomorrow – till then, bye!Time for a plug for Gloucester cathedral and its tennis-court sized stained glass East window.The miraculous Great East Window of Gloucester Cathedral, installed in 1350 and surviving with almost all of its original stained glass intact after more than 650 years. The window is the size of a modern tennis court, and at the time of its creation was the largest in the world

From Ali v Inoki to Mayweather v McGregor: five bizarre boxing bouts

In 1975 the former heavyweight champion Foreman takes on five opponents on the same afternoon in bouts of three three-minute rounds each in Toronto. Muhammad Ali is ringside providing withering putdowns for the ABC television network six months on from their colossal “Rumble in the Jungle”. Foreman, who is attempting to rebuild his reputation, takes on respectable fighters in Alonzo Johnson, Pedro Agosto, Mac Foster, Terry Daniels and Boone Kirkman. To a background of booing, Foreman wins the lot. “I’d put on a show

Rory McIlroy admits painful memory of failure to win the US Open still ‘stings’

Rory McIlroy admits his failure to win the US Open still “stings” after missing out on an overdue fifth major in June and remains a painful memory. The Northern Irishman looked set at Pinehurst to win his first major since 2014, but bogeyed three of the last four holes to finish a shot behind Bryson DeChambeau.“Incredibly consistent again,” McIlroy said when asked to assess his season. “I think I’ve been really proud of that over the last few years. But then at the same time, thinking about the ones that got away, I could be sitting up here with a fifth major title and I am not

The Spin | Keeping cricket societies buoyant through winter is vital for future of the sport

Hidden behind trees in the gloom of dimly lit street lamps, the Lees Hall Golf Club is easy to miss on a dank autumnal evening. As I park – having turned around after initially driving straight past – and step out of my car, the only signs of life in the deserted car park come from another vehicle out of which two men in their later years emerge.“Is this the right place for the cricket meeting?” I enquire. “It is,” one of them replies. “And I’m guessing by the fact you’re half the age of anyone else coming tonight that you’re the guest speaker

‘This is the time for women’s sports’: investor Deb Henretta backs US rugby

The former Proctor & Gamble executive cites WNBA star Caitlin Clark and women’s soccer as examples of success, as Women’s Elite Rugby works towards kick off next yearThe term “angel investor” comes from 1950s Broadway, where eager producers sought wealthy individuals to get their plays off the ground. In the 1990s, such angels became synonymous with internet start-up culture. Now, Deb Henretta, a former Proctor & Gamble executive and habitué of Fortune magazine’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, is playing such a role for a US sporting start-up: Women’s Elite Rugby.“I am a little bit of an angel investor,” Henretta says from her home in Cincinnati, via Zoom, “because we’re just getting started, and I happen to be someone who has an absolute love and passion for rugby.”Henretta knew the game at college, St Bonaventure in New York, though not as a player