Lando Norris wins F1 world title in Abu Dhabi despite Verstappen’s GP win

In tears and almost rendered speechless by the sheer weight of emotion, what winning his debut Formula One world championship meant to Lando Norris was writ large across every inch of his face. What had begun as a childhood dream and at one point this season had ­seemingly slipped from his grasp was, finally, a reality he clearly found hard to take in, as he sealed it with third place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.It would have taken truly a heart of stone not to have been moved by it all as he secured the title after what has been an enormously hard‑fought season across 24 gruelling races that went to the wire at the Yas Marina ­Circuit.Despite his title rivals ­finishing ahead of him in the race – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen winning and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri taking ­second – ­Norris did enough to close it out with a gutsy, nerveless drive that gave way to untrammelled emotion as his podium place was just enough to pip Verstappen to the title by two points.“I’m not crying,” Norris said through the sobbing inside his ­helmet before being embraced by his equally tearful mother, Cisca, as he then tried to embrace as many of his team as he could

Ben Stokes says England have been ‘letting the pressure get to us’ in Ashes

Ben Stokes has admitted that the way England have folded in key moments during the first two Ashes Tests has led him to question the character of his players, and said: “A dressing room that I am captain of isn’t a place for weak men.”After Australia won the second Test in Brisbane by the same eight-wicket margin with which they secured the first, Stokes suggested the telling difference was that the home side had been superior in the “moments in the game where the heat is on and the pressure is really, really cooking” whereas his players “have all been guilty at moments [of] letting the pressure, the occasion, the circumstances, get to us”.“Over and over again, Australia have managed to get through those periods and outdo us,” Stokes said. “I know it’s not a skill thing, because they’re all incredibly talented players. But if you can’t put it down to skill then you start to wonder, what is it? Do we need to start thinking about what mentality we’re taking into those pressure moments?“Because when we’re on top we’re great, but when the game is neck and neck we’re not coming out on top on enough occasions to be able to challenge Australia

Alex Yee runs second fastest British marathon time to trail only Mo Farah

Alex Yee, the Olympic triathlon champion, has become the second-fastest British marathon runner in history with a stunning run in Valencia. The 27-year-old finished seventh in a strong field in a time of 2hr 6min 38sec, quicker than any Briton in history apart from Mo Farah, who ran 2:05:11 in Chicago in 2018.It was a remarkable performance, especially given Yee took up the marathon only this year as a mini-sabbatical from triathlon after he won gold in Paris. As Yee crossed the line he roared to the skies before placing his hands to his head, in disbelief at the time he had just achieved.“Valencia marathon blew away any expectations I had of myself,” said Yee

Australia v England: Ashes second Test, day four – as it happened

Righto, that is all from us today. The lights are dimmed here at Brisbane’s Gabba and the pitch is being watered by the ground staff. Australia are one win away from being home and hosed themselves.We’ll be back to OBO the third game of the series in Adelaide starting on 16th December.All Ben Stokes wants for Christmas… is a Test match win in Australia

He’ll always have Brisbane: Michael Neser revels in sweet day of Ashes glory | Geoff Lemon

In the end, the only tension was whether Brisbane’s rain would descend before Australia could knock off the last 32 runs in the final session, and so whether going 2-0 up in the Ashes would be delayed until the fifth day. It turned out that England’s resistance through the light of the afternoon had only dished up some evening entertainment for home fans, with Travis Head able to put on a brief show in dispatching the pink ball over the fence before he headed back the same way.Although through the longest partnership of the series so far, 221 balls on the hottest day of the second Test, Ben Stokes and Will Jacks made Australia work in the field, something that was perhaps worth doing for the simple fact of proving that it can be done. With Mitchell Starc tiring after leading the line all series, the contest became a grind. What it reflected about Australia’s bowling makeup was instructive

England to seek better warmup preparations before 2029-30 Ashes series

The England and Wales Cricket Board is ready to offer Australia their pick of warmup facilities before the next Ashes series in 2027, in an attempt to secure similar treatment when England return in 2029-30 and avoid being forced into the kind of buildup that preceded this series and has become the focus of intense criticism.England’s preparations are under the microscope given their dismal start to this series, with the first Test lost inside two days and the second match lost in four, with Australia’s winning margin being eight wickets on each occasion.“If I was an England supporter and had paid the money to come here, I’d be asking the ECB for a refund,” Ian Botham said on Sunday. “Because this team, for me, is not prepared.”Though much of the travelling squad was in Perth, venue of the first Ashes Test, by 2 November, 19 days before the commencement of hostilities, and the remainder had arrived by 9 November, their only cricket that could even be loosely defined as competitive before the series got under way was a two-day game against the Lions, a collection of their own reserves and promising youngsters