Australia
Formula 1 is officially back, and the race to crown the new driver’s and constructor’s champions has begun. The Australian Grand Prix — the first of 24 race weekends for the season — brought a preview of what fans can expect for the rest of the championship.
Of the six rookies who started the race, only two completed it: Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Haas’ Oliver Bearman. Antonelli placed fourth, earning his first 12 points of his F1 career, and Bearman finished in 14th. The other rookies suffered from crashes or issues related to the rainy weather.
Among the drivers who did not finish was Williams’ Carlos Sainz, in his first race with the team after he lost his seat at Scuderia Ferrari to seven-time World Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton. Although he earned no points after crashing in the second lap, Sainz continued to play a significant role in Williams’ strategy for his teammate Alexander Albon, helping make a key decision to switch from dry to wet tires. Williams’ strategy and Albon’s skill earned the team a P5 finish and 10 points, and after ending last season with only 17 points, the positive start has made the team hopeful for the rest of the season.
“Carlos, his insight was incredibly useful on that transition to the intermediate [tyres],” Williams team principal James Vowles said. “We saw other teams not sure, ‘Do we try and hang it out, can we try and hang it out?’ and Carlos was adamant, ‘You won’t survive on that through the last few corners.’ He was spot on, and helped drive us towards that.”
Though the two had different outcomes, both of McLaren’s drivers drove an impressive race, from Lando Norris’ win to Oscar Piastri’s four-place comeback. Piastri started the race from the front row, staying in second position until lap 44 when his car spun due to the rain, dropping to 13th place. But, Piastri was able to climb to P9 — passing Hamilton’s Ferrari and earning two points for his finish. Norris only dropped from pole position during a pitstop, where four-time World Driver’s Champion Max Verstappen took the lead. However, Norris reclaimed the top position, fighting off Verstappen’s DRS range toward the end of the 58 laps.
Even though it is just the beginning of the 2025 season, tensions are high to see who can improve their strategies. Practice for the Chinese Grand Prix begins on March 21, with the first sprint race of the season on March 22 and the race on March 23.
California
Every year, professional tennis players compete in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells for two weeks, also known as Tennis Paradise.
On Friday, March 14, both of the women’s singles semifinals took place. In the first matchup, the 17-year-old No. 11-ranked Mirra Andreeva beat No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek 7-6, 1-6, 6-3. In the following match, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swiftly beat American Madison Keys, the recent Australian Open winner, 6-0, 6-1.
For the women’s final, Sabalenka took the first set 6-2, saving four break points alone in the third game. In the second set, however, Andreeva took charge, winning the set 6-4 and forcing a third set. Andreeva remained dominant throughout, winning the third set 6-3 and becoming the youngest champion at Indian Wells since 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams in 1999.
The men’s semifinals featured two players outside of the top 10 upsetting two top 10-ranked players: No. 13 Holger Rune beat No. 6 Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-4, while No. 14 Jack Draper upset No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4.
Unlike the three-set women’s final that lasted two hours and four minutes, Draper and Rune’s two-set match took an hour and nine minutes, ending favorably for Draper 6-2, 6-2. Draper’s game spoke for itself: 92.3% first serve points won, 73.9% total service points won, 60.2% points won and 10 aces. The win marked Draper’s first ATP Masters 1000 title and granted him enough points to enter the top 10 for the very first time.
“I know there is a long way ahead of me,” Draper, the new world No. 7, told Reuters. “I’m very ambitious. I don’t want to just stop here.”
London
History was made this weekend at Wembley Stadium, where Newcastle United won a domestic trophy for the first time in 70 years — four years after Saudi Arabia’s sovereign investment fund purchased the soccer team for around $400 million. In the Carabao Cup final on March 16, the Magpies beat Liverpool, the reigning champions, 2-1.
The Carabao Cup is one of England’s domestic soccer competitions, featuring teams from the English Football League and the Premier League and occurring every season between August and March. The cup is considered to be one of England’s “three major honours of the domestic football season.” The winning club qualifies to compete in the UEFA Conference League for the next season.
The final match was played between Premier League teams Liverpool and Newcastle, with Liverpool favored to win given its current position at the top of the Premier League table, ahead of the sixth place Newcastle. As the defending champions, Liverpool has pressure to repeat the same result from last year; however, Newcastle’s hunger to end the domestic trophy drought proved to be a driving factor in securing the win.
Newcastle defender Dan Burn scored the first goal in the 45th minute, followed by his teammate, forward Alexander Isak, seven minutes later. It was only during stoppage time that Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa scored the team’s one and only goal.
“I’ve never had any doubts about our ability to lift our game,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said after the win. “You don’t get many shots at a cup final … Now the challenge for us is to try and get there more often.”
Contact Isabella D’Erasmo at [email protected]
