Lando Norris misses maiden F1 win

by Joshua Louise Solon

After a disappointing result and retirement with Max Verstappen at the previous race in Italy, Lewis Hamilton kept form and snatched his 100th Formula 1 victory in the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix held in Sochi, on September 26, 2021.

McLaren driver, Lando Norris was set for his maiden F1 victory as he took pole position on Saturday taking advantage of Hamilton’s pitlane incident and led the majority of the race until the final laps of the Grand Prix where rain was becoming an apparent problem as Norris sticks with white-walled medium slicks instead of opting for the greenwalled intermediate tires suited for the wet conditions.

The first signs of rain was on lap 45, where Mercedes were reporting incoming weather towards the racetrack and advised Hamilton with a risk of rain.

On lap 48, McLaren advised Norris that the weather will remain constant towards the end of the race, As rain intensified throughout the last laps of the race, it was harder and harder for all drivers to maintain the slick tires as they struggled to keep their cars under control as evident with Norris going off track in Turn 10 on the same lap.

Struggling to close distance with Norris, Hamilton follows Verstappen to pit for intermediates in lap 50. Norris stays with his medium tires as he struggles to control his car through the pouring wet track of Sochi. Hamilton catches up to Norris on lap. The McLaren driver aquaplaned at Turn 5, allowing Hamilton who was less than a second behind to take the lead and win the race. Norris finally entered the pits on the final laps of the race for intermediate tires but aquaplaned on the pit entry and crossed the white line that separates the pit lane from the track for which he was penalized.

Norris finished the race in seventh place with his teammate Ricciardo finishing fourth, Carlos Sainz finishing in third, Verstappen taking second from P20 on the grid, and Hamilton winning the race to be the first driver in Formula 1 history to achieve 100 wins.

Hamilton took over the championship lead after winning the race and having a total of 246.5 points, closing the gap with Verstappen by just two points.

During the post-race interview

Lando Norris was unhappy with his result suggesting he should have opted to change to intermediate tires if he had been more information from the team.

“Lahat ng iyon binibigay ko sa mga magulang ko.

Pambili nila ‘un ng bigas tapos makikita ko pagbili nila ng bigas, may kasamang gatas. ‘Yun pala, para sakin iyon para ma-kondisyon habang nage-ensayo, (I have given everything. Just so they can buy rice and milk as well. For me, that conditioned me while practicing),” Marcial said, while recounting his past during an interview with ONE Sports.

Eumir Marcial dedicated himself to spending his time training and developing his skills in boxing to enable him to achieve his dreams, as he continued competing in amateur boxing tournaments at annual fiestas. No matter how big his opponent was, Marcial managed to defeat his opponent.

Although his past experiences in boxing and his hard work made him who he is now. Marcial shows no plans of stopping his boxing career as he focuses on larger prizes and medals.

Thailand’s Supreme Chonburi tramples

Philippines’ Rebisco

PH SEAG BID GOLD SILVER BRONZE

46 66 95

The game started with an out for the Rebisco team. The Young Rebisco players’ errors made Supreme Chonburi take lead. Supreme used the opportunity and began their onslaught to dominate the first set. After the devastating loss in the first set, Rebisco gained some traction in the second set after Kianna Day, the opposite hitter of Rebisco kept the team within a point, 14-15.

Despite being cleared in the quarantine, health and safety protocol Skipper Aby Maraño, Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Eya Laure, and Ivy Lacsina, the Philippine’s Brazilian coach Jorge Souza de Brito, only fielded Ivy Lacsina and kept the rotation but their participation meant little to the veteran Supreme Chonburi players who are third time champions in the Thailand League, as they hauled the two sets

The Rebisco team suffered back-to-back straight defeats in the two sets, regained their morale at the start of the third set with Faith Nisperos and Dindin Santiago-Manabat hitting a score for a 5-1 lead forcing the Supreme Chonburi for a time out. The Supreme Chonburi Thai’s manage to follow up with a 8-7 lead with the 37-years old, multiple Southeast Asian Games Gold medalist, Pleumjit Thinkaow as reinforcement. The Filipino’s didn’t falter and continued their offensive attack.

The Thai fought back after Thinkaow’s game-winning attacks led them to a 12-8 lead. However, the Filipino, Majoy Baron kept Supreme Chonburi at bay with a quick spike, 16-13.But, wing spiker Wipawee Srithong joined Pleumjit on her onslaught in the ongoing game and widened the gap to 22-13. Then the middle blocker, Pleumjit Thinkaow attacked with a hit, breaking the wall block from Rebisco’s Lacsina, putting the Supreme Chonburi at match point, 24-15. With a last spike, Chonburi reigns supreme in the tournament.

The Filipino outing performed with consecutive straight losses in their matches and froze at the bottom of Pool B. Whilst, Supreme Chonburi, shoots up to the top of the standings with their second win. Philippines’ Rebisco who has yet to win in Pool B hopes to claim the win against Sepran Tehran in the preliminaries on October 6 to keep their place.