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The Formula 1 season restarts at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend with the title fight finely poised and an air of uncertainty hanging over the second half of the championship on many different levels. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are locked together in one of the most intense and bitter campaigns for years, their Mercedes and Red Bull teams slugging it out both on and off the track with no quarter asked or given. But how long will their contest last? The

Britain's Andy Murray defeated American lucky loser Noah Rubin in the Winston-Salem Open first round after scheduled opponent Nick Kyrgios withdrew. Former world number one Murray, 34, beat Rubin 6-2 6-0 and clinched victory by winning 10 successive games. The three-time Grand Slam champion was due to face Australia's Kyrgios, who pulled out because of a knee injury. Murray, who is set to compete at the US Open from 30 August, will face American Frances Tiafoe next in North Carolina. "I didn't know

Michail Antonio became West Ham's outright top scorer in the Premier League in a dominant victory for the Hammers over 10-man Leicester City at London Stadium. Antonio celebrated by lifting a cardboard cut-out of himself after scoring his 48th top-flight goal to break Paolo di Canio's club record. The 31-year-old added a second four minutes later to wrap up an impressive win for David Moyes' side. It is only the second time the Hammers have won their opening two fixtures of a Premier

Premier League sides are among leading European clubs set to prevent players from going to red-list countries for September's international break. Unless quarantine exemptions are made, players would be forced to miss several domestic league matches because of the 10-day isolation period required on return to the UK. The Football Association and Premier League are in talks with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) over a relaxation of UK rules. Similar problems are thought to confront clubs across Europe. Liverpool

Switzerland playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri has completed a £9.5m move from Liverpool to Lyon. The 29-year-old has signed a three-year contract with the Ligue 1 club, who say the deal is worth 6m euros plus a possible 5m euros in add-ons. Shaqiri, who joined Liverpool from Stoke in a £13m deal in 2018, started just five Premier League games under Jurgen Klopp last season. He has not been involved in either of the club's league games this season. The former Bayern Munich and Inter

England bowler Mark Wood has been ruled out of the third Test against India because of a shoulder injury. The 31-year-old jarred his right shoulder while fielding on the fourth day of the second Test at Lord's. No replacement has been called up for the Test at Headingley, with Saqib Mahmood and Craig Overton already in the squad as back-up seamers. "It is frustrating for Mark and for us as a side - he gives us a real point of difference," captain Joe

Arsenal are in a "difficult and unprecedented situation" after their record-breaking poor start to the season, according to Mikel Arteta. After 2-0 defeats by Brentford and now Chelsea, Arsenal have lost their first two league games without scoring for the first time in their history. The squad has been hit by Covid and injuries in the opening two weeks. "I don't think the club in their history have faced something like this," boss Arteta told BBC Sport. "We have to face the challenge. The league

Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle and threw it back into the crowd before fans stormed the pitch causing Nice v Marseille to be abandoned. Marseille's Payet was struck in the back by a bottle thrown from the home supporters as he went to take a corner. He launched it back, leading to fans pouring on to the pitch as stewards and players struggled to restrain them. After a long delay, Nice's players came out to finish the game - but Marseille's

Bethany Shriever added a world title to her Olympic crown as the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist won the women's BMX World Championships. Shriever, 22, cruised to victory in the final after a three-rider crash took out reigning world champion Alise Willoughby of the United States. The former teaching assistant is the first woman to hold both BMX supercross titles at the same time. Judy Baauw was second, with Dutch compatriot Laura Smulders third. Shriever, who started in lane eight, looked elated as she

Sweden's Anna Nordqvist won her third major title after holding her nerve to claim the 2021 Women's Open on a thrilling final day at Carnoustie. The 34-year-old was level with playing partner Nanna Koerstz Madsen on 12 under going down the last, keeping her composure to par and clinch victory as she watched the Dane double bogey. England's Georgia Hall finished in a tie for second place on 11 under. Scottish amateur Louise Duncan was tied 10th on seven under after a fine

It was a move seven years in the making and 10 years since he last wore the shirt, but Chelsea proudly declared on their website earlier this month that Romelu Lukaku had "come home". His second debut, against Arsenal on Sunday, turned into a dream afternoon as Lukaku opened the scoring in an "unplayable" performance which the player himself described as "dominant". His strike was his first goal for the club, having failed to hit the net in his three years and previous 15 appearances

World number one Ashleigh Barty warmed up for the US Open by clinching the Cincinnati Open with a straight-set win over Jil Teichmann in the final. Barty, 25, produced a polished performance to beat the 24-year-old Swiss wildcard 6-3 6-1. The Australian managed eight aces and 28 winners as she cruised to another commanding victory. Alexander Zverev took the men's title with an impressive 6-2 6-3 win over Andrey Rublev. It is a fifth title of the season for Barty, who is favourite

Barcelona moved to the top of La Liga on goals scored as Memphis Depay rescued a point in an entertaining draw at Athletic Bilbao. Depay's ferocious strike cancelled out Inigo Martinez's headed opener after Athletic Bilbao had dominated. Both sides hit the crossbar and passed up numerous chances to claim all three points. Barca defender Eric Garcia was sent off in injury time for fouling Nico Williams when clean through. There is no doubt Ronald Koeman's side are in transition - the loss

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah ran the second fastest women's 100m of all time at the Eugene Diamond League. The Jamaican, who retained her 100m-200m title double in Tokyo, clocked a new world lead of 10.54 seconds. Only American Florence Griffith-Joyner has run faster, when she set her world record of 10.49 secs in 1988. Britain's Dina Asher-Smith finished third in the 200m as she continues her return from the hamstring injury that blighted her Olympic campaign. The race was won by Switzerland's Mujinga

Inter opened their Serie A title defence in commanding style by thrashing Genoa at the San Siro. Milan Skriniar settled nerves with a sixth-minute header to give new boss Simone Inzaghi the ideal start. Summer signing Hakan Calhanoglu swept home a stunning second minutes later after Edin Dzeko's clever lay-off. Arturo Vidal and Dzeko then scored second-half goals for the champions, who were irresistible and look set to challenge again this season. It has been a difficult summer for Inter, the joy of

Football's world governing body Fifa has written to a number of governments to request the emergency evacuation of female players from Afghanistan. Players are said to fear for their lives following the Taliban's takeover of the Afghan capital Kabul. Players' organisation Fifpro is also calling for help. The union said it was working with governments to establish an evacuation plan, adding: "The ambition is to bring as many people to safety as possible." Fifa said the situation in Afghanistan "remains unstable and very worrying".

Southern Brave were crowned the first men's Hundred champions after beating Birmingham Phoenix by 32 runs in an action-packed Lord's final. Chasing 169, Phoenix's Liam Livingstone thrashed 46 from 19 balls, animating a raucous Lord's crowd with an effortless flow of boundaries, before the game swung in dramatic and unlikely fashion. Tim David, only brought into the Brave's squad earlier this week, ran out Livingstone with a 60m direct hit from the deep - the in-form Livingstone agonisingly inches short. Birmingham still needed

Second-half tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Malcolm Marx helped South Africa to a 29-10 victory over an ill-disciplined Argentina in the Rugby Championship. Fly-half Handre Pollard kicked 19 points as the Springboks dominated in Gqeberha, Mapimpi going over after Willie le Roux's pinpoint pass. Hooker Marx dotted down less than 10 minutes later but they failed to score more to get the bonus point. Pablo Matera scored the Pumas' only try in added time in a scrappy finish. Argentina saw forwards Rodrigo Bruni

CNA Britain's Andy Murray has been handed a wildcard for next week's Winston-Salem Open, the final tournament before the start of the U.S. Open Grand Slam, organisers said. Murray, who lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday, was added to the main draw of the U.S. Open following the withdrawal of Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka. The three-time Grand Slam champion, who had hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019, has played only a handful

THE HINDU Naomi Osaka has no regrets over her stunning third-round loss on August 19 at the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters to Swiss wild card Jil Teichmann. The four-time Grand Slam champion went down 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to the world number 76 and admitted after the upset that her Tokyo Olympic third-round loss was on her mind. “I was doing all I was supposed to do,” the Japanese world number two said. “In the second and third sets I was too defensive. “I