McLaren’s Lando Norris won a chaotic rain-affected Australian Grand Prix, his first victory at Albert Park, with the British driver just managing to stay ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen following a third safety car late in Sunday’s season-opening Formula 1 race.

Lewis Hamilton had a miserable Ferrari debut. The seven-time champion finished 10th and was annoyed by constant radio messages from his pit team.

Norris started Melbourne’s first wet race since 2010 from pole position and initially came under increasing pressure from his teammate Oscar Piastri, who set a series of fastest laps until his team told him to hold position. Later, the Australian driver spun at the penultimate corner on lap 44 as the rain intensified and dropped down the order.

A late-race fightback helped Piastri recover to take ninth place — including passing Hamilton on the final lap — and two championship points.

Berry races to 1st Cup Series victory >> Josh Berry raced to the first Cup Series victory of his career, taking NASCAR’s oldest team to victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Berry, in his first season driving the famed No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, had the first victory for a Ford team through five races this season. William Byron opened the year with a Daytona 500 victory in a Chevrolet and Christopher Bell in a Toyota won the next three races.

Baseball

White Sox release Gallo >> Joey Gallo is planning to try pitching after he was released by the Chicago White Sox.

Gallo went 2 for 20 in nine Cactus League games with Chicago in spring training, striking out 11 times. The first baseman/outfielder was in camp on a minor league contract.

After the White Sox announced that they had released the two-time All-Star, Gallo posted on social media that he was done with the outfield and he was going to start pitching.

The 31-year-old Gallo is a two-time Gold Glove winner for his work in the outfield.

Astros’ Valdez earns fourth consecutive opening day start >> Framber Valdez is going to start for the Houston Astros on opening day — again.

Manager Joe Espada told reporters that Valdez will take the mound when the Astros host the New York Mets on March 27. The left-hander is making his fourth consecutive opening-day start.

The 31-year-old Valdez went 15-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 28 starts for the AL West champions last year. He finished seventh in balloting for the AL Cy Young Award.

Tennis

Andreeva wins Women’s Indian Wells title >> Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva came back to beat No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open to make the 17-year-old the tournament’s youngest champion since Serena Williams in 1999.

The 11th-ranked Andreeva improved to 19-3 this season — the most wins by a woman on tour — and collected her second Masters 1000 title of 2025. The other came at Dubai in February, which earned her a top-10 ranking for the first time. Andreeva will return to that upper tier in Monday’s WTA rankings.

Draper wins Men’s Indian Wells title >> Jack Draper overwhelmed Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 in a little more than an hour in the final of the BNP Paribas Open, achieving two big milestones by claiming his first Masters 1000 title and earning his debut in the top 10 of the ATP rankings.

Draper, a 23-year-old from Britain who was seeded 13th at the hard-court tournament in the California desert, built up a 21-7 advantage in winners against Rune while also making fewer unforced errors.

NFL

Vikings WR Flatley dies at 84 >> Paul Flatley, the 1963 Associated Press NFL rookie of the year for the Minnesota Vikings who piled up more than 3,000 receiving yards over five seasons, has died at the age of 84.

Shifting from halfback to flanker at Northwestern, Flatley was a fourth-round pick (44th overall) by Minnesota in the 1963 draft, joining a team in just its third season. He had five catches for 72 yards in the season opener and started all 14 games in his debut season, finishing with 51 catches for 867 yards and four touchdowns.

Golf

McCIlroy, Spaun will meet for playoff to decide the Players Championship >> Rory McIlroy built a three-shot lead on the back nine at The Players Championship and unheralded J.J. Spaun didn’t blink. They wound up tied after a four-hour rain delay and had to return Monday for a playoff to decide who wins the richest tournament in golf.

McIlroy needed two putts from 75 feet on the par-4 18th for a 4-under 68. All he could do was wait in the scoring area on Spaun, who had caught up with a marvelous chip on the par-5 16th and stood over a 30-foot putt for the win.

It stopped inches short, giving Spaun a 72 to match McIlroy at 12-under 276.

Running

American wins Los Angeles Marathon for first time in 31 years >> Matt Richtman won the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon, becoming the first American man to take the title in 31 years.

He set a personal-best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 56 seconds over the course that began at Dodger Stadium and went through downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Brentwood before ending in the Century City neighborhood.

Athanas Kioko of Kenya was second in 2:10.55. Moses Kurgat of Kenya took third in 2:13.13.

It was just Richtman’s second marathon, following his debut last fall at the Twin Cities Marathon with a time of 2:10.47 to finish fourth.