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.

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.

Twins prospect to miss third consecutive season with injury >> Minnesota Twins prospect Matt Canterino will miss his third consecutive season because of an injury.

The 27-year-old right-hander had shoulder surgery last week in Dallas.

Canterino was selected by Minnesota in the second round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Rice University. He is 2-2 with a 1.48 ERA in 26 career minor league games, striking out 130 in 85 innings.

Tennis

Andreeva wins 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.

Running

American wins Los Angeles Marathon >> 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.