Lewis Hamilton collided with Mercedes team-mate George Russell as Max Verstappen raced to pole position for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton will start fifth following a bizarre coming together with Russell, who lines up in 12th, at the end of Q2 at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. Verstappen finished four tenths clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with Lando Norris an impressive third for McLaren. Pierre Gasly took fourth spot for Alpine, one place ahead of Hamilton, who was half-a-second back, with home favourite Fernando Alonso only ninth in his Aston Martin. Hamilton had to take on a replacement front wing for Q3 after he made contact with Russell in the closing stages of Q2. With both Mercedes men starting their hot laps, Hamilton moved out of Russell’s tow at 210mph on the main straight. But the seven-time world champion was forced to take to the grass after his team-mate, who was making his way past Sainz’s Ferrari, unintentionally, closed the door on him. Hamilton kicked up dirt from the grass as part of his front wing flew off his Mercedes. “George just backed off,” said Hamilton over the radio. “That is really dangerous. I might have some damage on the car.” Although Hamilton’s time was good enough to progress to Q3, Russell was eliminated in 12th. “You didn’t tell me there was a car behind,” said Russell. “I don’t know what the hell was going on in this session. The car was bouncing. I couldn’t get my tyres working. Russell will start one place behind Perez after the Red Bull driver also failed to make it out of Q2. Perez is Verstappen’s closest challenger in the championship but a week on from his horror show in Monaco where he finished 16th and two laps down, he qualified only 11th here. The Mexican ran through the gravel and, although he managed to keep his Red Bull out of the wall, his next lap was not quick enough to carry him through to Q3. “Unbelievable,” said Perez. On an afternoon of shock results, Charles Leclerc, who started this race from pole position last year, will line last but one on the grid. Leclerc complained about the rear of his Ferrari and finished above only Williams rookie Logan Sargeant in the order. “I don’t have the answers for now,” said Leclerc following his early bath. “The only thing I can say is the left-hand corners were undriveable.” Q1 was suspended by nine minutes following multiple spins on a track drying out after earlier rain. Alex Albon, Nyck de Vries, Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas all ran off the road, and with gravel on the asphalt, race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the session. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen tops rain-hit final practice for Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton toils in 12th as Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominate in Spain Fernando Alonso: Hamilton can win eighth title but Verstappen can break records

By Dan Levine and Hyunjoo Jin SAN FRANCISCO Opening statements are set to begin on Thursday in the

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday was summoned to federal court for the second time in two weeks to testify in an antitrust trial threatening to topple a pillar of an internet empire that he helped build

A leading physicist and astronomer who served as a key consultant in Vladimir Putin’s moon mission was hospitalised in Moscow after Russia’s first lunar expedition in 47 years failed. Mikhail Marov, 90, was rushed to hospital following a “sharp deterioration” in his health after Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the moon. "It is so sad that it was not possible to land the apparatus," he said after the failure of Luna-25 was announced. Russia’s state space corporation Roskosmos said it lost contact with the craft at 11.57am (GMT) on Saturday after a problem as the craft was shunted into pre-landing orbit. A soft landing had been planned for Monday. "The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon," Roskosmos said in a statement. It said a special inter-departmental commission had been formed to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the Luna-25 craft, whose mission had raised hopes in Moscow that Russia was returning to the big power moon race. Mr Marov told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that he hoped the reasons behind the crash would be discussed and examined rigorously. "This was perhaps the last hope for me to see a revival of our lunar programme," he said, according to Reuters. “There was a mistake in the algorithms for launching into near-lunar orbit,’ he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. “It must be found.” “For the specialists who will be involved in the work of the commission, this will not be a big problem. I think the answer will be found in the foreseeable future.” Sharing details on his medical condition, he told the outlet that he is currently “under observation” as he shared his exasperation over the failure of the mission. “How can I not worry? This has been very much a matter of my life. It’s all very hard.” The failure of Luna-25 underscored the decline of Russia’s space power since the glory days of Cold War competition when Moscow was the first to launch a satellite to orbit the Earth – Sputnik 1, in 1957 – and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into space in 1961. It also comes as Russia’s $2 trillion economy faces its biggest external challenge for decades: the pressure of both Western sanctions and fighting the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two. Though moon missions are fiendishly difficult, and many US and Soviet attempts have failed, Russia had not attempted a moon mission since Luna-24 in 1976, when Communist leader Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Kremlin. Russia has been racing against India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to land on the moon’s south pole this week, and more broadly against China and the United States which both have advanced lunar ambitions. Russian officials had hoped that the Luna-25 mission would show Russia can compete with the superpowers in space despite its post-Soviet decline and the vast cost of the Ukraine war. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into moon in failed mission The Russian space agency says its Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon. Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft suffers technical glitch in pre-landing maneuver The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it will hold runway safety meetings at 90 airports

Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith’s team have asked a judge to set a Jan. 2 trial date for ex-President Donald Trump in the case charging him with plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss

Manchester City struck twice late on to continue the winning start to their Champions League defence with a hard-fought 3-1 success at RB Leipzig. Julian Alvarez finally settled City’s nerves in Wednesday’s Group G encounter with a fine strike six minutes from at the Red Bull Arena before fellow substitute Jeremy Doku wrapped up the win. Phil Foden had opened the scoring midway through a first half the holders dominated but the hosts responded against the run of play through Lois Openda. Foden hit the woodwork as City pushed for a winner but, with Erling Haaland faltering in front of goal, it looked like being a frustrating night until Alvarez struck. That City would need such late heroics from the bench seemed unlikely as they controlled the first half. The presence of Rodri, who is currently serving a domestic ban, brought a noticeable calm that was missing in his absence in Saturday’s defeat at Wolves. Yet it was Rico Lewis, playing alongside him in midfield, who caught the eye with his determination to win possession and some driving runs. Lewis had City’s first serious opportunity after a nice turn in the area but his shot was blocked. Foden drove the ball back across goal from the rebound but Bernardo Silva, returning to the side after injury, failed to turn it in at the far post. City’s opener came after 25 minutes from another attack instigated by Lewis. The lively youngster pushed forward and played a one-two with Silva before pulling back for Foden in the area. The England international met it with a first-time shot that bounced beyond Janis Blaswich. City pushed for a second before the break, with Haaland twice breaking free on the left but the Norwegian first shot wide and was then denied by Blaswich. It was not until the final minute of the first half that Leipzig had an effort on goal when Openda’s long-range shot was deflected over and City reached the break looking completely untroubled. All their good work was undone within moments of the restart as Jack Grealish misplaced a pass and they were caught by a Leipzig counter-attack. Yussuf Poulsen released Openda with a pass from the centre circle and the Belgium international raced through to beat Ederson with a low shot that went in off the base of the post. Haaland threatened to restore City’s lead when he fired wide and then spurned an even better chance when he missed the target from a Foden cross. Foden went closer when he curled a free-kick against the bar from a wide angle but Haaland’s frustration continued as he shot at Blaswich and skewed another effort over. City were caught on the break again but were reprieved when Emil Forsberg failed to find a colleague in the box and Ederson needed to punch clear after substitute Timo Werner broke free. Pep Guardiola’s changes made the difference as Doku teed up Alvarez to clip a fine shot over Blaswich from the edge of the area. Doku then put the seal on victory when he finished off a quick break in injury time as Leipzig paid the price for pushing players forward. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bill Sweeney believes English rugby is ‘on cusp of something quite spectacular’ England career igniting convinced me to sign new Saracens deal – Ben Earl Local boys Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff score as Newcastle stun PSG

Michael Chiarello, a chef known for his Italian-inspired Californian restaurants who won an Emmy Award for best host for “Easy Entertaining With Michael Chiarello” has died

By Daniel Trotta A U.S. judge on Friday blocked a new Florida law restricting drag performances, the third