Red Bull took points but no podium from the Chinese Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen finishing 4th and team-mate Liam Lawson finishing 15th.
Verstappen ultimately finished where he qualified after 56 laps of the Shanghai International Circuit in the second Grand Prix of the 2025 F1 season, with a late move on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc seeing him get back up there after being overtaken early on.
Team-mate Lawson struggled, meanwhile, ultimately finishing outside the points after starting from the pit lane due to a late suspension change.
The results means that two races and one sprint of the 2025 F1 season, Verstappen sits second in the Driver’s Championship in his quest to win a fifth straight title. The Dutchman has 36 points, with him sat 8 behind early leader Lando Norris and one ahead of third place George Russell.
Meanwhile, Lawson is yet to take his first point of the year, having failed to finish the season opener or finish in the points in the two events in the Chinese Grand Prix.
After these opening exchanges, the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull Racing sit third in the Constructor’s Championship. They have 36 points, all of which scored by Verstappen, with the team one point ahead of fourth place Ferrari, 17 points behind second placed Mercedes and 42 behind early leaders McLaren.
Having qualified for the main Chinese Grand Prix in fourth, Verstappen had an awkward start as he was overtaken by the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc, with these even after contact between the two Ferraris that sliced away part of Leclerc’s front wing.
Verstappen spent most of the race behind the two Ferraris, with the Dutchman able to pass midfield cars after pitting into traffic but initially looking on course to take sixth.
In the latter stages, however, Verstappen was able to show stronger pace than the two Ferraris. Hamilton ultimately elected to make a second pit stop, with Verstappen able to zip away and negate any benefit Hamilton may have had with fresher tyres.
In the final laps, Verstappen also caught up with and passed Leclerc into turn one, and he duly had the pace to open up a gap to the Ferrari, although he ultimately didn’t have the pace or tyre life to close up on third place finisher George Russell in the Mercedes.
Meanwhile, Lawson opted to stop from the pit lane after qualifying in last position. The New Zealander was however unable to show pace to get back into the points despite his one-stop strategy, with the driver passed on track by eventual point scorer Ollie Bearman and unable to close up to Jack Doohan or Isack Hadjar, who finished in the two positions directly ahead.
Lawson crossed the line 16th, though he was classified 15th after Doohan was hit with a ten second time penalty for forcing Hadjar off the track. The Kiwi could yet be further classified 13th as the FIA are investigating Leclerc and Pierre Gasly for underweight cars, but this has as yet not been confirmed.
Red Bull will be chasing a first win of the 2025 season in the next race, which takes place in Japan in two weeks time.
A goal in each half was enough for Northampton Town to lose 2-0 at home to play-off hopeful Blackpool.
Ashley Fletcher and Niall Ennis scored the goals that won the game at Sixfields for the Seasiders, with the result seeing Northampton lose for the first time in five games as they were seen off by Steve Bruce’s side.
Defeat means Northampton remain 19th in the League One table. With 8 games to go, they are six points clear of the relegation zone, albeit having played a game more than Burton Albion in 21st who are the highest of the four teams within the dropzone.
Having picked up a credible point against league leaders Birmingham City in their last outing, Northampton had hoped for more against a Blackpool side hoping to bounce back from defeat to Leyton Orient a week ago.
The Seasiders settled into the contest quicker, with Sonny Carey seeing a shot saved by Lee Burge – albeit while offside – and another ripple the side-netting.
Having started in such a manner, Blackpool duly opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Rob Apter’s cross found Fletcher, who duly guided the ball beyond Burge to put the away side into the lead.
Northampton’s best opportunities for a reply saw first Sam Hoskins and then Tyler Roberts miss the target with their efforts.
Roberts was denied by Blackpool goalkeeper Harry Tryer just after the break, but Blackpool came closer when they were narrowly unable to turn it home. Burge saved from Odeluga Offiah, only for the loose ball from that save to fall for Fletcher. A covering defender however stopped the ball from crossing the line.
Just after the hour mark, however, Blackpool grabbed their second. A long ball forward lead to two Northampton defenders getting in a tangle trying to deal with it. That allowed Ennis to pick the ball up, and the Stoke City loanee duly advanced before firing in off a post.
Cameron McGeehan curled a fine strike just wide after, but Northampton ran out of ideas as Blackpool took home the win.
Northampton will seek to return to winning ways next weekend as they face a big game away at second-bottom side Cambridge United.
MK Dons picked up a first away win since New Year’s Day as they beat Cheltenham Town 1-0.
A first goal for the club by January signing Jack Sanders on his return to the side was the decisive moment, with the defender’s goal winning the game in Gloucestershire.
Victory at Whaddon Road means MK Dons now hold a 15 point lead on the relegation zone with 9 games of their season to go.
A tweaked Dons side began brightly, and after Joe White saw a strike go wide and Joe Tomlinson had another deflected wide, they found themselves a ninth minute lead.
A multi-player short-corner routine ended with the ball being played to White, who played in a cross for Sanders at the back post and the defender duly headed the ball home to score on his return after an absence due to illness.
MK Dons pushed on in their quest for a second goal, with Callum Hendry having a shot deflected wide by home defender Ibrahim Bakare before Alex Gilbey fired a low drive wide.
Cheltenham offered more as the game progressed, with Connal Trueman in the MK Dons goal making a double save to deny Matty Taylor and Jordan Thomas.
At the other end, Cheltenham keeper Joe Day was on hand to keep the score at 1-0, making saves to deny efforts from Laurence Maguire and then Dan Crowley.
MK Dons ultimately had the better opportunities to grab a goal in the second half. In the latter stages, Joe Tomlinson had a fine strike denied by Day with Danilo Orsi missing the target with the rebound, before Maguire was well denied by Day.
On his return from injury after 13 months out injured, Jonathan Leko thought he’d doubled the Dons’ advantage when he scored from close range only for an offside flag to interrupt any celebrations.
But the visitors were able to see the job through, taking victory at Cheltenham and with it the three points.
MK Dons will be aiming to get back-to-back wins in their next game, when they play a third straight away game as they travel to bottom side Carlisle United.
Red Bull saw Max Verstappen take a third place finish in the sprint race in the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
The Dutchman had started second in the race at the Shanghai International Circuit, but was passed late on by Oscar Piastri and had to settled for third.
Team-mate Liam Lawson, meanwhile, finished 14th after starting from 19th position on the grid.
The sprint podium saw Verstappen pick up six points, giving him 24 points after one full race and one sprint. Red Bull also have 24 points, with only Verstappen scoring points, with the team sat third in these early stages of the 2025 Formula One season.
In the first sprint race of 2025, Verstappen would be starting from second alongside Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who’d taken pole and was chasing a first win of any description after his high-profile move over the winter.
Verstappen’s pace initially saw him stay with Hamilton in the first part of the 19-lap mini-race, but the Dutchman’s tyre wear ultimately saw him lose touch with the Ferrari. Instead, he would end up being passed by Piastri in the McLaren in the final laps, although he had enough of a margin to finish ahead of the duelling George Russell and Charles Leclerc behind.
Meanwhile, Lawson had made a number of overtakes in his attempts to get somewhere after his troubles in qualifying, but he ran out of time to try and make an unlikely charge to the points. He finished 14th, in a race where only the top 8 positions deliver points.
The full Chinese Grand Prix starts at 7am tomorrow morning (23/03), with qualifying held after the sprint race. For that one, Verstappen will start from fourth position, nestled in-between Lando Norris and Hamilton. Lawson meanwhile qualified last, with it as yet unknown if Red Bull will choose to start him from the pit lane instead.
Scott Lindsey has returned to Crawley Town less than a month after leaving MK Dons and six months after moving from Crawley to MK.
The 52-year-old has signed a three year contract at Crawley, ending at the end of the 2027/28 season, with the Sussex club announcing Lindsey’s return less than a week after sacking previous manager Rob Elliot.
Lindsey will begin his second stint at Crawley when they host Bristol Rovers tomorrow (22/03).
As well as confirming Lindsey’s return to Sussex, Crawley have confirmed a restructuring of their first team coaching staff, with Neil Smith joining as assistant after leaving his position with non-league side Cray Wanderers. Louis Storey, Anthony Sweeney and Steve Hafner will leave alongside Elliot.
Crawley Town Chairman Preston Johnson said in a statement, “We are very excited to welcome Scott back to Crawley Town. We all love the culture and commitment he brings to the Club and the game. We’re striving for success at the highest levels of English football and to strengthen relationships with our fans and the broader community.
“Our lead investors are committed to a long-term vision, and Scott Lindsey is essential to that.”
The move sees Lindsey return to the Broadfield Stadium six months after he left Crawley to take the Head Coach job with MK Dons, which he did to replace Mike Williamson after MK Dons’ former Head Coach left to take a vacant position at Carlisle United, and which Williamson since vacated to be replaced by Mark Hughes.
Lindsey had an early run of winning six games in a row at Stadium MK to take the Dons into the automatic promotion places in League Two following a slow start. But a collapse in form saw the Dons drift into the bottom half, with Lindsey sacked at the start of March the day after a 1-0 defeat at home to Colchester United.
Before moving to Milton Keynes, Lindsey had a productive spell with Crawley. A strong run of form in the late stages of the 2022/23 season kept the Red Devils in League Two, before he was able to win promotion via the play-offs in the 2023/24 campaign, including an 8-1 aggregate win over MK Dons in the semi-finals before beating Crewe at Wembley.
Former Charlton, Newcastle and Irish international goalkeeper Elliot had been appointed Lindsey’s successor in September after his move from Crawley to MK Dons. He moved to Sussex after a spell in charge of Gateshead.
However, Elliot struggled to get a tune out of his side, winning just 6 out of 33 games in charge. With 9 games of the League One season to go, Crawley sit 22nd in the third tier table and are 12 points from safety.
