Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1102696
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 10 APRIL 2019 23 SPORTS FORMULA 1 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday Weather Cloudy with some light isolated showers becoming mainly fine Visibility Good Wind West to Southwest force 3 to 4 locally force 4 to 5 Sea Slight Swell Negligible becoming locally low Northwest TODAY TOMORROW Weather Crossword Across 6. Whisky (6) 7. Rowing implements (4) 8. Possess (4) 9. Midday nap (6) 10. Royal (5) 12. Nasal grunt (5) 15. Round body (6) 17. Having little hair (4) 18. Digits (4) 19. Make less tight (6) Down 1. Buccaneer (6) 2. Christmas (4) 3. For grooming hair (5) 4. Contemporary (6) 5. Worry (4) 11. Prejudice against old people (6) 13. Alleviation of pain (6) 14. Greeting (5) 16. Trudge (4) 17. Printed volume (4) MAINLY SUNNY UV: 7 PARTLY CLOUDY UV: 7 20 0 / 11 0 18 0 / 11 0 FORMULA 1 reaches its 1,000-race milestone at this weekend's Chi- nese Grand Prix in Shanghai, where Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will try to erase his Bahrain heartache with a maiden victory. If ever there was a grand prix that brought F1 fans together in collec- tive sympathy, then Leclerc's gut- wrencher in Bahrain was surely it. The 21-year-old celebrated plenty of firsts under the floodlights at Sakhir, including a maiden pole and podium finish. But a first F1 win had to wait for another day after his Ferrari agonis- ingly suffered an engine problem with nine laps to go. That allowed Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton to come through to take the win. Ferrari have confirmed Leclerc will use the same power unit in China af- ter the team had traced the issue to "a short circuit within an injection- system control unit". Can the 1,000th F1 race provide the moment of Leclerc magic his fans are so desperate to see? Will there be any Shanghai surprises? Designed to look like the Chinese symbol for "shang", meaning up- wards, and with a flat-out straight for almost 1.4 kilometres, the Shang- hai International Circuit has proved a happy hunting ground for world champion Hamilton, who has five victories here - three for Mercedes and two for McLaren. With an tricky start to the lap - a tightening right-hander that sweeps uphill before dropping back down - a front-row spot on the grid is a must. History suggests it would be unwise to bet against Hamilton being right up there again, with a record six pre- vious poles to his name at this track. Hamilton's pedigree in China and Leclerc's red-hot form will only add to the pressure on the second Ferra- ri of Sebastian Vettel, whose clumsy spin in Sakhir was his fifth such er- ror in the past 13 races. The German was outpaced by team-mate Leclerc throughout the Bahrain weekend, and admitted his car was "extremely difficult to drive" after finishing down in fifth place. Chinese Grand Prix Charles Leclerc aims for first win at Formula 1's 1,000th race