SHANGHAI (AP) — Formula 1 champion Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were both unable to start the Chinese Grand Prix after hitting technical problems minutes before the race began.
Piastri was due to start fifth and Norris sixth for Sunday's race. Norris was in his car in the pits but didn't leave for the grid, before Piastri was then withdrawn from the grid following a radio message which indicated an electrical issue.
“Unfortunately we identified separate issues on both cars which prevented them from starting the Chinese GP, with Oscar’s being removed from the grid shortly before the formation lap. We will now work to identify each issue,” McLaren said.
It's the second time Piastri has failed to start in 2026 after he crashed before the start of last week's race in Australia.
Kimi Antonelli was seeking to convert his record-breaking pole position into a first career win but will have to stay ahead of his Mercedes teammate George Russell.
Antonelli became the youngest driver to qualify on pole position for an F1 Grand Prix race Saturday. The 19-year-old Italian starts on the front row alongside Russell, who recovered from technical problems to post the second-fastest time.
They're looking to continue Mercedes dominance in F1's new era of regulations after Russell won last week's Australian Grand Prix and the sprint race in China on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari briefly got ahead of Antonelli at the start but the Italian took the place back soon after.
F1 is racing hours after it announced next month's races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not go ahead because of the war in the Middle East.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car ahead of others during the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix race at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy gestures during the drivers parade ahead of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix race at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
CAIRO (AP) — Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks Sunday after Tehran threatened to widen its campaign and called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates as Iranian strikes there — part of a broader war with the United States and Israel — progress into their third week.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE warned people that they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran called for the port evacuations, threatening for the first time a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.
Iran earlier accused the United States of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, without providing evidence. The UAE and other Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.
Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf states, most of them migrant workers. At least 13 members of the U.S. military have been killed since the war began, including seven in combat and six who died in a plane crash over Iraq last week.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 800 people killed and 850,000 displaced as Israel launched waves of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the U.S. attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island from two locations in the UAE, Ras Al Khaimah and a place “very close to Dubai,” calling that dangerous and saying Iran “will try to be careful not to attack any populated area” there.
U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim. A diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, Anwar Gargash, rejected accusations that the U.S. used its land or air as a base for their attacks on Kharg Island.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, but it has said it was targeting U.S. assets, even as hits or attempts were reported on civilian ones such as airports and oil fields.
Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz was closed only to “those who are attacking us and their allies.”
As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe.” Britain in response said it was discussing with allies a “range of options” to secure shipping.
Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbors to “expel foreign aggressors” and described Trump’s call as “begging.”
On Saturday, Iran’s joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit.
Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency said the Kharg Island strikes caused no damage to oil infrastructure. It said they targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar.
The U.S. Department of Defense on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refueling aircraft they were aboard crashed Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.
The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, according to U.S. officials.
The crash in western Iraq followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety.
A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Saturday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.
The State Department again warned citizens in Iraq to leave “now,” and by land since commercial flights were not available. It noted that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups “may continue to target” U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure.
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem; Sally Abou AlJoud, Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue in Beirut; and Tia Goldenberg in Washington contributed to this report.
Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)
Mourners react during the funeral ceremony for Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Fire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man chants slogan while the body of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, is being buried at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
