Ange Postecoglou toasted his new-look Tottenham team for providing an early birthday present with a 2-0 win at Bournemouth and backed “bargain” James Maddison to get even better.

Maddison pulled the strings on the south coast and opened his account for Spurs with his 17th-minute goal, which helped make it back-to-back victories in the Premier League for the visitors.

Dejan Kulusevski added a second after half-time to end his goal drought stretching back to January to keep the feelgood factor around Tottenham despite losing record marksman Harry Kane to Bayern Munich on the eve of the new campaign.

Postecoglou has overseen an impressive seven-point haul from a possible nine since he took over and admitted he could now enjoy his 58th birthday on Sunday.

“Yeah, I’m 58. We always put birthday celebrations on hold depending on the result but I’m sure my wife is scrambling to arrange something for tomorrow,” the Australian smiled.

“It’ll be nice. Short turnaround to Fulham so still got to go into work tomorrow but it’ll be nice to spend some time with the family and now another click closer to that 60 mark, mate.”

There had been doubts over Maddison’s availability at Vitality Stadium after he left Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend on crutches and in a protective boot.

While the England international said at the time it was precautionary, he only returned to training on Friday, but starred again with the number 10 shirt on his back.

Maddison moved from Leicester in June for an initial £40million deal that could rise in add-ons and during a summer where midfielders have transferred for more than £100million, it appears a steal.

Postecoglou added: “A £45 million bargain? I don’t know what world you live in mate, but I know what you mean and relatively so.

“There wasn’t anyone happier than me when we got him. I was delighted. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I’m overjoyed at the footballer I’ve got. The way he’s embraced the whole club, where he’s at in his life.

“He really wants to be the person. He’s that creative force for us. He works hard, he wins the ball back, presses. It’s not like he just comes to life when we’ve got the ball. He’s had a disrupted week. He only had one session with us, but for him to put on a performance like that is credit to him.

“And I think there’s more to come when he gets more understanding with our forward players and they get more understanding with him. He’s going to keep improving. If we got him in the bargain bin, that’s great for us.”

The only negative for Tottenham was another game without a goal for Richarlison, who was replaced on the hour mark.

“He just needs to work hard, keep contributing to the team and contributing to us being successful and overcoming the challenges we have,” Postecoglou countered.

“Richy will work hard. He’s a good footballer and he’ll get his goals.”

Meanwhile, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was left disappointed with their end to an entertaining contest.

Ryan Christie tested Guglielmo Vicario before half-time and Antoine Semenyo curled into the side-netting after the break before Destiny Udogie burst into the area and cut back for Kulusevski to wrap the points up for Spurs.

Iraola said: “I was disappointed probably with the end of the game after the 2-0.

“I think until 2-0 the team was playing really well and it looked like in this moment we had chances to score the 1-1, but from there we probably lacked a little bit of intensity and they were more comfortable on the ball.

“In the first half we put them in really difficult positions. I think (Yves) Bissouma and Maddison were in difficult positions, but they are good and they were winning duals even with a man on their back and protecting very well the ball.

“Probably we didn’t regain so many balls because for me they could sustain a very good press.”

Ange Postecoglou toasted his new-look Tottenham team for providing an early birthday present with a 2-0 win at Bournemouth and backed “bargain” James Maddison to get even better.

Maddison pulled the strings on the south coast and opened his account for Spurs with his 17th-minute goal, which helped make it back-to-back victories in the Premier League for the visitors.

Dejan Kulusevski added a second after half-time to end his goal drought stretching back to January to keep the feelgood factor around Tottenham despite losing record marksman Harry Kane to Bayern Munich on the eve of the new campaign.

Postecoglou has overseen an impressive seven-point haul from a possible nine since he took over and admitted he could now enjoy his 58th birthday on Sunday.

“Yeah, I’m 58. We always put birthday celebrations on hold depending on the result but I’m sure my wife is scrambling to arrange something for tomorrow,” the Australian smiled.

“It’ll be nice. Short turnaround to Fulham so still got to go into work tomorrow but it’ll be nice to spend some time with the family and now another click closer to that 60 mark, mate.”

There had been doubts over Maddison’s availability at Vitality Stadium after he left Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend on crutches and in a protective boot.

While the England international said at the time it was precautionary, he only returned to training on Friday, but starred again with the number 10 shirt on his back.

Maddison moved from Leicester in June for an initial £40million deal that could rise in add-ons and during a summer where midfielders have transferred for more than £100million, it appears a steal.

Postecoglou added: “A £45 million bargain? I don’t know what world you live in mate, but I know what you mean and relatively so.

“There wasn’t anyone happier than me when we got him. I was delighted. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I’m overjoyed at the footballer I’ve got. The way he’s embraced the whole club, where he’s at in his life.

“He really wants to be the person. He’s that creative force for us. He works hard, he wins the ball back, presses. It’s not like he just comes to life when we’ve got the ball. He’s had a disrupted week. He only had one session with us, but for him to put on a performance like that is credit to him.

“And I think there’s more to come when he gets more understanding with our forward players and they get more understanding with him. He’s going to keep improving. If we got him in the bargain bin, that’s great for us.”

The only negative for Tottenham was another game without a goal for Richarlison, who was replaced on the hour mark.

“He just needs to work hard, keep contributing to the team and contributing to us being successful and overcoming the challenges we have,” Postecoglou countered.

“Richy will work hard. He’s a good footballer and he’ll get his goals.”

Meanwhile, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was left disappointed with their end to an entertaining contest.

Ryan Christie tested Guglielmo Vicario before half-time and Antoine Semenyo curled into the side-netting after the break before Destiny Udogie burst into the area and cut back for Kulusevski to wrap the points up for Spurs.

Iraola said: “I was disappointed probably with the end of the game after the 2-0.

“I think until 2-0 the team was playing really well and it looked like in this moment we had chances to score the 1-1, but from there we probably lacked a little bit of intensity and they were more comfortable on the ball.

“In the first half we put them in really difficult positions. I think (Yves) Bissouma and Maddison were in difficult positions, but they are good and they were winning duals even with a man on their back and protecting very well the ball.

“Probably we didn’t regain so many balls because for me they could sustain a very good press.”

Michael Beale is looking for Rangers striker Kemar Roofe to kick on after his first start in 16 months brought the opener in the 2-0 cinch Premiership win over Ross County.

Despite the recruitment of nine players this summer, the Light Blues manager spoke on Friday about the 30-year-old striker and attacker Tom Lawrence being key to his plans this season.

The former Leeds player, who has been troubled  by injury problems during his time at Ibrox, repaid that confidence in him after 22 minutes in Dingwall with a close-range finish.

Skipper James Tavernier scored a terrific second four minutes later and there was a further boost when Lawrence, out for a year with a knee injury, came on in the second half.

Beale said: “We see Kemar every single day so we know what he has been through. We know he is a leader, he has had some issues and not been able to help us.

“He has been out for a long, long time and he was able to play and score, that is a good trait to have.

“Let’s hope he can stay fit and it was nice to see Tom Lawrence back as well.

“Those two guys have seen a lot and they will help the dressing room at a time when we have a lot of new guys coming in.”

The victory sets Rangers up for the second leg of their Champions League play-off game against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night with the tie sitting at 2-2 from the first leg at Ibrox.

Gers boss Beale is optimistic about the trip to the Netherlands to play a side Rangers beat at the same stage of the tournament last year, after a 2-2 draw at Ibrox was followed by a 1-0 away win.

He said: “It is a really tough challenge because I think they are a high quality team with a quality coach, but we will go there and give it a right go. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“They know we can score against them. They know our football club and everything about it.

“We are not a secret…sometimes I wish we were. We obviously played them last year and we put a good face to our club in the way we approached the game, the way we were resilient.

“We did the same in midweek. I thought it was clear they were a good team but I thought we fought, harassed,  pressured them, we gave them big problems in terms of our speed and pressing. It is important we do the same in midweek.

“I think there will be big spaces on the pitch because they will certainly come for us. It is important that when we get our opportunities we take them.”

Malky Mackay was let rueing a huge Jordan White chance against Rangers, when the striker headed wide at the start of the second half.

The County boss said: “We have a great chance with Jordan with a header. On another day that takes it down to a goal.

“It puts a little bit of pressure on Rangers in terms of any slip or mistake then becomes a draw.

“You have to take your chance against the Old Firm.

“A couple of weeks ago at Parkhead we should have taken our good chances. Rangers took their half chances, the two goals they scored were half chances. They had other chances as well but they were clinical.”

Max Verstappen delighted his home crowd by taking pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.

In an incident-packed wet-dry session, the unstoppable double world champion delivered a crushing lap to finish half-a-second clear of Lando Norris, who qualified second for McLaren.

George Russell will start from third place for Mercedes with the impressive Alex Albon fourth. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and will line up from only 13th spot in Zandvoort.

Q3 was red-flagged twice. First when Logan Sargeant crashed out in his Williams. The American rookie lost control of his machine on the entry to Turn 2, sending him into the gravel and then the tyre wall.

Sargeant, 22, emerged unscathed from the accident but the force of the impact contributed to significant damage on the front of his machine.

The running was suspended for 20 minutes as Sargeant’s stricken Williams was removed and the barriers were repaired.

A dry line had emerged and it was Norris who put his McLaren at the top of the order before Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari into the wall.

Leclerc carried too much speed into the ninth bend and ran onto the grass and then into the Armco.

A six-minute stoppage followed with just four minutes and five seconds left on the clock, with Norris hoping to hold on to claim only his second career pole.

But Verstappen delivered an emphatic answer by racing to top spot with his final lap to huge roars from the Orange Army. On Sunday, he will bid to match Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive wins.

Hamilton revealed in the build-up to Sunday’s race that his goal for the second half of the season was to take runner-up spot in the championship.

But on Formula One’s return from its summer slumber, the seven-time world champion – who is currently fourth in the standings – will start way down the order following a disappointing qualifying session.

The British driver, 38, appeared to be impeded by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda on his final run in Q2 and failed to deliver a time speedy enough to progress.

The stewards have noted the incident, but Hamilton, 41 points adrift of Sergio Perez, who is currently best of the rest behind team-mate Verstappen, now faces an uphill task to salvage a respectable result.

Fernando Alonso qualified fifth for Aston Martin, one place ahead of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, with Perez only seventh, 1.3 seconds behind team-mate Verstappen.

Liam Lawson has been handed his F1 debut here as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo.

The 34-year-old Australian suffered a broken left wrist in a practice crash on Friday and has been ruled out of this weekend’s race with the prospect of missing further rounds, too.

In Ricciardo’s absence, New Zealander Lawson, 21, will start his maiden F1 race from 20th and last.

Middle Earth entered the St Leger picture after a taking win in the Sky Bet Melrose Handicap at York.

The son of the sadly ill-fated Roaring Lion was unraced until June this year but is rapidly making up for lost time.

Second on his first two outings, he opened his account at Newmarket in July and the patience of his connections is now paying dividends.

Oisin Murphy brought the three-year-old with a strong run with a furlong to run and the John and Thady Gosden-trained colt held off Aidan O’Brien’s Denmark by a length and three-quarters.

“He’s a grand horse. He’s a big boy so he’s taken his time, but he’s done nothing but improve as a three-year-old,” said John Gosden.

“After he won a few people were trying to buy him but luckily Sheikh Fahad and David (Redvers, racing manager) thought they’d give him more of a chance.

“He’s won a Melrose well, the St Leger closed before he won so I think from that point of view he will be considered for supplementing.

“He’s a progressive horse, that’s the point. if you’d have asked me in May is he a Leger horse, I’d have said no.

“It (Doncaster) is a big open track, you need experience more on a tight, turning track but it’s a huge, galloping track. There’s usually no hard luck stories on that home straight, just like here.”

Frankie Dettori saluted the packed grandstands on what could be his final day riding at York as Kinross comfortably defended his crown in the Sky Bet City of York Stakes.

The six-year-old was out to complete a quickfire big-race double for trainer Ralph Beckett and owner Marc Chan following Angel Bleu’s Celebration Mile success at Goodwood less than half an hour earlier and his supporters will have had few concerns.

Kinross was the 9-4 favourite to secure his 10th career victory and having travelled well in midfield for much of the seven-furlong contest, he picked up so well once popped the question by Dettori that the popular Italian was able to raise his fist in delight for the final few strides.

Audience was beaten three-quarters of a length into second, with Sandrine close up in third.

Paddy Power cut the winner to 3-1 from 4-1 to secure back-to-back wins in the Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot. He is 7-2 from 5-1 for the Sprint Cup at Haydock and 8-1 from 10-1 for the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

“On my last day, boom, have that! It’s great, what a horse,” said Dettori.

“He is my favourite horse, I had Stradivarius last year, Enable the year before. I love him, he’s a great horse.

“I’ve got a pretty nice route – take him to Ascot, France, Hong Kong and be off, be gone.

“I thought this could be my last one so let me enjoy it. I rode right to the end, waved to everyone, bye!”

Beckett said: “He’s an extraordinary horse and we won’t have another like him. He’s a proven Group One horse and I very much hope we can go for the Breeders’ Cup again and the Prix de la Foret in between.

“He had a sore foot going into Goodwood and had a shoe off after a week. He’s done this off one piece of work and has an amazing constitution.

“What a horse he is. To have done what he keeps doing is extraordinary, but he’s happiest on a racecourse – that’s the bottom line.

“If he’s taking it well we’ll keep going, what’s the point in hanging around? He’s a gelding and what else are we going to do with him? He could go everywhere.”

Frankie Dettori saluted the packed grandstands on what could be his final day riding at York as Kinross comfortably defended his crown in the Sky Bet City of York Stakes.

The six-year-old was out to complete a quickfire big-race double for trainer Ralph Beckett and owner Marc Chan following Angel Bleu’s Celebration Mile success at Goodwood less than half an hour earlier and his supporters will have had few concerns.

Kinross was the 9-4 favourite to secure his 10th career victory and having travelled well in midfield for much of the seven-furlong contest, he picked up so well once popped the question by Dettori that the popular Italian was able to raise his fist in delight for the final few strides.

Audience was beaten three-quarters of a length into second, with Sandrine close up in third.

Paddy Power cut the winner to 3-1 from 4-1 to secure back-to-back wins in the Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot. He is 7-2 from 5-1 for the Sprint Cup at Haydock and 8-1 from 10-1 for the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

“On my last day, boom, have that! It’s great, what a horse,” said Dettori.

“He is my favourite horse, I had Stradivarius last year, Enable the year before. I love him, he’s a great horse.

“I’ve got a pretty nice route, take him to Ascot, France, Hong Kong and be off, be gone.

“I though this could be my last one so let me enjoy it, I rode right to the end, waved to everyone, bye!”

Kemar Roofe showed why Michael Beale talked up his importance to Rangers with the opening goal in a 2-0 cinch Premiership win over Ross County in Dingwall.

The Gers boss spoke on Friday about the 30-year-old striker and attacker Tom Lawrence being key to his plans this season despite nine new signings and Roofe, starting for the first time in 16 months, repaid that faith after 22 minutes with a close-range strike.

Skipper James Tavernier added a delightful second four minutes later with a clever finish which ultimately took the three points south.

The relatively stress-free victory was a boost for Beale’s side ahead of their crucial Champions League play-off game against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night.

The tie is sitting at 2-2 from the first leg at Ibrox and Roofe was not included in the squad for this round due to Beale’s concern about him playing three games in a week.

The former Leeds player has been troubled with injuries at Ibrox but after two substitute appearances this season, he started for the first time since April 2022, while Lawrence, out for a year with a knee injury, was on the bench.

Midfielders John Lundstram and Sam Lammers also came in while Jose Cifuentes, Ryan Jack and Abdallah Sima started among the substitutes, while midfielder Yan Dhanda replaced Kyle Turner for Malky Mackay’s side.

There was little action early on but in the 10th minute a header from Gers striker Cyriel Dessers was saved by the legs of County keeper Ross Laidlaw and the same player headed over from the resulting corner.

Rangers stepped up the pressure and from Borna Barisic’s corner from the right, Roofe shrugged off the attentions of County defender James Brown to volley in at the back post for his first goal since February.

Tavernier’s terrific counter soon afterwards came when he robbed George Harmon in midfielder and strode forward before sending the ball dipping over Laidlaw from 20 yards, his third goal in six matches this season, underlining his own influence on the Govan outfit.

The match had swung away from the home side in a matter of minutes and Laidlaw did well to claw a curling Lammers effort from distance away from the top corner just before the break.

County stormed into attack after the break.

Striker Jordan White missed a great chance by heading a Dhanda cross past the post from six yards, while unmarked.

On the hour mark Roofe and Lammers made way for Sima and Rabbi Matondo as Beale injected real pace into his attack.

The changes had the desired effect and the Ibrox side’s threat was re-established.

Laidlaw tipped a powerful Matondo drive over the bar before saving a Sima header moments later, with the home side defending the subsequent corners.

Lawrence came on for his long-awaited return along with Brazilian striker Danilo, with Dessers and Todd Cantwell going off.

Ross County had brought on Will Nightingale, Turner, Josh Reid and Eamonn Brophy but could not find a way back albeit Sima did well to take the ball off Nightingale’s head yards from the Rangers goal.

In the 84th minute Matondo missed the target with an angled-shot but there was no harm done.

Rangers will have harder days in the Highlands but they have to regroup quickly for their high-stakes trip to the Netherlands.

James Maddison opened his account for Tottenham before Dejan Kulusevski ended his goal drought to help the feelgood factor around Ange Postecoglou’s new-look team continue with a 2-0 win at Bournemouth.

Maddison had starred in last weekend’s fine victory over Manchester United, but was spotted on crutches and in a protective boot later that same night.

A sore ankle failed to stop Spurs’ new number 10 featuring on the south coast and he applied the finishing touch to an excellent team move after 17 minutes while continuing to pull the strings throughout this Premier League encounter.

Bournemouth did improve after the opener but Kulusevski was able to clip into the bottom corner in the 63rd minute for his first goal since January to ensure Postecoglou’s side extended their unbeaten run to three matches.

Maddison had been a pre-match doubt after he only returned to training on Friday, but he started at Vitality Stadium .

After morning sunshine in Bournemouth, the heavens opened by the time referee Tim Robinson blew his whistle and it was a bruising start for Spurs.

Destiny Udogie, Maddison and Cristian Romero all received early blows in the pouring rain, but it failed to knock the visitors off their stride and the opener arrived in the 17th minute.

Pedro Porro and Yves Bissouma exchanged passes before the latter found Pape Sarr, who spotted Maddison’s late run and the England international was able to scuff his shot into the bottom corner from eight yards.

While Maddison’s finish was scruffy, it still represented his first goal for Tottenham since a £40million switch from Leicester.

Maddison had been denied by Neto two minutes earlier after a similar move but was running the show despite proving unpopular with the home fans.

Sarr was next to go close but his deflected shot was saved after Maddison and Son combined and Spurs’ new captain Son sent a volley wide after 26 minutes.

It was Maddison again at the heart of Tottenham’s next chance when Romero produced a fine tackle on Antoine Semenyo and the visitors’ number 10 led the counter-attacker before playing through Richarlison, but he was crowded out and the chance went begging.

Richarlison headed Maddison’s corner into the side-netting minutes later, but Bournemouth – also at the start of a new era under Spaniard Andoni Iraola – did finish the first half strongly.

Ryan Christie tested Guglielmo Vicario with a low effort and Philip Billing curled wide from 18-yards.

The Cherries continued their momentum into the second half with Dominic Solanke firing a dangerous ball across the face of goal and Semenyo curling wide.

Postecoglou had seen enough and Richarlison’s frustrating afternoon ended not long after he received a yellow card for a late tackle on Illia Zabarnyi with Ivan Perisic and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg introduced by the hour mark.

Son was now down the middle and the tactical tweak worked a treat with a one-two with Udogie resulting in Kulusevski making it 2-0.

Udogie got to the byline and brilliantly cut back for Kulusevski, who flicked into the corner. Kulusevski let out a roar in celebration after his 63rd-minute effort and it was timely for Tottenham.

Maddison could have put the game to bed seven minutes later but dragged wide before Perisic survived a VAR call for shoving Max Aarons.

A raft of substitutions was followed by another downpour alongside thunder and lightening, but it failed to dampen Spurs spirits with Postecoglou’s side able to continue their promising start with a second consecutive win.

Hot favourite Nostrum trailed home last of six runners as Spirit Dancer completed his hat-trick in the Sky Bet And Symphony Group Strensall Stakes at York.

Considered a Classic contender at the start of the year before injury intervened, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Nostrum made a spectacular reappearance at Newmarket in July before finding Epictetus too strong in a Group Three at Goodwood.

Back on a sounder surface, the son of Kingman was widely expected to get back on the winning trail, but the 5-6 shot checked out quickly halfway up the straight and was virtually pulled up by Ryan Moore.

Flight Plan took the field along for much of the nine-furlong contest and a daring move by Danny Tudhope to plough a lone furrow on the far side of the track after turning for home briefly looked like it might pay dividends.

But the 6-1 chance Spirit Dancer, stepping up in class in the colours of part-owner Sir Alex Ferguson following handicap wins at York and Windsor, came home strongest on the opposite side of the track to get up and score by a length from El Drama under Oisin Orr.

“He’s enjoying life and I’m enjoying watching him – he’s done well,” aid Fahey.

“I was a little bit worried they wouldn’t go much of a gallop but there was plenty of pace to aim at and we get the trip well so we were keen to head for home soon enough.

“In the back of my mind, before today, I was thinking about the Bahrain Trophy, the million dollar race there in November time. That’s more or less confirmed, we’ll go there if they invite us. I’m sure he’s earned his ticket there.”

Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool must be “lucky” with the availability of their centre-backs this season as he hinted he was unlikely to add to his options before the transfer deadline.

Ibrahima Konate is a doubt for Sunday afternoon’s trip to Newcastle because of a muscular problem and Joe Gomez or Joel Matip could instead partner Virgil Van Dijk at the heart of the Reds’ defence.

Nat Phillips is another alternative but Klopp is well aware that a shortage of options and a spate of injuries could spell trouble as he had to get creative with his backline during the 2020-2021 season.

A total of 20 different combinations were used during the turbulent campaign and Klopp is keeping everything crossed that he does not have to deal with a defensive crisis in the forthcoming months.

“In an ideal world, we have six, seven, eight centre-halves and cover for absolutely everything,” the Liverpool manager said. “No, we need to be lucky with injuries, there is no doubt about that.

“I have no doubt about the quality of the boys we have. We have (academy player) Jarell Quansah, a super-talented player, available as well.

“In this moment we are covered but it is not dreamland where you can be prepared for absolutely each situation. We had to learn that in the past as well a couple of times.

“We will try to do our absolute best to have a squad for next week, a squad for us where we can react on pretty much everything. Is that possible? We will see.”

Liverpool were the only side to do the double over a Newcastle side that lost just five times in the Premier League and qualified for the Champions League last season.

Despite their rapid improvement under Eddie Howe, Newcastle are on a 13-match winless sequence against Liverpool stretching back to December 2015 – although Klopp is wary of what they will face this weekend.

He feels two of their signings in particular this summer were among the shrewdest of any team.

“Newcastle are an incredibly strong team, qualified for the Champions League, fully deserved,” Klopp said. “Super development under Eddie Howe, I have to say. Eddie is a super coach, a super manager.

“Smart business. I don’t want to miss anybody but probably the two standouts in this window: (Sandro) Tonali and (Harvey) Barnes. Really good business.

“The speed they have is really good. Newcastle, since last year at least, they don’t concede a lot but score. So that’s a proper game.”

While Thiago Alcantara and Curtis Jones are missing once again, Klopp will be able to call upon fellow midfielder Alexis Mac Allister after his red card in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth was overturned.

Mac Allister – signed from Brighton in the summer for £35million – was shown a straight red by referee Thomas Bramall after catching Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Christie on the foot at Anfield last weekend.

“When I saw the pictures back I was pretty sure that it’s not a red card but that doesn’t mean then immediately that our appeal will be successful,” Klopp added.

“You don’t have that a lot of times, that pretty much everybody agrees this is not a red card and should not be a red card. Harsh tackles should always be punished, I absolutely support that 100 per cent.

“But it was not a harsh tackle, it was just a touch in the situation. It was a massive relief when I heard that it is overturned. Very good news.”

Max Verstappen topped a rain-interrupted final practice session for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.

The concluding hour before qualifying was red-flagged on three occasions following a series of accidents in the tricky conditions at Zandvoort.

With the session a little more than 10 minutes old, Kevin Magnussen spun out in his Haas at Turn 3, before Zhou Guanyu beached his Alfa Romeo at the penultimate corner.

Liam Lawson – the New Zealander making his Formula One debut as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo who suffered a broken wrist in practice – then performed a pirouette heading into the main straight.

Lawson, 21, grazed the tyre wall on the opposing side of the circuit which led to a third stoppage.

When the action resumed, Verstappen, who is bidding to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive victories, set an impressive pace in front of his home crowd.

The Red Bull driver finished three tenths clear of George Russell, with the Mercedes driver the only man within one second of Verstappen.

Sergio Perez took third spot, one place ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso with Lewis Hamilton fifth for Mercedes.

Qualifying takes place at 3pm local time (2pm BST) with the unsettled weather conditions forecast to continue throughout the day.