Jessica Pegula of the United States upset world number one Iga Swiatek to reach the final of the WTA...

F1 sprint is set for its biggest ever season this year with six sprint races on the calendar for 2023 - doubling the amount from 2022 and 2021. The 100km Saturday dash, first introduced at the British Grand Prix in 2021, has proven popular with teams and fans alike and will be present at more than a quarter of Grand Prix weekends during the 23-race season. Why F1’s sprint shake-up could be the beginning of the end for Max Verstappen There was an unanimous agreement to increase the number of sprint events amongst F1 teams at a meeting of the F1 commission meeting last year, following discussions with the FIA and a vote amongst the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC). As it was last year, the F1 sprint is a 100km race with no mandatory pit stops and drivers racing flat-out to the chequered flag. As it was in the 2022 season, the top eight drivers score points, with the driver who finishes P1 receiving eight points. How does the sprint race work? The F1 Commission and the FIA have approved new sprint weekend format changes which will see an extra qualifying session added to the schedule. The new order of play sees a new ‘sprint shootout’ take place on Saturday morning instead of a second practice session, with traditional qualifying on Friday now setting the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. It means there will be just one practice session over the course of the weekend, while Saturday is designated ‘sprint day’. The result of the Saturday sprint – a 100km dash, roughly a third of the distance of the grand prix – will not impact the grid for Sunday, as opposed to the past two years. Points will be awarded to the top-eight, as was the case in 2022. But now, that Friday qualifying session will take on added weight as it will set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix, regardless of what happens in Saturday’s sprint race. On Saturday, instead of what was seen as a generally pointless second practice session on Saturday, a new ‘sprint shootout’ will take place to form the starting grid for the sprint race later in the day. It will follow the same Q1-Q2-Q3 format but the session times will be shorter than traditional qualifying: Q1 will be 12 minutes, Q2 will be 10 minutes and Q3 will be eight minutes. NEW SPRINT WEEKEND FORMAT Friday: Free Practice 1; qualifying (for Sunday’s Grand Prix) Saturday: Sprint qualifying; sprint race (Top-eight receive points, finish order will have no impact on Grand Prix grid) Sunday: Grand Prix How many points are on offer? P1 - Eight points P2 - Seven points P3 - Six points P4 - Five points P5 - four points P6 - three points P7 - two points P8 - one point Where will the sprint races take place this season? There will be six sprint races this season, including at three of the final six Grand Prix weekends. ROUND 4 - AZERBAIJAN Baku City Circuit - 28-30 April Sprint shootout pole: Charles Leclerc Sprint race winner: Sergio Perez ROUND 10 - AUSTRIA Red Bull Ring, Spielberg - 30 June-2 July ROUND 13 - BELGIUM Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - 28-30 July ROUND 18 - QATAR Lusail International Circuit, Lusail - 6-8 October ROUND 19 - UNITED STATES Circuit of the Americas, Austin - 20-22 October ROUND 21 - BRAZIL Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo - 3-5 November Read More F1 race schedule: What time is the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday? Why have Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney invested in Alpine F1 team? F1’s sprint shake-up could be the beginning of the end for Max Verstappen ‘Happy’ Lewis Hamilton still hungry for record eighth world title – Damon Hill F1 2023 calendar: All 23 Grand Prix this year Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to invest in F1 team

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Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan says the club are now aiming to be “number one” after their transformation from relegation strugglers to Champions League participants. The Magpies finished fourth in the Premier League and reached the Carabao Cup final last season, just over a year they had been battling to get out of the bottom three. The catalyst for the improvement was the club’s takeover by the Saudi-led consortium headed by Al-Rumayyan and Amanda Staveley in 2021. “It is a great achievement to start with,” Al-Rumayyan told NUFCTV in an interview reflecting on his first full season at the helm. “Did we expect to do that? Yes. We have the ingredients for success. We have the will. We want to achieve the best positions we can. “(We) have the right people in management – the technical director (Dan Ashworth), the manager (Eddie Howe) – and we have the right players. To top it all, we have a great fanbase. “If you have the right people and the will, and the right processes and funds, if you put all these together I think it is a great recipe for success and that is what we are achieving right now. “Finishing in the top four, our revenue is increasing. Remember, you have to work within the financial fair play framework, so the more revenue we will have, the more players we will have ready. “Then the Champions League will add more revenue for us. The sponsorship is improving and that’s more funds and more revenue. “If you put all these things together, I think we should have an ambition and aspiration to be number one.” Al-Rumayyan, who was wearing a suit lined with black and white stripes and the club crest, described his first visit to St James’ Park as “one magical, electrical moment for me.” He added: “We have one of the best fanbases in the EPL and potentially the world.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Tammy Beaumont hits superb century as England fight back in Ashes Rafael Benitez set to be named new Celta Vigo boss Carra hits Glasto and Frankie sings Frank – Friday’s sporting social

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