FIA reveal results of 2022 F1 cost cap process
The FIA have announced that all 10 Formula 1 teams have complied with the cost cap in 2022 – meaning no repeat of the shenanigans which overshadowed the latter stages of last season. Red Bull were found guilty of an overspend of the 2021 budget cap, the same year in which Max Verstappen claimed his first drivers’ title. Christian Horner’s team were fined £6m and docked 10 per cent of their car development time after a long, drawn-out process. Yet this year, the FIA have confirmed that no teams have fallen foul of the financial regulations and detailed that their analysis included an “extensive check of any non-F1 activities... which comprised of multiple on-site visits to team facilities.” The news will come as a relief to all teams, particularly in light of rising inflation and freight costs which led Horner to suggest earlier this year that as many as six teams could’ve broken the cost cap. The statement in full reads: “The FIA confirms that its Cost Cap Administration has now completed the review of the Reporting Documentation submitted by each Competitor that participated in the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship in respect of the 2022 Full Year Reporting Period ending on 31 December 2022. “The FIA Cost Cap Administration has issued certificates of compliance to all of the ten Competitors. “The review has been an intensive and thorough process, beginning with a detailed analysis of the documentation submitted by the competitors. “Additionally, there has been an extensive check of any non-F1 activities undertaken by the teams, which comprised multiple on-site visits to team facilities and careful auditing procedures to assess compliance with the Financial Regulations. “The FIA Cost Cap Administration notes that all Competitors acted at all times in a spirit of good faith and cooperation throughout the process. “The FIA also notes that the Financial Regulations are essential to the long-term financial stability of the sport, and that they will continue to be developed and refined based on the findings of each review process both in terms of the regulations themselves, which are written and approved under the FIA Formula 1 governance process, and the way in which they are enforced and policed. “The FIA has made and will continue to make significant investments in this department for the collective benefit of the sport.” Read More F1 2023 race schedule: When is the Singapore Grand Prix? Damon Hill unimpressed by Toto Wolff’s dismissal of Max Verstappen’s record win Alex Albon, James Vowles and the start of a Williams renaissance
2023-09-05 18:53
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Apex Launches Sports Fund With F1 Driver Lando Norris
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3 Best Wyoming Sportsbook Promos for NFL Week 1: Win $650 GUARANTEED Plus $100 OFF NFL Sunday Ticket!
Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings are giving new Wyoming users a guaranteed $650 bonus on any NFL Week game! Find out how to claim these offers here.
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Shannon Sharpe Called Stephen A. Smith 'Skip' Twice During His 'First Take' Debut
VIDEO: Shannon Sharpe called Stephen A. "Skip" on First Take.
2023-09-04 23:20
Alex Albon, James Vowles and the start of a Williams renaissance
Alex Albon has a habit of leaving no stone unturned. Another victim of Red Bull’s brutal driver merry-go-round in 2021, dropped as Max Verstappen’s team-mate for Sergio Perez, the British-Thai driver was desperate for a race seat for 2022. Aware of George Russell’s impending move to Mercedes, Albon approached then-Williams CEO Jost Capito with a list of resources: a CV and an Excel spreadsheet, comparing his superior lap times to his rivals. Suitably impressed by both his determination and statistics, a deal was agreed. “Albono” was back on the grid. So to now, and the rebirth of the 27-year-old at a team rejuvenated. Albon has carved out 21 points in the first 14 races of this season at a team who managed only 39 points from 2018-2022. A five-year period where they were bottom of the pile, the wooden spoon holders, in four of those five years. Sunday’s seventh-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix was Albon’s best performance yet for Williams, more impressive than an identical result in Montreal in June. A display of crisp driving to qualify sixth on Saturday was coupled with dogged defensive work lap after lap on Sunday, even with his tyres dropping off in the final stages in Monza. Though the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull of Sergio Perez had too much pace, Albon had the McLarens on his gearbox for most of the afternoon. But using exquisite car placement and intimate driver nous, that’s exactly where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri stayed. First to acknowledge Albon’s display was Williams team principal James Vowles, whose influence on this team in his first six months cannot be overstated. Arriving after years of success and experience as Mercedes’ chief strategist, the highly astute 44-year-old was ready to step out of Toto Wolff’s shadow. Tasked with rebuilding a team whose level and morale was rock bottom – the years of title triumphs under Sir Frank Williams in the 1990s a very distant memory now – Vowles was under no illusions to the scale of the challenge. “The main thing is this: what I want to see is positive progress and it won’t be weeks or months, it will be more than that – it’s on a years [long] timescale,” Vowles said, back in March. “There are no short-term solutions, everything is long-term.” Yet if this is what short-term progress looks like, how far can Vowles take this sleeping giant of the sport in the long-term? Williams are currently seventh in the constructors’ standings and a clear seventh at that, leapfrogging Alfa Romeo, Haas and AlphaTauri this season. In Albon, they have a driver who is flourishing as a clear No 1 in the garage. And in Vowles they have an experienced head whose obsession with F1 means, much like his driver, every ounce of effort and second of lap-time will be eked out to the maximum. For example, he was attuned to McLaren’s “dummy” pit-stop late in the day at Monza, with the papaya even shuffling out their mechanics in an attempt to trigger Williams to pit Albon instead. Vowles, who has seen such moves numerous times in his 12 years at Mercedes, could not help but laugh about it afterwards. He also stole a march on Alpine – next up the road, sixth in the standings – by poaching Pat Fry in July to be Williams’ new Chief Technical Officer. The straight-line speed of the FW45 has contributed to top-10 finishes in Bahrain, Silverstone and Zandvoort this year. Even Lewis Hamilton was bemoaning Williams’ pace in qualifying on Saturday – who could have predicted that a few years back? There are still issues to solve, the most prescient their second seat currently occupied by Logan Sargeant. Albon’s sturdy points-tally is in stark contrast to the American rookie, languishing at the bottom of the standings. Point-less after 14 races, another glimpse of a top-10 finish went astray for Sargeant on Sunday. Speculation is rife that Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher could be thrust into the seat for 2024. Sargeant has eight races left, including two in the US, to prove his worth to Vowles and keep a seat which will be highly sought after if Williams continue in the same direction. Race wins and championships are still some way off. The tally of nine constructors’ crowns and seven drivers’ titles will not change anytime soon. But the gradual renaissance of one of Formula 1’s staple teams – who celebrated their 800th grand prix earlier this year – is one of 2023’s feel-good sub-plots in a season dominated by Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Albon has committed until at least the end of 2024 and is likely to extend further should the top-dogs not come calling. Vowles is, quite clearly, in it for the long-haul. How quick the ascension can arrive remains unclear in the unrelenting arms race that is F1, but both driver and team principal have reinvigorated all personnel in the famed dark blue kit both in the pit-lane and back at base in Oxfordshire. What’s more, neither want to seal the sole limelight. There is no room for overinflated ego. Is this an Alex Albon story? Is it a James Vowles story? What is abundantly clear is that it is a bit of both. Read More The moment McLaren failed with a ‘dummy’ pit-stop over shrewd Williams Max Verstappen breaks new ground with record victory at Italian Grand Prix ‘It was totally my fault’: Lewis Hamilton admits mistake in Italian Grand Prix Carlos Sainz chases down thieves and recovers £500,000 watch in scary Milan incident ‘Box to overtake’: The moment McLaren failed with a ‘dummy’ pit-stop over Williams ‘It was totally my fault’: Lewis Hamilton admits mistake in Italian Grand Prix
2023-09-04 19:16
Roundup: Sophie Turner, Joe Jonas Divorcing; Florida State Hammered LSU; Max Verstappen Won Again
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2023-09-04 19:16
Damon Hill unimpressed by Toto Wolff’s dismissal of Max Verstappen’s record win
Damon Hill has described Toto Wolff’s dismissal of Max Verstappen’s record winning streak as “churlish” and “ungracious”. Red Bull’s Verstappen became the first driver in Formula One’s 73-year history to win 10 consecutive races following his triumph at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday. But moments after Verstappen drove into the record books, Mercedes team principal Wolff called the Dutchman’s unprecedented run of victories “completely irrelevant”. He added that the record was only “for Wikipedia, and nobody reads that anyway”. Responding to Wolff’s unflattering appraisal, 1996 world champion Hill said: “It sounded a bit churlish and not very gracious. “It’s unlike Toto because he’s usually very sporting. But he is hurting a bit now. They know what it is like to be dominant and they didn’t even get on the podium in Monza. “They seem to be a bit stymied and can’t seem to work out what to do. But who can? It seems like everywhere we go, Red Bull has got the upper hand.” George Russell and Lewis Hamilton crossed the line a distant fifth and sixth respectively for Mercedes at Monza’s Cathedral of Speed. Hamilton, who was hit with a five-second penalty for colliding with Australian rookie Oscar Piastri, finished 42 sec behind Verstappen. The seven-time world champion, who last week committed to a new two-year deal with Mercedes, worth £100million, has now gone 37 races without a victory. For Verstappen, now a victor at 12 of the 14 rounds so far, he has not lost a race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30, 127 days ago. There is an outside chance he could wrap up a hat-trick of titles in Japan on September 24 with six rounds still to race. Verstappen’s Red Bull team also remain on course to make history by going the year unbeaten. Speaking on Sky Sports News, Hill, 62, continued: “Max has achieved something no-one else has ever done. “Red Bull have won 14 races this year and it is an incredible record, but you can’t just put it down to the car. “This guy is special. Throughout Max’s career, from the moment he arrived in F1, he has done things no-one has done before and he continues to polish off this season.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz gets goosebumps after landing pole for Italian Grand Prix Carlos Sainz’s pace in practice gives Ferrari fans hope for Italian Grand Prix How Max Verstappen equalled Sebastien Vettel’s record for consecutive race wins
2023-09-04 18:57
Erik ten Hag blames referee & VAR for Man Utd defeat to Arsenal
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2023-09-04 17:26
Carlos Sainz chases down thieves and recovers £500,000 watch in scary Milan incident
Carlos Sainz chased down thieves and retrieved his watch worth £500,000 in a scary robbery incident in Milan just hours after Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari star Sainz, still in his team kit, was targeted near the Armani hotel in central Milan at around 8:30pm on Sunday evening, reports in Italy detail. Sainz, alongside members of his entourage and the public, then chased the thieves and successfully recovered his Richard Mille watch worth in the region of £500,000. Local police have arrested two suspects. The unsavoury incident is a sour end to a largely encouraging weekend for Sainz – who was on pole after a storming performance in qualifying on Saturday – as the Spaniard was on the podium for the first time this season. Spaniard driver Sainz, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday, finished Sunday’s race on the podium in third place, with Max Verstappen victorious at Monza. It is not the first occasion an F1 driver has been targeted by thieves: Lando Norris had a £144,000 watch stolen outside Wembley following the Euro 2020 final between Italy and England in July 2021. Norris was also robbed whilst with friends in Marbella earlier this year. Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc has also had a Richard Mille watch stolen, in the Italian resort of Viareggio last year. Read More Max Verstappen breaks new ground with record victory at Italian Grand Prix The moment McLaren failed with a ‘dummy’ pit-stop over shrewd Williams Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz gets goosebumps after landing pole for Italian Grand Prix
2023-09-04 16:49
Erik ten Hag gives Lisandro Martinez injury update
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Christian Benteke's brace fires DC United into playoff spot
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