Ultra-Rich Are Betting the Next Big American Sport Is Cricket
Anurag Jain has loved cricket his entire life, but after learning how much players made he ditched his
2023-07-13 16:54
NBA Top Shot Creator Dapper Labs Cuts Jobs in NFT Downturn
Dapper Labs Inc., creator of the NBA Top Shot marketplace for nonfungible tokens, announced further jobs cuts amid
2023-07-13 15:59
First-Time Buyer Demand Nosedives: The London Rush
Soaring mortgage costs and the end of the government’s Help-to-Buy programme saw first-time buyers’ home reservations halve in
2023-07-13 15:45
Man Utd 2-0 Leeds: Player ratings as young Red Devils impress in pre-season win
Player ratings from Manchester United's 2-0 pre-season victory over Leeds in Norway.
2023-07-13 01:22
Red Bull has handed Daniel Ricciardo the first step to Sergio Perez’s seat
Within the Red Bull ecosystem, encompassing two teams on the Formula 1 grid and the junior team below, there is no doubting who the senior statesman is. When Dr Helmut Marko speaks, people listen. And for Nyck de Vries, the writing has been on the wall for a while now. Asked after the British Grand Prix whether Red Bull’s ‘third driver’ Daniel Ricciardo could replace De Vries at Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri, Marko grinned. A grin which told us everything we need to know. “We’ll have the tyre test next week and then we’ll see,” he stated. That test, with Ricciardo in the cockpit of Red Bull’s RB19 rocketship for the first time this season, took place on Tuesday morning at Silverstone. Hours later, the Australian’s return to F1 was confirmed. The first thing to note is, despite his obvious struggles, it is brutally harsh on Nyck de Vries. When the Dutchman made his splash last September in Monza – filling in for Alex Albon at Williams and securing points with an impressive ninth-place finish – it must have seemed like a dream. The former Formula 2 and Formula E champion had long been on the cusps of a grid spot, entwined in Mercedes’ junior programme, and now a 2023 place was inevitable. AlphaTauri, with Pierre Gasly departing for Alpine, moved swiftly for De Vries – a decision we have now learned that Christian Horner did not agree with. Yet this year, the pairing has always felt like an uncomfortable marriage. AlphaTauri have slumped to the worst team on the grid, with Williams showing signs of improvement under the leadership of James Vowles. And while Yuki Tsunoda – in his third season with the team, it should be said – has maximised any potential out of the AT04, De Vries has undeniably stumbled in his first full season. 10 races. Zero points. Out the door. De Vries may now look back with regret that he did not stick in Mercedes’ wider bubble and eye a spot with Williams. The chances are he would have been favoured over Logan Sargeant, the only other driver on the grid yet to score a point this season. But the stark reality is that De Vries is a sacrificial lamb in this situation. Because, as we have seen in the past with Red Bull’s ruthless revolving door, his axing and Ricciardo’s return is about something much bigger than the prospects of Red Bull’s sister team this season. As much as De Vries’ poor form looks the reason on paper, Sergio Perez’s struggles as Max Verstappen’s team-mate in the past two months is a factor equally important, if not more so. Since winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April, Perez has endured a wretched run given he is, clearly, in the fastest car. While Verstappen is on a win streak of six, Perez has finished on the podium just twice and has not made the final qualifying session in his last five races. Three of those have been a humiliating exit in Q1. Thus, Perez has gone from a world championship contender to under pressure for his race seat in a matter of months. While Horner insists publicly that the Mexican’s spot is not shrouded in uncertainty – with a contract until the end of the 2024 season – there is no doubting that Ricciardo’s re-emergence heaps an extra crumb of pressure on that second Red Bull seat. For what its worth, simply assuming Ricciardo will snap up Perez’s seat as soon as next year is inadvisable. The 34-year-old was dropped by McLaren for a reason, after a chastening 2022 campaign, and has plenty to prove in the remaining 12 races of this season, starting next week in Hungary. But if the tyre test is anything to go by, the popular Aussie is champing at the bit. Speculation is rife that his best time would have been quick enough for the front row at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. Sure, it was just a tyre test, but nonetheless impressive after eight months out of the car. A similar set of statement performances throughout the season’s remainder, back where it all began with Red Bull’s sister team, could give Ricciardo the most unlikeliest of routes back into the sport permanently with Red Bull next year. At the very least, it will give Marko and Horner a decision to make. Read More Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1 as he replaces Nyck de Vries A fictional Drive to Survive? Daniel Ricciardo ‘full steam ahead’ with scripted F1 show Daniel Ricciardo shaped void will take some filling by Oscar Piastri at Australian GP Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1 as he replaces Nyck de Vries The moment Norris came of age in British Grand Prix – and it wasn’t his super start Max Verstappen storms to British Grand Prix victory with two Brits on the podium
2023-07-12 19:17
Italian Football Club Wins Reprieve on State-Backed Loans
An Italian football club has won a reprieve on its state-backed loans in an unusual deal that’s designed
2023-07-12 16:55
Man Utd vs Leeds - Pre-season friendly: TV channel, team news, lineups & prediction
Previewing the pre-season friendly between Man Utd & Leeds, with TV & live stream details, team news, predicted lineups & score prediction.
2023-07-12 00:59
Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1 as he replaces Nyck de Vries
Daniel Ricciardo will make a sensational return to the F1 track at the Hungarian Grand Prix later this month after signing a short-term loan deal with AlphaTauri, and will replace Nyck de Vries for the rest of the current season. After parting ways with McLaren last year, Ricciardo returned to his old team Red Bull as a reserve driver, and Red Bull will now loan the Australian to AlphaTauri for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. De Vries has been dropped with immediate effect in the midst of a difficult season, as one of only two drivers on the grid who has failed to collect a single championship point. Thirty-four-year-old Ricciardo’s first race for AlphaTauri will be at the Hungaroring in Budapest next Sunday, 23 July. More follows... Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Daniel Ricciardo makes shock F1 return with AlphaTauri Secret Red Bull meeting fuels talk of Lando Norris switch Lando Norris says Just Stop Oil protest at Silverstone would be ‘stupid’
2023-07-11 23:19
F1: Secret Red Bull meeting fuels talk of Lando Norris switch
Lando Norris’s agent held a meeting with a Red Bull chief at Silverstone over the weekend, adding to speculation that the British driver could be set to join the championship winning team in the future. A meeting between Norris’s manager Mark Berryman and Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, spotted by the Daily Telegraph at Silverstone over the weekend, has fuelled talk that the Brit may be being headhunted. The pair met a couple of hours before Sunday’s British Grand Prix. It seems unlikely that Red Bull would be pushing to split up their current driver setup, given how successful the partnership between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has been in the last two of years, but things change quickly in Formula 1. Norris finished fourth in Austria which surprised many people before his second place at Silverstone took the Briton to another level. He raised eyebrows when passing Verstappen at the start of the race and held on to keep the championship leader at bay for five laps. Add to that the calm composure he displayed to hold off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages, despite being on a set of cold hard tyres, and Norris is proving just how good a driver he was always believed to be. Marko himself insisted after Sunday’s race that there was no chance Perez would be released before his current contract expires at the end of 2024 saying: “In the last 10 laps he was the fastest driver in the field ... His position is not in danger at all.” Yet, Perez remains under scrutiny due to a down tick in his own form. He qualified 15th at Silverstone making it the fifth race in a row he failed to reach Q3, though time is on his side. Verstappen has a runaway lead and is nailed on for a third world championship which would also help Red Bull take the constructor’s title too leaving Perez ample opportunity to rediscover his form. Read More The moment Lando Norris came of age in British Grand Prix – and it wasn’t his super start Lando Norris ‘honoured’ to join Lewis Hamilton in battle for Formula One glory Max Verstappen storms to British Grand Prix victory with two Brits on the podium
2023-07-11 19:54
777 Partners Seeks €200 Million For Football Investments
777 Partners LLC plans to tap growing investor appetite for football to potentially raise more than €200 million
2023-07-11 18:24
Jeff Bezos and Bob Iger Top Sun Valley List, With AI and Streaming in Focus
Walt Disney Co.’s Bob Iger, Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos and OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman are expected
2023-07-11 17:19
PGA Tour Will Tout Minimal Saudi Influence in Golf Merger at Congressional Hearing
Two top PGA Tour officials plan to tell US lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would have little sway over
2023-07-11 06:29