For all the success garnered over the last two years, an asterisk has accompanied the Red Bull route to Formula 1 domination. In 2021, Max Verstappen’s dramatic title triumph was shrouded in controversy after the Abu Dhabi fiasco. Last year, their mightily impressive double title glory was overshadowed by breaching the inaugural F1 cost cap. This season, entering race nine back at base at the Red Bull Ring this weekend with Verstappen holding a 69-point lead in the championship – and even that is from his team-mate Sergio Perez – there does not look set to be such a dark cloud forming this time. The RB19 is perhaps Adrian Newey’s greatest achievement yet. Verstappen’s confidence is at an all-time high, to the extent he joked in real time about a slightly misjudged approach to the kerb in Canada where George Russell had earlier crashed. And when the Dutchman has a rare off-day, perhaps in qualifying, invariably Sergio Perez is there to pick up the first-place trophy instead. Christian Horner’s team are a pristine, well-oiled machine. They claimed their 100th win in F1 last time out in Montreal. Yet Lewis Hamilton, seven times a world champion scampering desperately with the other 17 drivers on the grid playing catch-up, is willing to discuss the elephant in the room. “The [cost cap] penalty didn’t cost them anything,” Hamilton said, ahead of this weekend’s sprint weekend in Austria. “It definitely, definitely didn’t. It was so small.” Red Bull were fined £6m and docked 10% of their car development time for their £1.8m overspend, impacting their wind-tunnel runs and simulations. As emphatic as Hamilton’s assessment is, and many will argue it has a certain degree of accuracy given the scale of Red Bull’s success, the Mercedes man went further as he looks to give himself a fighting chance of a record-breaking eighth title in the not-so-distant future. "I think the FIA should probably put a time when everyone is allowed to start developing on next year’s car,” he added, referring to Red Bull no longer focusing on their 2023 car such is their current advantage and instead shifting emphasis to 2024. “Say August 1, that’s where everybody can start so that no one can get an advantage on the next year, cause that sucks. "It would make more sense. They should. Say for example you start the season and you know you have a bad car, you can just say I’m not going to bother developing this car and put all this money into next year’s car and have an advantage." The notion that the FIA should change the regulations as a result of Red Bull’s domination has been regularly concocted in recent weeks, whether it be across the paddock or on social media. Short memories, it seems. For Red Bull’s current all-out supremacy, think Michael Schumacher’s five-in-a-row with Ferrari at the start of the noughties. Think Lewis Hamilton’s six victories in seven years with Mercedes. Think Sebastian Vettel’s four on the bounce back at Red Bull to kick off the 2010s. Periods of domination are commonplace in F1. A framework is set in place; regulations set in stone years in advance. These must remain. A sudden alteration of various rules, now, would be simply unfair and unsporting. Despite that, talk of a perfect 22/22 this season is being swiftly dismissed by Red Bull. The runaway leaders are not getting carried away yet. “At a sprint weekend, so many things can go wrong,” said a typically level-headed Verstappen on Thursday. His team-mate Perez was absent, due to illness, but is expected to be fit to drive on Friday. While the second of six sprint weekends this season takes place in Spielberg – with qualifying for the grand prix on Friday before “sprint day” on Saturday – could ruffle feathers, Red Bull are massive favourites to take their ninth-straight win of the year at their home track. Ferrari did win in Austria last year, but have not won since. Mercedes are on a slow road back to the top-tier, with a bigger upgrade due next week at Silverstone. If any team is to challenge Red Bull, therefore, it could well be Aston Martin – and their imperious 41-year-old double world champion Fernando Alonso. Read More Are Red Bull now the most successful F1 team ever – and how long can this dominance last? Toto Wolff optimistic as Mercedes target improvement at Austrian Grand Prix Sergio Perez misses media day at the Austrian Grand Prix Sergio Perez misses media day at the Austrian Grand Prix Toto Wolff optimistic as Mercedes target improvement at Austrian Grand Prix What is a sprint race in F1 and how does new qualifying shootout work?

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In a high-profile showdown, Rome, Busan, and Riyadh are the top contenders to host the next World Expo, in 2030, as the organizing body prepares to vote on Tuesday in Paris

Screenwriters and the group representing big Hollywood studios are scheduled to resume talks about a new contract on

Two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou concedes in court documents that he breached his contract with McLaren Racing when the Spaniard did an about-face and stayed at Chip Ganassi Racing, having been the reserve driver for McLaren at F1’s Miami Grand Prix. The admission came in Palou's response to a lawsuit filed against him by McLaren in September seeking to recoup at least $23 million (£18.2m) in losses the team calculated Palou's reversal cost the organisation. Palou's 20-page response was filed in the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Commercial Court. The Associated Press reviewed the filing Monday. In the response, Palou says he changed his mind about joining McLaren ahead of the 2024 season when he "lost trust and confidence that (McLaren) genuinely intended to support his ambition to race in the Formula One Series and decided to continue racing with CGR in the Indy Car Series instead." Palou "therefore admits that he renounced his contractual obligations" with McLaren and "the real issue between the parties is as to the quantum of any damages which the Defendants are liable to pay," the documents say. The spat over the 26-year-old between two IndyCar teams began when Palou initially disputed a Ganassi claim that the team had picked up the 2023 option year on his contract. McLaren in July 2022 said it had signed Palou and had him earmarked for an IndyCar seat and a reserve driver role with its Formula One team. Chip Ganassi Racing said it had the contractual rights for Palou for the 2023 season. Palou and Ganassi entered mediation and a resolution was reached a year ago in which Palou would drive for Ganassi in 2023 but was also McLaren's reserve F1 driver when it did not interfere with IndyCar. He was able to participate in a practice session, tested for the F1 team both on track and in a simulator, and was the reserve driver for McLaren at F1's Miami Grand Prix in May. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown was contacted Aug. 8 and told by attorneys for Palou that Palou would not be joining McLaren and had instead signed a three-year extension with Ganassi. Palou won the 2021 and 2023 championships with Ganassi and is now signed there through 2026. IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward last week was named Palou's replacement as McLaren's F1 reserve driver and participated in a practice session during the season-ending race weekend in Abu Dhabi. O'Ward is a full-time IndyCar driver for Arrow McLaren Racing. The bulk of Palou's response focuses on McLaren's loss of revenue claims and attempts to mitigate what Palou will owe in damages. The nearly $23 million in damages McLaren is seeking is broken down in future sponsorship tied to Palou joining McLaren, the costs of using him as a reserve F1 driver, how much McLaren spent developing Palou for F1 and a $400,000 advance on his 2024 salary. McLaren is not seeking repayment of legal fees it says it covered for Palou in last year's fight with Ganassi. McLaren has contended Palou signed two contracts: the first with McLaren Racing as the F1 reserve driver and a separate deal with Arrow McLaren to compete in IndyCar for the team while also serving as the F1 backup. Among the damages McLaren is seeking is nearly $15.5 million in lost revenue under official partner agreements with sponsors NTT Data and General Motors that anticipated Palou would be the driver, including $7 million in revenue and prize money from IndyCar itself. "This claim is embarrassing for want of particularity and speculative in the extreme," the response said. "The performance of any team in a future Indy Car Series cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. Driver performance is variable." The response also disputes McLaren's claim to lost revenues that Palou "would otherwise have earned in relation to the Formula One Series." It notes that claim would only be valid if Palou was actually McLaren's F1 driver, and that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are under contract through 2025 and 2026. The response also claims that if Palou was an F1 driver, all the claims to IndyCar financial losses would be moot. McLaren also wants to recoup all money spent on Palou when he was the test driver, both on track and in the simulator, and money it spent seeking a replacement for Palou. O'Ward became Palou's replacement in the F1 role, while David Malukas was hired to fill the open seat in the IndyCar Series. AP Read More MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi returns to competitive motorsport ‘It did not fail’: W Series enters administration Raul Torras Martinez: Spanish rider dies at Isle of Man TT MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi returns to competitive motorsport ‘It did not fail’: W Series enters administration Raul Torras Martinez: Spanish rider dies at Isle of Man TT

A summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and African leaders began in St. Petersburg on Thursday, with a far lower turnout than previous years.

Steve-O awkwardly had to correct an interview question on a new podcast appearance - by clarifying he was addicted to drugs, and not a popular soda drink. The Jackass star appeared on Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO, where he spoke about his addiction to getting attention, and drug addiction. Reading out an interview from 2007, Bartlett noted that Steve-O was 'living off Diet Coke, booze, and nitrous'. The stuntman quickly quipped back: "Not Diet Coke, a diet of cocaine...it's called psychosis and it's a fascinating thing". Click here to sign up for our newsletters

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 20, 2023--

Dame Helen Mirren will walk the runway alongside models including Kendall Jenner and actors Viola Davis and Elle Fanning at a special fashion show under the Eiffel Tower in Paris

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 5, 2023--

'The View’ Season 27 is scheduled to premiere on September 5, and the co-hosts have begun wrapping up their summer vacations

TL;DR: As of October 9, get Windows 10 Pro for just $29.97 — an 84%