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Max Verstappen seizes victory in F1 Sprint at Austrian GP, but Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris made him earn it max,verstappen,seizes,victory,in,f,sprint,at,austrian,gp,but,oscar,piastri,and,lando,norris,made,him,earn,it,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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For the opening laps of Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race at the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s rear-view mirrors matched the color that filled the grandstands at the Red Bull Ring.

A whole lot of orange.

That orange in Verstappen’s rear-view mirrors, of course, was the color of both Oscar Piastri’s MCL38 and that of Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris. Over the first few laps of the race Norris was right on Verstappen’s rear wing, and the British driver managed to overtake Verstappen for the lead.

But only for a moment, because Verstappen took the lead back, and the battle between the two friends opened the door for Piastri to execute his attack, and when the dust settled it was Verstappen up in P1, with Piastri in second ahead of his teammate Norris:

And that is how the field finished, with Verstappen pulling away from the two McLarens at the end to capture victory in the F1 Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen once again handled the challenges that the field offered up to him, specifically the dual MCL38s of Piastri and Norris, fending them off as he has done so many times before throughout his already legendary Formula 1 career. His effort on Saturday showed that Verstappen remains in control when it comes to the Drivers’ Championship, as he gained two more points on Norris, his closest challenger.

But when it comes to the Constructors’ Championship, as we will discuss in a moment this was a solid session for McLaren. Verstappen and Red Bull remain the favorites in that fight as well, but the Woking-based team is coming, and coming fast. As Norris noted when speaking trackside with Alex Wurz, they could have even more for Red Bull on Sunday. “We’re there, and we can definitely give them a fight tomorrow,” said Norris after the F1 Sprint Race.

Whether Verstappen and Red Bull can fend them off in that Constructors’ fight is a much more open question.

Here are some quick winners and losers, as well as the full results, from Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Winners: McLaren

Lando Norris led Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race for a brief moment, but the big points are handed out on Sunday.

And given where McLaren finished today — with Piastri in second and Norris behind him in third — the team is primed for an even bigger Grand Prix after what Norris called a “good load of points” in the F1 Sprint Race.

Norris’ late lunge by Verstappen will give his friend and budding rival a lot to think about in the overnight hours, which could create even more opportunities should the two lock horns again in the Grand Prix. But perhaps more importantly for McLaren is the fact that both Norris and Piastri demonstrated impressive race pace throughout the F1 Sprint on Saturday. Getting both Piastri and Norris on the podium saw McLaren add another 13 points to their account, inching them closer to both Ferrari and Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.

Piastri noted that haul when speaking with Alex Wurz trackside after the sprint. “Yeah, some things to look out for this afternoon and for tomorrow’s race, but we’ll definitely take the points,” described Piastri. “A really good haul compared to the other teams around us.”

All told, the 13 points for McLaren moved them four points closer to Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings, and seven points closer to second-place Ferrari. Those might not seem like massive numbers — and again the big points are handed on on Sunday — but in an F1 season that is looking tighter than ever, every single point counts.

Losers: Alpine

Both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly advanced to SQ3, and after a failure for Charles Leclerc in the closing minutes of that segment of F1 Sprint Qualifying, both Alpine drivers qualified ahead of Leclerc, putting Alpine in a position for points on Saturday.

They saw the session end without anything to show for their effort.

Both Alpines were shuffled back in the order, with Ocon coming across the line 11th and Gasly behind him in 12th. That might signal that when it comes to longer runs and race pace, Alpine still has some questions to answer.

In addition, there were a few close calls between the teammates as they wound around Red Bull Ring, moments that probably saw Team Principal Bruno Famin’s heart rate spike a bit, given what happened at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix just a few short weeks ago.

Those moments also led to the producers on F1TV cutting to Famin watching on … with Jack Doohan alongside him.

Make of that what you will.

Winner: Charles Leclerc

Starting tenth was not the way Charles Leclerc wanted to begin his F1 Sprint Race.

But given where he began, finishing seventh — and inside the points — was an impressive performance.

During the third segment of qualifying for the F1 Sprint Race on Friday, Leclerc’s SF-24 went into anti-stall along pit lane, costing him precious moments as the seconds ticked down. Leclerc was able to get his car rolling and onto the circuit, but he could not post a lap in time, and as a result, started outside the points on Saturday.

Despite that, Leclerc rocketed off the line after the lights went out, picking up multiple spots to work inside the top eight. Among those he was able to overtake? Sergio Pérez in the RB20.

That might speak volumes about what we see on Sunday.

As for what we might see this afternoon, however, a seemingly frustrated Leclerc hinted at some more aggression regarding the upcoming qualifying session:

h boy …

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon in ‘good position’ heading into F1 Sprint at Austrian GP pierre,gasly,and,esteban,ocon,in,good,position,heading,into,f,sprint,at,austrian,gp,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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Friday was another positive session, with more evidence of progress, for Alpine.

Amidst the picturesque backdrop provided by the Styrian mountains, 20 Formula 1 cars roared to life on Friday at Red Bull Ring, as qualifying for tomorrow’s F1 Sprint Race was on the schedule. Once again Alpine saw both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon advance into the third and final segment of qualifying, as both drivers moved out of SQ2 and into SQ3.

While thoughts of an even bigger surprise were quashed there, as Ocon qualified eighth and Gasly ninth, the result was hailed by the team as even more evidence that they are making progress this F1 season.

“I’m happy to have reached SQ3 today and starting in eighth place for tomorrow,” said Ocon in the team’s post-session media report. “Again, we reached the top ten in Qualifying as a team, which is another good performance. SQ3 was far from straightforward as we were at the back of the queue.

“We probably got a little fortunate with Charles [Leclerc] missing the flag at the end and gained a position as a result,” added Ocon. “Even so, the positive is we performed well and we are in a good position in the Sprint Race. We still have work to do and things to understand but it’s pleasing to be heading in a good direction.”

Leclerc’s SF-24 stopped on pit lane with just minutes remaining in SQ3 and while the Ferrari driver was able to get it started and onto the track, he could not post a time during SQ3 and will start the F1 Sprint Race in P10.

On the other side of the garage, Gasly pointed to the improved pace from the A524 as a “good sign” for tomorrow.

“It was a good Sprint Qualifying for the team overall today with both cars reaching SQ3,” described Gasly, who earlier this week announced a new “multi-year” deal with Alpine. “We managed SQ1 and SQ2 well, showed good pace and we progressed through both sessions. We certainly did not [maximize] SQ3. It was a messy one and I did not get a proper push lap. These are things we will review as we always aim to [maximize] all sessions and get the most from it.

“Even so, we had good pace again today – that is pleasing – and again we are inside the top ten. Those cars ahead of us are quick and only the top eight score in the Sprint Race tomorrow. It will not be easy to pick up points but we will try our best and see what we can achieve.”

Thanks to their recent form — Alpine has picked up six points over the last two race weekends — the team has climbed to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship. Coming into the Austrian Grand Prix one of the major storylines was whether Alpine could keep that recent run of form going.

They are certainly off to a good start.

F1 Sprint Qualifying results: Max Verstappen thunders past Lando Norris at Red Bull Ring f,sprint,qualifying,results,max,verstappen,thunders,past,lando,norris,at,red,bull,ring,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

F1 Sprint Qualifying results Max Verstappen thunders past Lando Norris
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The roar told the story

Following the checkered flag in SQ3, it looked as if McLaren had locked out the front row. Oscar Piastri put his MCL38 on provisional pole with a banger of a lap, only to see Lando Norris nip him with a thunderous lap of his own.

But on the track, Max Verstappen was looming.

The Dutch driver was screaming around Red Bull Ring, pushing his RB20 to the ultimate edge. And as he cut the line with his own final push lap in SQ3, you did not need to look at the timing boards to see the result.

You just needed to hear the crowd.

The Red Bull-friendly crowd roared to life as Verstappen’s lap rocketed him to the top of the timing sheets, securing yet another pole position for one of the sport’s greatest drivers. The sea of orange in the crowd roared to life, and the orange flares overcame the mass of humanity watching on.

Their hero had done it yet again.

”Everything has been working really well. Good start to the weekend, I’m happy with today,” said Verstappen to Davide Valsecchi trackside.

Asked about the threat Norris could pose, Verstappen was his usual calm, cool, and collected self.

“I mean, we’ll find out tomorrow,” began Verstappen. “I’m not really too stressed about it. I’m gonna enjoy my eventing and we’ll try it again tomorrow.”

And if today’s performance from Verstappen is any indication, he might enjoy his day tomorrow as well.

Here are more winners and losers from F1 Sprint Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, as well as the full results:

Winner: Logan Sargeant

Logan Sargeant was eventually eliminated in SQ2 and will start the F1 Sprint Race in P15. In addition, what might have been a lap that put him into SQ3 was deleted due to exceeding track limits. “I didn’t get T1 and T3 right,” admitted Sargeant after SQ2.

But this was still a win for the American driver, who is facing a very uncertain future in the sport.

Sargeant advanced into SQ2, ahead of teammate Alexander Albon. It was the first time in his F1 career that he qualified ahead of Albon, marking a personal achievement for the Williams driver.

This might not be enough to save Sargeant’s spot at Williams, given the speculation about options such as Carlos Sainz Jr. for the team starting in 2025, but this could be a sign that Sargeant is continuing to improve his racecraft. Performances such as this could see Sargeant emerge as an option elsewhere if Williams truly moves in a different direction for 2025 as is expected.

Loser: Daniel Ricciardo

Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

With the caveat that this is just F1 Sprint Qualifying and the big points are still to come this weekend, if you are Daniel Ricciardo this is not how you want the week to start.

The Austrian Grand Prix began with rumors swirling regarding Ricciardo’s future in the sport, with Dr. Helmut Marko outlining how the command could come from on high to put Liam Lawson into a seat at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team and noted F1 journalist Joe Saward speculating that such a move could happen this summer. That led to Ricciardo himself addressing his uncertain future during media day Thursday, with an acknowledgment that he needed improved performance to solidify his spot at VCARB.

Being eliminated in SQ1 — and seeing Yuki Tsunoda advance into SQ2 — is not the start to the weekend you want if you are Ricciardo.

Again, there is a lot of time left on the track this weekend, and the big points start coming on Saturday with qualifying for the Grand Prix. But Ricciardo needs to step up his game if he is going to keep his spot, something the driver himself admitted on Thursday.

Winners: Alpine

The progress continues over at Alpine.

Yet again both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly advanced into the final segment of qualifying, with both drivers moving into SQ3 on Friday. While both Alpine drivers finished at the back of that group — with Ocon set to start the F1 Sprint Race in P8 and Gasly back in P9 — it is another sign that the team is moving in the right direction.

Sure, you can point to the fact that the only driver they beat in SQ3 was Charles Leclerc, who did not post a time due to a stall on pit lane shortly before the session ended, but you can also point to how close Ocon was to Sergio Pérez on merit. The Red Bull driver posted a 1:06.008 in SQ3, while Ocon posted a 1:06.101.

That is not a large margin at all.

Alpine has been talking about progress for weeks now, starting with their first point of the season at the Miami Grand Prix. But the progress is truly taking shape with their recent results, as they scored double-points finishes in each of the last two weekends. Given where Ocon and Gasly start tomorrow, they have a chance to keep that streak alive.

Something unimaginable when the season began, given how they started the 2024 campaign.

Loser: Charles Leclerc

Generally speaking, you want to put in your best push lap at the absolute end of a session, because the track will have “rubbered in” as much as possible, leading to the best possible time.

That led to an amusing situation during SQ3 as the session began, and the final ten waited in their respective garages. As the clock ticked down, some drivers, such as George Russell, started to get impatient, with Russell saying to his team “we need to get on with it” before the session came to a close.

Eventually the ten drivers lumbered out of the garage, but unfortunately for Charles Leclerc, his SF-24 went through an anti-stall as he rode down pit lane. While Leclerc was able to get his car going again, he could not get his push lap started before the checkered flag flew, and he ended up not posting a time.

That means he will start the F1 Sprint Race down in P10.

Leclerc can still make up some spots on the grid in the F1 Sprint Race itself, and perhaps salvage a result on Saturday. But he will be fighting at the back end of the points to start, and not up front where he wanted to be.

Winners: McLaren

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Previews

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images

Following the Monaco Grand Prix, it looked as if the potential fight at the top of the Constructors’ Championship was a two-way fight between Red Bull and Ferrari.

Since then, McLaren has crashed the party.

And then some.

Friday’s F1 Sprint Qualifying session showed again that McLaren has true pace this season, and for a moment it looked as if the front row would be all orange when the F1 Sprint Race began tomorrow. Lando Norris was on provisional pole, with Oscar Piastri right beside him.

As he has done so many times before Max Verstappen answered that challenge, rocketing to the top of the timing sheets, but when the lights go out tomorrow two McLarens will be at the front once more, with a chance to bring home some critical points in that three-way fight.

Furthermore, given where Ferrari finds themselves on the grid for tomorrow’s Sprint Race, McLaren has a chance to pull even closer to the Scuderia in the standings.

Zooming out for a moment, the pace from the MCL38 we have seen today illustrates that yet again, Norris could be primed to challenge Verstappen in the Austrian Grand Prix itself. That story has yet to be told, and tomorrow’s Qualifying session could provide more twists and turns, but McLaren has certainly put themselves in the mix given their recent form, and today’s F1 Sprint Qualifying session is just the latest evidence of that fact.

Losers: Sauber

The tough times roll on for Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

Both drivers were eliminated in SQ1 on Friday, with Bottas finishing P18 and Zhou at the back of the field, in P20.

Sauber is still seeking their first point of the 2024 F1 season, and given where they are set to start the F1 Sprint Race on Saturday, it seems apparent that the first result will not come in that event.

More worrisome might be the lack of pace they showed in both SQ1 as well as Friday’s only practice session, which saw Zhou in P14 and Bottas in P15. That was not enough to get them into SQ2, and that pace could see them struggle again in qualifying for the Grand Prix itself.

ESPN reporter fires back at Bronny James nepotism complaints: ‘The NBA is full of nepotism’ espn,reporter,fires,back,at,bronny,james,nepotism,complaints,the,nba,is,full,of,nepotism,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-draft,draftkings,dot-com-grid-coverage

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As expected, the topic of nepotism came up during the broadcast of the 2024 NBA Draft as the inevitable selection of Bronny James by the Los Angeles Lakers neared. And with Bronny’s agent, Rich Paul, reportedly telling any team trying to draft him that LeBron James’ son will play in Australia if he’s selected against his will, it’s no surprise that some unfamiliar with how common that specific agent tactic is would get upset.

But NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski had a message for viewers watching ESPN at home: Anyone crying about nepotism influencing the Bronny pick should turn their eye to the entire league, not just LeBron James, Bronny and the Lakers.

Woj is right. From Thanasis Antetokounmpo with the Bucks to Chris Smith with the Knicks back in the day, one can argue there are plenty of cases of NBA roster spots throughout history going to a slightly less talented player as a favor to keep their more heralded sibling happy. And it’s not just rosters: NBA coaching staffs are littered with sons of current or former head coaches (or even players’ fathers), and front offices frequently populated with the progeny of previous execs… not to mention, often, the owners’ kids as well.

Plus, it’s not like Bronny is totally unqualified. Previous to the cardiac arrest he suffered in 2023, he was widely mocked as a first-round pick, or even a lottery selection. And even after a mostly underwhelming season at USC, our own Ricky O’Donnell still gave the Lakers’ selection of him a B grade:

James’ freshman year at USC started with a terrifying heart episode early in the offseason, and he never really found his footing after that. James is short for a guard at 6’1.5 barefoot, but he has long arms, a strong chest, and a good mentality for a role player. James isn’t a big scorer, but he fights for loose balls, defends bigger players, and spaces the floor as a three-point shooter. He needs to shoot it at a high level to stick in the NBA, but he’s shown enough at the high school level at Sierra Canyon to have a chance to stick.

None of this is to say nepotism is good. It’s just to say that this situation is only exceptional nepotism by NBA standards in one sense: We’ve literally never seen an NBA player good enough, for long enough, to not only play with or against their son, but to be talented enough still to push their team to draft him.

But while LeBron and Bronny are 1/1 in that respect, family members helping each other get jobs in the NBA, either on a roster or in the coaching and executive ranks? That’s nothing new, so we shouldn’t act like it is.

What’s the Bills’ plan at receiver without Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis? what,s,the,bills,plan,at,receiver,without,stefon,diggs,and,gabe,davis,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

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The Buffalo Bills will roll into 2024 without their starting wide receiver tandem and team captains from last season, Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. As head coach Sean McDermott put it on the Centered on Buffalo Podcast, the Buffalo Bills’ WR room will have a “different vibe for sure”. With superstar QB Josh Allen manning the helm, some new faces are bound to emerge as Buffalo’s top-receiving threats. As training camp approaches, fans and analysts alike are eager to see who will rise to the occasion and become key contributors in their revamped receiving corps.

Let’s set the table with where the receiver corps stands now and how it’s changed since the end of the 2023 season.

Key Departures

Stefon Diggs
Buffalo’s former bona fide number-one receiver leaves behind a massive hole after averaging 111.25 receptions, 1343 receiving yards, and 9.25 TDs during his four seasons in Buffalo. He was traded to the Houston Texans.

Gabe Davis
A former fourth-round draft pick developed into the number-two option in the Bills’ offense but never eclipsed the 1000-yard mark in any season. “Big Game Gabe” was known for his propensity to show up when it mattered most, but now he’s with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Key Additions

Curtis Samuel
The seven-year veteran was signed to a three-year contract via free agency by the Buffalo Bills this offseason. Samuel has electric speed and some big play juice that Buffalo’s offense has been searching for.

Keon Coleman
Coleman was Buffalo’s top selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. The rookie gives the Bills a new flavor in their WR room and gives Allen a big target to “play above the rim”.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Buffalo swiped a WR away from their nemesis by signing MVS to a one-year contract via free agency. The speedster figures to add depth and a big play threat for Allen to heave the ball to.

Key Returners

Kahlil Shakir
Shakir is the incumbent starting slot WR for the Bills, however, I would expect to see him used on the outside, as well. From Week 8 to the end of the 2023 season, Shakir outpaced Stefon Diggs in receiving yards, and he did it with half of the targets Diggs had. Shakir enters 2024 as one of Allen’s favorite options.

What’s the Bills’ game plan at receiver?

With two big names out and an influx of new faces, the Bills offense will face a significant transition this offseason as they look for solutions to revamp their passing offense. Bills general manager Brandon Beane has certainly brought in a variety of options to find the right fit, but will it be enough? Let’s explore the potential game plans for the Bills’ new-look passing offense in 2024.

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It may be concerning to some that Josh Allen doesn’t have a proven number-one WR to throw the ball to, but Beane doesn’t necessarily feel that way. In a recent interview with Go Long, he said, “Don’t get too caught up in, ‘You don’t have a No. 1 wide receiver.’ Let’s look at it as a whole, and remember that different guys bring different skill sets.”

The downside of not having a true “number one” wide receiver is that Allen won’t have a reliable security blanket to fall back on. However, the upside is equally valuable: Allen will have the freedom to go through his progressions and find the open receiver without worrying about forcing targets for Stefon Diggs.

I’m convinced that the Bills are building a receiving corps with diverse skill sets to exploit mismatches across the field. They’ve acquired special talents at wide receiver, and their pass-catching options at running back and tight end are formidable as well. Here is what some of the specialty skill sets look like when you put it all together:

  • Kahlil Shakir: Rising talent, do-it-all all guy, can be used anywhere on the field
  • Keon Coleman: Jump ball monster, big target, red zone threat
  • Curtis Samuel: Gadget guy for jet sweeps and screens, big-play threat, run after catch
  • Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Deep threat, quality depth, played in big games
  • Dalton Kincaid: Big slot, gets open over the middle, mismatch nightmare
  • Dawson Knox: Good blocker, tough to bring down, great rapport with Allen
  • James Cook: Athletic receiving asset out of the backfield, mismatch against linebackers

Tight ends need love too

“I read the rules, it’s legal to throw it to a tight end”, Beane told Go Long. The Bills boast one of the best tight end duos in the league with veteran Dawson Knox and former first-round pick Dalton Kincaid. With the wide receiver room only featuring one player who has caught a pass from Josh Allen in Shakir, the Bills will rely on their tight end duo for production due to their established chemistry with Allen. Last season, Kincaid was third in receiving yards on the team and had the second-most targets. Head coach Sean McDermott said on the Centered on Buffalo Podcast that Kincaid is, “going to be primed for a great season and that rapport with Josh is going to be critical for us”.

New top dog

With Diggs gone, someone will need to step up and take over the “top dog” wide receiver spot. While that remains to be seen, the Bills’ top draft pick, Keon Coleman, seems like a strong contender. Brandon Beane highlighted Coleman’s potential with Go Long, saying, “He’s got play speed. I saw him live at LSU. He caught a skinny post, made a guy miss, split the safeties, and took it in. And you saw his athletic ability returning punts. You don’t see 6’3, 6’4 guys that are able to track, bend, and adjust.”

The rookie receiver faces an uphill battle to become a prominent force in the Bills’ offense, but the recent success of rookie WRs in the NFL gives the Bills hope that he can contribute sooner rather than later.

While Coleman is a solid candidate to become the Bills’ number one WR, he might not be the most likely. Shakir flourished in the second half of 2023 and is a sneaky candidate for a classic third-year breakout. Plays like his playoff TD against the Steelers should be an exciting sign of things to come. Don’t overlook him when drafting your fantasy team this year, as there’s little holding him back from exploding onto the scene next season.

Wild cards

As previously mentioned, the Bills have brought in a variety of options at wide receiver through free agency and the NFL Draft, but they also have some deep sleeper options to consider. The Bills took a chance on two former second-round receivers, K.J. Hamler and Chase Claypool. Both have shown flashes of brilliance, though their careers have fizzled out.

Additionally, Justin Shorter is still lurking in the weeds. After being drafted by the Bills in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Shorter had to sit out the entire season on IR. The former 5-star recruit looks like a WR built in a lab, but his potential has yet to translate to the football field.

These three wild cards will have their opportunity to earn a spot on the Bills’ roster, though their chances are slim. Yet, if one of these reclamation projects succeeds and contributes, the Bills’ WR room could unexpectedly surpass its 2023 performance.

The mix of seasoned veterans, a promising rookie, and potential reclamation projects will make for an exciting and unpredictable offensive dynamic. The stage is set for a reconstructed receiving corps that is poised to redefine the Bills’ passing game, ushering in a new era of success.

Helmut Marko hints at F1 return for Liam Lawson at VCARB helmut,marko,hints,at,f,return,for,liam,lawson,at,vcarb,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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Could Liam Lawson be headed back to the Formula 1 grid for the 2025 season?

According to recent comments from Red Bull Senior Advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, that could indeed be the case, leaving veteran driver Daniel Ricciardo on the outside looking in.

Speaking with Austrian outlet Kleine Zeitung ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Marko indicated that a move in a younger direction at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team may be coming down from on high. “The shareholders have made it clear that [VCARB] is a junior team and we have to act accordingly,” said the Red Bull advisor.

That could very well mean that Ricciardo is out, and Lawson is in, for 2025.

“The aim was for Ricciardo to qualify for a return to Red Bull Racing with exceptional performances. That seat now belongs to Sergio Perez, so that plan is off the table. We will have to put in a young driver soon,” continued Marko. “That would be Liam Lawson.”

The comments come not only days ahead of the F1 Austrian Grand Prix, but a week after Ricciardo himself indicated that he wanted to “earn” his spot at VCARB for next season. Speaking at the FIA Press Conference in Barcelona ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, Ricciardo said that “I also said, I think, before the weekend in Canada that, you know, I obviously want to earn it … I obviously want to be here because I know that I still belong here and can do can do performances like I did last week. So it’s also up to me just to make sure that I can keep pulling it out. And in that case, then I’ll be very happy to stay.”

However, the orders form shareholders referred to by Marko, as well as a clause in Lawson’s contract that allows him to seek a seat elsewhere and leave Red Bull if he does not have a ride with the team, could force the organization’s hand. With the 2025 driver lineup remaining unsettled and a number of open seats available on the grid, Lawson could find more than a few potential suitors for next year should VCARB decide to retain Ricciardo.

What might that mean for Ricciardo if this is indeed the path Red Bull and VCARB take? As noted above there are still available seats for 2025, and Ricciardo remains a marketable driver with a resume that includes Grand Prix victories and recent strong performances at both VCARB and AlphaTauri a season ago. If that is not enough to keep him at VCARB, could it be enough for another team to give him a shot for next year?

Update: And now there is even more fuel to the “Lawson to VCARB” fire, with longtime and respected F1 journalist Joe Saward indicating that Lawson could be in Ricciardo’s seat before the end of the season.

Before the end of the summer, in fact:

We will know soon enough.

Presidents Cup: An early look at Team USA, one epic hot take presidents,cup,an,early,look,at,team,usa,one,epic,hot,take,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,presidents-cup-golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news,liv-golf

Presidents Cup An early look at Team USA one epic
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Welcome to Playing Through’s new morning ritual: Golf Talk Today.

Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, in which the crew will discuss various elements of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and other professional golf tournaments.

Today begins a way too early discussion about the 2024 Presidents Cup. Team USA will travel to the Royal Montreal Golf Club from Sept. 24 to 29 to take on Team International.

Professional golf will get another trip to Canada in 2024 after a widely successful RBC Canadian Open. The golf fans in the Great White North do not disappoint, but will it be too much of a home event for the Americans?

In 2022, Team USA won its ninth consecutive Presidents Cup 17.5-12.5, improving to 12-1-1 all-time in this competition. While the Presidents Cup does not have as long a history as its fellow biennial Ryder Cup event, it still draws in crowds.

This year’s Team USA captain is Jim Furyk, and the International captain is Mike Weir.

There are six American PGA Tour players that qualify through points, per the Presidents Cup website. It did not mention LIV golf players because they were denied qualification last year. Various events receive points in the qualifying standings. Furyk will also get six captain picks.

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Current Team USA Presidents Cup standings

*as of June 26, 2024, (points)

1: Scottie Scheffler: 12,734
2: Xander Schauffele: 7,142
3: Collin Morikawa: 5,513
4: Wyndham Clark: 5,121
5: Patrick Cantlay: 4,356
6: Sahith Theegala: 4,235

*On the outside looking in:

7: Tony Finau: 3,780
8: Max Homa: 3,772
9: Brian Harman: 3,669
10: Chris Kirk: 3,265
11: Russell Henley: 3,235
12: Sam Burns: 3,160
13: Akshay Bhatia: 3,102
14: Justin Thomas: 2,918

Scottie Scheffler holds a commanding lead in the standings. After six PGA Tour victories this season, he has all but officially secured his spot.

Many of the Ryder Cup team members from Rome could see themselves in Canada.

However, will Furyk take a similar approach to Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson?

A later Golf Talk Today will feature a more detailed discussion about who Furyk should have on his team.

Team USA Presidents Cup hot take

This take will be short and sweet.

Bryson DeChambeau should easily be on Team USA for the Presidents Cup.

Despite playing for LIV Golf, DeChambeau finished inside the top 10 in two majors and won the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. He is playing phenomenally right now, and the former SMU golfer will be a great addition.

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Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

Austrian Grand Prix: Haas hoping to return to the points at Red Bull Ring austrian,grand,prix,haas,hoping,to,return,to,the,points,at,red,bull,ring,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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Haas last added to their account in the F1 Sprint Race at the Miami Grand Prix, when Nico Hülkenberg parlayed a tenth-place finish in qualifying for the F1 Sprint Race into a seventh-place result in the F1 Sprint Race itself, earning two critical points for the team.

With Formula 1 returning to the F1 Sprint format this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix, can Haas return to the points?

It has been a difficult stretch for the team since Miami, with their best chance for points coming in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. That weekend saw Hülkenberg qualify tenth, but he finished in P11, one spot out of the points. Since then they have been left on the outside looking in, including a double DNF in Monaco due to an opening-lap collision involving Sergio Pérez.

Their recent struggles opened the door for Alpine, whose own success the past few weeks — with six points over two race weekends — has seen the French outfit climb above them in the Constructors’ Championship standings. Alpine now sits seventh in the table with eight points, one point — and place — ahead of Haas with seven points.

As Haas heads to Red Bull Ring along with the rest of the grid for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, they are hopeful that recent success at that circuit will aid their quest for points.

“It’s a short track that packs in a lot of fun,” said Hülkenberg in the team’s media preview. “The length of the circuit means it bunches us all up over qualifying, which is a challenge, but we have two opportunities as it’s a Sprint. Last year I scored points around the Red Bull Ring, so I know it can be done, and we want to be back scoring points, so that’s the mission in Spielberg.”

On the other side of the garage Kevin Magnussen — who is hoping to have his F1 future resolved “soon” — is wary that the many high-speed corners in Austria could pose a problem for the team’s VF-24.

“It’s a fun track; I’ve got some good memories from the Red Bull Ring, that’s where we’ve had our best team result so I’m looking forward to going there again,” described Magnussen. “We have quite an efficient car so hopefully with our good straight-line speed we can be good there. There’s still a fair number of high-speed corners, which is perhaps not our strength, but we seem to be pretty consistently good at most tracks. I’m just looking forward to a fun Sprint weekend.”

Haas Race Engineer Mark Slade walked through the variety of corners Red Bull Ring offers, and how each may, or may not, suit the team’s challenger.

“One of the main things about the Red Bull Ring is that it’s a very short lap so it gets busy, particularly in practice and qualifying. It’s a nice mixture of low-, medium-, and high-speed corners, and obviously in a spectacular setting so it looks amazing, and it does provide quite a significant challenge for us when setting the car up,” described Slade. “We’ve had some issues with medium-speed corners, so we’re expecting to have to manage that, it’s going to be a challenge for us, but on the other hand in low-speed corners, we’ve generally been very good at them and we think we’ve taken a step forward in high-speed corners recently. We’ll see how we get on, but we’ve got a plan of course.”

While many teams have addressed the challenges a compressed F1 Sprint week puts in front of them, Slade outlined how for a team like Haas, there are added benefits to the condensed schedule.

“There is a lot of extra work for a Sprint, especially in amongst a triple-header, but it also makes it very interesting, it’s all a part of Formula 1,” said Slade. “You have to be realistic that you’re not going to be able to do everything you’d like to do with one practice session, so you have to pick the most important points that you think are relevant to getting the best out of the car in both the Sprint and the race and work to achieve those objectives – it’s a very compressed, highly edited run plan.

“The format of a Sprint is different from previous years, so you can afford to be a little bit more experimental in the Sprint race because points only go to eighth place, and realistically we’re chasing that last points-paying position so it means we can try things that we wouldn’t necessarily have tried, knowing we can change things for the race.”

Slade and the rest of the team get their first crack at Red Bull Ring this Friday.

Spanish Grand Prix: Frustration at Ferrari? spanish,grand,prix,frustration,at,ferrari,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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Frustration seemed the theme of the moment following the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.

Lando Norris was certainly among those drivers feeling some frustration. Despite his second-place finish, Norris was left to wonder what might have been after a slow start opened the door for Max Verstappen to capture yet another Grand Prix win. Speaking immediately after the race Norris told David Coulthard trackside that he “should have” won, and that frustration followed the McLaren driver to the FIA Press Conference, where he outlined how he had “the quickest car,” but did not do a “good enough” job in the race.

Norris was not the only driver frustrated.

Over at Ferrari, the frustration was evident in the words of both drivers. While the Scuderia bounced back with a double-points finish after coming away empty-handed in Montreal, scoring a P5 for Charles Leclerc and a P6 for Carlos Sainz Jr., they lacked the pace to challenge further up the field. Add to that an early-race incident between the teammates, and you have frustration, despite the double-points result.

The incident in question came on the fourth lap, and you can review it for yourself here:

Sainz, with DRS enabled, gets a good run on Leclerc down the long straight and into Turn 1 and then pulls out of the slipstream to the outside. Leclerc goes a bit wide to get defensive, but Sainz maintains his position on the outside racing line. That’s when the two SF-24s come together, with Leclerc making contact with the right rear of Sainz’s car.

In the moment Leclerc told his team that Sainz “closed on me,” while Sainz told his team that Leclerc “forced me off,” and that Leclerc’s contact with Sainz’s right rear tire was evidence that he was “clearly ahead.”

Following the race, both drivers addressed the incident in question.

“Too many times after the race he [Leclerc] complains about something. Honestly, at this point of the season, I was on the attack,” said Sainz to Sky Sports F1. “We were on a used soft [tire]. I passed Charles… I don’t know if he made a mistake or was just managing a bit too much. I think I was trying to do what was required as a driver. He elected to manage more.”

On the other side of the garage Leclerc initially downplayed the incident but then elaborated on why Sainz might have been pushing hard at that point of the race.

“It’s okay. We will have a discussion, obviously. I’m sure everything will be fine,” began Leclerc. “We discussed beforehand that it was the part of the race where we had to manage the [tires] as much as possible.”

The Monegasque driver then continued his assessment.

“Carlos took that opportunity to overtake, which is a shame as that put us on the back foot and damaged my front wing. It was a small damage but everything makes a difference. When you see how close we were at the end it’s a shame,” added Leclerc. “I understand it’s his home race and a very important moment of his career and he wanted to do something spectacular but I was probably not the right person to do that with.”

Leclerc then turned his frustration to the SF-24.

“We tried everything,” continued Leclerc. “I don’t think we maximised our race as a team. We are missing pace but it is the way it is. We weren’t fast enough.”

In the team’s post-race report both drivers, as well as Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, did their best to downplay the incident and turn their attention to the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix, which gets underway in less than a week.

“It was tight today and we were just a lap short of fighting for P4, but our competitors were still ahead in terms of pace. Regarding our strategy, I think we did well to offset ourselves from the cars around us,” said Sainz. “We maybe lost some time between our two cars at the beginning of the race, but going forward we will focus on our race pace extracting the maximum from our package at the next race.”

“It was a difficult race but we gave it our best. Stopping early and finishing the race on the Hard [tire] didn’t turn out to be the optimal strategy today, but we only know this with hindsight after the chequered flag,” reported Sainz. “In any case, we were lacking a bit of pace this weekend in general and we need to work to improve for next weekend in Austria.”

According to Vasseur, the problems began on Saturday, and the team needs to do a better job in qualifying going forward.

“We started five and six and ended five and six and the conclusion I draw from this is that we must do a better job in qualifying. We need to make a small step forward so that we don’t start behind, as this pushes you into taking risks with the strategy,” described Vasseur. “Yesterday the gap to those in front was about two-tenths, today it was similar and if you look at it over the race distance then that was still the same gap.

“As for the contact between our drivers, it was very light and I don’t think it cost us anything. What cost us more is that after our stops, we came out behind some cars, it was very tight and we lost two or three seconds. With Carlos we wanted to cover Russell, which is why we had to go Medium-Hard as we pitted earlier,” continued Vasseur. “With Charles the plan was to extend the stint to go a bit longer which is why we were able to try the Softs.”

The Ferrari boss is not prone to panicking and believes that Red Bull Ring will provide fertile ground for points next weekend.

“With such small gaps between the teams, everything can change: there are four teams in two to two and a half tenths so from track to track the pecking order can change,” concluded Vasseur. “Next week we race in Austria where we will have another Sprint and I expect the track layout there will suit us better.”

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Welcome to Playing Through’s new morning ritual: Golf Talk Today.

Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, in which the crew will discuss various elements of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and other professional golf tournaments.

The final round of the Travelers Championship is here, and to no one’s surprise, Scottie Scheffler is in contention. His best friend, Tom Kim, continues to hold the lead by one stroke, but will he be able to hold off the two-time Masters winner?

Sunday will look different. The PGA Tour moved up tee times for the final round and put the guys into threesomes. With bad weather lurking in the afternoon, the leaders will tee off at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Kim, Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia are in the last group of the day. Let’s discuss Championship Sunday.

Travelers Championship’s final round will be wild:

Saturday saw Cameron Young shoot a historical 59, but his play quickly got overshadowed by Scheffler, Kim, and Bhatia’s play.

He finished tied with Kim at 13-under, but by the end of Saturday’s round, he trailed by five shots.

The afternoon wave fought another weather delay, but that did not matter as the conditions were so soft.

While Kim played well the first three days, Scheffler and Bhatia also did well. They all shot 65 or better in the first three rounds.

Determining a winner on Sunday will likely come down to who can limit mistakes and sign for the most birdies.

Scheffler already has five victories in 2024. He won three Signature Events, the most recent being The Memorial, the 2024 Masters, and The Players.

Can he earn his fourth Signature Event win? Scheffler is so hard to beat right now, so it will be interesting to see if two young bucks like Kim and Bhatia can keep up.

Not to mention, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im and Tony Finau lurk in the groups ahead.

Scheffler did not play well at the U.S. Open, but his game returned to normal on Thursday. Regardless, Championship Sunday will be wild for the Travelers as records could get broken.

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Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.