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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 EDITORS: EMBARGOED UNTIL SUNDAY, MARCH 19 - - - PITTSBURGH - During every Adam Sandler stand-up show, he straps on his electric guitar and sings a song. Unlike the bite-size ditties he's peppered through the set about selfies or baggy shorts, this one concerns his late, great "Saturday Night Live" buddy, Chris Farley. It is a perfect tribute. Sandler, singing softly as he strums in G, captures the complicated beauty of Farley as clips of his most memorable high jinks play on a giant screen behind him. The crowd roars as he references Farley's electrifying SNL turns as a Chippendales dancer and a motivational speaker "living in a van down by the river." There is a hush as Sandler slips into the bridge, a peek into his friend's vulnerability. "I saw him in the office, crying with his headphones on "Listening to a KC and the Sunshine Band song "I said, 'Buddy, how the hell is … [Read more...] about Adam Sandler doesn’t need your respect. He just wants to make you laugh.

Listen to this article Revealed last year during the Austrian Grand Prix, MotoGP is making the most radical format shake-up to a race weekend for decades in 2023. On the Saturday of all 21 rounds this season, a sprint race running to half the distance of the main grand prix will take place. It is a format tweak that is set to have major ramifications on the destiny of the 2023 world championship. Ahead of this weekend's first round of the season in Portugal, here is everything you need to know about MotoGP sprint races. Why is MotoGP running sprint races? Alex Rins, Team Suzuki MotoGP leads at the start Photo by: Dorna MotoGP is currently trying to re-position itself in the motorsport landscape amidst a drop in interest in the series. The series tried to boost this by releasing a behind-the-scenes docuseries entitled MotoGP Unlimited on Amazon Prime in March. But the series was deemed a failure and a second season of it was shelved not long into filming. … [Read more...] about MotoGP sprint races: Everything you need to know

After Liberty Media took over Formula 1 at the end of 2016 it installed former team principal Ross Brawn in charge of the series. Reinvigorating what had become an increasingly uncompetitive championship ranked highly among his priorities. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The new owners ousted Bernie Ecclestone, whose favourable commercial deals with F1’s top teams ensured the richest outfits received the greatest financial rewards, which in turn guaranteed their continued success and gradually eliminated competition for the top places. Changing that deeply entrenched advantage would prove an enormous challenge. After Liberty Media’s first two seasons in charge, Brawn reflected that the domination of F1’s podium positions by Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari had only been broken on two occasions in that time. “ Two podiums from a total of 123 is unacceptable ,” he said. “Especially when it comes with an ever-increasing technical and financial divide. … [Read more...] about Red Bull’s dominance risks triggering the reaction they are anxious to avoid · RaceFans

If a single 2018 incident demonstrated just how disjointed Formula 1 has become, it was the Haas versus Force India protest filed late on Thursday in Abu Dhabi. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Significantly, the protest came within F1 hours of scrutineering and ahead of the season’s final championship round. Also crucial to proceedings is that Abu Dhabi steward Garry Connelly also officiated in Belgium, where Racing Point Force India was declared a new team holding a new entrant license. Thus there was no cause to postpone or reconvene the matter at a later date, enabling both the hearing and the crucial (and expected) outcome – namely that the Force India cars were legal – to be handed ahead of FP3 on Saturday. However, Force India’s victory actually represents a defeat as we outlined here immediately after verdict. The road map of the mess F1 found itself in has been detailed in these pages since Force India plunged into administration at end-July. But … [Read more...] about Haas’s protest a legacy of F1’s missing Concorde Agreement – RaceFans

W Series, the new championship targeted exclusively at female racing drivers, has confirmed an initial list of 55 drivers it says are eligible for its first season of racing. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The series received over 100 applications for the 18 places in the championship. The 55 chosen drivers will under three days of testing including assessments of their driver and fitness. Former F1 drivers David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz and former McLaren racing director Dave Ryan are among those who will be involved in the judging process. W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir said they are “thrilled but perhaps not surprised by the response. “Even today there is a massive gender imbalance in motorsport and W Series is making the first step to correct that. Drivers from all over the world have stepped forward, so it’s clear that with the right framework we can make the changes this sport desperately needs.” The list features drivers from 26 … [Read more...] about W Series names 55 eligible drivers for inaugural 2019 season – RaceFans

Formula 1’s governing body does not agreement from teams to impose changes to the rules for the 2021 season. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Approval from the Strategy Group and F1 Commission is needed to ratify rule changes for seasons prior to 2021. But as F1’s commercial agreements will expire at the end of 2020, that governance structure does not apply to subsequent seasons. Therefore the FIA can impose changes for 2021 without the approval of teams. This includes the switch to 18-inch wheels, as FIA race director Charlie Whiting confirmed when asked by RaceFans. “That’s part of the regulation package for 2021,” Whiting confirmed. “It doesn’t have to go through the Formula One commission because it’s for 2021.” Asked whether that means the FIA has a “free hand” when it comes to determining F1’s future rules, Whiting said: “We have – there’s no need for regulations to go through the Strategy Group because that governance expires. We don’t have a new … [Read more...] about FIA can bypass teams to impose new 2021 F1 rules · RaceFans

In the round-up: Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the team is now dedicating its development effort to its new car for the 2019 F1 season . Become a RaceFans Supporter and go ad-free RaceFans operates thanks in part to the support of its readers. In order to help fund the development and growth of the site please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter. For just £1 per month/£12 per year you will also be upgraded to an ad-free account. Sign up and find out more below: Become a RaceFans Supporter RaceFans Supporter FAQ What they say Steiner was asked whether the team had decided to switch its focus to its car for next year. We decided. We are doing the ’19 car. We have to because otherwise you fall too far behind. And also when you look at our car now in the midfield we are quite solid so it’s no point to keep on working on this one because we have to look at the future. We make developments and we will bring them to the car in the next races. They … [Read more...] about RaceFans round-up: Haas switches car development focus to 2019

Brendon Hartley has found it difficult to adapt to Formula 1’s high degradation tyres after racing in the World Endurance Championship, according to his Toro Rosso team boss. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Franz Tost said Hartley, whose place at the team next year has not been confirmed, struggled with his tyres during his mammoth 53-lap stint on super-softs in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “Brendon started the race on the ultra-softs as we decided to put him on an alternate strategy to Pierre [Gasly] . Unfortunately, he was caught in the middle of the first lap accident in turn eight, so we had to call him in to change his front wing much earlier than planned. “Then he started to struggle with his rear tyres because of overheating and he ended up finishing in 12th position, out of the points. Of course it wasn’t easy to come here from LMP1, it’s always a challenge to get familiar with everything in Formula 1 and especially tyre management is a big task … [Read more...] about Hartley had difficulty adjusting from LMP1 to F1 – Tost · RaceFans

Last week Formula One drivers had their first taste of a radical new generation of engines. But while much attention has been focused on the downsizing of engines from normally aspirated V8s to turbocharged V6s, the introduction of more powerful and complex energy recovery systems will have the biggest effect on driving technique. The internal engine plus its heat and electrical energy recovery systems are collectively known as the power unit [PU]. The car’s electronics have to continually balance performance against economy as a driver varies his demands for acceleration over the course of a lap. The upshot of this is that when a driver puts his foot to the floor at the exit of a corner, he may not get all the power his internal combustion engine has to offer. “Full throttle no longer means a demand for full engine power,” explained Renault’s technical director for new generation power units Naoki Tokunaga. “It is an indication to the PU given by the driver to go as fast as … [Read more...] about Why ‘full throttle’ doesn’t mean ‘full power’ any more · RaceFans