When the Houston Texans play in prime time Thursday night, a rookie quarterback will take the snaps. Their superstar quarterback will be somewhere, we can assume, still on planet Earth but nowhere near NRG Stadium. Technically, Deshaun Watson could appear under center against the Carolina Panthers or in any other game this season. The league's inaction over the sexual misconduct and abuse allegations directed at Watson has made it possible for him to wear the coveted shield patch on an NFL jersey collar. While Watson, the fourth-highest-paid player in the most-watched American league, faces a criminal investigation and 22 civil lawsuits from women who claim he harassed or assaulted them during massages, the NFL sits and waits. Maybe for the conclusion of the league's own investigation into the matter, led by Lisa Friel, a former chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Maybe for a Harris County grand jury to determine whether there's …
Comments
Renault Nissan Merger Not Happening
Despite earlier reports that The Renault-Nissan Alliance could be set to get deeper by merging fully, Carlos Ghosn has shot down the possibility. Ghosn, who helms both companies, was previously thought to be overseeing a merger between the two giants, but he recently poured cold water over the suggestion, according to Reuters . "Anybody who will ask Nissan and Mitsubishi to become wholly owned subsidiaries of Renault has zero chance of getting a result," said Ghosn. His comments follow similar ones from Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa who said that a "full merger" was not being discussed, again, contrary to reports. More about the prospects of a merger: Renault Nissan Merger Will Not Happen Before 2020 Nissan And Renault Discussing Merger Into A Single New Company A lack of a merger between Renault and Nissan won't, however, spell the end of their partnership which has been in place since 1999 "We need to work together… to find a system by which what …
Perez: One-year F1 deal doesn’t heap extra pressure on me
The Mexican has had an up-and-down first season with Red Bull in 2021 as teammate to world championship challenger Max Verstappen. While his highlight was victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he has also endured his fair share of frustrations as he has had difficulties adapting to the unique handling characteristics of the RB16B. Although he has been retained by Red Bull for 2022, it is clear that AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly is pushing hard for an opportunity to return to the main team at some point in the future. For Perez, while the situation means he will need to perform at his best next year to stave off any chance of Gasly getting a second chance, he is clear that he has never let contractual matters impact the job he is doing on track. "It doesn't make any difference to me," he told Motorsport.com about having just a one-year deal. "Even if we are on longer contracts, we are still racing drivers and want to deliver weekend after weekend. To be honest, it is not …
F1 to shrink Monaco GP to three-day race weekend from 2022
Monaco has traditionally spread its race weekend over four days, holding the opening two practice sessions on Thursday before using Friday as a rest day for the F1 paddock. The tradition dated back to the race’s original scheduling on a bank holiday weekend, but was maintained to allow traffic to flow through the area and assists businesses in preparing for the weekend. But as F1 plans for next year’s calendar, which is set to be revealed in mid-October and finalised at the next FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, the Monaco weekend will now switch to a traditional format. It is anticipated that the addition of the Miami Grand Prix to the schedule in May will force Spain and Monaco to go back-to-back. While this has been achieved in the past with a four-day Monaco weekend, the switch to the normal three-day format will ease some logistical pressures. “Monaco will be in three days, straightaway,” F1 boss Domenicali said in an interview with CNN . “So [it will be] …
Binotto: Ferrari struggling to find F1 junior driver opportunities
Ferrari has a place at Haas that is currently used by Mick Schumacher, but the contract that guaranteed a slot at Alfa Romeo – used by Charles Leclerc in 2018 and subsequently by Antonio Giovinazzi – has been changed for 2022. While Alfa boss Fred Vasseur hasn’t ruled out keeping Giovinazzi, he is looking at other options to fill the seat alongside Bottas - and with the absence of other available drives, Giovinazzi would be out of a seat for 2021 if he was dropped. At a time when Red Bull has been able to place Alex Albon at Williams and the Mercedes-supported Esteban Ocon is driving for Alpine, Ferrari has lost out as it tries to define the career paths of its youngsters. Callum Ilott, who served alongside Robert Kubica as reserve driver this year, has already began to pursue an alternative route in IndyCar. There is no obvious way forward for Robert Shwartzman, who currently lies third in the F2 championship in his second season in the category. Marcus Armstrong, who is …
Ferrari to debut updated F1 hybrid system at Russian GP
Ferrari revealed over the summer break that it was planning to bring a “significant step” in the performance of its power unit by bringing evolutions for its power unit through the season half of the season. Under the regulations, teams are permitted to make one specification update per year on each of its power unit components. Ferrari F1 chief Mattia Binotto previously said that the team would not debut the updated power unit until after the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which took place earlier this month. In the team’s preview of the Russian Grand Prix this weekend, Ferrari revealed that Leclerc would be taking the updated power unit at the Sochi Autodrom to mark its on-track debut. It is understood that the power gain offered by the updated hybrid system will be less than 10bhp, but will nevertheless offer a small boost in the fight with McLaren for third in the constructors’ championship. It means Leclerc will have to start Sunday’s race from the back of the …
Vinales “satisfied” with Aprilia MotoGP move
The nine-time MotoGP race winner announced back in June that he would be quitting Yamaha a season into his current two-year deal with Yamaha as the relationship between both parties soured irreparably across the 2021 campaign. Vinales was later confirmed as an Aprilia rider for 2022, though his debut was pushed up to last week’s Aragon Grand Prix when he parted ways with Yamaha in August after he was suspended for trying to damage his M1 during the Styrian GP. He qualified 19th and finished 18th in the Aragon GP, while at Misano last weekend he was 10th on the grid and scored points in 13th. Finishing 26.6 seconds from victory at Aragon, Vinales was 21.2s back at Misano and was only 5.56s off teammate Aleix Espargaro. When asked by Motorsport.com at Misano to reflect on his first week as an Aprilia rider and if he could say he was satisfied with his decision to join the marque, Vinales said: “Yeah, I’m satisfied. It’s a new challenge, sure it’s a very different challenge. …
Russell/Latifi F1 gap not “as big as everybody believes” – Capito
Russell has been Williams's leading driver since he joined the team in 2019, and has outqualified Latifi in every grand prix since the Canadian made his F1 racing debut at the start of the 2020 season. The British driver will leave Williams for Mercedes next year, leading to suggestions that the team will not be as strong. Russell will be replaced by Alex Albon alongside Latifi next season. Asked how much weaker will Williams be without Russell, Capito said: "It's difficult to say. I think when you see [at Monza] in qualifying Nicky was missing four hundredths of a second in qualifying. "So you can't say that we have a huge gap between George and Nicky in qualifying, in the racing as well when you look at Hungary at the race, Nicky did a fantastic job [there]. "I don't think the gap is as big as everybody believes or it looks. He had a couple of issues in qualifying in this season, Nicky, that were not caused by him. And he would have been in a position to be nearly at …
2021 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix session timings and preview
Max Verstappen heads to the 15th round of the season five points clear of Lewis Hamilton after the pair spectacularly collided at Monza a fortnight ago. The stewards deemed Verstappen "predominantly" responsible for the collision and handed him a three-place grid penalty, which will be applied in Russia. In the constructors' table, Mercedes enjoys a 14-point advantage over Red Bull, helped by Valtteri Bottas' charge from last to third in the Italian Grand Prix. Sochi has been hosting the Russian GP since 2014 but the race will move to Igora Drive near Petserburg in 2023, making this year's event the second-last to be held near the Winter Olympics site. Mercedes has been unbeaten in Russia since the country joined the F1 calendar at the start of the V6 hybrid era, with Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas sharing the six wins between them. 2021 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix session timings in different timezones Session GMT BST CEST ET PT …