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☆ Leclerc handed three-place grid drop at home Monaco GP
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MONACO, May 27 (Reuters) - Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was handed a three-place grid drop for his home Monaco Grand Prix for impeding McLaren's Lando Norris in qualifying on Saturday, meaning he will start sixth instead of third. The penalty means also that Alpine's Esteban Ocon moves up to third and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will start fourth. "Norris was on a fast lap and caught Leclerc in the middle of the tunnel and was clearly impeded," stewards said in a statement. "Both drivers agreed that there was little that Leclerc could have safely done in the tunnel to avoid impeding Norris, given the difficulty in vision" they added. The stewards said, however, that Ferrari had not warned Leclerc about Norris' approach until the Briton was already directly behind.

☆ Verstappen takes first Monaco pole as Perez crashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who had been hoping for his third home pole in a row, had to settle for third while Verstappen's team mate and closest title rival Sergio Perez crashed and will start last. "I think that is one of the best laps he’s ever driven in qualifying," said Horner of his champion's 23rd career pole. Last year's winner Perez, 14 points behind Verstappen after five races, crashed at the Sainte Devote first corner in the opening session. The Mexican crashed in the final phase of qualifying last year but started third, and ahead of Verstappen. Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was only 14th on the grid and behind the Williams of Alex Albon in 13th.

☆ Fintech Zamp, which helps companies navigate sales tax compliance, used this 12-page deck to raise a $4 million seed round
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Zamp is a startup that helps online sellers with sales tax compliance. Sales tax compliance laws are complex and constantly changing. Zamp is aimed at helping online sellers of all sizes manage their sales tax compliance. Additionally, sales tax compliance is handled on the state, county, city, and district levels, rather than the federal level. Zamp handles every aspect of sales tax compliance for the customer, from reporting and filing to handling notices from the state.

☆ Here's the 12-page pitch deck a startup helping online sellers navigate the complicated world of sales tax compliance used to raise a $4 million seed round
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

☆ The Star Wars timeline: All movies and shows in chronological order
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

These details are pulled from the official “Star Wars” resources “Ultimate Star Wars” and “Star Wars Character Encyclopedia,” as well as experts from outlets like USA Today and the AV Club. ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ (animated series)Ahsoka is Anakin's padawan in "The Clone Wars," and he lovingly calls her "Snips." ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’"Solo" shows how Han and Chewie became best friends. ‘Star Wars Rebels’Kanan Jarrus, Zeb Orrelios and Sabine Wren take on the Empire in "Star Wars Rebels." ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’Heroes attempt to find the plans to blow up the Death Star in "Rogue One."

☆ Team by team analysis of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He passed Leclerc for the second time at the safety car restart on lap 14. He went side by side with Russell in the pitlane during the safety car and was passed by Hamilton on lap 20. Hamilton started fifth but pitted a lap before the safety car was deployed, dropping to 10th. Leclerc, second in the Saturday sprint, started on pole position and took his team's first podium finish of the season. Norris started seventh, lost out when he pitted before the safety car but managed to pass Hulkenberg to move into the points.

☆ Leclerc completes Baku pole hat-trick for Ferrari
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The pole, in a session twice red-flagged early on due to crashes, was Ferrari's first of the Formula One season after Red Bull had qualified fastest in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen will line up alongside on the front row with his team mate Sergio Perez third. "It feels good...It's good to be back on top," said Leclerc after whooping in delight over the team radio. There was nothing to separate him and Verstappen after the initial flying laps, with both clocking one minute 40.445 seconds but the Red Bull driver on provisional pole due to setting his time first. "We must not forget that our car is probably behind the Red Bull, so it's going to be difficult to keep the lead.

☆ Verstappen fastest in chaotic Baku practice
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 28 (Reuters) - Red Bull's Formula One leader Max Verstappen put in the fastest time right at the chequered flag on Friday in a chaotic sole practice for the new format Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint weekend. The double world champion, last year's winner in Baku, lapped the fast street circuit with a best time of one minute 42.315 seconds with his final effort on the soft tyres. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who has never won in Baku but will be chasing his third successive pole in Azerbaijan in later qualifying for Sunday's grand prix, was second on the timesheets. The Monegasque ended up 0.037 seconds slower, after going top in the dying seconds, with Red Bull's Sergio Perez third and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz fourth. Perez has the best record of any driver on the starting grid in Baku with a victory in 2021, second last year and two third places.

☆ Formula One under scrutiny over balance between safety and entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Stewards had hoped racing would decide the winner but the carnage only served to trigger a third red flag and a processional win behind a safety car for Red Bull's Max Verstappen. DAMAGE BILLSStriking the right balance between safety and sport has long challenged Formula One, which moved to tighten its safety car rules after controversy hit the title-deciding 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Officials no longer have such discretion but the application of safety car rules continues to flummox drivers and team bosses alike. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he was not sure when to expect a standard safety car versus a virtual one or a red flag after incidents. "Standing starts are the most vulnerable part of any grand prix and we did three of them," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

☆ Verstappen wins Australian Grand Prix after red flag chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Verstappen wins his second race of the seasonHamilton finishes runner-up ahead of AlonsoRace interrupted by red flags, crashesMELBOURNE, April 2 (Reuters) - Max Verstappen was crowned Australian Grand Prix winner on Sunday after two late red flags and a slew of crashes threw the race into chaos before the Red Bull driver was allowed a processional victory lap around Albert Park. That allowed Verstappen to claim his second win of the season ahead of Hamilton with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso third. Red Bull have now claimed all three grand prix wins in the new season, a record for the team, resuming their dominance after their runaway success in 2022. The Dutchman now has 69 points in the championship race, 15 ahead of team mate Sergio Perez. Verstappen opened up a big gap before the late red flags saw the race turn from procession to drama and back again.

MELBOURNE, April 2 (Reuters) - World champion Max Verstappen and team mate Sergio Perez were among drivers to criticise the officiating at a chaotic Formula One Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, which finished under a safety car after the race was restarted three times. Red Bull's Verstappen told reporters the decision to restart the race from the grid a second time, for what should have been a two-lap sprint to the finish, led to multiple collisions that took four cars out of the race. "They (race officials) created the problems themselves at the end of the day." F1 has boomed in popularity after a thrilling 2021 season was decided by a controversial officiating decision on the final lap of the last race. "The whole point of red flagging, it feels like it was just to put on a show," McLaren's Lando Norris, who finished sixth, told reporters.

☆ Team by team analysis of the Australian Grand Prix
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

ASTON MARTIN (Fernando Alonso 3, Lance Stroll 4)Alonso's third third-place finish in three races for the team he joined this season from Renault-owned Alpine. The Spaniard started fourth, dropped to fifth but was third by the second red flag. Russell pulled up with his car flaming at the rear on lap 18, triggering a virtual safety car. He had fought back from 11th after pitting during the second safety car period, just before the first red flag. The German was fourth at the final red flag but the positions were reset to the previous grid because no sector had been completed.

☆ Piastri blames inexperience for qualifying setback
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, April 1 (Reuters) - McLaren's Formula One rookie Oscar Piastri blamed inexperience for a disappointing qualifying on Saturday ahead of his home Australian Grand Prix debut. The 21-year-old Melbourne-born driver will start 16th in Sunday's race, with British team mate Lando Norris set to line up 13th. Piastri had already been reprimanded, his first in Formula One, after final practice for a breach of the practice start procedures. "After he slowed down considerably, the team warned him to complete the lap before attempting a practice start and therefore he did not go through the full practice start procedure. "The driver candidly admitted his mistake and recognised that this could have resulted in a dangerous situation on the track."

☆ Verstappen fastest in first practice at Australian Grand Prix
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, March 31 (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Max Verstappen topped the timesheets for Red Bull before taking a late spin at Albert Park in an eventful first free practice at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday. The Dutchman lapped the lakeside circuit in one minute, 18.790 seconds, nearly half a second quicker than second fastest Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, as two red flags disrupted the session. A second red flag cut the session short by a few minutes as Williams rookie Logan Sargeant came to a halt on track-side grass with an apparent power failure. Verstappen finished his session with a bit of drama, taking a big spin at turn four to ruin his tyres. But he squeezed in a fast lap between the red flags to sandwich himself between Verstappen and Perez's times.

☆ Perez wins Saudi GP as Verstappen goes from 15th to second
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"That safety car again tried to take the victory away from us in Jeddah but not this time," said Perez, who started on pole last year but was caught out by a safety car deployment and ended up fourth. "I was on for victory last year so finally I got it," added the Mexican, who now has five career wins and finished 5.355 seconds clear despite the safety car cutting his early advantage. It took Perez four laps to take charge with the Mexican meeting no resistance as he swept past for the lead, but he could not relax. When the safety car period ended on lap 20, Verstappen was pushing Russell for third and took the place three laps later. Verstappen went second, 5.6 seconds behind Perez, at the half-distance but the gap stayed constant with the Red Bulls in a race of their own.

☆ Verstappen completes practice sweep in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 18 (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Max Verstappen completed a dominant hat-trick of top times in practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday. Mexican team mate Sergio Perez was second fastest, but a considerable 0.613 seconds slower than Verstappen's best effort of one minute 28.485 on the soft tyres. Apart from Perez, Alonso was the only driver within a second of Verstappen. McLaren's Lando Norris was seventh, and Australian rookie team mate Oscar Piastri eighth, a mere 0.008 behind. Verstappen apologised after lifting off the throttle on track and forcing Norris, coming up fast behind, to swerve around him.

☆ Perez on pole in Saudi Arabia as Verstappen hits trouble
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"You really feel the Formula One cars coming alive in this place and maximising that lap was very important," said Perez of what was also his second career pole. "Every session was going really well, every time we were on the track the car was working really well. Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will share the second row with Canadian Lance Stroll fifth for Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon sixth for Renault-owned Alpine. Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton, winner in Saudi Arabia in 2021, will start seventh for Mercedes. "It was really, really on the limit," he said.

☆ Formula 1: The FIA clarifies free speech rule after fierce backlash from Lewis Hamilton and drivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Drivers take a knee to protest against racism ahead of the F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone on Aug. 9, 2020. Formula 1's governing FIA has said drivers will be allowed to make political statements only in "exceptional" circumstances after seeking to clarify its contentious new law. The sporting federation recently updated its rules to prevent "political, religious or personal" remarks being made without prior approval. However, the FIA has attracted a fierce backlash from a number of drivers — with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton this week insisting he will not be silenced, and Lando Norris accusing F1's rulers of treating drivers like schoolchildren. However, drivers will face sanctions if they oppose the law while on track — such as during the national anthem before a race or on the podium.

☆ FIA seeks to clarify free speech rules after driver backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

read moreMcLaren's Lando Norris suggested the FIA was treating drivers like schoolchildren. "Participants can express their views on any political, religious or personal matter before, during and after the international competition, in their own space, and outside the scope of the international competition," it said. "On an exceptional and case-by-case basis, the FIA may authorise a participant to make a statement at an international competition that would otherwise be prohibited," it added. The FIA said drivers could not make political, religious and/or personal statements during the pre-race parade, anthem and post-race procedures. Examples included unapproved statements or comments relating to "any military conflict or political dispute between nations, regions, religions, or communities".

☆ McLaren a money-making machine? We are profitable, says Brown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I don't know about money-making machine but we are now a profitable Formula One team," he said. "(We are) very fortunate that we brought in new shareholders that enabled us to do things like the wind tunnel and the simulator. Brown became chief executive of McLaren Racing in 2018 as part of a major restructuring of the second most successful team in the sport in terms of wins. McLaren Racing are part of the McLaren Group, which includes the supercar manufacturer and is majority-owned by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat. The papaya orange and blue car has been designated the MCL60, a break from previous naming convention, to mark the anniversary of the founding of McLaren Racing by New Zealander Bruce McLaren in 1963.

☆ Mick Schumacher to double up as McLaren F1 reserve
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"Welcome to the family, Mick," McLaren said on Twitter, pointing out also that new team principal Andrea Stella was previously performance engineer to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. McLaren had a reserve-sharing agreement with Renault-owned Alpine last season, when Australian Piastri was Alpine's third driver. McLaren then won a contract dispute with Alpine for Piastri to race for them this year. Mercedes and Williams shared Nyck de Vries as reserve last season, with the Dutch driver now due to race with Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri. McLaren also have 2021 IndyCar champion Alex Palou contracted to a reserve role where the Spaniard's schedules allow.

☆ George Russell wins maiden Grand Prix after collision-ridden race in Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —George Russell won his maiden Grand Prix on Sunday after a collision-ridden race in Brazil. With one race left on the 2022 calendar, Russell moves up to fourth in the driver’s standings, a place ahead of eight-time world champion and teammate Hamilton. Russell celebrates after winning the Sao Paolo Grand Prix. Verstappen and Hamilton collide during the Sao Paolo Grand Prix. Even with a late safety car bunching the pack up, Russell was faster than his more experienced teammate Hamilton, racing home for his first ever Grand Prix victory.

☆ Magnussen takes stunning first F1 pole for Haas in Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Gabriel Araujo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NO KIDDING"You're kidding," Magnussen had said over the team radio when told he was fastest as the red flags were waved. Saturday will be the third such race of the season, with Verstappen winning the two previous ones at Imola and in Austria. Seven-times world champion Hamilton suffered as a result of his team mate's spin and will start the sprint from eighth place. "I will speak to the team and understand what we can do better in those conditions," he said. "I accepted the decision to go on the inters and then I waited for the rain that never came."

☆ Perez fastest in Sao Paulo GP practice
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Gabriel Araujo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Red Bull's Sergio Perez lapped fastest in first free practice for the Sao Paulo Formula One Grand Prix at Interlagos on Friday with the top three drivers separated by just 0.008 of a second. Double world champion Max Verstappen, Perez's team mate, was a further 0.004 adrift. Red Bull are chasing their 10th win in a row this weekend while Verstappen is seeking a record-extending 15th win of the season. Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel, heading for retirement after the final race in Abu Dhabi, lapped seventh fastest for Aston Martin and fellow-German Mick Schumacher was eighth for Haas. McLaren's Lando Norris, who cancelled his media engagements due to suspected food poisoning on Thursday, took part in the session and was 15th fastest.

☆ Las Vegas Grand Prix tickets sell out despite $2,000 seats
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Even a standing ticket at the night time spectacle, past the Las Vegas Strip’s famous landmarks, hotels and casinos, won’t come cheap, with three-day access coming in at a hefty price tag of $500. Despite the cost, those tickets have already sold out, but more packages will be released in the coming months, according to F1. Meanwhile, four days in VIP hospitality is advertised at $10,000, with potential fans encouraged to inquire about availability. Tickets to the night time spectacle have already sold out, with more to be released, according to F1. Next year’s Vegas GP is the third US location on the scheduled calendar alongside Miami and Austin, marking F1’s continued expansion in the US.

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