In the Pit Lane – are the big paydays history?

Are the big paydays history? As the world of F1 awaits news of Lewis Hamilton’s contract signing speculation mounts over his alleged pay demands which have inevitably led to debates over driver’s salaries.

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When F1 finance monitor Business Book GP and Parimatch Sports published their 2020 report of driver salaries it mirrored the championship with front runners, a midfield, and those trailing at the back.

In pole position are the big earners with salaries of between €16m to €47m, the midfield earners are on €4m to €9m with the rest of the pack on €500,000 to €2m. Bonuses and sponsorship money are not considered.

So, with these figures it seems strange the teams have agreed in principle to a salary cap of €30m from 2023 for both drivers subject to approval by the World Motor Sport Council.

It is all a bit … Read the rest

Southampton preview: Return of rested players should improve Gunners

For the second time in a matter of days we’re heading down to St Mary’s to take on Southampton. We lost 1-0 in the FA Cup, and Mikel Arteta needs better from his side tonight.

Despite the result on Saturday, there might be reasons for optimism. We lost, but it wasn’t as if we were played off the park, and the only goal of the game was a touch unfortunate from our point of view. Southampton basically played their first XI, and it appears they’ll be without their two first choice full backs as Ryan Bertrand is suspended and while Kyle Walker-Peters is struggling with a thigh problem.

Arsenal, on the other hand, rested some key players who are set to return to the starting XI this evening. We know that the players given a chance at the weekend didn’t really do a great deal to force their way … Read the rest

Ty Gibbs to make NASCAR Xfinity debut at Daytona RC for JGR, will share car with Busch, Hamlin, Truex in 2021

Ty Gibbs did not run every race on the 2020 ARCA Menards Series schedule, but he still led all drivers in wins with six. For 2021, not only will he move to a full-time ARCA schedule, but he will also begin dabbling in NASCAR. On Tuesday, Joe Gibbs Racing announced he will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series début on the Daytona road course in the #54 Toyota Supra.

The grandson of the JGR owner and son of former NASCAR driver Coy Gibbs, the youngest Gibbs scored six victories, twelve top-five finishes, fourteen top tens, and a series-high five poles in sixteen of twenty ARCA starts in 2020. Gibbs has raced in ARCA since 2019, a year that saw him win two races.

His 2020 season also featured a runner-up finish in the ARCA Menards Series East championship with a win at Toledo. Besides a late-race wreck in the … Read the rest

Charles Leclerc shares his thoughts after first laps of F1 2021 at Fiorano

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc turned his first Formula 1 laps of 2021 at the Fiorano test track on Tuesday, ahead of new teammate Carlos Sainz getting his maiden run on Wednesday. Forty-four days since he completed the final race of the shortened 2020 F1 season in Abu Dhabi, Charles drove a 2018-spec SF71H for over 100 laps and practiced starts among his pre-season test programme.

“Getting back in the car today was great, in fact it was brilliant!” said Leclerc, who enters his third season with Ferrari on the back of a disappointing season that featured only two podium finishes at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone. Seeing my mechanics again, putting the race suit on, doing my warm-up routine, putting on my helmet and finally jumping in the car and pressing the starter button… the sound of a Ferrari engine is always magic. The day was simply … Read the rest

Clutch Korda: #NextGenATP American Saves 1 MP, Battles Back In Quimper

Some wins are more satisfying than others. For Sebastian Korda, this was certainly one of them.

The #NextGenATP American fought past home hope Tristan Lamasine to advance at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Quimper, France, on Tuesday. Seeded second this week at the Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale, Korda saved a match point and stormed back from 1/5 down in the deciding tie-break to prevail 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(7).

Sitting just outside the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, the World No. 103 is a man on a mission this week. Korda is competing in his first tournament since reaching his first ATP Tour final at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com (l. to Hurkacz) two weeks ago. He has now won 10 of his last 11 matches, also including a title run at the ATP Challenger Tour stop in Eckental, Germany, to conclude his breakout 2020 campaign.

The 20-year-old … Read the rest

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Delayed to 2022

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, the action adventure game featuring the titular Stoor-Hobbit, has been delayed until 2022, according to a press release.

According to the press release sent by Dead Good PR, developer Daedalic Entertainment has signed a co-publishing and distribution agreement with Warhammer: Chaosbane and Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong publisher Nacon for the game.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is now scheduled to release in 2022 and will be “developed for Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC.”

The game was originally announced in March 2019 and was set for the latter-half of 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and the Nintendo Switch.

Daedalic Entertainment did reveal some screenshots and details about the game last year, but here is an overview of the game included in the press release:

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a story-driven

… Read the rest

Outgoing Man United star sends heartfelt message to fans

Manchester United star Odion Ighalo has more or less confirmed he will no longer be with the club once his current deal runs out, as he sent a heartfelt message to the fans.

The Nigerian striker arrived at Old Trafford a year ago, much to the surprise of many who were wondering why the club brought him in, even if it was on just a loan deal.

It’s safe to say Ighalo played his part superbly and made the most of every opportunity that came his way, so much so that he had his loan extended.

Unfortunately for him, Edinson Cavani’s availability as a free agent was an opportunity Ole Gunnar Solskjaer couldn’t pass up on.

The experienced Uruguayan quickly became United’s go-to man instead and so Ighalo has hardly featured of late, which saw his current deal, that runs out over the next coming days, not extended.

… Read the rest

Liverpool dealt potential financial blow as FSG investment talks collapse – report

Liverpool have potentially been dealt a financial blow as talks between FSG and RedBall have reportedly collapsed.

The blank-cheque firm were said to be interested in purchasing 25% of principle owner John W. Henry’s company.

According to Axios, talks of the potential cash injection have proven unsuccessful and the deal is now off the table.

RedBall owner Billy Beane is said to intend on investing in a top Premier League side, as we reported on late last year, and it’s believed Liverpool were the club of choice.

The fresh Axios report states the acquisition company was unable to generate enough funds to reach FSG’s valuation.

MORE: Revealed: Barcelona still owe Liverpool millions for Coutinho – as club accounts released

This could come as a blow to Liverpool, with the proposed deal potentially offering the Reds a boost in transfer funds.

It’s been a dead horse for a long … Read the rest

Video: Mikel Arteta on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after Arsenal star misses second game for unspecified personal reasons

Mikel Arteta has spoken on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Arsenal star missed a second game in a row due to unspecified personal reasons.

Aubameyang started the campaign slowly, which was perhaps reflected in Arsenal’s position in the Premier League, but has been beginning to hit his stride in recent weeks.

Unfortunately for the Gunners and Arteta, the Gabon goal-machine has been unavailable for their both two fixtures, both against Southampton, with personal reasons being cited.

MORE: Arsenal to be offered Draxler in a swap deal for axed midfielder

We do not know what’s going on with Aubameyang at current, nor would be want to invade his privacy at what is clearly a … Read the rest

Juve’s young star could be the solution for the 4th striker dilemma

Since the beginning of the current campaign, an issue had been spotted within the Juventus squad.

Whilst Andrea Pirlo has three star names at his disposal in attack – Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata – the Old Lady doesn’t have enough depth to cover the striking department, especially during this extremely packed season.

The club was left exposed in attack, more often due to Dybala’s recurring physical problems.

Although the Bianconeri were expected to buy another name in attack by now, the January transfer session is about to end, and the Italian champions are yet to be fully convinced by any of the names available on the strikers’ market.

While another attacker could still arrive in the upcoming days, Juve could fix this problem with an internal solution.

According to ilBianconero, Pirlo has slowly been convinced that deploying Dejan Kulusevski in attack would be a much better … Read the rest