Sports
Max Verstappen Wins 2022 F1 Dutch Grand Prix; Lewis Hamilton Drops Out of Podium Late
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images
Max Verstappen won his home race at the Dutch Grand Prix to continue his dominance of the 2022 Formula One season.
The Dutch driver started on the pole and finished first ahead of George Russell in Sunday’s race at Zandvoort, Netherlands, much to the delight of the orange-clad fans in attendance.
It represents the fourth straight win for Verstappen, who now has 10 victories in 15 races this season. He continues to build his lead in the driver standings as Red Bull heads toward the constructor’s championship.
Russell finished in second after a controversial strategy with teammate Lewis Hamilton, who fell into fourth place after leading late. Charles Leclerc grabbed the last spot on the podium after an eventful race.
Final Results
1. Max Verstappen
2. George Russell
3. Charles Leclerc
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. Sergio Perez
Full results via Formula1.com.
It’s become a bigger surprise when Verstappen doesn’t win races this year, as he ended up pulling away from the next closest competitor by more than four seconds:
ESPN F1 @ESPNF1
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE DUTCH GRAND PRIX! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/TXxJItEjt1
It was still far from an easy path, as several drivers seemingly had a chance to win. Pit strategy was a major story in this race, and it helped create a divide between the top competitors.
Ferrari—as it has done often this year—hurt itself with a mental mistake.
Carlos Sainz began the race in the third spot, but a long pit stop might have been enough to take him out of contention early:
ESPN F1 @ESPNF1
Ferrari. pic.twitter.com/WSFg3R01qQ
Nate Saunders @natesaundersF1
Replays show Ferrari didn’t have the left rear tyre ready for Sainz. Seemed to be a back-up wheel-gun that Perez drove over, but still shouldn’t have been where it was clearly.
Nate Saunders @natesaundersF1
Sainz’s radio: “Oh my God”.
This Ferrari season, man.
Mercedes then attempted to win by making fewer stops than the other teams.
While Verstappen held the lead for much of the day, Hamilton remained a top contender with the initial one-stop strategy. After the British star dropped to fourth following a short pit, he drove past Sergio Perez into third position and up to second when Leclerc made his pit stop.
The outlook changed with just over 20 laps remaining after Yuki Tsunoda was unable to continue, forcing a virtual safety car. The move helped Verstappen pit without losing time, keeping him in the first position.
Philip Duncan @PhilDuncanF1
Hamilton: “That VSC has stuffed us.” #DutchGP
Benjamin Lynch @ben_lynch99
Max Verstappen is very, very lucky today
A few laps later, a safety car due to Valtteri Bottas’ retirement meant Verstappen could pit for soft tires while Hamilton stayed out on mediums with the lead.
Jeff Gluck @jeff_gluck
Max got a break, now Lewis got a break. And all of us watching just lucked into some 2021esque drama. This is going to be fun.
It was supposed to create a true race to the finish, but Verstappen showcased his talent immediately by passing Hamilton on the first turn after the restart.
Formula 1 @F1
LAP 61/72
Verstappen takes Hamilton at the restart! 😮#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UKmNFXNENK
George Russell, who could have helped Hamilton by blocking Verstappen, instead chose to change his tires. He later flew past his Mercedes teammate shortly after the restart.
Hamilton couldn’t keep up and failed to reach the podium.
ESPN F1 @ESPNF1
Lewis is FUMING with Mercedes 😳 pic.twitter.com/ot9zqNEmFn
It led to what became an easy win for Verstappen after a nervy middle of the race.
The Formula One season will continue next week in Italy as everyone tries to catch the Dutch star in first place.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could end up being liable for $14.39 billion.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
The NFL said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court.
Should the NFL end up paying damages, it could cost each of the 32 teams approximately $449.6 million.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.
“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”
The trial lasted three weeks and featured testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Justice was done. The verdict upholds protection for the consumers in our class. It was a great day for consumers,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said.
During his closing remarks, Carmody showed an April, 2017, NFL memo that showed the league was exploring a world without “Sunday Ticket” in 2017, where cable channels would air Sunday afternoon out-of-market games not shown on Fox or CBS.
The jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly five hours before reaching its decision.
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31, including the NFL’s request to have him rule in favor of the league because the judge determined the plaintiffs did not prove their case.
Payment of damages, any changes to the “Sunday Ticket” package and/or the ways the NFL carries its Sunday afternoon games would be stayed until all appeals have been concluded.
The league maintained it had the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs said that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
Other professional sports leagues were also keeping an eye on this case since they also offer out-of-market packages. A major difference though is that MLB, the NBA and the NHL market their packages on multiple distributors and share in the revenue per subscriber instead of receiving an outright rights fee.
DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 through 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled last year the case could proceed as a class action.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while the U.S. team appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain were among the other countries with plans to bring air conditioners to France.
Olympic organizers have touted plans to cool rooms in the Athletes Village, which will house more than 15,000 Olympians and sports officials over the course of the games, using a system of cooling pipes underneath the floors.
The average high in Paris on Aug. 1 is 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). The objective is to keep the rooms between 23-26 degrees (73-79 degrees Fahrenheit). The rooms will also be equipped with fans.
“I want the Paris Games to be exemplary from an environmental point of view,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said about the plans for the Olympics.
According to the International Energy Agency, fewer than 1 in 10 households in Europe has air conditioning, and the numbers in Paris are lower than that. The study said that of the 1.6 billion AC units in use across the globe in 2016, more than half were in China (570 million) and the United States (375 million). The entire European Union had around 100 million.
The Olympics mark the most important stop on the athletic careers of the 10,500-plus athletes who will descend on Paris, which has led some high-profile countries to undercut environmental efforts for the sake of comfort.
“It’s a high-performance environment,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Strath Gordon explained to The Post.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers seemed determined to keep playing. And playing. And playing.
The teams opened their Eastern Conference final playoff series with Florida’s 3-2 victory in four overtimes early Friday, with the game ranking as the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
Matthew Tkachuk’s goal came at the 19:47 mark of the fourth OT to end this one, which marked the 15th four-overtime game in NHL history and the longest game in franchise history for each team.
The longest game in NHL history came on March 24, 1936, when the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in the sixth overtime on Mud Bruneteau’s goal at 116 minutes, 30 seconds of extra play.
Florida’s previous record for longest game was 104:31 in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup final against Colorado. Carolina’s previous record was 114:47 for Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup final.
The only good news for the teams is they had an extended break before this series began. Carolina closed out New Jersey exactly a week earlier, while Florida eliminated Toronto a day later.
But this game ended roughly six hours after Thursday night’s puck drop, and the teams have a Game 2 in less than 48 hours.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
