Connect with us

Sports

George Russell on wanting a title fight with Max Verstappen, his love of competition and the ‘positives’ of the 2026 cars

Published

3 months ago

on

Verstappen has been the most outspoken of all the drivers about the new rules that have been introduced into F1 this year, which have given Mercedes the chance to leap back to the front.

“Mario Kart”, “Formula E on steroids” and “anti-racing” are just three of the catchy phrases Verstappen has used to describe driving these new cars, which have engines with a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power.

They require energy management around the lap, have been criticised for preventing drivers going flat-out in qualifying. And while there has been a lot more overtaking, even this has not always been seen as a positive, as some of it comes about only because of hugely varying battery charge levels inherent in the rules.

Verstappen is far from the only driver to criticise the new rules. Russell, though, feels differently.

“I definitely don’t share that at all,” he says. “I’m personally really enjoying the car. The power-unit and the engine is definitely different. And it just needs some fine-tuning to really optimise it. But it’s given an opportunity to battle harder, and back-and-forth racing.

“We’re here at a kart track now. And Lewis made a great point – in a kart race, you overtake one corner, he overtakes back. And they overtake back again. And no one’s ever called that Mario Kart or yo-yo racing or whatever the terminology is. We actually call it pure racing and great racing.”

Russell, as director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, led the drivers’ representation to the rule-makers that the cars needed to be changed so qualifying became more flat-out again – hence some of the rule changes this week.

But he believes even that has been exaggerated.

“Anybody who thinks drivers are going slow in corners to be faster on the straights are wrong,” he says.

“There are some small quirks, which the FIA have done their best to eradicate those quirks. These are details that are sort of so complicated, and honestly, fans don’t really need to understand.

“From this race forward, with these minor changes the sport are making, it will make our life easier. We’ll be flat out in the straights on a qualifying lap, and we won’t have to lift off to manage any of the energy.”

He also points out that what has been going on inside the cars this year should be seen in the context of F1’s history.

“I remember watching F1 20 years ago and hearing the roar of the engines and it was amazing, but not seeing a single overtake,” he says.

“That arguably was the purest Formula 1 we’ve ever seen. But the racing was dull.

“So I think we only remember the positives of certain things. And in the present, we like to focus on the negative. And there’s a lot of positives about this new regulation and the new cars.

“I spoke with a Formula 1 driver from the ’80s and the ’90s, multiple race winner, and he said they would have a boost button that would give them 300bhp more, but then at the end of the straight, at the lift off, they’d run out of fuel.

“So this has always kind of been there to some degree. It’s obviously different now, but we always like to highlight the negatives and remember the good stuff from the past.”

>

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Sports

Boston’s winning streak stops at 9 when another late Red Sox rally runs out of gas

Published

3 minutes ago

on

August 9, 2026

By

The (latest) Boston Red Sox winning streak stops at nine.

On Saturday, the Athletics played the spoiler at Fenway Park, raining on what has at times seemed like a summerlong parade in Boston. Their 7-3 win over the Red Sox denied Boston its second double-digit winning streak of the season.

The Red Sox tried to muster some late magic, which has become a bit of a hallmark of this wild, never-say-die Boston season. They put runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth, but the push ended when Jarren Duran struck out. Then, in the ninth, Boston strung together three hits and a walk, but Eli White lined out to center field to end the game.

“I think that’s our identity, I think that’s who we are as a team,” Jahmai Jones said, “is, you know, it’s the ninth inning. We’ve seen a lot of comebacks for us, we’ve seen a lot of late-inning rallies. We’re never going to give up until game’s over.”

Did interim manager Chad Tracy have hope? Yep, he sure did.

“It was a great effort to get the tying run to the plate and give ourselves a shot,” Tracy said afterward. “It was awesome. … That ball was smoked by Eli, and if you get another one on there you’ve got the winning run at the plate, so it was a good effort.”

Boston out jumped to an early 2-0 lead Saturday when Andruw Monasterio’s single in the first drove in Jones and Caleb Durbin. Left-hander Gage Jump kept the Red Sox at bay for the remainder of his six-inning, 11-strikeout effort.

The Red Sox had cruised to a 13-1 win on Friday night, rolling to that victory one night after rallying five times against the White Sox in a 13-inning marathon.

Even with Saturday’s loss, the Red Sox (64-52) have won 11 of their past 13. They are 32-6 since June 25 — a run that also included a franchise-record 15-game winning streak in July.

>

Continue Reading

Sports

How to watch Guardians vs. White Sox: TV channel and streaming options for August 8

Published

8 minutes ago

on

August 9, 2026

By

The Chicago White Sox carry a four-game losing streak into a contest versus the Cleveland Guardians, at 7:15 p.m. ET on Saturday. Gavin Williams (11-6, 3.56 ERA) will start for the Guardians, who are 58-59 this season and third in the AL Central. Anthony Kay (8-5, 4.09 ERA) is the expected starter for the White Sox, who are 59-56 and first in the AL Central.

How to watch Cleveland Guardians vs. Chicago White Sox

Guardians vs. White Sox odds

  • Favorite Moneyline: Guardians -133
  • Underdog Moneyline: White Sox +110
  • Total: 7
  • Total Over Odds: -115
  • Total Under Odds: -105

Injury reports

Guardians

Slade Cecconi: 15 Day IL (Arm), Shawn Armstrong: 60 Day IL (Leg)

White Sox

Joey Bart: 10 Day IL (Hand), Kyle Teel: 10 Day IL (Ankle), Chris Murphy: 15 Day IL (Flexor), Tanner Murray: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Prelander Berroa: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Ky Bush: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Mike Vasil: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Jordan Leasure: 60 Day IL (Flexor), Brooks Baldwin: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Drew Thorpe: 60 Day IL (Elbow)

Stats to know

  • Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter has hit 12 home runs this season. He has also tallied 56 RBIs and has scored 45 runs. In 419 plate appearances, he has recorded a .280 BA, .356 OBP and .439 SLG with a 10.7% walk rate and a 14.3% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording seven steals on nine attempts.
  • In 369 plate appearances, Jose Ramirez is hitting .234/.334/.386 with a .720 OPS and 28 steals on 30 attempts. He has hit 10 long balls, driven in 35 runs and scored 52 times.
  • Miguel Vargas is hitting for a .234 BA, .341 OBP and .468 SLG with an 18.2% strikeout rate and a 12.8% walk rate. His OPS is .809 and he has scored 76 runs. In 500 plate appearances, he has hit 24 home runs (16th in MLB) and driven in 67 runs. Vargas has recorded 12 steals on 14 attempts.
  • In 471 plate appearances, Chase Meidroth has posted a 22.9% strikeout rate and a 9.8% walk rate while slashing .274/.351/.405 with 11 home runs, 44 RBIs and 67 runs scored.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

Connections: Sports Edition Logo

Connections: Sports Edition Logo

Connections: Sports Edition

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms

Find the hidden link between sports terms

>

Continue Reading

Sports

Sophie Cunningham says DiJonai Carrington ‘just trying to get attention’ with flagrant foul

Published

15 minutes ago

on

August 9, 2026

By

CHICAGO — Leaning against the wall in a United Center tunnel Saturday afternoon, Sophie Cunningham reflected on the emerging truth of her existence: Sometimes she seeks the spotlight, and the rest of the time, the spotlight seeks her.

“Another day, another dollar, welcome to my life, boys and girls,” the Indiana Fever guard declared.

It should surprise no one, of course, that Cunningham took a hard foul in a 90-86 win over the Chicago Sky and then elected to give as good as she got. The arm-to-the-neck she absorbed from the Sky’s DiJonai Carrington on a first-quarter layup attempt, which resulted in Carrington’s ejection, was just the start.

“From my point of view, I mean, clearly I think it was unnecessary,” Cunningham said after the game. “I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her. But I guess she has some pent-up stuff. So get your s— off. That’s fine. I can take it.”

Cunningham immediately popped up, pushed Carrington and was restrained by teammate Makalya Timpson while exchanging words. (“I’m not going to let anyone just do that to me, I think everyone knows that,” Cunningham said.) Carrington was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul, but Cunningham wasn’t hit with a technical foul for the shove because officials “deemed her reaction to the severity of the contact to be acceptable,” per a pool report distributed after the game.

Shortly after heading to the locker room, a post appeared on Carrington’s Threads account tagging the Fever with the phrase “WHITE PRIVILEGE.” (Carrington was not available for comment Saturday.)

“Oh yeah, we saw it,” Cunningham said. “I think the league is taking care of that. I mean, this has nothing to do with race. Last year I did the same thing, and I got kicked out, as I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason to even play that card.”

While Fever coach Stephanie White said after the game that she didn’t believe Carrington connected with Cunningham’s neck intentionally, Cunningham drew a straight line to her own infamous ejection against the Connecticut Sun late last season — and not necessarily to the backlash against her recently published comments regarding transgender athletes.

In that 2025 game, Cunningham chased down guard Jacy Sheldon, now a member of the Sky, on a breakaway and wound up applying a headlock to Sheldon in the ensuing dust-up. The disconnect for Cunningham is that Carrington wasn’t even a member of the Sky last year.

“She has no reason to be doing any of that,” Cunningham said. “Like, I don’t even know her. She wasn’t even on the team when all that was going on. But I do think when people play the Fever, we’re nationally televised, there’s a lot of eyes on us. People just want attention. And that’s her just trying to get attention.”

The ruckus around Cunningham does not appear to be dissipating, in any event. There were more protests and counterprotests regarding transgender athletes around the United Center on Saturday, and Cunningham checked into the game to a mixed chorus of cheers and boos in the first quarter.

Not long after, she had not one but two teammates turning her away from another conflagration in the wake of Carrington’s foul — first Timpson, then veteran Monique Billings.

“She’s like, ‘Quit being messy,’” Cunningham said of Billings. “I’m like, ‘You’re right, Mo. This is time for me to be better.’”

>

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2017 Zox News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by WordPress.