News

8:30 AM ET Red Bull has poached one of Mercedes’ senior power unit engineers, Ben Hodgkinson, to head up its new Red Bull Powertrains division. 1 Related Red Bull will manufacture its own engines from 2022 onwards following the withdrawal of Honda at the end of this year. The team will purchase the designs of

11:14 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Brittany Force took the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel qualifying in the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. Force had a final qualifying run of 3.732 seconds at 320.66 mph in her dragster for her first No. 1 qualifier

7:17 AM ET Fernando Alonso has said there is no excuse for his performance at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Alonso crashed on his way to the grid before the race, sliding off a wet track and damaging his car’s front wing. He spent much of the grand prix running outside of the top ten

5:59 AM ET ESPN News Services Pato O’Ward ran three blistering laps around Barber Motorsports Park to win the pole for IndyCar’s season-opening race and make good on his promise to become a headache that series veterans must deal with all year long. O’Ward, in his second full season of IndyCar and the centerpiece of

3:37 PM ET Associated Press The Indianapolis 500 is set to be the largest sporting event in the world since the start of the pandemic with 135,000 spectators permitted to attend. “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” next month. Indianapolis Motor Speedway said Wednesday it worked with the Marion County Public Health Department to determine that

5:22 AM ET Lewis Hamilton said Derek Chauvin’s conviction shows the push to promote justice and equality for all is not in vain, while stressing that the “fight isn’t over”. Former Minneapolis police officer Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter by a jury Tuesday for his role in

8:58 PM ET ESPN staff George Floyd’s murder — and the graphic footage that captured his final breaths — rocked athletes, coaches and executives throughout professional and amateur sports. With the country already on edge just a couple months into the COVID-19 pandemic, a viral video showed then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s

9:11 AM ET Mercedes believes it is still lagging behind rivals Red Bull on outright car performance this year, despite the team leading both drivers’ and constructors’ championships after the opening two rounds of the season. 1 Related After seven consecutive years of title success, Mercedes looks set for its toughest battle for the championship

6:35 PM ET Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alex Palou celebrated his move to Chip Ganassi Racing with his first career IndyCar victory by beating a pair of series champions to win Sunday’s season-opening race at Barber Motorsports Park. The Spaniard used a two-stop strategy on the picturesque permanent road course to take control of

1:53 PM ET One day on from his collision with Valtteri Bottas at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Williams driver George Russell has apologised for the way he handled himself after the accident. 1 Related Russell flatly blamed Bottas in the immediate aftermath of the high-speed accident, which saw both cars destroyed against the crash

1:53 PM ET One day on from his collision with Valtteri Bottas at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Williams driver George Russell has apologised for his part in the accident. 1 Related Russell flatly blamed Bottas in the immediate aftermath of the high-speed accident, which saw both cars destroyed against the crash barriers and the

6:25 AM ET McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrated the second podium of his Formula One career at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, with team boss Andreas Seidl in no doubt that the youngster had raised his game. Told he had been voted driver of the day by fans, the 21-year-old Briton still feigned surprise.

9:56 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Erica Enders went from nearly not qualifying to winning the Pro Stock finale in the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. In her 300th career start, the back-to-back world champ earned her 30th career win with a run of 6.656

2:17 PM ET Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said George Russell had “lots to learn” after the Mercedes junior driver clashed with Valtteri Bottas at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Russell, who is on a long-term development contract with Mercedes but currently drives for Williams, collided with Bottas while attempting to take ninth position from

5:53 AM ET Formula One cars will race in Miami next year after the sport announced a ten-year deal to host a Miami Grand Prix, starting in 2022. The long-awaited race will take place on a new 3.36-mile track that loops around Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins. The circuit will have

12:48 PM ET Antonio Giovinazzi has criticised Nikita Mazepin for disrespectful driving after having his final qualifying lap ruined by the Haas rookie at Imola. At the end of Q1, the opening qualifying segment, Mazepin followed Giovinazzi down the main straight and used the Alfa Romeo’s slipstream to overtake into Turn 1. That immediately compromised

12:58 PM ET Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Jimmie Johnson hopped on a scooter and navigated his way through an unfamiliar Alabama paddock. He stopped to lean against a stack of tires for a quick conversation with childhood hero Rick Mears then went to work on his new career. The seven-time NASCAR champion turned 22

11:39 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Robert Hight raced to the provisional No. 1 spot with a standout performance in Funny Car qualifying Friday night, the first NHRA four-wide race in two years. Hight, the runner-up at this year’s season opener, had a run of 3.922-seconds at 327.59 mph in his Camaro at

6:35 PM ET Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. — Bubba Wallace says get the shot, like he did. Brad Keselowski says he hasn’t decided yet whether to get vaccinated against COVID-19 while Austin Dillon and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott say it’s a personal choice and no one else’s business, though Dillon’s Richard Childress

12:57 PM ET Formula One champions Mercedes are chasing rather than being chased now that Red Bull have a faster car, according to Valtteri Bottas. 1 Related Although the Finn’s seven-times champion team mate Lewis Hamilton won last month’s Bahrain season opener, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was quickest in every practice session and started on

2:15 PM ET Formula One says it is “continuing discussions” with the promoter of the Canadian Grand Prix over the running of this year’s race amid reports the event has been cancelled for a second year in a row. Radio-Canada reported on Thursday that the race, which is scheduled to go ahead on June 13,

1:46 PM ET Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton hailed Sebastian Vettel on Thursday as his favourite Formula One rival over the years. 1 Related Without mentioning former Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, who beat the Briton to the 2016 title in a fierce and often bitter battle between the pair, Hamilton praised the ex-Ferrari driver.

3:56 PM ET Associated Press NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace is partnering with Novant Health to address the hesitancy to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Wallace, the only Black driver in NASCAR, received his COVID vaccine on Tuesday at his race team’s shop in North Carolina. He says it’s important to learn about the vaccine and for

7:21 AM ET Formula One has altered the timings of this weekend’s practice and qualifying sessions at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix out of respect to the funeral service of Prince Philip, which will take place in the U.K. on Saturday afternoon. A minute of silence will also be held ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session

11:37 PM ET Associated Press MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Rain forced the postponement of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway after just 42 laps Saturday night, setting up a doubleheader Sunday. The day will start at noon with the completion of an Xfinity Series race that was suspended after 91 laps Friday night. That

6:32 AM ET Daniel Ricciardo has hit out at the “idiots” behind Formula One’s strategy of showing crash footage on its social media accounts. Ricciardo was unhappy to see a montage of 2020’s best moments including several crashes, saying it isn’t something adults should want to watch. It is not the first time Ricciardo has

7:36 AM ET Mike Elliott will take over from James Allison from July 1 as technical director of Formula One champions Mercedes, the team announced on Friday. Allison will stand back from day-to-day management of technical operations and take on the newly created role of chief technical officer, working closely with the factories at Brackley

10:09 AM ET Nico Hulkenberg will be reserve driver for both Aston Martin and Mercedes during the 2021 Formula One season. Hulkenberg impressed as F1’s “super-sub” in 2020, deputising for Racing Point at three different events — doing so twice for Sergio Perez, once for Lance Stroll after positive COVID-19 tests. He failed to land

10:22 AM ET Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — JR Hildebrand has a new team and an old-fashioned look for this year’s Indianapolis 500. On Thursday, A.J. Foyt Racing announced it had hired the California native to drive the No. 1 ABC Supply Chevrolet as the team’s fourth driver in IndyCar’s biggest race. The candy apple red

11:56 AM ET Sebastian Vettel has revealed he completed an internship on organic farming during lockdown in 2020. Vettel is the only one of F1’s 20 drivers without a social media account and managed to keep a low profile through lockdown ahead of the delayed 2020 season start. The four-time F1 champion, who is racing