The incident, in which Leclerc ran off track and narrowly avoided the barriers while fighting to control his car, cost him second place in the race to the Briton.
The judgement said Leclerc had “used language in response to a somewhat leading question asking him, ‘what did you say to yourself’, in relation to the significant moment towards the end of the race when Leclerc was fighting to control the car at the exit of the last corner.
“In response, Leclerc used coarse language being the accurate recollection of what he thought to himself at the time. Leclerc immediately realised his error and apologised.”
The stewards’ decision to summon Leclerc for the offence came after Verstappen had pointed out the apparent contradiction between him being punished in Singapore and Leclerc not being called to account in Mexico.
The action in Singapore came after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said in an interview with Autosport that he wanted swearing not to be broadcast on television.
The drivers responded angrily to Ben Sulayem’s intervention, feeling it was misguided, because the radio messages broadcast on television show them being their authentic selves, and any swear words are bleeped out.
Commercial rights holder F1, which is responsible for the TV broadcasts, has no plans to change its approach.
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Mercedes driver George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, said two weeks ago that the drivers planned to publish an open letter over the controversy.
This letter, which is expected to reflect the views the drivers have already made clear in public but may make further interventions that have not yet been made public, has so far not been released.
Northampton extended their year-long unbeaten home run and avenged their Premiership defeat away to last season’s beaten finalists Leicester three weeks ago.
Malelili Satala’s first senior try gave Leicester an ideal start but that was as good as it got for the in-form Tigers at a sold-out Franklin’s Gardens.
Nineteen-year-old back-row Henry Pollock responded as the much-changed East Midlands rivals traded early scores, and the Saints did not look back as they clicked into gear.
James Ramm put them ahead before centre Tom Litchfield finished a slick backs move to make it 19-7 at the interval.
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Pollock teed up George Hendy for Northampton’s bonus-point try and academy product Ewan Baker underlined an impressive night for the young Saints before Will Wand gave Tigers the final say.
In the other Midlands tie in Pool B, Championship leaders Coventry extended their 100 per cent start to the season away to second-tier rivals Nottingham.
Matt Arden booted the hosts into the lead, but Charlie Robson and Matt Johnson scores put the visitors 12-3 up at the break.
Ryan Olowofela cut the deficit to two points, but Ryan Hutler, Jordan Poole, David Opoku and Will Lane secured a bonus-point win despite Jay Ecclesfield’s consolation score.
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Fixtures
Saturday
Pool A: Caldy v Newcastle Falcons (14:00 GMT)
Pool C: London Scottish v Harlequins (14:00); Ealing Trailfinders v Saracens (15:00)
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Pool D: Ampthill v Bath (13:30); Bristol v Bedford Blues (15:00)
Toyota claimed pole position for the Bahrain World Endurance Championship finale to move one point closer to Porsche in the manufacturers’ standings.
Brendon Hartley took the top spot in the Hyperpole session on Friday evening aboard the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar, his first pole since this race last year.
It means that Toyota goes into Saturday’s Bahrain 8 Hours only nine points behind Porsche in the manufacturers’ classification.
Hartley’s 1m46.714s gave him the top spot by three tenths from team-mate Nyck de Vries, who lapped in 1m47.037s aboard the sister Toyota.
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“We had a tough day yesterday and were not happy with the few things,” said Hartley.
“I learnt from quali one where I didn’t get the tyre prep quite right and then the car came alive in Hyperpole.”
Antonio Giovinazzi took third with a 1m47.080s, only four hundredths behind the second Toyota, in the best of the factory Ferrari 499P LMHs.
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
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Top Porsche was the customer Proton 963 LMDh in the hands of Neel Jani, who was a further two tenths back on a 1m47.234s.
Antonio Fuoco took fifth on the grid in the second of the AF Corse-run factory Ferraris with a 1m47.527s.
That put him just ahead of the championship-leading factory Penske-run Porsche in which Kevin Estre took sixth with a 1m47.542s.
The second of the Penske cars was seventh in Matt Campbell’s hands, while Norman Nato was eighth in the only one of the two Jota customer Porsches to make it through to Hyperpole for the fastest 10 cars in opening qualifying.
Frijns, however, did a time lost to a track limits infringement that would have put him seventh.
Cadillac failed to make it through to Hyperpole with its solo V-Series.R LMDh run by Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex Lynn ending up 13th after only posting a representative time when the chequered flag had already fallen.
Both Peugeot 9X8 2024 LMHs and Alpine A424 LMDhs were knocked out at the first stage of qualifying.
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#95 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo: Joshua Caygill, Nicolas Pino, Marino Sato
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The United Autosports team locked out the LMGT3 front row as McLaren took its second class pole of the season after the Inception Racing IMSA SportsCar Championship squad took qualifying honours at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
Josh Caygill grabbed the top spot in the times in the best of the McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs when he lapped in 2m02.201s, just two thousandths of second quicker than team-mate James Cottingham’s 2m02.203s.
The McLarens ended up more than a tenth clear of Francois Heriau, who posted a 2m02.367s in the best of the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s.
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Sarah Bovy, the only driver to take two poles in LMGT3 this year, ended up fourth in the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.
Alex Malykhin, who has already been crowned LMGT3 champion with team-mates Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler, took fifth in the Manthey PureRxing Porsche 911 GT3-R despite carrying 35kg of success ballast.
IT is the Premier League’s first Glove Affair for 31 YEARS.
Uniquely among the managerial fraternity, both Julen Lopetegui and Nuno Espirito Santo were goalkeepers in their playing careers before becoming bosses.
The last time two stoppers faced each other in opposing dugouts in the top flight was on Friday, April 9, 1993.
Tottenham crushed Norwich 5-1 at White Hart Lane — ex-Colchester keeper Mike Walker was manager of the Canaries, while former England No 1 Ray Clemence was in caretaker charge of Spurs along with Doug Livermore.
However, Friday’s clash at the City Ground, as surprise package Nottingham Forest face under-performing West Ham, represents the FIRST time two permanent chiefs who were former goalies going head to head.
Any suggestion you have to be crazy to become a keeper in the first place has been shot down by the Hammers manager.
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Well-travelled Spaniard Lopetegui laughed: “This is a big lie! A very big lie.
“Normally the most sensible people in the dressing room are the goalkeepers. Believe me.
“You can say they are different but not crazy.”
There is an eight-year age gap between Lopetegui, 58, and Nuno, 50, but they are both ex-Porto managers and they crossed paths earlier this century in LaLiga combat.
Lopetegui, who also coached at Real Madrid and Sevilla, said: “I’m a little bit older than him.
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“Yes, I remember him as a keeper. I played against him as a coach, too. But we were never keeper on keeper. I didn’t play against him as a keeper.
Meet the new Wags of the Premier League season, from a Belgian interior designer to a Portuguese model
“Who was the better goalkeeper? Ha, I forgot my time. I don’t remember a lot. Maybe me. I don’t know.”
Goalkeepers is a key theme of West Ham’s selection approach, as matchday 10 represents their first league visit outside of London.
Frenchman Alphonse Areola was dropped after the 4-1 defeat at Spurs even though he had started in the opening eight league ties.
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Pole Lukasz Fabianski was given the responsibility for the home match with Manchester United last Sunday and pulled off several great saves to help the Hammers win 2-1 — a result that saw the Old Trafford axing of Erik ten Hag.
Asked if he empathised with Areola’s disappointment, Lopetegui said: “I was a goalkeeper a long time ago. But I understand.
“I can change other positions. I repeat, you don’t change one player, it’s not about thinking that something is wrong with him.
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“It’s thinking that maybe you’re going to be positive with this change.
“Sometimes it’s going to happen or not. In football, we don’t have a crystal ball. But we try to take the decision that we think will always help the team.
“Did I get dropped? A lot! In my opinion, to my coaches, I was right! It’s like this.
“We trust Alphonse a lot. He did very well in this team before. But we decided that in this match, Lukasz was more ready and maybe it was good to put him in for different reasons.
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“All of them have to be ready to play. It’s up to us to decide who is going to be in or not.
“It’s not because we don’t trust them. It’s good, this kind of inside competition, to be more competitive.”
EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada – UFC Fight Night 246` ceremonial weigh-ins took place Friday, and the fighters came face-to-face one final time before Saturday’s event.
The weigh-ins took place at Edmonton Convention Center, which is nearby to Rogers Place, which hosts Saturday’s event (ESPN+).
Check out the video above to see the athletes from the scheduled matchups come face-to-face, and don’t miss the photo gallery below.
Ruben Amorim wants to take Ousmane Diomande to Manchester United, Europe’s elite track Vinicius Jr’s contract situation, while Wolves manager Gary O’Neil is under pressure.
Ruben Amorim wants to take Sporting’s 20-year-old Ivory Coast centre-back Ousmane Diomande, who is rated at £70m, with him to Manchester United. (Sun), external
Sporting’s Sweden forward Viktor Gyokeres remains a target of Arsenal and the 26-year-old is now considering his options following Amorim’s exit – with a move to London a realistic possibility. (TeamTalk), external
Manchester United are among three of Europe’s top clubs tracking Real Madrid’s 24-year-old Brazil forward Vinicius Jr, while a one billion euros contract offer is on the table. (Relevo, via TeamTalk), external
Former Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard has vowed to fight on to remain Al-Ettifaq manager after calls for him to resign from the position. (Mail), external
Manchester United’s first-team squad are desperate for Dutch interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy to stay on after Amorim takes over in the Old Trafford dugout. (Sun), external
The Gunners and fellow Premier League club Southampton are interested in signing Palmeiras’ 18-year-old Brazilian forward Luighi. (Nosso Palmeiras – in Portuguese), external
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca faces a significant hurdle if he wants to lure 20-year-old Danish defender Patrick Dorgu to Stamford Bridge, as the Lecce star is on course to remain in Serie A. (GiveMeSport), external
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has just two games to save his job after their dismal start to the season. (Football Insider), external
Tottenham are leading the race to sign 17-year-old Irish forward Mason Melia, who plays for Dublin-based club St Patrick’s Athletic. (TeamTalk), external
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Inter Miami head coach Gerardo Martino says signing Neymar from Al-Hilal would be currently impossible, amid speculation linking the 32-year-old Brazil forward with the MLS club. (ESPN), external
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