Two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou concedes in court documents that he breached his contract with McLaren Racing when the Spaniard did an about-face and stayed at Chip Ganassi Racing, having been the reserve driver for McLaren at F1’s Miami Grand Prix. The admission came in Palou's response to a lawsuit filed against him by McLaren in September seeking to recoup at least $23 million (£18.2m) in losses the team calculated Palou's reversal cost the organisation. Palou's 20-page response was filed in the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Commercial Court. The Associated Press reviewed the filing Monday. In the response, Palou says he changed his mind about joining McLaren ahead of the 2024 season when he "lost trust and confidence that (McLaren) genuinely intended to support his ambition to race in the Formula One Series and decided to continue racing with CGR in the Indy Car Series instead." Palou "therefore admits that he renounced his contractual obligations" with McLaren and "the real issue between the parties is as to the quantum of any damages which the Defendants are liable to pay," the documents say. The spat over the 26-year-old between two IndyCar teams began when Palou initially disputed a Ganassi claim that the team had picked up the 2023 option year on his contract. McLaren in July 2022 said it had signed Palou and had him earmarked for an IndyCar seat and a reserve driver role with its Formula One team. Chip Ganassi Racing said it had the contractual rights for Palou for the 2023 season. Palou and Ganassi entered mediation and a resolution was reached a year ago in which Palou would drive for Ganassi in 2023 but was also McLaren's reserve F1 driver when it did not interfere with IndyCar. He was able to participate in a practice session, tested for the F1 team both on track and in a simulator, and was the reserve driver for McLaren at F1's Miami Grand Prix in May. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown was contacted Aug. 8 and told by attorneys for Palou that Palou would not be joining McLaren and had instead signed a three-year extension with Ganassi. Palou won the 2021 and 2023 championships with Ganassi and is now signed there through 2026. IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward last week was named Palou's replacement as McLaren's F1 reserve driver and participated in a practice session during the season-ending race weekend in Abu Dhabi. O'Ward is a full-time IndyCar driver for Arrow McLaren Racing. The bulk of Palou's response focuses on McLaren's loss of revenue claims and attempts to mitigate what Palou will owe in damages. The nearly $23 million in damages McLaren is seeking is broken down in future sponsorship tied to Palou joining McLaren, the costs of using him as a reserve F1 driver, how much McLaren spent developing Palou for F1 and a $400,000 advance on his 2024 salary. McLaren is not seeking repayment of legal fees it says it covered for Palou in last year's fight with Ganassi. McLaren has contended Palou signed two contracts: the first with McLaren Racing as the F1 reserve driver and a separate deal with Arrow McLaren to compete in IndyCar for the team while also serving as the F1 backup. Among the damages McLaren is seeking is nearly $15.5 million in lost revenue under official partner agreements with sponsors NTT Data and General Motors that anticipated Palou would be the driver, including $7 million in revenue and prize money from IndyCar itself. "This claim is embarrassing for want of particularity and speculative in the extreme," the response said. "The performance of any team in a future Indy Car Series cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. Driver performance is variable." The response also disputes McLaren's claim to lost revenues that Palou "would otherwise have earned in relation to the Formula One Series." It notes that claim would only be valid if Palou was actually McLaren's F1 driver, and that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are under contract through 2025 and 2026. The response also claims that if Palou was an F1 driver, all the claims to IndyCar financial losses would be moot. McLaren also wants to recoup all money spent on Palou when he was the test driver, both on track and in the simulator, and money it spent seeking a replacement for Palou. O'Ward became Palou's replacement in the F1 role, while David Malukas was hired to fill the open seat in the IndyCar Series. AP Read More MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi returns to competitive motorsport ‘It did not fail’: W Series enters administration Raul Torras Martinez: Spanish rider dies at Isle of Man TT MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi returns to competitive motorsport ‘It did not fail’: W Series enters administration Raul Torras Martinez: Spanish rider dies at Isle of Man TT

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North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a controversial bill that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks, setting up a likely override effort from the state legislature, where Republicans have a supermajority.

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An Adidas campaign for Pride 2023 has gained considerable backlash after featuring male-presenting models wearing women’s swimsuits. Now, many people have defended the brand, amidst a wave of anti-trans sentiment towards companies including transgender people in their advertising. The sportswear brand unveiled its new collection for Pride 2023 on 15 May, titled “Let Love Be Your Legacy”. The range of apparel and footwear was designed by queer, South African designer Rich Mnisi, and comes as a collaboration with the non-profit Athlete Ally, which focuses on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports. In a statement, Rich Mnisi said the collection was “a symbol for self-acceptance and LGBTQIA+ advocacy.” On the company’s website, one of the bathing suits from the line – a colourful one-piece swimsuit called the “Pride Swimsuit” that retails for $70 – was being shown off by an apparently male model, though their gender is unknown. The swimsuit was marked under the women’s sportswear section on the website. The campaign photoshoot immediately set the internet ablaze, as many people criticised Adidas for “erasing women” by using a male-presenting model to advertise its female clothing. Former NCAA women’s swim athlete Riley Gaines, who has often been outspoken against trans women competing in sports, tweeted: “I don’t understand why companies are voluntarily doing this to themselves. They could have at least said the suit is ‘unisex’, but they didn’t because it’s about erasing women. Ever wondered why we hardly see this go the other way?” “We women will not be erased!!! Quit trying to replace us with male models!!! We’ve fought hard to be heard. Quit attempting to erase us again!!!” another user tweeted. Others called out the company for the move towards “woke” advertising, in light of the recent Bud Light and Nike campaigns featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. “Apparently Adidas hasn’t learned the lesson from Bud Light fiasco. Time to give Adidas the ‘get woke, go broke’ treatment,” said one person. British internet personality Oli London added, “Nike and Adidas are at War to see which brand can become the Most WOKE! Both brands are now using male models to advertise women’s sports bras. Who wins the WOKE Award?” Reviews for the bathing suit on the Adidas website have also been flooded with one-star ratings and negative reviews, like one which read: “Hope the same thing that happens to Bud Light happens to them with this woke trash.” Despite some of the criticism, many people have stepped up to defend Adidas for featuring the models in its Pride Month collection. In response to the backlash, author Dr Delatorro McNeal appeared on daytime talk show Daily Blast Live to discuss the Adidas Pride campaign. “My concern with all of the bashing and all of the categorising is that we’re not leading with love and we’re not leading with acceptance and inclusion,” he said. “We all want to count, we all want to matter, we all want to be included, and it’s so vitally important. So I believe that, although there’s a fine line between free speech and freedom of expression, I believe at the end of the day if Adidas wants to create this line, let them do it. The customers that are going to align with that message and are aligned with that product are going to get it those that won’t, won’t.” @dailyblastlive Something we have been talking a lot about on the show is big brands like Bud Light and Nike are facing boycotts because of their ads that include transgender people. Adidas is under fire for using a model to highlight its pride swimsuit collection. People online are claiming this ‘woke marketing’ is ‘erasing women.’ Reviews on the site have been flooded with negative comments like this one saying, ‘Hope the same thing happened to Bud Light happens to them with this woke trash.’ Dr. Delatorro shares his take on this. #adidas #backlash #leadwithlove #love #lgbtq #drdelatorro #transgender #swimsuitmodel #model #budlight #trans ♬ original sound - DBL Others took to social media to express their support for Adidas, as well as their confusion over the widespread outrage. “Why are people in an uproar about a man modelling a womens ‘pride’ swimsuit for adidas??????” asked one person on Twitter. “WHO CARES?” Meanwhile, on TikTok, someone else said: “I want one!!! It’s beautiful and so is the model!” “Trans people exist! They shop too!! If the model doesn’t represent you it probably wasn’t meant to,” another TikToker said. “Y’all are making this outrage up,” a third user wrote. “I’m a millennial woman and I don’t feel erased or threatened. Accept people, love people, grow.” In April, Bud Light faced similar backlash for partnering with trans influencer and model Dylan Mulvaney in an Instagram video. The 26-year-old TikTok star revealed her new sponsorship deal with the beer company when she filmed herself with multiple cans of Bud Light. The brand had also sent her a can of Bud Light with her face on it. The video instantly received backlash from conservative politicians and celebrities, including Kid Rock and Travis Tritt. Others called for a boycott of the beer, and filmed videos of themselves smashing or shooting at cases of Budweiser products. Anheuser-Busch, the producer of Budweiser beers, issued a statement in response to the boycott, saying that they “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.” That same month, the actor also faced transphobic backlash for her partnership with Nike. In response, the sportswear brand wrote in the pinned comments of one of its social media posts: “You are an essential component to the success of your community! We welcome comments that contribute to a positive and constructive discussion. Be kind…Be inclusive…Encourage each other…Hate speech, bullying, or other behaviours that are not in the spirit of a diverse and inclusive community will be deleted.” The Independent has contacted Adidas for comment. Read More LGBTQ+ group suspends Bud Light maker's rating over handling of backlash to transgender influencer Ted Cruz wants to investigate Bud Light for working with Dylan Mulvaney: ‘Melting down over a trans woman’ Dylan Mulvaney reveals impact of trolls misgendering her following Bud Light controversy Adidas plans to sell Yeezy stock from axed Kanye West deal and donate proceeds Get to know Foday Dumbuya, winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design 7 beauty changes to make as the weather gets warmer

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On a street corner of downtown Toronto in the wee hours of the morning is where the best conversations are bound to happen. I’ve spent my whole adult life in this city walking these streets and yelling my opinions — the good, the bad, and the shut-up-your-frontal-lobe-isn’t-even-formed-yet takes. I remember fighting with a friend just steps from Scotiabank Theatre after watching The Help about how Blackness should show up onscreen (spoiler: that was not it). They argued that, sure, maybe the movie was offensive, but parts of it were true. Why shouldn’t that story be told? (Their frontal lobe wasn’t fully formed either.) Over a decade later, during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), I found myself on those same streets debating the very same topic, except this time, the film in question wasn’t a trope-ridden, objectionable, white savior narrative; it was a ripe satire consumed with tackling the very conversations that Black media professionals have been having for decades. In American Fiction, it’s not about whether representation matters but rather what kind matters, and to whom?

“Now it’s time to cross over to our F1 Juniors,” said Sky’s lead presenter Simon Lazenby, in a feel which became familiar throughout the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Often the broadcaster striving for new avenues, never afraid of the status quo, Sky Sports took their television trials to a different avenue this weekend with the first-ever Formula 1 broadcast for children. An admirable experiment, it gave three teenagers a few days to savour as they started their summer holidays in Budapest alongside broadcasters Radzi Chinyanganya and Harry Benjamin. For Braydon, Scarlett and Zak – the latter a go-karter at junior level, the former duo presenters on Sky’s BAFTA-winning kids show FYI – it presented opportunities of a lifetime with interviews, quizzes and predictions with the best drivers and pundits in the paddock. And it provided some indisputably heartwarming moments. Like the segment where Zak met Lewis Hamilton and spoke to his hero about how inspiring the Mercedes star has been to black kids around the world, before then sitting in his Mercedes car. Or Scarlett and Braydon quizzing the “terrible trio” of George Russell, Lando Norris and Alex Albon about what ice cream they’d describe themselves as. “Vanilla”, Norris quipped, pointing at Russell. There’s something about the involvement of adolescents in a press environment which can bring some much-needed lightheartedness to what can sometimes be a sterile process for all involved. For example, who can forget the young boy, in awe of his sporting icon, who asked Roger Federer at the US Open in 2017: “Switzerland is really cool, right? There isn’t too much livestock. So why do they call you the GOAT [greatest of all time]?” Yet, away from one-on-ones with drivers, the core aspect to the alternative broadcast was the informal race coverage, live on free-to-air Sky Showcase, which presented an F1 race in an entirely different format. There were bright, 3D-augmented graphics throughout, with a colour-coordinated leaderboard which, frankly, seemed clearer than the usual feed at times. Explainers popped up at various points, defining key F1-focused terms for younger viewers. The use of avatars for each driver was a cute touch, though obviously best kept for this experiment. Overall, it provided something completely unique and distinctive for a 70-lap race which provided a common routine in the obligatory Max Verstappen victory. Sure, nobody was asking for an F1-kids broadcast. And inevitably, naysayers online will have been quick to roll their eyes at the initiative. It was notable that both Sky F1 and Benjamin turned off replies to their tweets involving F1 Juniors over the weekend. Less an indication of the general reaction to the initiative and more a sign of the times – and the highly-charged, often-abusive nature of social media. But that is not the point. F1 has for a while been a step ahead of other sports in the intuitiveness and creativity of its product, to the stage now where it is in the midst of a period of unprecedented worldwide popularity. The most obvious is the fly-on-the-wall nature of Drive to Survive on Netflix, a format only now being followed by the professional tennis and golf tours in search of extra eyeballs. It is a fine balancing act, though. During practice and the qualifying show, there were regular interspersions on the main feed to the Juniors, a process which may well have irritated petrolheads and fans of a sterner generation. While Sky like to push boundaries, their executives will be all too aware of trying to avoid alienating their core viewership. The one-off nature of F1 Juniors, at least this season, means this is unlikely to materialise. And there were moments of awkwardness. Like cutting to Christian Horner on the pit wall, seemingly in a baffled daze, who bluntly said: “Can we come back and do this in another 10 laps or so?” Like a selfie in the commentary booth with Danica Patrick, who had earlier stated the nature of sport “is masculine and aggressive” as she spoke about the lack of female racing drivers. There were obviously a few mistakes here and there – and it wasn’t completely crisp and clear-cut. But then it wasn’t meant to be. And, frankly, nor is David Croft and Martin Brundle’s expert commentary always error-free. In a sport as technical and fast-paced as F1, perfection is near-on impossible. Of course, unless you’re Verstappen at the moment. But the underlying takeaway is this: as a child, all you want to be is treated as a grown-up. The best way of learning about the intricacies of a sport like Formula 1 is to immerse yourself in the usual feed on a regular basis, creating a curiosity gap to discover more. As a one-off, F1 Juniors was worthwhile and undoubtedly a commendable initiative. For intrigued parents, showing their children an F1 race for the first time, who knows how many may have flicked on the coverage? Who knows how many might now flick on an F1 race in the future on a Sunday afternoon? Something different is not to be something dismissed. Article originally published on 24 July 2023 Read More Lewis Hamilton makes damning statement about his level after Hungarian GP Daniel Ricciardo is back - and this time he wants to go out on top F1 Singapore Grand Prix LIVE: Qualifying updates and times at Marina Bay FIA take action against Helmut Marko after comments about Sergio Perez Zhou Guanyu interview: ‘There is a lot of pressure – only winners stay in F1’

Margot Robbie gave show-stopping performances on every hot pink carpet of the Barbie press tour, but a few of her planned Mattel-inspired outfits weren’t officially unveiled due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes cutting the world-wide event schedule short. To give the missed looks the recognition they deserve, Robbie’s stylist Andrew Mukamal debuted six never seen photos in an 18 July Instagram post. The first image showed the 33-year-old Australian actress in a Versace form-fitting number – pink, of course. Robbie’s sleek hair and makeup matched the subtle shimmer of the metallic strapless dress, with a neckline that looked as if it was the waist of a pair of pants. In true Barbieform, Mukamal adorned the look with baby pink socks, a white box clutch, pink crew socks, and Versace’s heeled loafers. Robbie and Mukamal took Alicia Silverstone’s iconic Clueless yellow two-piece to a whole new level in the second slide. The Wolf of Wall Street star cut a classic Chanel figure in a tweed two-piece and tortoise-print oval sunglasses by Oliver Peoples. Robbie also donned delicate Christian Louboutin white pumps to mimic Barbie’s signature toe stance, while her fuzzy Chanel crossbody added contrast to the otherwise conservative look. Looking pretty in pink, Mukamal styled Robbie in a double-buckle crop top and matching mini-skirt by Versace. The outfit was topped off with see-through pumps by Manolo Blahnik and a Judith Leiber handbag detailed with a sparkly silver bow. The fourth slide showed Robbie from her Australia press tour look: a strawberry-printed Moschino halter dress influenced by the original Barbie. She also brought back her white Louboutin’s, but paired them with Gentle Monster sunglasses and a bouncy updo. In the fifth image, Mukamal showed off his creation from the Mexico City press tour. Robbie was placed inside a life-size Barbie toy box with a logo-printed pink Versace dress and soft satin shoulder bag to match. The sixth and final slide featured Robbie on the hood of a standout pink Lamborghini in Pierpaolo’s Valentino. Her pointed toe pumps mirrored the mini square-neck short sleeve dress by the luxury Italian fashion house. Among Robbie’s notable looks from the highly-acclaimed film premiere was her dazzling black Schiaparelli ball gown inspired by the vintage Mattel “Solo in the Spotlight” doll. The tight-fitting haute couture piece honoured a classic 1960s style fad with a flounce black hem and red rosette. For the final stop in London, Robbie wowed fans in London by wearing Vivienne Westwood. Mukamal tapped into vintage Barbie when he dressed Robbie in three layers of pearl chokers, a baby pink wrap gown with corset detailing, and a detachable white fur trim. The look was completed with a long train attached to a flower that was stitched on one side and fell to floor. The Greta Gerwig film is set to debut in theatres on 21 June in the US and UK. Read More Margot Robbie admits to ‘pressure’ concerns over Barbie role Ryan Gosling ‘keeps finding Ken dolls discarded’ by his own daughters Recreate Margot Robbie’s Barbie look with these pink heels Chanel is set to host a fashion show in Manchester TikTokers are showing off pink outfits they’re going to wear to watch Barbie movie Margot Robbie has fangirl moment over Love Island stars Ekin-Su, Davide and Liberty