Motorsports

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile announced Friday it levied a $7 million fine against Red Bull Racing for a violation of the FIA Formula 1 Financial Regulations.

FIA's Cost Cap Administration determined Red Bull underreported it's 2021 costs by £5.6 million, which created a £1.9 million minor overspend breach of the regulations' cost cap. RBR has agreed to enter an accepted breach agreement in wake of the violation.

"Red Bull Racing was found to be in breach, however, the Cost Cap Administration recognize that Red Bull Racing has acted cooperatively throughout the review process and has sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested in a timely manner, that this is the first year of the full application of the Financial Regulations and that there is no accusation or evidence that RBR has sought at any time to act in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner, nor has it willfully concealed any information from the Cost Cap Administration," the FIA said in a statement.

The CCA's review found 13 areas where RBR either incorrectly excluded or improperly calculated relevant costs. If RBR would have properly applied its tax credit, it would have lessened its overspend, but it would have still been noncompliant by £432,652 (0.37 percent) against the FIA F1 cost cap.

Since RBR agreed to the ABA, it doesn't have the right to appeal the findings or punishment. Further noncompliance would be referred to the Cost Cap Adjudication Panel.

Along with the fine, RBR also received a 10 percent reduction in aerodynamic testing for the next 12 months, and it must cover the costs incurred by the CCA during its review.

All 10 teams must abide by the FIA F1 Financial Regulations, which were enforced for the first time in 2021, to compete in the sport's top division.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the 2021 F1 champion who also recently clinched the 2022 title, told The Race's Scott Mitchell-Malm and Matt Beer the team didn't agree with the findings.

"It's just a bit frustrating," Verstappen said Thursday. "From our side, we feel like we are not wrong. Just some things are taken into the budget cap which are very unexpected, but we'll have to deal with it. It's not up to me to decide what's right."

Red Bull's decision to accept the ABA was meant to avoid more significant penalties, such as point reductions or limits on future budget amounts, according to The Race's report.

The 2022 F1 season continues Sunday with the Mexico City Grand Prix at the Mexico Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

There are three races left in the campaign, which wraps up Nov. 20.

Max Verstappen held off Lewis Hamilton on Sunday in the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, to continue his attack on the Formula One record book.

The 25-year-old earned his 13th win of the 2022 season to tie Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel's mark for most victories in a single year.

Hamilton did what he could to hold off the on-rushing Verstappen, but he was powerless to halt a brilliant pass from the Dutchman on the 50th lap.

Verstappen's lead shrunk to less than a second at one point, but he successfully shut the door on Hamilton for the remainder of the race.

The Red Bull team had plenty to celebrate as they secured the constructors' championship.

Carlos Sainz claimed the pole in Saturday's qualifying. As he sought his second victory of the season, he acknowledged he was "realistic" and added it was "going to be tough" to hold off Verstappen, who was second in the starting order.

Little did Sainz know how difficult his day would be.

The 28-year-old didn't even complete one full lap before he made contact with George Russell, the result of which was serious enough to knock Sainz out of the United States Grand Prix.

Race officials issued a five-second penalty to Russell.

That paved the way for Verstappen to claim the lead, and the 2022 F1 champion was unsurprisingly dominant from the top spot. Although he complained of some issues with his car, it was largely smooth sailing until a pit stop on Lap 36.

Verstappen's Red Bull team was slow to get him new tires, and he had fallen behind Hamilton and Leclerc by the time he was off pit road and back on the track. Vettel, benefited from Verstappen's misfortune as well and looked a good bet to earn a podium finish.

Verstappen overtook Leclerc, though, and Vettel had a terrible pit stop of his own that sent him slipping down the leaderboard. In no time, the race became a head-to-head battle between Verstappen and Hamilton.

The former continued to chip away at the latter's lead to the point where the turnaround felt inevitable. As great as Hamilton is, Verstappen has been nearly untouchable in 2022.

Three stops remain in the current Formula One season. The series will head to Mexico City for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Oct. 30, with Verstappen one checkered flag away from history.

Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who also played an instrumental role in the development of Formula One racing, has died at the age of 78, the company announced on Saturday.

Mateschitz co-founded Red Bull gmbH with Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1987. The company has grown into one of the biggest conglomerates in the world, with Mateschitz boasting a net worth of $15.1 billion.

The Austria native first got involved in F1 in 1995 through an association with the Sauber team before he eventually bought a majority ownership share of the engineering company.

Mateschitz purchased the Formula One Jaguar Racing Team in November 2004. The team was rebranded as Red Bull Racing following the acquisition. He also bought out the Minardi team 10 months later.

Red Bull Racing has become one of the most dominant teams in all of Formula 1. Sebastian Vettel posted six consecutive top-five finishes in the overall standings from 2009-14, including four straight titles from 2010-13.

Led by Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing is in position to win its first points championship this year for the first time since 2013.

Mateschitz also tried his hand at NASCAR when he formed the Red Bull Racing Team. The squad competed in the Sprint Cup Series from 2006-11 and Nationwide Series in 2010. No one on the team ever finished higher than 12th in the overall standings during that six-season run.

Logan Sargeant is on track to become the first American Formula One driver since 2015.

Per Williams Racing CEO and team principal Jost Capito (h/t ESPN's Nate Saunders), Sargeant will get the call to replace the outgoing Nicholas Latifi, pending him being granted an FIA superlicence.

According to Saunders, "Sargeant needs to have 40 points on his superlicence to join the grid—he now has 28 and could get 30 from planned Friday practice appearances in Mexico and Abu Dhabi if he completes over 100km, penalty free, in both."

In addition to taking part in those practice sessions, Williams announced Saturday that Sargeant, 21, will also compete in the Young Driver Test after the 2022 season.

Alexander Rossi was the last American to race in F1. He had five starts in 2014 and 2015.

Sargeant raced on the FIA Formula 3 Championship from 2019 to 2021 before getting the call to F2. He notably finished third overall in F3's 2020 season.

This year, Sargeant became the first American to ever win in F2 after emerging victorious at the British Grand Prix.

The Williams Driver Academy product got his first practice action at the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

Welcome to the Championship 4, Joey Logano.

The veteran driver clinched his spot Sunday, winning the South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway after holding off Ross Chastain.

Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Chase Elliott, who came into the day atop the playoff standings, finished 21st. Here's where the rest of the playoff contenders not previously mentioned finished on Sunday:

• Christopher Bell: Did Not Finish
• William Byron: 13th
• Ryan Blaney: 28th

Chastain, Elliott and Hamlin are currently in position to qualify for the Championship 4, though much could change over the next two races.

Bell's day ended in tough fashion, as he was collateral damage in a mid-race spat between Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace—who won the first stage—that led to a crash, ended the day for all three drivers and led to a bit of a shoving match off the track:

Bell told reporters he and his team "got the short end of the stick" in the altercation between Larson and Wallace.

"It's disappointing because our performance is capable of racing for the championship, and it doesn't appear that we're going to get to," he added, as he now sits in eighth place in the playoff standings.

Blaney, meanwhile, was in second place Sunday and had already won the second stage when he lost control of his vehicle and hit the wall.

There was no such gaffe for Logano, however, who methodically tracked down Chastain over the final 10 laps and outmaneuvered him for the win. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Logano would find himself in contention—it's just what he does.

The second of three Round of 8 races will take place next Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, with the Dixie Vodka 400 set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Christopher Bell is headed to the round of eight in the NASCAR playoffs.

Bell secured his spot with a dramatic victory in Sunday's Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race went to overtime following a lengthy red flag near the end, and he outmaneuvered the field and earned the win he needed to advance.

His win wasn't the only drama, as Kyle Larson was among those eliminated as the field of eight was set:

The biggest storyline heading into Sunday's race at the twisty course was whether Chase Elliott would maintain his momentum after clinching his spot in the round of eight with last week's win at Talladega Superspeedway.

He also won two of the previous four races at the Charlotte road course and was the driver to beat heading into the final event of the round of 12.

Yet it was Joey Logano and Ross Chastain who made headlines in the first two stages.

Logano led all 25 laps in dominant fashion in the opening stage, clinching the playoff point that comes with it. And Chastain was forced to go to the rear before the race began because of unapproved adjustments for repairs but rallied back to win the second stage and the corresponding playoff point.

The drama came in Stage 3.

First, Corey LaJoie made contact with Chase Briscoe, and then Daniel Suárez tumbled down the standings as he battled on the fringe of the cut line as he experienced power steering problems.

It was a difficult break for Suárez at a key moment, bringing the pressure of the elimination race into focus, and he pitted in an effort to fix the issue before the final push. He also ended up making contact with LaJoie, underscoring the steering issues.

Chastain also went to the garage for repair work at a critical time as he attempted to remain ahead of the cut line, while Larson pitted in need of repairs.

As if that wasn't enough chaos, Elliott spun out in the final stretch after a restart and opened the door for Harvick to seize the lead in dramatic fashion.

It was the shake-up Bell needed to make a move, and he took full advantage in the overtime.