Formula 2 have expressed its disappointment at a decision from Hitech Grand Prix to allow Juri Vips to retain his seat for the remainder of the season.

The Estonian was axed by Red Bull following an investigation into alleged racist language used during an online gaming session, stripping him of his reserve driver status and a spot in the team's young driver programme.

However, Vips will retain his seat with Hitech Grand Prix ahead of this weekend's race at Silverstone with team principal Oliver Oakes stating he would give the 21-year-old a "chance to redeem himself".

"I have made the decision for Juri to keep his F2 seat with Hitech for the remainder of the season, a decision we have seriously debated," he said.

"Allowing him to complete his season with Hitech is an opportunity for him to demonstrate, through his actions, the type of person he is. 

"I have made it clear that I think the language used was totally unacceptable, but I choose to give him the chance to redeem himself.

"Hitech GP employs an inclusive workforce and has never condoned racism or offensive behaviour in any forms. 

"That said, if we live in a society where no one can make a mistake, then genuinely apologise, have the chance for redemption and learn from it – what does it say about society?"

The decision resulted in disappointment from F2, which admitted it was not a course of action it would have taken.

"Following the recent incident involving Juri Vips, F2 would like to reaffirm that the use of racist or discriminatory language cannot be tolerated in any environment," it said.

"Hitech Grand Prix's decision today is surprising and not one we would have taken. We will monitor the situation carefully with them to ensure that such behaviour is properly addressed."

The Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards are nearing completion of a trade that would send point guard Monte Morris and swingman Will Barton to Washington for guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith, according to multiple reports.

Morris, who started 74 games in place of an injured Jamal Murray last season, would fill the Wizards' primary need of a starting point guard. Washington had previously been rumoured to have interest in trading for Indiana's Malcolm Brogdon.

The 27-year-old Morris averaged career highs of 12.6 points and 4.4 assists per game in 2021-22 and is a career 39.4 percent shooter from three-point range. The five-year veteran has two seasons remaining on a three-year, $27.8million extension he signed with Denver in December 2020.

Both Caldwell-Pope and Barton are entering the final years of their respective contracts and have nearly identical salaries for 2021-22.

In Caldwell-Pope, the Nuggets get a strong wing defender and a proven outside shooter who has made 38.5 percent or more of his three-point attempts in each of the last three seasons. The 29-year-old averaged 13.2 points while starting 77 games in his lone season with Washington after being acquired from the Lakers as part of the trade that sent former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook to Los Angeles.

Barton started a career-high 71 games last season and averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists. The 31-year-old had been the Nuggets' longest-tenured player, having spent seven-plus seasons with the franchise.

The well-travelled Smith would set an NBA record by playing with his 13th team should he suit up for the Nuggets. The 12-year veteran, who averaged 6.3 points and 3.8 assists in 65 games last season, has a non-guaranteed $4.725m salary for 2022-23.

Venus Williams will make her Wimbledon return after the five-time singles champion was granted a wildcard entry for the mixed doubles with Jamie Murray.

The 42-year-old has not played on the WTA Tour since a first-round defeat at the Chicago Open last year due to a leg injury.

However, despite not entering either the women's singles or women's doubles in SW19, Williams was pictured arriving at the championships with a sports bag on Sunday.

And it was confirmed on Wednesday she would be teaming up with Murray, with the pair facing a first-round clash against Alicja Rosolska and Michael Venus on Friday.

Both Williams and Murray have enjoyed mixed doubles success previously at Wimbledon.

Murray is a two-time winner having partnered Jelena Jankovic in 2007 and Martina Hingis in 2017 – beating Michael Venus in the latter final – while Williams reached the final in 2006 alongside Bob Bryan. She has won the women's doubles with sister Serena Williams six times.

This is not the first All England Club partnership between the two hugely successful tennis families either, with Serena and Andy Murray reaching the third round at Wimbledon in 2019.

Last year, Venus bowed out at the second round in the singles following defeat to Ons Jabeur but vowed she would return to SW19 – a promise she has now fulfilled. 

She follows the return of her sister Serena, who suffered a surprise singles defeat in the opening round against Harmony Tan on day two of the tournament.

Harmony Tan's unexpected first-round singles win over Serena Williams at Wimbledon prompted her to quit the doubles tournament, leading to a social media rant from her partner, who suggested she was not cut out for professional tennis.

Tan had entered the doubles draw alongside Tamara Korpatsch, with their first-round match against Raluca Olaru and Nadiia Kichenok set for Wednesday.

But Tan perhaps had not expected to be playing late into Tuesday evening and then to have a second-round singles contest to prepare for against Sara Sorribes Tormo on Thursday.

The Frenchwoman came through an epic back-and-forth on Centre Court to beat seven-time champion Williams – in singles action for the first time in almost a year – 7-5 1-6 7-6 (10-7).

Tan gained little sympathy from Korpatsch, however, with the German out of the singles competition on Monday following a three-set defeat to Heather Watson.

"Unfortunately my doubles partner H. Tan retired from our doubles today," Korpatsch wrote on her Instagram page.

"She just texted me this morning. Let me wait here one hour before the match start.

"I'm very sad, disappointed and also very angry that I can't play my first doubles grand slam. And it's really not fair for me. I didn't deserve that.

"She asked me before the tournament if we wanna play doubles and I said yes, I didn't ask her, she asked me!

"If you're broken after a three-hour match the day before, you can't play professional. That's my opinion."

Korpatsch's frustration continued on her Instagram story, where she had initially revealed the news, suggesting she was capable of playing more than six hours one day and still taking to the court the next.

She later added: "Thanks for all your comments. But I would like to say: I don't hate my doubles partner for withdrawing. I just want to share my feelings and opinion about my situation.

"If I'm still competing in singles, I would still feel and do the same. I wanted to play my first doubles grand slam. That was my chance.

"Yesterday she [Tan] was so motivated to me, and I was happy about our doubles.

"But just today in the morning getting this message feels very painful. It's not a WTA tournament, which I can play almost every week. It's a grand slam."

Nelson Piquet has apologised to Lewis Hamilton for his "ill-thought-out" comments, although the three-time Formula One champion denied his words were racist.

Media outlets in Brazil have this week highlighted an interview conducted with Piquet following the 2021 British Grand Prix, with the 69-year-old alleged to have used racist language when assessing the collision between Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Piquet's daughter, Kelly, is world champion Verstappen's partner.

Mercedes have come out in support of their man Hamilton – F1's only black driver – as have several rival teams and F1 itself, with the series reportedly set to ban Piquet from its paddock for life.

But the Brazilian, while apologising, has said his comments were mistranslated.

"I would like to clear up the stories circulating in the media about a comment I made in an interview last year," he said in a statement.

"What I said was ill-thought-out, and I make no defence for it, but I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for 'guy' or 'person' and was never intended to offend

"I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour.

"I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct.

"Discrimination has no place in F1 or society, and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect."

Hamilton has been active on his Twitter page since the reports emerged.

"It's more than language," he posted. "These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport.

"I've been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action."

Defending champion Novak Djokovic outclassed Thanasi Kokkinakis in a domineering straight-sets victory to march into the third round at Wimbledon.

The top seed moved majestically as he made a statement on Centre Court, winning 6-1 6-4 6-2 in just two hours on Wednesday.

Djokovic breezed into a 3-0 lead in an opening set he served out to love after breaking for a second time, returning majestically as he dominated the Australian.

The 20-time grand slam champion needed just the one early break in the second set as he served superbly and was ruthless at the net, while also bossing rallies from the back of the court.

World number three Djokovic was relentless as he broke twice in a one-sided third set before ending the match with a hold after saving the only break point he faced.

Six-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic will face fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in round three at the All England Club.

Data slam: Djokovic near flawless as he extends winning run to 23

That is 23 wins in a row at the grass-court grand slam for three-time defending champion Djokovic.

The tournament favourite dropped a set in his win over Kwon Soon-woo on Monday, but barely put a foot wrong two days later.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic – 29/14
Kokkinakis – 31/23

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Djokovic – 1/3
Kokkinakis – 11/5

BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic – 5/13
Kokkinakis – 0/1

Jule Niemeier claimed the biggest scalp of her career by knocking second seed Anett Kontaveit out of Wimbledon with an emphatic straight-sets win on Wednesday.

Playing her first match against a top-10 player, world number 97 Niemeier moved into the third round with a 6-4 6-0 victory on No.1 Court.

Kontaveit did not earn a solitary break point as she made another early grand slam exit after falling in the first round at the French Open.

The number-three ranked Estonian, who was knocked out of Wimbledon in the opening round last year, has been suffering from the after-effects of coronavirus over the past couple of months.

German outsider Niemeier was beaten in her first main-draw grand slam match at the French Open last month, but took just 58 minutes to set up a third-round meeting with Anhelina Kalinina or Lesia Tsurenko.

The 22-year-old became the lowest-ranked female player to win a main-draw match at the All England Club against a top-three opponent since Jana Cepelova's defeat of Garbine Muguruza in 2016.

Charles Leclerc is confident Ferrari will be fighting for the win at Silverstone – as long as the team can avoid any further reliability woes.

Power unit issues have led to recent retirements in Spain and Azerbaijan, the last of which resulted in a back-of-the-grid start for the Canadian Grand Prix after taking a third unit of the season.

Those troubles, accompanied by a wrong strategy call in Monaco, have seen Max Verstappen and Red Bull take a commanding lead in both championships – with the defending champion winning four of the past five races.

Ferrari's potential is undeniable, with six pole positions out of nine, but only two have resulted in race wins and the last came in Australia almost three months ago.

In his career overall, Leclerc's 15 poles have returned just four wins for a 27 per cent winning percentage – the second lowest in F1 history among drivers who have won at least one race, behind only Jarno Trulli (25 per cent, one win from four pole positions). 

Despite a 49-point deficit in the driver's championship, third-placed Leclerc remains upbeat and believes reliability will be an issue for all teams to contend with this season.

"No, I'm not worried. I mean, it's a big gap but, but I'm just focusing on the job, and I'm confident that we can take that back," he told Motorsport.

"I think reliability seems to be a concern for everyone this season. And yeah, if we fix our reliability, the performance is there to come back. So already from Silverstone we'll try to get a few points back.

"I really like Silverstone. And hopefully we will be competitive enough to be starting on pole and finally win from pole."

Mercedes' hunting ground

Eight of the past nine British GPs have been won by Mercedes, with the only exception being Sebastian Vettel with Ferrari in 2018, and improvements shown in Canada will provide encouragement for the Silver Arrows.

Lewis Hamilton's second podium finish of the season in third was the highlight in Montreal, but George Russell's consistency continues to stand out, with the British driver finishing in the top five in all nine races in 2022.

A win for Hamilton would be the ninth of his career at Silverstone, setting a new record for the most wins in a single GP – overtaking his eight victories in Hungary and Michael Schumacher's eight wins in France.

Driver market

Away from the track itself, the F1 driver market is starting to heat up as teams outline their plans for the 2023 season, and there are a number on the grid who could be under threat of losing their seats.

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are both out of contract at the end of the season – although each could still extend – while Daniel Ricciardo has work to do to impress McLaren to retain his seat despite being tied down for a further year.

Nicholas Latifi at Williams and Mick Schumacher at Haas are also under pressure, with F2 champion and Alpine reserve Oscar Piastri expected to get a chance in 2023. Antonio Giovinazzi has been touted for a return to the grid, too.

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 175
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 129
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 126
4. George Russell (Mercedes) 111
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 102

Constructors

1. Red Bull 304
2. Ferrari 228
3. Mercedes 188
4. McLaren 65
5. Alpine 57

Lucas Torreira has declared there is "no chance" he will stay at Arsenal despite seeing a permanent switch to Fiorentina fall through.

The Uruguayan midfielder spent last season on loan with the Serie A side but the club refused to meet Arsenal's €15 million (£12.6m) buy option, which was included as part of his loan agreement.

Torreira took to social media to hit out at those "acting in a bad way", after the move to Fiorentina collapsed and left the 26-year-old with an uncertain future as he heads into the final year of his deal with Mikel Arteta's side.

However, Torreira has made it clear there is no chance of a U-turn and an Arsenal stay as he eyes a permanent exit from the Emirates Stadium.

"There is no chance. From the beginning they told me that I didn't have a place," he told El Telegrafo.

"I don't want to stay either because I suffered a lot, it cost me a lot to adapt and my idea is to go to Italy or Spain.

"What I wanted was to stay at Fiorentina, but it didn't happen for various reasons, so we'll look for a new direction."

A return to Boca Juniors has been touted for the midfielder and he addressed those rumours, adding: "Boca is very difficult.

"It was difficult after what happened to my mother and I really wanted to go there, then I had a very good season and I have one year left on my contract with Arsenal.

"Any team that wants me has to buy me, which would be around €15m, so that's why I see it as difficult, although I never lose hope. I feel a lot of love for that club and at some point I would like to play there."

Torreira joined Arsenal in 2018 but dropped down the pecking order after an ankle injury in March 2020. He spent the 2020-21 season on loan with Atletico Madrid before his stint with Fiorentina last term.

Will Hardy has agreed in principle to join the Utah Jazz as their new head coach, according to reports.

Hardy was assistant to Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka during the team's run to the NBA Finals in the 2021-22 season .

But he has pursued a first head coaching role, interviewing for a role with the Jazz, whose recruitment process was overseen by CEO and former Celtics player and president Danny Ainge.

Hardy was one of four finalists to replace Quinn Snyder, ESPN said, and beat off competition from fellow Celtics assistant Joe Mazzulla, Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin and Jazz assistant Alex Jensen.

At 34, Hardy – who previously served as assistant to Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs – is set to become the NBA's youngest active head coach, having agreed to a five-year contract.

This is shaping up to be an offseason of change for the Jazz, with the potential for Snyder's departure to be followed by that of at least one star player.

Having made the playoffs in six straight seasons but failed to get past the second round, Utah have been the subject of plenty of trade speculation.

Center Rudy Gobert is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, while guard Donovan Mitchell would have no shortage of suitors if there was a deal able to entice the Jazz.

Terry McLaurin has become the latest receiver to be paid, as the NFL's trend of wideouts earning huge sums shows no signs of slowing.

And McLaurin's new three-year contract with the Washington Commanders is a record-breaking pact.

The deal, worth up to $71million in new money, makes the fourth-year star one of the five best-paid receivers in the NFL and notably has more than three-quarters of the value guaranteed.

Indeed, McLaurin's reported signing bonus of $28m is the largest ever given to a receiver.

The player has got the deal he wanted after skipping three weeks of voluntary OTAs and then the Commanders' mandatory three-day minicamp.

Washington bowed to McLaurin's demands, as several rival teams have with their own standout pass catchers this offseason, although others – the Green Bay Packers with Davante Adams and the Kansas City Chiefs with Tyreek Hill – have seen big names depart to earn massive contracts elsewhere.

The Commanders were determined McLaurin would not be traded, however, meaning he returns for the 2022 season, which had been set to be the last of his rookie contract.

Another high-profile star has opted in to a lucrative contract as the NBA continues to prepare for free agency.

Hot on the heels of Kyrie Irving committing to the Brooklyn Nets, with potential destinations for a move thin on the ground, Russell Westbrook has picked up his option with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Westbrook will be paid $47.1million for the 2022-23 season, making it little surprise his decision was reported on Tuesday.

The 2017 NBA MVP endured a difficult first year in LA – to say the least – but will hope for a fresh start under new Lakers coach Darvin Ham.

Westbrook's huge contract made him extremely difficult to trade, limiting the Lakers' moves this offseason significantly.

The New York Knicks have worked to ensure they are not in the same position, despite similarly being tied to a highly paid underperforming player in Julius Randle.

The Knicks traded away their 11th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft among transactions that included dumping Kemba Walker's contract with the Detroit Pistons.

And the Knicks have also come to an agreement for the Pistons to take on both Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks.

These moves have cleared around $30m in cap space, and the Knicks appear determined to spend that money on Jalen Brunson, the Dallas Mavericks point guard.

Brunson is set to be a target for the Knicks after the free agency period begins on Thursday, and his departure would deal a blow to the Mavs and superstar Luka Doncic.

Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals in 2021-22 and have boosted their roster with a move for Christian Wood from the Houston Rockets.

But Brunson was the team's second man behind Doncic, leaving work to do just to get back to the level they have reached in recent months.