Get to know the Formula One drivers playing alongside PGA Tour stars in the Netflix Cup

Don’t know much about Formula One or its drivers? We’ve got you covered.

Netflix will air its first live sporting event on Tuesday night with the Netflix Cup, a golf event featuring four teams of PGA Tour players paired with Formula One drivers.

Held at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas – ranked 19th on Golfweek’s Best 2023: Top 50 casino golf courses in the U.S. – the 6 p.m. ET event will look to play off the success of the streaming service’s Full Swing and Drive to Survive shows that follow both the PGA Tour and Formula One, respectively. Formula One will host its first-ever race on the Strip in Las Vegas later this weekend.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the world of Formula One, get to know the four drivers who will be teeing it up with Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa.

Max Homa and Alex Albon headline pairings for first live golf telecast on Netflix at Wynn Golf Club

The event is one of many to kick start the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix.

They may all be must-see TV.

Netflix, which is set to have a live golf telecast for the first time, has announced pairings for the first-ever Netflix Cup, which matches a “Drive to Survive” racer and a “Full Swing” golfer in a two-man competition.

Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas is the host for the event, on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET. The course is ranked 19th on Golfweek’s Best 2023: Top 50 casino golf courses in the U.S.

The event is one of many to kick start the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix. The pairings are:

  • Rickie Fowler and Lando Norris
  • Justin Thomas and Carlos Sainz
  • Collin Morikawa and Pierre Gasly
  • Max Homa and Alex Albon

“We love to see how our sports series have brought increased fandom to sports leagues and competitions all over the world,” said Gabe Spitzer, Vice President of Nonfiction Sports at Netflix, in a release. “The Netflix Cup will take that energy to the next level with global stars from two popular hits competing in our first-ever live sports event.”

Russell, Ocon, Gasly hit with impeding penalties in Brazil

George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have all been handed two-place grid penalties for impeding other cars at the pit exit in qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The FIA had changed the regulations to mandate a maximum delta time …

George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have all been handed two-place grid penalties for impeding other cars at the pit exit in qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The FIA had changed the regulations to mandate a maximum delta time between Safety Car Line 2 — at the pit exit — and Safety Car Line 1 — at the pit entry — from the Singapore Grand Prix onwards to reduce the risks of drivers backing up in the final sector to create gaps in qualifying. This served to move the issue of cars slowing to the pit exit — as seen in Mexico last week — so the race director’s notes in Brazil made clear that any car going slowly in the pit lane had to move fully to the left to allow others to overtake if they wish.

However, with a long and narrow pit exit at Interlagos, there were multiple incidents of potential impeding and Russell, Ocon and Gasly all received the same grid penalty for preventing others from passing.

“[When] exiting the pits, preparing for an out lap, [the drivers in question] went slow to create a gap for a clear lap, but did not manage to stay completely to the left,” the stewards’ decision read. “As a result, following car(s) were not able to overtake, as intended by the Race Director’s instructions. This clearly violates the wording and the spirit of item 14 of the Race Director’s Event Notes.”

The penalties apply to the grand prix on Sunday — rather than the Sprint on Saturday — as the incidents occurred in qualifying for the main race. Russell was the highest-placed of the trio originally, so he drops from sixth to eighth on the grid. Ocon and Gasly had qualified next to each other and are demoted to 14th and 15th respectively.

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly spotted wearing Patrick Mahomes jersey

F1 driver Pierre Gasly was spotted donning a Patrick Mahomes jersey after the quarterback’s investment in the Alpine racing team this week.

Patrick Mahomes has made serious investments in the sports world since signing his massive second contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, and his latest endeavor put him on the world stage in a major way.

The reigning MVP and tight end Travis Kelce both put money into the Alpine Formula 1 team this week, which was met with both surprise and intrigue around the motorsports and football communities.

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was spotted wearing a white Mahomes jersey on Wednesday in a picture posted to Twitter, marking a new era for the racing team as it prepares for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas this weekend.

Formula 1 is a global sport that holds races around the world, and Gasly’s eagerness to don a Mahomes jersey is sure to introduce the quarterback to fans on every continent who weren’t already aware of his accomplishments and success in the NFL.

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Gasly confused by ‘complete joke’ of Alpine team orders

Pierre Gasly was left puzzled by instructions from his Alpine team late in the Japanese Grand Prix that he described as a “complete joke.” Alpine ordered Gasly to give up ninth place to teammate Esteban Ocon on the final lap as he hadn’t managed to …

Pierre Gasly was left puzzled by instructions from his Alpine team late in the Japanese Grand Prix that he described as a “complete joke.”

Alpine ordered Gasly to give up ninth place to teammate Esteban Ocon on the final lap as he hadn’t managed to catch and pass Fernando Alonso ahead for eighth in the final stint. However, with the drivers running two different strategies, Gasly was angry when the request was made as his team radio at the time shows:

Engineer: “OK mate, we’ve got Esteban 2.4 (seconds) behind, instruction from the pit wall coming, er, can we swap back around?”

Gasly: “Wait, what the f***, you kidding me?! Why you saying like… I was faster, I’m on fresher rubber if he would not have let me pass I’d have overtaken him anyway.”

Engineer: “Yeah, we’ll discuss it in the office, let’s please swap around.”

Gasly: “Are you serious? You’re being serious? I started in front, I was in front the whole race, you let him undercut me.”

Engineer: “Mate, I’m not joking, those instructions come from the pit wall. Next time around, T16 please.”

Gasly: “You confirm you want to swap?”

Engineer: “Affirm mate, affirm please.”

Gasly: “Yeah, thank you. Complete joke.”

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“It wasn’t discussed before the race,” Gasly explained afterwards. “I was told that Esteban decided to undercut me with the strategy, to favor him — it would obviously undercut me, who was the leading car, and they would let me pass so we don’t lose time.

“It was never said that we’d need to invert the positions again, because I started ahead and I was always in front. As a team, 10th and ninth or ninth and 10th is the same. But it was definitely not something I expected and not something I really understand as well, because I was the leading car. We’ll talk, yeah.

“I think we did a good strategy. As a team, we did the best job we could with both cars. I don’t understand the team’s decision but I respected it. I let Esteban past. But in the end, it’s three points for the team, and that’s what we have to look at.”

Gasly said it was clear that the way the two strategies would play out meant positions would need to change on track, but insists it wasn’t planned that he would be asked to move aside.

“No, no, it was clear that we have a strategy they had planned, at some point Esteban would undercut me. But my race was faster and I would have to pass him back,” he said. “I would have overtaken him anyway on the racetrack because I had fresher tires.

“Until then, it was all similar, it was just on the last lap it was…. Anyway, it’s something we’ll talk together (about), we’ll explain, and I’m sure next time, the other way around, Esteban will play it fair.

“I put the team in front of myself, and that’s what I would do anyway.”

In contrast, Ocon says the approach was consistent with previous Alpine decisions where drivers allow each other to try and improve their overall position without fighting between each other.

“I’ve been with this team for four years now and the rule has always been this one, with Daniel (Ricciardo), with Fernando (Alonso), if one driver swaps positions,” he said. “So in that instance, I gave the position to Pierre, he needs to get the position in front, which was Fernando, in order to be keeping that position. Otherwise you just give the place back to your teammate.

“That’s always what we’ve done. If I’m on the other side, I will obviously do the same. But I always prefer a fight on-track. I’m more of an old-school guy, and I would never ask for the position to be switched. But I understand also the team’s point of view, which was trying to get more places and to get more points, but unfortunately yeah, we didn’t get that. I think we maximized the potential. There wasn’t much more on the table.”

Suzuka track surface creates a slippery problem for drivers

A number of drivers have complained the track surface at Suzuka is making for challenging conditions at the Japanese Grand Prix. Lap times started to drop off during the long runs in a sign of high degradation levels, with multiple drivers saying …

A number of drivers have complained the track surface at Suzuka is making for challenging conditions at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Lap times started to drop off during the long runs in a sign of high degradation levels, with multiple drivers saying they were sliding through the first sector on race simulations. George Russell was fifth quickest overall but said he was caught out by the way the track was performing on Friday.

“There seems to be a huge amount of tire degradation,” Russell said. “It’s really weird — Suzuka is one of the best tracks in the world to drive, but this year it feels like the tarmac has really broken up and the cars are sliding on top of the surface. It’s giving a bit of a strange feeling to all the drivers out there, and that’s what’s contributing towards that tire degradation.”

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Russell’s comments were echoed by multiple drivers, but although teammate Lewis Hamilton was struggling even more, he felt part of his issues were due to car performance rather than the track itself.

“It’s a really bad day, to be honest,” Hamilton said. “Yeah, a real struggle out there. Long way off. Two seconds off in the first session, and over a second in the second. Just working away, trying to fix the car, fix the balance.

“It’s just figuring out what is wrong. We were obviously much closer in the last race, because we (had) only one high-speed corner, but it’s not as high as the speed of the corners here. And our car has more often than not been a little bit weaker in high-speed corners. Places like Silverstone for example –Copse, it’s one of our weaker corners.

“So (it’s) an area where we need to work on getting the car in more of a sweet spot, and not overheat our tires as much. We’ll work on it overnight and try and turn it around for tomorrow. We definitely won’t be winning this weekend.”

Despite the complaints there were few incidents, until just as FP2 was drawing to a close, Pierre Gasly carried a bit too much speed into the second Degner — the final corner before the track passes under itself — and locked up slightly, drifting wide into the gravel. Although he looked to have the Alpine under control, he made contact with the barrier that initially broke the front wing and then caused the left-front corner to fail.

“All good on my side — I’m feeling fine,” Gasly said. “Unfortunately I just locked up and tried to turn and couldn’t make the corner. So not ideal but the guys are going to repair the car all fine for tomorrow and go again.

“I think this morning was better in terms of performance but I didn’t feel good in the car in terms of balance, so we tried quite a few things in the afternoon which unfortunately didn’t bring what we hoped for, but at least it gives us some good direction. So I’m confident that for tomorrow we will put all the learnings from today together from Esteban (Ocon) and myself and try to maximize the package for qualifying.”

Gasly released pent-up frustration with Dutch GP podium

Pierre Gasly admits some frustration had built up during his first season with Alpine, but was released with his first podium for the team at the Dutch Grand Prix. Alpine has shown strong speed at times this year but missed opportunities for some …

Pierre Gasly admits some frustration had built up during his first season with Alpine, but was released with his first podium for the team at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Alpine has shown strong speed at times this year but missed opportunities for some big results on Gasly’s side of the garage, leaving him with 22 points and a best finish of seventh in a grand prix heading into the race at Zandvoort. Third in the Sprint in Belgium hinted at the potential of the partnership and just one race after a change of team management Gasly scored a strong podium in wet conditions, something he says is partly down to the team’s resilience.

“It was extremely tricky today,” Gasly said. “All the conditions were pretty much thrown at us from the start. We ended up on slicks in the dry, in damp conditions, then feeding the inters on the wet, but then on a drying track. It was all about adapting yourself to the conditions and really playing with the limits.

“After the summer break I was really excited to get back in the car and today was probably the most fun I’ve had all season. Very exciting to be fighting for these positions. And yeah, they were important goals to make but the whole team executed a very strong race.

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“I’m pleased because we haven’t been very fortunate since the start of the year, kind of involved in some unfortunate situations on many occasions…which kind of built some frustration, but you’ve got to keep your head down and always trying to improve what you can on yourself, and today it paid off. Big congrats to the guys and a great way to restart the second part of the year.”

One potential point of controversy occurred when Max Verstappen overtook Gasly early on in the race in wet conditions, diving to the inside of Turn 3 but running the Frenchman out of road, something Gasly — who finished fourth on the road but gained a place due to a time penalty for Sergio Perez — felt was close to the limit but an understandable move.

“I think I’ve I finished more than 5s behind Max, so it doesn’t really matter to me,” Gasly quipped. “Depends how much Fernando [Alonso] pays me. Then we can discuss how much you’re willing to give!

“It was a wheel-to-wheel battle and Max knew that if you’ll push me slightly wider on the paint in the wet, if I put a wheel on there, then I’ll just understeer wide. It was on the limit. If I’ll be in his position, and you’ve got to pass a car, you’ll play with the limit and that’s why you will try. I’m not too fussy about it. Yeah, it’s just racing. And close racing.”

Gasly remembers late friend Hubert after Spa sprint

Pierre Gasly’s third place in the sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix came with added poignancy given how he lost his close friend Anthoine Hubert at Spa-Francorchamps four years ago. Hubert was a member of the Renault young driver academy when he was …

Pierre Gasly’s third place in the sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix came with added poignancy given how he lost his close friend Anthoine Hubert at Spa-Francorchamps four years ago.

Hubert was a member of the Renault young driver academy when he was killed in a Formula 2 crash at Spa, and Gasly now races for the team that had been trying to bring his fellow Frenchman through into Formula 1. After a strong drive in wet conditions to third behind Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in the sprint, Gasly says Hubert was on his mind as he secured the result.

“I must say, it feels amazing,” Gasly said. “I’m extremely happy to finish in the top three, especially here in Spa, which feels some kind of home race for us without the French Grand Prix. It was very, very difficult conditions but no, I’m extremely happy.

“We pitted at the right time and managed to hold off Lewis (Hamilton) until the end, so it does feel very special to do it here as well in Spa, and obviously I have a thought for Anthoine. I’m just extremely pleased for the whole team because it hasn’t been the smoothest start to the year and [we] managed to put things together here today.

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“I think, personally, obviously to do this in Spa, it’s been a tough season, really unlucky so far, and to kind of have these turning points here in Spa with…the history and the incidents that happened in the past year for me… It’s definitely meaningful. So really, really happy to get it here.”

Gasly’s strong finish comes one day after Alpine announced the departures of Otmar Szafnauer and Alan Permane, with Pat Fry also leaving for Williams and Laurent Rossi recently replaced as CEO, as the team goes through a period of significant upheaval.

“It’s been quite a busy last few weeks for the team,” the Frenchman said. “It’s kind of tricky for me to really comment on anything. I obviously just joined at the start of the year and it’s quite a big step when you come inside a new team and need to work with new people. And I must say, from Laurent to Otmar to Alan — even Pat that I could see at the factory — they work in the best way and the best way possible.

“I think it was quite unfortunate that this season, at the minute, [hasn’t worked] out as well as we expected it, and we’re not making the progress that we would like. [But]…with all these changes happening, it’s quite a lot at the minute. Yeah, as I said, at the moment I can only thank all these guys: Laurent, Otmar, Alan and Pat for what they’ve done in the first six months, and I just wish (them) the best for the future.”

Sainz hit with Canada grid penalty for impeding furious Gasly

Carlos Sainz has been handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Pierre Gasly in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Frenchman branding it “completely unacceptable.” Gasly was on a flying lap approaching the final chicane in wet …

Carlos Sainz has been handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Pierre Gasly in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Frenchman branding it “completely unacceptable.”

Gasly was on a flying lap approaching the final chicane in wet conditions when Sainz — going slowly before starting his own attempt — was overtaken by Yuki Tsunoda. That left the Ferrari driver in the middle of the track and Gasly had to take evasive action before cutting the chicane, dropping out in Q1 as a result.

“Just think it’s completely unacceptable to be driving the way Carlos did… it’s as simple as that,” Gasly said. “Coming at 300kph, he’s sitting 30kph in the last chicane just focusing on his own lap but you’re not alone on the race track.

“First of all, I could not even close the lap — that would have put us in the top six easily — and second of all it was extremely dangerous and unnecessary, so just absolutely gutted.

“Definitely (should be a penalty) but it’s not even what I care about as the damage has been done. I’m sitting here in P17 when we have the pace to be in the top 10, 8 or even 6 in these conditions, so whatever they decide… OK, it’s gonna damage him but it’s not going to give us back the qualifying we should have had.

“Gutted. I was in the opposite situation the other day but the guys finished P1 and P2 and it didn’t impact their Sunday, now I’m sitting here in P17, ruined my qualifying, and impacts my race a lot, so it’s just unacceptable.”

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The stewards agreed that Sainz needed to be penalized, saying they felt the Spaniard had triggered the situation prior to Tsunoda’s overtaking move.

“The driver of Car 55 (Sainz) stated that he was surprised that the driver of Car 22 (Tsunoda) overtook him into Turn 13 and as a result he accelerated late to start his fast lap,” the decision read. “The driver of Car 10 (Gasly) stated that the driver of Car 55 could have and should have ‘gone earlier.’

“Telemetry showed a significant speed differential between Cars 55 and 10 … Although the overtaking move by Car 22 took the driver of Car 55 by surprise, it is our determination that the driver of Car 55 was predominantly to blame and unnecessarily impeded Car 10.”

Demoting Sainz three places drops him to 11th place on the grid for Sunday’s race, promoting Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc one position each.

Gasly hit with two grid penalties for impeding in Spanish GP qualifying

Pierre Gasly has lost fourth place on the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix after receiving two three-place penalties for impeding Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen in separate incidents. Both Ferrari drivers were approaching Gasly on a timed lap in the …

Pierre Gasly has lost fourth place on the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix after receiving two three-place penalties for impeding Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen in separate incidents.

Both Ferrari drivers were approaching Gasly on a timed lap in the final sector in Q1, with the Frenchman moving over for Charles Leclerc before Turn 13 but then accelerating through the penultimate corner in front of Sainz. Although Gasly then moved out of the way again, it came after Sainz had lifted mid-corner and the stewards handed out a three-place grid penalty.

“The driver of Car 10 stated he was aware that the second Ferrari (Car 55) was behind but felt he could do nothing to avoid impeding because of the high-speed delta and closeness of Car 55 to Car 16,” the decision read. “However, it is the view of the stewards that he could have moved further to the right at the exit of Turn 13.”

Later in the same session, Gasly was caught in the way of Verstappen — this time at Turn 4 — when he didn’t move off the racing line having not been told that the Red Bull was on a timed lap.

“The team failed to give appropriate warning to the driver of Car 10, of the approach of Car 1, having told him that cars behind were on a slow lap,” the stewards noted.

The two penalties demote Gasly from fourth to 10th on the grid and promote Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri in turn. There are no penalty points associated with the punishment, with Gasly still holding eight on his license for the 12-month period, with the limit of 12 automatically triggering a one-race ban.