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Williams Racing announced a long-term extension Thursday for team principal James Vowles.
Vowles, 45, joined Williams in 2023 following an unprecedented run of success at Mercedes.
Following a ninth-place finish in 2024, the Williams team has climbed to fifth through 10 races this season.
"He has spearheaded a top-to-bottom transformation of Williams with one clear mission: to return an icon of Formula 1 to winning ways," the team said in its announcement on Thursday.
Williams driver Alexander Albon is eighth in the standings and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. is 13th.
"I am delighted to sign a new contract with Atlassian Williams Racing, which has felt like home from the moment I walked through the door," Vowles said. "This iconic team has already given me some incredible memories and we are all united in our ambition to build on our legacy and win World Championships again.
"Over the past two years we have focused on fixing the foundations, and now have a platform to go for glory in the years to come."
The team did not confirm the length of Vowles' new contract.
Williams won the most recent of its nine constructors' championships in 1997. Jacques Villeneuve won the team's most recent drivers' world championship that same year.
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LSU predicted to go to court over Brian Kelly's buyout
Despite LSU firing Brian Kelly on Sunday, the program has not yet finalized a plan for the former head coach's buyout, estimated at $53 million. It's unclear how many greenbacks the Tigers will pay. Kelly left Notre Dame in November 2021 to sign a 10-year, $95 million deal with the Tigers. He went 34-14 with LSU before he could finish his fourth season, which equates to approximately $2.97 million per win for Kelly. Per Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry suggested during a news conference on Wednesday that state taxpayers could foot part of the bill for Kelly's buyout. That would be atypical, as most programs fund buyouts via donations. LSU could go to court over Brian Kelly's contract LSU is set to continue paying Kelly in monthly installments of $800,000. However, a long-term solution between Kelly and the program has not been reached, and a case could end up in court. According to Yahoo Sports, LSU noted in its announcement that buyout details would be announced at a later date — quite possibly at the governor's behest, who seems opposed to paying the full fare, even if it means resorting to the legal system. “We may end up in a Louisiana courtroom,” predicted one person, per Yahoo Sports. Landry expressed concern about the contract now-former athletic director Scott Woodward gave Kelly, stating that the next head coach would not receive such a contract. (Woodward has since been fired.) "We're gonna make sure that he's compensated properly, and we're gonna put metrics on it because I'm tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill," said Landry. The situation is bad optics for the state of Louisiana and LSU. Any prospective candidate for the Tigers has to wonder whether the program or the state is willing to live up to its word. While college football coaching contracts are spiraling out of control, it's up to the school (and in LSU's case, as a public institution, the state) to make sure those contracts aren't signed in the first place if they cannot honor the details of the agreement.
Blue Jays' Trey Yesavage is already making the rest of MLB look foolish for passing on him
The Toronto Blue Jays and their fans witnessed something special on Wednesday night. It doesn’t get much better than a convincing 6-1 Game 5 win to take a 3-2 lead over the superteam Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Heading back home with the chance to win a championship at the Rogers Centre was what truly mattered for the Blue Jays; however, the way it all played out in such a pivotal game at Dodger Stadium will go down in history. Starting pitcher Trey Yesavage was untouchable, throwing seven dominant innings where he allowed just one run on three hits while striking out 12. Those 12 punchouts set the rookie record for the most ever in a World Series game. Seven of them came against the heart of the order in Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. His one-of-a-kind splitter had them fooled from start to finish. Yesavage’s ridiculous rise from starting the year in Class-A Dunedin to carving up the best lineups in baseball in the postseason is unheard of. It makes you wonder how he fell all the way to the Blue Jays at pick No. 20 in the 2024 MLB Draft to begin with. Trey Yesavage has 18 teams regretting their decision While it’s still extremely early to be looking back on his draft class, what Yesavage has done these last few months can’t be replicated. A 22-year-old jumping onto a moving train with just three career MLB starts under his belt goes on to start five playoff games, posting a 3-1 record with a 3.46 ERA and a whopping 39 strikeouts. Those are the kinds of numbers you expect to see from Tarik Skubal or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, not a rookie with almost no big league experience. Nineteen different organizations let Yesavage slide down the draft board last July. At this point, the Athletics are the only ones who should feel alright about their decision, given that first baseman Nick Kurtz already looks like one of the best hitters in baseball. The 18 others look silly. While some of these prospects will certainly turn out to be good players, it’s safe to say that none of them will make this type of impact on the world’s biggest stage. If the Blue Jays can pull this off and win their third World Series title in franchise history, Yesavage will never have to buy another meal in Toronto again. Quite frankly, he’s been so good that he may not have to even if they don’t find a way to finish the job. No matter how this all ends, Yesavage has not only turned himself into a Toronto sports legend, but a Canadian sports legend. The city and country can't wait to see what else he has in store because if this postseason was any indication, then they are in for many more historic performances in the years to come.
Charles Barkley knows the real problem with LeBron James
LeBron James may be out due to sciatica, but Charles Barkley is not buying it. He thinks he knows what is really going on with the Los Angeles Lakers star. Barkley was goofing around during “Inside the NBA” on ESPN Wednesday and talked about the Lakers, who had several players out for their game at the Minnesota Timberwolves. James was listed as out due to sciatica, which is a nerve issue. Barkley thinks the sciatica injury is a cover for something else. “First of all, LeBron doesn’t have a sciatica. They just put ‘old.’ O-L-D, with an extra ‘D,’ too,” Barkley joked. An update on James’ condition came out this week, saying that the Lakers forward could return in a few weeks. The Lakers have seemed to suggest that there is no urgency to rush James into action. However, Luka Doncic also getting hurt recently may have changed things for the team. For now, the Lakers are 3-2 and have been relying on Austin Reaves to do plenty of scoring. He is averaging 34.2 points per game this season. James is 40 years old and entering his 23rd NBA season. He’s allowed to have “old” or sciatica as an injury issue. As Barkley knows and often says, Father Time is undefeated.
Kent State players thrilled with huge move at head coach
The Kent State Golden Flashes have seen enough. In April, Kent State fired Kenni Burns for violations of his contract. That included violations for how he had used his personal credit card. The Golden Flashes didn't name an official head coach before the 2025 season, but instead promoted offensive coordinator Mark Carney to serve as the interim head coach. In the meantime, there was supposed to be a national search for the next head coach in Kent, Ohio. Kent State makes it official with Mark Carney Ultimately, the Golden Flashes didn't have to look too far. They're only 3-5 on the season with four games to go, but they've seen enough from Carney to know that he's the guy for the job. On Thursday, it was announced that Kent State dropped the interim tag and he'll be the head coach moving forward. "Since taking over as interim head coach, Mark has instilled belief, togetherness, and a winning culture into our football program," vice president and director of athletics Randale L. Richmond said in a statement. "The way he's positively impacted this team, this department, this campus, and this community, he's earned the right to lead this program." Golden Flashes rejoice upon hearing the news Here's what it looked like when the decision was announced to the team: That's a coach who clearly has won over his players. It's also worth noting that while the 3-5 record isn't lighting the world on fire, Kent State had gone 1-11 and 0-12 in the previous two seasons. By beating UMass on Oct. 11, the Golden Flashes won their first FBS and MAC game since November 2022. Carney got this thing rolling in the right direction, and the Golden Flashes rewarded him as a result. "Wow! What an incredible blessing to be named the next head football coach at Kent State University," said Carney. "I am humbled and honored to serve this University and our football program. The opportunity to lead a college football program in Northeast Ohio, a place that's home for me, is extremely special."
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