FORMULA ONE:

Red Bull have been fined $7 million (£6m) for breaking F1’s financial rules, the sport’s governing body has confirmed.

The FIA announced that the team, which carried Max Verstappen to a contentious championship victory over Lewis Hamilton last year, overspent by £1.86m.

Red Bull have entered into a so-called Accepted Breach Agreement with the FIA which will also see their aerodynamic testing time reduced by 10 per cent next year.

The deal, which ensures Red Bull lose any right to appeal, avoids the team risking a harsher punishment, which could have included the deduction of championship points, and Hamilton being instated as last year’s title winner.

McLaren boss Zak Brown wrote to FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem to say a financial breach “constitutes cheating.”

However, the FIA concluded that there is no accusation Red Bull “acted in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner” when it broke the £114m budget cap.

WOMEN’S CRICKET:

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced a £3.5 million funding boost to help grow the women’s regional game.

The money will raise the number of professional players to seven per region from November 1, with three further contracts allocated per region by February 1, 2023. That will double the number of ECB-funded professional cricketers from 40 in 2020 to 80 by 2023, and does not include the central contracts for England players.

The funds will also see an increase in the salary pot per team from February 1 to £250,000, with the average player earning £25,000.

Staffing, particularly science and medical teams, will also benefit from a salary boost from the funding, which runs until the end of 2024.