French F1 Driver Pierre Gasly Signs Multi-Year Contract Extension with Alpine Team 

Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)
Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)
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French F1 Driver Pierre Gasly Signs Multi-Year Contract Extension with Alpine Team 

Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)
Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)

Formula One driver Pierre Gasly has signed a multiyear contract extension with the Alpine team.

Alpine said in a statement Thursday the deal "will take Pierre into the 2025 season and beyond." No further details were given.

The 28-year-old Frenchman is in his second season with Alpine. After a tough start to this campaign, he has scored points in the past three races heading into this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

He finished 11th in the drivers' standings last season, with a best finish of third place at the Netherlands GP.

"It has always been the plan to build a long-term project with the Team," Gasly said. "While on track it’s been a challenging season so far, I remain faithful to the project and I am not going anywhere. I am happy with the changes made, the hard work, and the direction the team is taking."

Gasly's teammate Esteban Ocon is leaving Alpine at the end of the season. The French-owned team said it will announce "in due" course who will replace him.

Ocon and Gasly have made no secret of the fact they don't have a great relationship. The pair collided approaching the tunnel section at the Monaco GP last month, with Ocon taking responsibility for the incident and receiving a five-place grid penalty for the following race.

In March, two executives in charge of designing Alpine's new F1 car quit after a disappointing performance at the season-opening Bahrain GP.



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
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Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”