oidable in pro football. Often, the healthiest team when winter hits wind

Pastor Maldonado has confirmed he will not be in Formula 1 for the 2016 season. The South American was scheduled to drive for the rebadged Renault team in the upcoming campaign but has lost his seat after his sponsors fell behind on payments.Maldonados principal backers, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, are believed to have paid around £20m annually for the 30-year-olds seat. However, the countrys economy has collapsed in recent weeks amid falling oil prices. Today with the utmost humility I inform you that I will not be present at the starting grid for the 2016 F1 season, Maldonado confirmed in a message to his Twitter followers.Thanks for all your messages of support, passion and concern for my future. I feel very honoured with the support of all of you and proud of my professional performance.Renault, who announced that Maldonado would be staying on for 2016 four months ago, are yet to comment. But the team will hold a media launch event on Wednesday in Paris in which they are expected to confirm that Kevin Magussen, who left McLaren in December, will partner rookie Jolyon Palmer for the new season.Backmarkers Manor are the only other team yet to confirm the identity of their 2016 driver line-up.However, Maldonado has ruled himself out of filling a vacancy at the backmarkers, bringing down the curtain on a five-year F1 career which has been defined by controversy and collisions. Prior to leaving the Williams team for Lotus two years ago, he accused the Grove outfit of sabotaging his car ahead of the 2013 US GP and, unable to shrug off the tag of being a pay driver, a website was launched to keep a timetable of his many crashes. Pastors craziest F1 moments But was Maldonado always to blame in 2015? Whatever you think of rights or wrongs of his time in F1, Pastor was a race winner and a nice guy, commented Sky F1s David Croft.Despite winning the 2012 Spanish GP and displaying impressive flashes of speed, Maldonado struggled alongside Romain Grosjean following his transfer to Lotus. In 2015, he only out-qualified Grosjean twice - the worst such tally of any driver on the grid - and scored half as many points as the Frenchman.Renaults launch ceremony will be streamed live on Sky Sports Digital platforms on Wednesday with the team set to unveil their new car and livery as well as Maldonados replacement. In 95 races, Maldonado won once but finished in the points just 14 times Whos where in 2016Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton and Nico RosbergFerrari: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi RaikkonenWilliams: Valtteri Bottas and Felipe MassaRed Bull: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil KvyatForce India: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio PerezLotus/Renault: Jolyon Palmer and TBCToro Rosso: Max Verstappen and Carlos SainzSauber: Felipe Nasr and Marcus EricssonMcLaren: Fernando Alonso and Jenson ButtonHaas: Romain Grosjean and Esteban GutierrezManor: TBC Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade - click here Also See: Maldonados craziest F1 moments F1 gossip column Zach Britton Jersey . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Greg Bird Yankees Jersey . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. http://www.yankeesrookiestore.com/Yankees-Wade-Boggs-Kids-Jersey/ . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Bernie Williams Yankees Jersey . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. C.C. Sabathia Yankees Jersey . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. From the top of the NFL to the bottom of the heap, teams are already feeling the pain.From injuries.Key performers are dropping like theyve been through two months of the season, not two weeks. The latest: Adrian Peterson , Jimmy Garoppolo, DeMarcus Ware, Josh McCown , Danny Woodhead , Jonathan Stewart and Arian Foster.The Patriots, perhaps the leagues best team, appear to be down to their third QB. The Browns, possibly the NFLs worst team, are working on No. 3, rookie Cody Kessler.Most worrisome, though, is Peterson, the 2012 league MVP and Minnesotas cornerstone on offense who has a torn meniscus in his right knee.He has remarkable recovery skills -- Peterson tore the ACL in his left knee in the second-to-last game of the 2011 season, then played all of 2012 and rushed for more than 2,000 yards. But this is four years later, its the other knee and he was unable to put pressure on his leg as he hobbled off the field. Then Peterson needed help getting to the locker room.He was on crutches after the game, wearing a brace on his right leg. Coach Mike Zimmer said Monday that the team is exploring all options.Usually, a torn meniscus requires several weeks of rehab before a player can return to the field.Garoppolo hardly is a star, with two pro starts on his resume. But he sure was doing a nice imitation of Tom Brady while the four-time Super Bowl champion is serving his four-game Deflategate suspension.Now Jimmy Gs immediate future is in doubt after taking a monstrous hit from Miami linebacker Kiko Alonso on a second-quarter pass play. Garoppolo barely was able to move his shoulder as he walked off the field.As usual, Patriots coach Bill Belichick isnt supplying much info on his third-year quarterback, saying only the team will take a day-to-day approach. Rookie Jacoby Brissett finished off the win.This game is a 100 percent injury rate, Patriots receiver Julian Edelman said. Its football and everyones just gotta do their job a little bit better.Cleveland lost starting quarterback Robert Griffin III last week with a shoulder problem. Now McCown is plagued by the same kind of hurt, though he finished Sundays 25-20 loss to Baltimore.Unable to lift his left arm after the game, McCown said he planned to play next week at Miami. Sorry: On Monday, Browns coach Hue Jackson said the sprained shoulder meant Kessler would start instead of McCCown at Miami.ddddddddddddWell find out a lot about him this weekend, Jackson said of Kessler, a third-round draftee in April.Denvers superb defense isnt anchored by the 34-year-old Ware, but hes an important component. The linebacker/pass rush specialist broke his right forearm against Indianapolis and will require surgery Tuesday that will sideline him for four to five weeks.Ware missed all but the final few days of training camp to protect his back, which kept him out of five games last season.Losing Ware isnt a deal breaker for the Broncos, but the defending champions recognize their defense must stay strong and deep for them to contend again.Of the three significant injuries to running backs, Woodheads was the worst, a torn right ACL. The versatile Chargers sparkplug was taken off the sideline on a cart with an apparent right knee issue, and on Monday was placed on injured reserve.In their opener, the Chargers lost top wideout Keenan Allen for the year. Philip Rivers could be without two of his most dependable sidekicks, although its helped San Diego that 2015 first-round pick Melvin Gordon has emerged at running back.Miamis Foster went down with a groin injury. He already was struggling with a hamstring issue and is coming off surgery to repair his Achilles tendon.Stewart, Carolinas workhorse back, was hurt in the Super Bowl and it damaged the Panthers attack in February. Although coach Ron Rivera claims his team is deep at the position, Stewart is a mainstay. If his hamstring injury is a major one, its a blow to the NFC champs.As Edelman said, injuries are unavoidable in pro football. Often, the healthiest team when winter hits winds up playing for and probably walking off with the Lombardi Trophy.Most troubling, though, is when the injury bug hits so soon. Many a teams talented roster has been torn asunder by a lack of health, including Baltimore and Dallas a year ago. Its important, yet difficult, to avoid thinking that if September is so hurtful, what will the rest of the schedule be like?But the approach has to be a positive one, even when untested quarterbacks are calling signals and Hall of Fame-caliber running backs are hobbled.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL