Team by Team Review of the F1 Miami Grand Prix

 Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, of Monaco, steers into a turn during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, of Monaco, steers into a turn during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)
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Team by Team Review of the F1 Miami Grand Prix

 Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, of Monaco, steers into a turn during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, of Monaco, steers into a turn during the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)

Team by team review of Sunday's Miami Formula One Grand Prix, round six of the 24-race season (listed in current championship order):

RED BULL (Max Verstappen 2, Sergio Perez 4)

Verstappen was beaten, in a race he finished, for the first time since Singapore last September. The triple champion, who started on pole and won Saturday's 100km sprint, stretched his lead over Perez to 33 points. Red Bull said he ended the race with a damaged car, possibly due to hitting a bollard. Perez almost took out Verstappen at the start, when he misjudged the first corner and careered across the track. He moved up to fourth post-race when Sainz collected a five second penalty.

FERRARI (Charles Leclerc 3, Carlos Sainz 5)

Leclerc, who started second on the grid, took his third podium in six races. The Monegasque struggled with rear grip early on, with Sainz itching to get past, and pitted on lap 19 from third, coming back out in seventh before moving back up. Sainz started third and pitted a lap before the safety car and was summoned to stewards after the race for a clash with McLaren's Piastri, dropping from fourth to fifth.

MCLAREN (Lando Norris 1, Oscar Piastri 13)

Norris celebrated his first F1 win in his 110th race, cashing in when the safety car was deployed on lap 28 before he had pitted, giving him a cheap stop. The Briton was able to pit from the lead and stay ahead of Verstappen before pulling away. He is the 114th F1 driver since 1950 to win a race. Piastri set fastest lap but without a bonus point. He dropped to last after pitting for a new front wing following a clash with Sainz. The win was McLaren's first since Monza 2021 and 184th in total.

MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 6, George Russell 8)

Russell started seventh on medium tires and Hamilton eighth on hards. Russell dropped to 10th at the start and struggled for pace on the hard tire later on. Both drivers were jumped by Tsunoda who pitted during the safety car period, but Hamilton took the place back and ran Perez close at the end.

ASTON MARTIN (Fernando Alonso 9, Lance Stroll 17)

Alonso pitted for medium tires on lap 23 when the virtual safety car was deployed after Verstappen hit a bollard and left it on the track in a dangerous position. The Spaniard passed Alpine's Ocon for ninth on lap 48. Stroll pitted before the safety car was deployed, compromising his strategy. He was then penalized 10 seconds for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in a battle with Williams' Alex Albon.

RB (Yuki Tsunoda 7, Daniel Ricciardo 15)

Tsunoda did a long first stint and added to RB's haul after Ricciardo finished fourth in Saturday's sprint, the first points of the Australian's season. Ricciardo started last on the grid after qualifying 18th with a three-place penalty from China.

HAAS (Nico Hulkenberg 11, Kevin Magnussen 18)

Magnussen collected two more time penalties totaling 30 seconds, one for entering the pits during a safety car period and not changing tires and the other for causing the collision with Sargeant that triggered the safety car. The Dane was also handed two penalty points, taking his 12-month tally to 10 and leaving him only two from a race ban. Hulkenberg overtook Hamilton on lap two but was passed again on lap 10.

ALPINE (Esteban Ocon 10, Pierre Gasly 12)

Ocon scored Renault-owned Alpine's first point of the campaign, starting from 13th on medium tires and pitting on lap 22 for hards. Gasly started 12th and pitted on lap 12. The Alpine pair went wheel to wheel early on.

WILLIAMS (Alex Albon 19, Logan Sargeant retired)

Sargeant crashed backwards into the barrier after contact with Magnussen, who was trying to overtake, and became the race's only retirement. Albon picked up floor damage as he defended on older tires than rivals had, running off in the closing laps. He was the first to pit on lap 10.

SAUBER (Zhou Guanyu 14, Valtteri Bottas 16)

Still no points for the Swiss-based team, who mixed up their strategies with Bottas switching from softs to hards on lap 11 and then mediums on lap 29. Zhou did one stop on lap 28 with mediums to softs.



Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
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Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)

Oscar Piastri is on a similar career trajectory to Formula One world champion teammate Lando Norris and should have a shot at the title this season, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Monday as they prepared to test in Bahrain.

The American told reporters on a video call that his drivers were raring to get going.

"He (Piastri) is now going into his fourth year. Lando has a lot more grands prix than he does so if you look at the development of Lando over that time, Oscar's on a similar trajectory," Brown said.

"So he's in a good place, physically very fit, excited, ready to ‌go."

LAST AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION ‌WAS IN 1980

Piastri, who debuted with McLaren in Bahrain ‌in ⁠2023, can become ‌Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

While Piastri took his first win in his second season, Norris had to wait until his sixth. Both won seven times last year.

Brown said he had spoken a lot with the Australian over the European winter break and expected the 24-year-old, championship leader for much of 2025, to pick up where he left off.

He said the discussion had been all about creating the best environment for him and what ⁠McLaren needed to do to support him.

Brown said Piastri had spent time in the simulator and, in response to ‌a question about lingering sentiment in Australia that McLaren ‍favored Norris, "he knows he's getting a ‍fair shake at it".

"You win some, you lose some. Things fall your way, things ‍don't fall your way," added the chief executive.

PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE

Brown said Norris' confidence level was also very high.

"He's highly motivated and it's our job to give him and Oscar the equipment again to be able to let them fight it out for the championship," he said.

"If we can do that, I think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shot."

Mercedes' George Russell is the current pre-season favorite after an initial shakedown ⁠test in Barcelona last month.

Norris can become only the second Briton to take back-to-back titles after seven times champion Lewis Hamilton, who won four titles in a row with Mercedes from 2017-20 as well as two together in 2014 and 2015.

The only other multiple British world champions are Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1962, 1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973).

"I think there are some drivers that say 'I've done it. Now I'm done'," said Brown. "And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go 'I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three or four times'."

He reiterated that both remained free to race and said decisions would be taken strategically as and ‌when they arose.

"We feel like we'll be competitive. The top four teams all seem very competitive. Very early days but indications that we will be strong," he added.


‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
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‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)

Handle with care. That's the message from gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals broke within hours.

Olympic organizers are investigating with "maximum attention" after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.

"Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke," women's downhill ski gold medalist Johnson said after her win Sunday. "I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken."

TV footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realized the mixed relay bronze he'd won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.

His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realizing a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.

US figure skater Alysa Liu posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.

"My medal don’t need the ribbon," Liu wrote early Monday.

Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, said it was working on a solution.

"We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem," Francisi said Monday.

"But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it."

It isn't the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.

Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.


African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
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African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)

Burkina Faso striker Dango Ouattara was the Brentford match-winner for the second straight weekend when they triumphed 3-2 at Newcastle United.

The 23-year-old struck in the 85th minute of a seesaw Premier League struggle in northeast England. The Bees trailed and led before securing three points to go seventh in the table.

Last weekend, Ouattara dented the title hopes of third-placed Aston Villa by scoring the only goal at Villa Park.

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

DANGO OUATTARA (Brentford)

With the match at Newcastle locked at 2-2, the Burkinabe sealed victory for the visitors at St James' Park by driving a left-footed shot past Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope to give the Bees a first win on Tyneside since 1934. Ouattara also provided the cross that led to Vitaly Janelt's headed equalizer after Brentford had fallen 1-0 behind.

BRYAN MBEUMO (Manchester Utd)

The Cameroon forward helped the Red Devils extend their perfect record under caretaker manager Michael Carrick to four games by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Tottenham after Spurs had been reduced to 10 men by captain Cristian Romero's red card.

ISMAILA SARR (Crystal Palace)

The Eagles ended their 12-match winless run with a 1-0 victory at bitter rivals Brighton thanks to Senegal international Sarr's 61st-minute goal when played in by substitute Evann Guessand, the Ivory Coast forward making an immediate impact on his Palace debut after joining on loan from Aston Villa during the January transfer window.

ITALY

LAMECK BANDA (Lecce)

Banda scored direct from a 90th-minute free-kick outside the area to give lowly Leece a precious 2-1 Serie A victory at home against mid-table Udinese. It was the third league goal this season for the 25-year-old Zambia winger. Leece lie 17th, one place and three points above the relegation zone.

GERMANY

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Guirassy produced a moment of quality just when Dortmund needed it against Wolfsburg. Felix Nmecha's silky exchange with Fabio Silva allowed the Guinean to sweep in an 87th-minute winner for his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season. The 29-year-old has scored or assisted in four of his last five games.

RANSFORD KOENIGSDOERFFER (Hamburg)

A first-half thunderbolt from Ghana striker Koenigsdoerffer put Hamburg on track for a 2-0 victory at Heidenheim. It was their first away win of the season. Nigerian winger Philip Otele, making his Hamburg debut, split the defense with a clever pass to Koenigsdoerffer, who hit a shot low and hard to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time.

FRANCE

ISSA SOUMARE (Le Havre)

An opportunist goal by Soumare on 54 minutes gave Le Havre a 2-1 home win over Strasbourg in Ligue 1. The Senegalese received the ball just inside the area and stroked it into the far corner of the net as he fell.