Ferrari Revel in Putting Red Bull under Pressure

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 24, 2024 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. celebrates with his team after winning the Australian Grand Prix along with second placed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 24, 2024 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. celebrates with his team after winning the Australian Grand Prix along with second placed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. (Reuters)
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Ferrari Revel in Putting Red Bull under Pressure

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 24, 2024 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. celebrates with his team after winning the Australian Grand Prix along with second placed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 24, 2024 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. celebrates with his team after winning the Australian Grand Prix along with second placed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. (Reuters)

Thousands of red-clad Ferrari fans descended on Lygon St in Melbourne to party in the Italian restaurant strip until the wee hours of Monday after Carlos Sainz's unlikely win in the Australian Grand Prix.

The Italian Formula One team will hope the celebrations continue at Suzuka in two weeks after Albert Park breathed new life into the championship.

Sainz and team mate Charles Leclerc's 1-2 in Australia trimmed Red Bull's lead to four points in both the drivers' and constructors' title races, a major momentum shift following Max Verstappen's Middle East dominance.

Ferrari had the fortune of Verstappen flaming out with a brake problem at Albert Park which ended Red Bull's two-year run of avoiding DNFs (non-finishes) on race-day.

Ferrari nonetheless leave Melbourne delighted by the pace of their SF-24 car after being trounced by Red Bull in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

"This weekend is good evidence that when we are putting everything together, and I'm not sure that we'll be able to do it every single weekend, we can put (Red Bull) a little bit under pressure," said team boss Frederic Vasseur.

"It's when they are under pressure that they will also have more mistakes. We have to continue in this direction."

With triple world champion Verstappen topping the podium ahead of team mate Sergio Perez in the season's first two races, Red Bull were blindsided by setup struggles from the get-go in Melbourne.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said Red Bull had not got to grips with conditions while Ferrari, clearly, had.

"I think the nature of the surface (was a factor), as well. I think that the tire graining here in particular was something that Ferrari looked in control of," he said.

"Certainly from Friday their long runs looked good."

Perez, who finished fifth after the floor of his car suffered damage, said Ferrari "absolutely" had the pace to beat Verstappen had the Dutchman gone the distance.

However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was unconvinced.

"I spoke to Max and he said that, despite the problems, he kept up with Sainz's pace relatively easily," Marko told Sky Sport.

"With Max in the race, it would have turned out completely differently."

Ferrari may not know where they sit until their next proper duel against Verstappen, who won 19 out of 22 races last season and will be eager to hit back at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Mercedes, by contrast, can have little doubt of their place in the pecking order, with Melbourne confirming their also-ran status.

With no championship points at Albert Park and their first double DNF since 2018, the Silver Arrows have slumped to fourth in the championship, 71 points behind leading Red Bull.

The free-fall may continue as the Brackley-based team battle to understand the fluky performance of their overhauled W15 car.

"We haven't swallowed a dumb pill since 2021. It's just we don't understand some of the behaviors of the car," said team boss Toto Wolff.



Olympic Flag Arrival Kicks Off 2028 'Pressure' for LA

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, California Gov. Gavin Newson, holding up flag, Team USA Olympians, LA28 organizing committee members and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), take a picture with the official Olympic flag at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, California Gov. Gavin Newson, holding up flag, Team USA Olympians, LA28 organizing committee members and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), take a picture with the official Olympic flag at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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Olympic Flag Arrival Kicks Off 2028 'Pressure' for LA

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, California Gov. Gavin Newson, holding up flag, Team USA Olympians, LA28 organizing committee members and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), take a picture with the official Olympic flag at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, California Gov. Gavin Newson, holding up flag, Team USA Olympians, LA28 organizing committee members and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), take a picture with the official Olympic flag at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The Olympic flag arrived under bright skies Monday in Los Angeles, where officials now have four short years to organize a Games capable of rivaling the widely praised Paris edition in a notoriously traffic-clogged metropolis.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass landed in a plane emblazoned with palm trees and the logo "LA 2028," and crossed the tarmac holding the five-ringed banner, accompanied by several US athletes.

"We feel the pressure to make sure that our city and our region is prepared and ready," she told reporters, according to Agence France Presse.

"We have the flag now. It's on us. We got a lot of work to do Los Angeles," Bass added.

A timely reminder of potential unique challenges came moments before her plane landed, as a 4.6-magnitude earthquake shook Los Angeles.

"Making sure that we are prepared for events like an earthquake" will be key to infrastructure plans, she said. "But also now we have climate events that we never thought about impacting our region, that we have to be prepared for as well."

Still, the biggest challenge will inevitably be transport.

In Paris for the closing ceremony last weekend, Bass outlined plans for Los Angeles to deliver a "no-car Games."

In a city addicted to private vehicles, where gigantic freeways criss-cross the urban sprawl and traffic jams are a daily inevitability, that pledge is ambitious.

"I'm skeptical we'll actually achieve that, but I know we're going to try," said James Moore, an industrial and systems engineering professor at University of Southern California.

- 'Out of town' -

Los Angeles does have a subway network, but at just five-and-a-half lines and relatively infrequent service, it is tiny for the region's 10 million residents.

Authorities plan to bring in 3,000 buses, borrowed from all over the country, and to create dedicated road lanes for them.

Public transport will receive priority over private cars, which will not be banned.

Not all Olympic sites are expected to have parking.

The last time Los Angeles hosted the Olympics, in 1984, many residents left the city, averting a traffic nightmare.

"If we see residents following the same strategy in 2028 and basically getting out of town for a few days, that may free up enough road space that we're able to move everybody with buses," said Moore.

The city's giant main airport, infamous for its accessibility issues, will -- at least -- finally be connected to the metro train network.

An automated shuttle, long in the works, is due to open by 2026, when Los Angeles will host the opening match of the soccer World Cup.

- Hollywood, homelessness -

Los Angeles is counting heavily on its reputation as the world's movies and entertainment capital.

In a "handover" segment of the Paris closing ceremony, Tom Cruise parachuted with the Olympic flag into Los Angeles near the famous Hollywood sign, which he then redecorated with the Olympic logo.

Los Angeles is also a US sporting powerhouse, with numerous major teams and state-of-the-art stadiums.

"What's not in our DNA? We're creative, we're storytellers. We've got sport, we've got diversity. It's LA," Reynold Hoover, CEO of the 2028 organizing committee, told AFP.

But beneath the Hollywood glitz, Los Angeles has an enormous homelessness crisis. Some 75,000 people lack housing, in a city where real estate is eye-wateringly expensive.

Since arriving at City Hall, Bass has made this long standing issue a priority. A vast shelter program has recently shown signs of progress.

The total number of homeless people fell slightly in 2024, for the first time in six years.