McLaren Get Ready to Overtake Red Bull

Formula One F1 - Italian Grand Prix - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy - September 1, 2024 McLaren's Lando Norris in action during the race REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Formula One F1 - Italian Grand Prix - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy - September 1, 2024 McLaren's Lando Norris in action during the race REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
TT

McLaren Get Ready to Overtake Red Bull

Formula One F1 - Italian Grand Prix - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy - September 1, 2024 McLaren's Lando Norris in action during the race REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Formula One F1 - Italian Grand Prix - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy - September 1, 2024 McLaren's Lando Norris in action during the race REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

McLaren can go top of the Formula One constructors' standings in Azerbaijan this weekend on a Baku street circuit that has favored champions and leaders Red Bull more than any team in the past.

The British-based team start the final long-haul phase of the season only eight points behind faltering rivals they have outscored by more than that margin in all of their last five races.

Lando Norris, 62 points behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the drivers' battle, has yet to stand on the podium in Baku while team mate Oscar Piastri, 106 off the lead, finished 11th as a rookie last year.

This time could be different, with McLaren's upgraded car looking quick everywhere, according to Reuters.

The big question will be whether team orders will be applied, should the occasion arise, to boost Norris's chances after a golden opportunity was missed in Monza.

"Our goal is clear. I have every faith in the team to keep working and improving. Now with both championships on the table, we're more determined than ever. I'm proud of the team and can’t wait to see what we can do this weekend," said the Briton.

Once-dominant triple champion Verstappen is on a six-race losing streak and finished only sixth in the most recent round in Italy, won by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

The Dutch driver won on the shores of the Caspian Sea in 2022 but Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez has the better record there and is the only driver to have triumphed twice.

"Monza was a tough race and it is our priority to get our form back to where it needs to be," said Verstappen, who has spent time in the factory simulator ahead of the first leg of a double-header with Singapore.

The video player is currently playing an ad.00:16Biden honors NCAA men's basketball champs UConn

"The team has been working hard to improve the issues we have been seeing with the car from the past few races."

In Monza, Verstappen had described his car as an undriveable monster.

While Red Bull have won the last three races in Baku, Leclerc is chasing his fourth successive Azerbaijan GP pole position with his team only 39 points behind Red Bull with eight rounds remaining.

The Ferrari driver, and team mate Carlos Sainz, could be contenders for victory at a tricky circuit that combines fast slipstreaming on the straights with tricky, twisty turns through the old town.

"We have usually been quite competitive here and it is also one of Charles’ favourites. We are on a high following the win in Monza and we are determined to maintain this run of form," said team boss Fred Vasseur.

Mercedes also have reasons to be optimistic, despite difficult recent races in the Netherlands and Italy, as the only team other than Red Bull to have won in Baku.

"We head to Baku aiming for a better performance than we showed in Zandvoort and Monza," said team boss Toto Wolff.

"We have the opportunity to show we have done the necessary learning and made improvements both for this weekend in Azerbaijan and the following week in Singapore."

Kevin Magnussen will be absent from the starting grid, the Haas driver triggering a one race ban for accumulated penalty points.

Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearman, who will be taking the Dane's place next season, stands in -- for the second time this season after replacing appendicitis-stricken Sainz at Ferrari in Melbourne.



Mbappé among Stars Missing from Nations League while European Teams Eye World Cup Qualifying

Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)
Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)
TT

Mbappé among Stars Missing from Nations League while European Teams Eye World Cup Qualifying

Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)
Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)

In a congested soccer season where elite players have aired the idea of going on strike, the Nations League returns this week looking less than a top priority.

France captain Kylian Mbappé opted to stay away, his probable deputy Antoine Griezmann retired from the national team, and Romelu Lukaku asked to work on his fitness at new club Napoli rather than join the Belgium camp.

Add a wave of injury call-offs in Germany and elsewhere — some of them serious, for Spain defender Dani Carvajal and German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen — and the Nations League will open an international door for newcomers, The AP reported.

Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco called up four potential debutants to experiment in games in what is the third-tier competition for European teams.

“We will not do it during the important World Cup qualification,” said Tedesco, looking ahead to that important next stage in 2025.

The 2026 World Cup in North America is, however, already now in play for teams targeting that tournament and each has two Nations League games from Thursday through Tuesday.

Results in the next week, and two more games in November, are the last chance to gain a better seeding in the Dec. 13 draw in Zurich for European qualifying groups for the World Cup.

Two teams pushing to raise their FIFA ranking and go into the draw pot of second-seeded teams are Norway and Slovenia.

Haaland vs. Sesko Europe’s most feared striker and one of its emerging stars are due to meet again on Thursday in Oslo.

Erling Haaland and Benjamin Šeško, once club mates at Salzburg, are the main attractions when Norway hosts Slovenia in their second-tier League B group.

Haaland has 11 goals in 10 games for Manchester City this season plus a winning goal in the Nations League, sealing a 2-1 victory over Austria last month.

Šeško has six in nine games for Leipzig — including three in the Champions League — plus four in two Nations League games. The tall striker got a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan.

Thursday’s game will not be decisive in the group but it will decide who leads at the midway point and is set for promotion to the top tier. The return game in Ljubljana is Nov. 14.

France's leader The last time France played a game with neither Mbappé nor Griezmann on the field? November 2016, in a 0-0 draw with Ivory Coast in a friendly.

It will happen again Thursday when France faces Israel in Budapest. The Hungarian capital is the neutral venue chosen since Israel’s conflict with Hamas started one year ago.

Mbappé has faced a latest round of criticism at home by asking out of coach Didier Deschamp’s squad last week then starting for Real Madrid in a league game Saturday.

The search for a new captain has taken Deschamps back to Madrid, with 24-year-old midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni named Wednesday to take the armband. France also travels to face Belgium on Monday.

Standout Italy Italy leads the top-tier group that includes France and Belgium after winning both its September games on the road.

A 3-1 win in France, despite trailing in the first minute, was perhaps the standout performance in the Nations League last month. Italy followed it with a 2-1 win over Israel in Budapest.

Coach Luciano Spalletti’s squad, refreshed with younger players after a round of 16 exit at the European Championship, now has back-to-back home games: against Belgium in Rome on Thursday and Israel in Udine on Monday.

Italy can seal a top-two finish in the group on Monday with two rounds left to play in November. That would earn a place in the Nations League quarterfinals in March.

Top-tier teams that advance to the Nations League Final Four mini-tournament in June will not start their World Cup qualifying games until September. They will need to be placed by FIFA into four-team groups.

Rookie 'keepers Manuel Neuer has retired from the Germany team and Marc-André ter Stegen is out injured beyond the March international break.

So, in come three newcomers competing to be first-choice goalkeepers for games at Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday and home to the Netherlands on Monday: Oliver Baumann of Hoffenheim, Alexander Nübel of Stuttgart and Janis Blaswich, who plays at Salzburg on loan from sister club Leipzig.

Coach Julian Nagelsmann also is without the injured trio of Bayern’s Jamal Musiala, Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and West Ham’s Niclas Füllkrug.

Games to watch Defending champion Spain returns Saturday hosting Denmark which won its first two games under new coach Lars Knudsen without conceding a goal.

Two entertaining teams at Euro 2024, Georgia and Albania, renew rivalry on Monday. Georgia won 1-0 in Tirana last month and leads that second-tier group of four Euro 2024 teams which also includes the Czech Republic and last-place Ukraine.

Cristiano Ronaldo has graced almost every national stadium in Europe across two decades and 214 games for Portugal, though not yet Hampden Park in Glasgow. He should play there Tuesday.

It took Ronaldo until his 214th game last month to even face Scotland, and he scored a men’s record-extending 132nd goal to seal a 2-1 win in the 88th minute.

In the same group, Poland vs Croatia should see two greats face off as captains: 36-year-old Robert Lewandowski and 39-year-old Luka Modrić.