Inaugural Miami GP can see Ferrari put contenders back in a vice grip

By Sports Desk May 04, 2022

Formula One's ever-expanding presence in the United States will come to the fore as it returns to Florida for the first time in over 60 years with the Miami Grand Prix this weekend.

Bruce McLaren claimed the first of four Grand Prix wins at Sebring in 1959, before the United States GP moved to Riverside for 1960 and then Watkins Glen until 1980.

Last time out at Imola, Ferrari suffered their first bad weekend of the season, with Red Bull's one-two compounding Carlos Sainz crashing out on the opening lap and Charles Leclerc spinning after going over a sausage kerb, before finishing in sixth.

With DNFs in Imola and Melbourne, Sainz had not retired in his previous 24 races and will be looking to recover at a track that could suit this year's Ferrari package.

Even after Imola though, Ferrari still lead in both the driver's and constructor's championships, with respective 27 and 11-point leads.

Following his wins in Bahrain and Australia, Charles Leclerc could equal Ferrari's win tally in the previous seasons combined, with all three coming in 2019.

Though the Monegasque driver converted his pole position into a win at Albert Park, only four of his 11 career wins have come from pole position.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has been much more clinical in that regard, converting his 14 pole positions into 10 race victories.

Verstappen was the last winner in the United States, taking the top step at COTA last year in Austin.

Mercedes bring upgrades

Although George Russell sits fourth in the driver's championship, Ferrari and Red Bull have had the two best packages on the grid so far this season.

Mercedes have struggled to match them for pace and performance as they come to terms with the car's particularly aggressive porpoising coming into braking zones.

They are hoping upgrades could revive Lewis Hamilton's season and the USA has traditionally been a happy hunting ground, with six of his 18 wins in North America coming there.

Can Red Bull consolidate?

Defending champion Max Verstappen won at Imola in what was an assured drive, reminding the paddock that Red Bull are capable of coming up with a strong package this season.

Sergio Perez has also been in solid form to open the season, securing back-to-back second-place finishes for the first time in his career in Melbourne and Imola.

Anything less than another strong performance will undo the progress they made, however.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 86
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 59
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 54
4. George Russell (Mercedes) 49 
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 38

Constructors

1. Ferrari 124
2. Red Bull 113
3. Mercedes 77
4. McLaren 46
5. Alfa Romeo 25

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    Lewis Hamilton said watching Ferrari and McLaren overhaul Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship has been "quite incredible" ahead of his move to the Italian team. 

    Red Bull appeared to be set for another dominant year on track after Max Verstappen won seven of the first 10 races, with team-mate Sergio Perez also securing four podiums. 

    However, Red Bull endured a mid-season struggle, with Verstappen failing to win in 10 races before his stunning wet-weather display at the Brazilian Grand Prix last time out. 

    The Dutchman is on the cusp of a fourth world championship after title rival Lando Norris could only manage sixth in Interlagos, leaving him 62 points behind in the standings. 

    But going into the final three races of the season, Red Bull find themselves third in the constructors' championship, 44 points behind leaders McLaren and 13 adrift of Ferrari. 

    Before Verstappen's victory in Brazil, Ferrari had claimed back-to-back victories in the United States and Mexico. 

    Charles Leclerc, Hamilton's team-mate for the Scuderia next season, won in Austin to emerge victorious for the eighth time in the competition. 

    That triumph was then followed up by a win at the Autrodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by Carlos Sainz, who will make way for Hamilton and join Williams next season. 

    And Ferrari's recent displays on track have Hamilton excited about the potential of challenging for an eighth world championship next season. 

    "I'm very interested in my future, of course," said Hamilton. "And so, in that respect, keeping an eye, yeah. Watching everything that happens."

    "If you look at somewhere like maybe China already, the Red Bull was like a second ahead.

    "And it's been quite incredible to see the McLaren rise and then the Ferrari in the last few races, to see their progress and just trying to keep an eye on everyone's car and what they're changing and what they're adding.

    "You know, we all watch the video, all the drivers, we all watch the onboard laps and we're always trying to see where we can gain time.

    "And there's some cars that just react differently and better or worse in certain areas.

    "And you're trying to figure out how you can find that within either your balance or get the team to develop the car in that direction."

  • Premier League MD11: Lucky winners and unlucky losers Premier League MD11: Lucky winners and unlucky losers

    The final international break of 2024 is here, and we can safely say the Premier League is starting to take shape.

    Opta's supercomputer now has Liverpool, who are five points clear at the top following their win over Aston Villa on Saturday, as the favourites to go on and win the title.

    Manchester City lost a fourth straight game in all competitions as they went down 2-1 at Brighton, while Chelsea and Arsenal are third and fourth respectively after sharing the points.

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    Lucky winners: Manchester United

    Manchester United are now under new management, with Ruben Amorim officially starting as head coach on Monday. But interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy ensured he went out with a high as the Red Devils beat Leicester City 3-0 on Sunday.

    However, it is fair to say United were rather fortunate to net three times at Old Trafford, with the data suggesting they did not even create chances worthy of one goal, never mind three.

    United's expected goals (xG) was 0.69, the third-lowest total in the league this weekend and behind Leicester's 0.77.

    Bruno Fernandes scored one and set up another on his 250th appearance for the club, either side of Victor Kristiansen's own goal, but from 13 shots, United, who had only 17 touches in Leicester's box, really did not create much in the way of quality opportunities.

    Indeed, their attacking quality instead told, with Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho finishing well. At the other end, Leicester failed to make their moments count, despite hitting the target with five of their six shots.

    Spare a thought for Erik ten Hag, given when he was in charge, United's attack was underperforming. Now Amorim just needs to pick up where Van Nistelrooy left off...

    Unlucky losers: Manchester City

    Man City are suddenly the crisis club, having lost four straight games for the first time since August 2006. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has lost four games in a row in all competitions for the very first time in his managerial career.

    Erling Haaland also lost a Premier League match in which he scored a goal for the very first time, having put City ahead before Joao Pedro and Matt O'Riley clinched the points for Brighton.

     

    Brighton finished with 2.29 xG, so they did deserve to score at least twice. However, City can still consider themselves unfortunate, given their 2.22 xG was the third-highest of any team across the weekend.

    Their post-shot expected goals on target (xGoT) also rose to 2.98, showing that Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was on fine form.

    City also created five big chances, missing four of them, and hit the woodwork once. That being said, they conceded eight big chances, with Brighton letting them off for six of those, so it was not a good day at the office for Guardiola.

    Unlucky losers: Bournemouth

    If Man City were unfortunate, then the team to have created the highest xG (2.61) this past weekend – Bournemouth – can consider themselves hard done by.

    Andoni Iraola claimed his team were worthy of the three points against Brentford, despite the Cherries losing 3-2, and the underlying metrics suggest the Spaniard was fair in his assessment.

     

    Only Tottenham (35 in their loss against Ipswich Town) had more touches in the opponent's box than Bournemouth's 34 at the Gtech Community Stadium, but Iraola's side were made to pay for some dismal finishing.

    Their xGoT dropped to 1.68, while Brentford's rose from 1.48 xG to 1.84 xGoT – essentially, the level of finishing from Brentford's players increased the likelihood they would score, while Bournemouth's finishing was below what would have been anticipated based on the quality of chances they had. That is further backed up by the fact the Cherries only got three of their 15 attempts on target.

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    Forest had won their previous three matches to climb to third in the Premier League, and Murillo's opener had them on course for another victory.

    But that goal came against the run of play, and Newcastle continued to dominate, eventually equalising through Alexander Isak.

    Forest, who have been so solid at the back this season, went chasing victory and were instead caught out as both Joelinton and Harvey Barnes scored on the break.

    Those counter-attacks have been a large part of Forest's own attacking identity previously, and Nuno was full of praise for how ruthlessly Newcastle executed that tactic.

    "I cannot say that was a bad performance, that is totally out of the question," the Forest boss told BBC Sport.

    "We played against a very good team that was able to control us and then hurt us in the way we've been doing. It is a lesson for us to learn.

    "I just have to recognise that today we played a good team, who were better than us in many, many moments.

    "There's nothing to say about the [Forest] players. The character and belief was there."

    Newcastle were a little unfortunate to trail at half-time, having had seven shots to Forest's three and 60% of the possession.

    Yet Eddie Howe, the Newcastle coach, still saw plenty of room for improvement, which his side delivered on after the restart.

    "It was difficult, but we knew it would be," he said. "They are a difficult team to play against because they don't concede many chances and you're left fearing the worst when you go behind.

    "We had work to do at half-time, but credit to the players because the second half was up there with our best performances this season.

    "Everything we didn't do in the first half, we did at the start of the second half. We were intense and direct with our attacking. We asked more questions and could have scored.

    "I'm really pleased with the second half."

    Newcastle have won three in a row in all competitions for the first time in over a year, helped by a return to form for their attacking stars.

    Isak had netted only once this season before scoring in the past four successive matches, while Barnes again showed his quality from the bench. Six of his nine Newcastle goals have come as a substitute.

    Howe added: "We need our attacking players to contribute goals, and Alex has done that in the past few weeks with massive moments, then Joelinton and Harvey Barnes pop up with moments, too.

    "We know we have players who can make that difference, and I'm really pleased with that side of our game.

    "Harvey Barnes did what he does. He's an outstanding player. Trying to find room for him in the team is something that I am conscious of.

    "I'm really pleased he got that goal – I thought it was a fantastic finish."

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