Archive May 4, 2025

Grand Prix of Miami

Location: Miami International Autodrome 4 May Start time: 1:00 BST on Sunday

McLaren’s Lando Norris said he was “very happy” after qualifying at the Grand Prix of Miami, despite losing out on pole position to Max Verstappen.

Even though Norris’ satisfaction was mixed with some frustration, he felt that some of the issues he has been having this season have improved. He ended up 0.065 seconds away from the Red Bull driver.

The Briton has been open about the fact that he feels as though his McLaren car doesn’t “talk to him” as he would like when pushed to the limit during a qualifying lap.

And while he once more messed up his position by making it pole-sitter, their communication at Hard Rock Stadium this weekend has been better.

The sprint race winner on Saturday, Norris, said, “Max did a Max lap once more and I can’t fault him.” Second was not bad in light of that and his own weekend, then.

Norris expressed his satisfaction with the final product. It’s only frustrating when you miss out on pole, so that’s just a shame.

His team-mate Oscar Piastri and Verstappen both believed that he and he should have fought for pole.

The Australian, who won the championship by nine points the previous time out in Saudi Arabia, claimed he was fourth due to “poor execution.”

The gap has always been close, and we’ve gained a little more on Sundays, but our perception of where we are has always been that we’re going to be beaten, which has proven to be year after year.

Andrea Stella, the team’s principal, claims that Verstappen has now established a sufficient pattern to allow him to claim three poles in six races.

We now have enough data to confirm what we already knew from the (pre-season) test in Bahrain, “Stella said,” indicating that the car was more advantageous in terms of performance in race simulation runs, rather than just on one lap with qualifying trim and brand-new tires.

“We have seen that we haven’t had a perfect lap, essentially.”

We are unwaveringly attempting to assess our understanding of engineering on a solid foundation so that we can test drive our drivers’ cars to see if we can provide them with a car that is just slightly more predictable and full of information about how the grip is when the car is at the limit.

Red Bull have their own in Miami, the first of a number of improvements that they hope will enable Verstappen to compete with McLaren drivers more consistently in races.

Verstappen said, “We are trying to achieve a better balance in the car, of course.” It’s just a really strange layout, in my opinion, so it’s not always the easiest to say that you’ve improved or accomplished something. Therefore, it takes longer.

Red Bull have not been capturing the most accurate portrayal of the two teams’ competitive landscape, according to McLaren.

Red Bull are very good at producing quick cars, Stella asserted. They “drive very fast cars very well,” I would say, and they do it very well to create the narrative in their favor.

They take advantage of every chance they can to stay in the competition, and one of the chances is to tell the story, “Oh, we are making miracles here, the others should win every practice session, qualifying, and race.”

Some of our competitors’ stories, such as this, are written in this form, which we occasionally read before turning the page and concentrating on ourselves.

An intriguing race is set up by the grid. The title rivals are in reverse chronological order, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli serving as the interloper between Norris and Piastri.

And Norris has the chance to win his first race since March’s season-opening race in Australia.

He knows the car is moving at the right pace because he made errors at the last corner on both of his laps during qualifying.

“Whether it’s set-up or what, I’m not too sure,” said Norris, “Max has always been good in qualifying, but we have struggled a little more in qualifying.”

“We are aware that the Red Bulls are running a lot more downforce,” he said. However, we are aware that both conditions will give us good pace in a very long race.

Grand Prix of Miami

Location: Miami International Autodrome 4 May Start time: 1:00 BST on Sunday

McLaren’s Lando Norris said he was “very happy” after qualifying at the Grand Prix of Miami, despite losing out on pole position to Max Verstappen.

Even though Norris’ satisfaction was mixed with some frustration, he felt that some of the issues he has been having this season have improved. He ended up 0.065 seconds away from the Red Bull driver.

The Briton has been open about the fact that he feels as though his McLaren car doesn’t “talk to him” as he would like when pushed to the limit during a qualifying lap.

And while he once more messed up his position by making it pole-sitter, their communication at Hard Rock Stadium this weekend has been better.

The sprint race winner on Saturday, Norris, said, “Max did a Max lap once more and I can’t fault him.” Second was not bad in light of that and his own weekend, then.

Norris expressed his satisfaction with the final product. It’s only frustrating when you miss out on pole, so that’s just a shame.

His team-mate Oscar Piastri and Verstappen both believed that he and he should have fought for pole.

The Australian, who won the championship by nine points the previous time out in Saudi Arabia, claimed he was fourth due to “poor execution.”

The gap has always been close, and we’ve gained a little more on Sundays, but our perception of where we are has always been that we’re going to be beaten, which has proven to be year after year.

Andrea Stella, the team’s principal, claims that Verstappen has now established a sufficient pattern to allow him to claim three poles in six races.

We now have enough data to confirm what we already knew from the (pre-season) test in Bahrain, “Stella said,” indicating that the car was more advantageous in terms of performance in race simulation runs, rather than just on one lap with qualifying trim and brand-new tires.

“We have seen that we haven’t had a perfect lap, essentially.”

We are unwaveringly attempting to assess our understanding of engineering on a solid foundation so that we can test drive our drivers’ cars to see if we can provide them with a car that is just slightly more predictable and full of information about how the grip is when the car is at the limit.

Red Bull have their own in Miami, the first of a number of improvements that they hope will enable Verstappen to compete with McLaren drivers more consistently in races.

Verstappen said, “We are trying to achieve a better balance in the car, of course.” It’s just a really strange layout, in my opinion, so it’s not always the easiest to say that you’ve improved or accomplished something. Therefore, it takes longer.

Red Bull have not been capturing the most accurate portrayal of the two teams’ competitive landscape, according to McLaren.

Red Bull are very good at producing quick cars, Stella asserted. They “drive very fast cars very well,” I would say, and they do it very well to create the narrative in their favor.

They take advantage of every chance they can to stay in the competition, and one of the chances is to tell the story, “Oh, we are making miracles here, the others should win every practice session, qualifying, and race.”

Some of our competitors’ stories, such as this, are written in this form, which we occasionally read before turning the page and concentrating on ourselves.

An intriguing race is set up by the grid. The title rivals are in reverse chronological order, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli serving as the interloper between Norris and Piastri.

And Norris has the chance to win his first race since March’s season-opening race in Australia.

He knows the car is moving at the right pace because he made errors at the last corner on both of his laps during qualifying.

“Whether it’s set-up or what, I’m not too sure,” said Norris, “Max has always been good in qualifying, but we have struggled a little more in qualifying.”

“We are aware that the Red Bulls are running a lot more downforce,” he said. However, we are aware that both conditions will give us good pace in a very long race.

“We struck them in the face,” the statement read.

An element of surprise may have come from Alex Mitchell’s mention of an act of violence following 80 minutes of imposing European rugby at Aviva Stadium.

However, it was a heartfelt reflection that was appropriate to match the Northampton Saints’ performance in Leinster’s Investec Champions Cup semi-final, which left them with more than a bloody nose.

The reigning Premiership champions put a stunning 37-34 win over Leinster on the verge of avenging against the same opponent from last year’s defeat at the same time and a quiet confidence in the face of a backdrop of external doubt.

According to Saints and England scrum-half Mitchell, “a few pundits were saying they’re going to win by 20-30 points and that Saints won’t score a point.”

“We showed up today, and this time around we were a little less afraid.” We were anticipating Leinster’s plans the previous year.

We arrived today, and we punched them in the face for the first 20 minutes. They didn’t anticipate that at all. We received the result, boys, congratulations.

Fans and pundits’ confidence in Leinster winning a fourth consecutive final was well-founded.

Without conceding a point in thumping knockout victories over Glasgow Warriors and Harlequins, the Irish province pitched up at their vociferous Dublin home.

Saints, however, did not read the entire script.

Henry Pollock’s star continues to rise following his searing try, while England wing Tommy Freeman added a hat-trick to increase his tally to seven tries in his previous three Champions Cup appearances.

After half-time, the hosts responded, but they lacked the clinical edge to retake the lead, and Saints were able to thwart Leinster’s fifth try thanks to James Ramm.

James Lowe’s Ireland side pulled within three points to draw a thrilling finale, but Northampton salvaged possession with a last-gasp turnover camped on their own line before kicking the ball dead after Referee Pierre Brousset awarded Leinster a late penalty instead of a try.

Phil Dowson, the club’s director of rugby, was a member of the squad when they last defeated Leinster in 2013, but his masterminding of their most recent victory is perhaps his best of his coaching career.

“Many people wrote us off and we thought we were underdogs, but the group’s belief was outstanding,” Dowson said on BBC Radio Northampton.

The final defensive set, which included “I would hate to think what my blood pressure was doing at the end,” was a powerful reflection of our group, the young players coming on, and their impact. We won the game, stopped the clock, and uncovered the irrational behavior in the coaching box.

In Cardiff’s showpiece this season, Saints will take on Bordeaux-Begles or six-time champions Toulouse, but if this victory is the best of Dowson’s career so far, Pollock, who is still remarkably in his senior debut season, could be his greatest servant.

The 20-year-old, who made his England Test debut, is a contender for Lions selection after watching last season’s defeat at Croke Park in fancy dress as a supporter. He has since joined Northampton’s side.

“That was a battle,” he declared. In his lifetime, Pollock remarked to Premier Sports, “I have never played in a game that difficult.”

That’s what dreams are made of, he says.

I’m talking about it because I grew up watching this competition and being in my boyhood club.

We have been saying all week, “Why not us? After the last two performances, these Leinster boys had, and we came here without fear. ‘”.

Pollock’s all-around performance was defying his level of experience, and his try showed the strength of a backhand as he launched onto Mitchell’s flat pass from a standing start, scurrying through Leinster’s defense, before sprinting around Sam Prendergast, the team’s defense’s final defender.

When asked if he should celebrate by rubbing his neck with two fingers, Pollock responded, “I was just feeling that pulse.”