The headlines following Formula One’s visit to Miami in 2024 are all about the maiden victory for Land Norris. The McLaren driver holds the record for the most podiums before claiming an F1 win but his win in the state of Florida was certainly no fluke.

McLaren had brought almost a B-Spec car for Norris to Miami but  his team mate had to be content with receiving just half the number of upgrades. Practice One on Friday was a frenetic affair as the team tried to find the base line setup for the weekend and when the one hour session was complete, Lando languished down in P16.

 

 

 

Drivers with roller coaster F1 weekends

Norris and the team learned little from the Sprint race as the McLaren driver was taken out in turn 1 following an optimistic dive down the inside by Lewis Hamilton. Yet joy was to come on Sunday for Norris as he extended the life of his first set of tyres long enough to catch the safety car which saved him around ten seconds at the pit stop – enough to see Lando retain the lead at the restart off the race.

Another driver who had a roller coaster weekend was Daniel Ricciardo. After an average practice session where he trailed team mate Tsunoda, Daniel delivered a stela lap in SQ3 to launch his ‘street art’ liveried RB onto the second row of the grid. The Aussie ace then fought a rear gunner action during the Sprint to defend against Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri to bring the RB home in P4.

As a result RB have extended their lead over the teams in the bottom half of the constructors’ table and now sit 12 points ahead of rivals Haas F1.

Yet just a few hours after the high of the Sprint result, Ricciardo was suffer the ignominy of exiting Grand Prix qualifying during the first session. Starting in P20 Daniel made some progress but at the chequered flag was way outside the points down in P15.

Miami F1 mystery strikes again

 

 

 

Ricciardo out for next Grand Prix

With much of the focus on whether Logan Sargeant will be the first driver to be dropped this year, Ricciardo’s under par performances had largely avoided the headlines. But with Liam Lawson virtually guaranteed a seat for 2025 by Dr. Helmut Marko the pressure is on because either Tsunoda or Ricciardo will be dropped.

Speaking to On the track GP podcast, British racer and pundit Richard Bradley believes Ricciardo will be missing from the grid when Formula One rolls into Imola town in just over a week’s time. Bradley argues that two decent sessions in Miami are not enough to save the F1 career of the 32 times podium placed driver.

Asked if we expect to see Daniel Ricciardo in Europe for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Bradley said: “I don’t think so, no.

“If you just look at it, it was one qualy and one race he did a very good job in that, but let’s actually look at it in terms of overall at the beginning of this year.

“That’s two good sessions out of how many? I’m sorry but I think the writing’s on the wall. Liam Lawson is proven, he’s right there.”

Red Bull civil war over as Austrian’s publicly back Horner

 

 

 

Sainz gives Ricciardo approval

Bradley’s prediction of Red Bull ditching a driver after just six races is probably wide of the mark and since been given a new chassis in China, Ricciardo does look like a rejuvenated man. However, there sword of Damocles is never far from falling on an RB driver as history has proven time and again.

Last year Ricciardo was the beneficiary of a mid-season driver switch by Red Bull when Nyck de Vries was given the elbow after just ten races. Ricciardo’s top draw performance in the Miami Sprint has probably bought him enough time to impress before Formula One takes its summer recess in eight races time.

Carlos Sainz certainly appreciated the battle Ricciardo put up in the Sprint race as following the chequered flag he pulled alongside the RB of the Aussie and gave him a clear thumbs up, visible from the cockpit cameras. Ricciardo has struggled since he left Red Bull Racing in 2018 and his poor performances resulted in McLaren ending his contract a year earlier than planned.

Yet there are signs of the old Daniel beginning to emerge and his task is now simple, keep beating your team mate. As the F1 circus rolls on to Italy next time, Ricciardo will be hoping to forget his last outing here for McLaren which resulted in him limping hime in P16 while team mate Lando Norris claimed the bottom step of the podium.

McLaren boss slams FIA rule change

 

 

 

Replacement chassis the key

Ricciardo attributed his return to form to the replacement chassis from the RB team which he received for the Chinese Grand Prix.

“Immediately I honestly felt something [with the new chassis], I felt more feeling and a bit more confidence in what the car was going to give me,” he explained.

“It’s not that it was far off, there was just something missing compared to Yuki at the start of the year, I could just feel like I wasn’t able to do what he was able to do in a lot of the corners.”

“I knew there was something there, so I think there really was something with the chassis… maybe the team still doesn’t think so, but I do. Then we had a floor upgrade here and I think that’s helped us in the high-speed.”

Red Bull exodus, another set to follow Newey

 

 

 

Norris faces backlash after calling for “respect” of Donal Trump

2024 has seen the world of Formula One cast in its most soap operatic form for some years. The FIA president has been investigated and cleared of race fixing, Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving for Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have been engulfed by a power struggle which may finally have come to an end in Miami.

The head of the Austrian contingent seeking to remove Christian Horner finally relented in Miami and backed the Red Bull team principle to bring “success” over the “long term.” Yet the new found peace in Milton Keynes did not bring success for the world champions as the dominant Max Verstappen was beaten fair and square for the first time in over two years…. READ MORE