Red Bull could face an unlikely threat
Red Bull Racing again showed their fallibility as McLaren’s Lando Norris took a surprising maiden victory at the Miami Grand Prix.
This is the second race this season where the ever-dominant outfit has been unable to triumph after Carlos Sainz won the Melbourne event in March.
While it was a mechanical failure that scuppered lead driver Max Verstappen’s chances previously down under, they were beaten here on pure pace by the young Brit.
Norris said: “What a race!
“It’s been a long time coming but I’ve finally managed to do it.
“I’m so happy for my whole team because I’ve finally delivered for them.
“It was a long day, a tough race but I’m finally on top and over the moon.
With McLaren taking the win, and Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri taking the fastest lap, the chances of the papaya team challenging the current stranglehold on F1 are hopeful.
Therefore, going into the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy next time out, Red Bull Racing may be looking over their shoulder looking back to the chasing pack.
Mixed results for Ricciardo
Racing Bulls driver Daniel Ricciardo had a mixed Miami weekend, with the Australian finishing in a fantastic fourth position during the sprint.
However, in the proper race, he started in last place following a mediocre performance in regular qualifying, and could only advance to 15th, 25 seconds behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
The eight-time Grand Prix winner has come under severe scrutiny recently due to his sub-par performances of late, with fans and experts suggesting he should be replaced.
Ricciardo’s five points from the sprint are his first of the year, however, he still trails Tsunoda by 15-4 in the driver’s standings.
It seems the 34-year-old is unable to consistently perform, and without sufficient improvement could lose his seat to Red Bull Junior driver Liam Lawson.
Magnussen’s dirty tactics could land him in hot water
One of the storylines of the Sprint concerned Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who employed aggressive racecraft manoeuvres to aid his teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
While the German finished seventh, the daring Dane who ran eighth defended from the chasing pack, however, did so in a manner that awarded him FOUR separate penalties.
Three of his infractions were ones of the ten-second variety for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, while he got an extra five seconds added to his race time for simply exceeding track limits.
Magnussen said: All the penalties were fair, but I had to do what I did to protect Nico.
“It’s the same story as Jeddah, I got some penalties, we got some points as a team.
“It sucks for me because I think we could’ve both finished in the points had he kept me in the DRS range.
“But Nico cut the chicane at one point and broke the DRS, so I was vulnerable to Lewis [Hamilton] and started fighting, so that was it.
“It’s not the way I want to go racing but it’s what I had to do.”
These infringements plus two more on Sunday for a collision with Logan Sargeant and for tyre changing problems add up a total of six penalties across the weekend.
The Dane now has ten penalty points on his superlicense, only two away from incurring a race ban if he has any more infractions throughout the season.
His driving tactics may be unfair or over the limit, but when punishments are dished out to drivers and not teams for such collusion, it’s bound to happen.
Whether the FIA take action to curb such team strategies in the future remains to be seen, but expect to see Magnussen continuing to defend and attack like a Viking if nothing is done to prevent such racing.
Alpine are (slowly) improving
The Enstone team suffered at the start of the 2024 season, being the slowest car in the field during the first race weekend in Bahrain.
However Esteban Ocon scored their first point of the year during Sunday’s event, claiming tenth place.
Pierre Gasly also came ninth during the sprint, which indicates the French outfit’s fortunes are turning around the further we get into 2024.
They currently sit eighth in the constructors standings ahead of the pointless Williams and Sauber teams, but look unlikely to overtake other lower midfield contenders such as Haas or Racing Bulls.
