Miami, FL

Miami GP: Red Bull Adrian Newey drama set to cause tension as Mercedes, McLaren bring upgrades to Sprint weekend

Published

2 years ago

April 29, 2024

Miami GP: Red Bull Adrian Newey drama set to cause tension as Mercedes, McLaren bring upgrades to Sprint weekend

Ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Sky Sports F1 analyse the biggest talking points going into sixth round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

The F1 news cycle appeared to have calmed over recent weeks following a frantic start to the season, but a series of developments since the Chinese Grand Prix have set off more drama.

Reports that legendary designer Adrian Newey has decided to leave Red Bull will undoubtedly create renewed doubt over world championship leader Max Verstappen’s future with the team.

Sauber’s announcement that they have signed Nico Hulkenberg from Haas for the 2025 season ahead of their transition to becoming Audi in 2026 is likely to stimulate further movement in the driver market.

On the track, Verstappen will be seeking to create more history as he looks to continue his dominant start to the season.

However, the fact that Miami is hosting a Sprint weekend for the first time could create unpredictability and a threat to the Dutchman’s streak of pole positions.

Despite their weakest weekend of the season so far in China, Ferrari will be hopeful of bouncing back, but must be careful that a growingly fierce battle on track between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz doesn’t reduce their chances.

Every session is live on Sky Sports F1, with the competitive action getting under way with Sprint Qualifying at 9.30pm on Friday night.

Newey bombshell puts spotlight back on Red Bull

When the most spectacular paddock on the calendar, in the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium, begins to fill with F1 personnel on Thursday, there is little doubt that Newey’s reported desire to leave Red Bull will be at the top of the agenda.

There had been murmurings for a while that the 65-year-old may not be completely happy, but Thursday’s reports that he has decided he wants to leave will have sent shockwaves through the sport.

On a pure performance basis, F1’s best designer leaving a team that is enjoying one of the most dominant spells in the sport’s history is promising for those who desire more competitive racing at the front of the grid.

Beyond the sporting impact, the fact that Newey’s desire to leave is reported to be directly related to how he feels about Christian Horner is likely to put renewed pressure on the Red Bull team principal.

There has been a period of sustained turbulence at Red Bull following the investigation earlier this year by their Austrian parent company into allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Horner by a female colleague.

The grievance against Horner, who has always denied the claims, was dismissed on February 28. The woman who brought the complaint has since appealed the outcome.

Pressure on Horner could be increased by the reaction of Verstappen, who is unlikely to be happy about the prospect of Newey’s departure.

Despite Verstappen’s contract running until 2028, he is understood to hold exit clauses and Newey’s exit will only increase doubt over whether the Dutchman will see out the deal.

Outside of Red Bull, it will also be interesting to see how potential suitors for Newey, such as Ferrari and Aston Martin, will react to the news.

Hulkenberg move to energise driver market?

Another topic of discussion in the paddock will be the driver market, after Hulkenberg’s switch from Haas to Sauber altered the landscape.

While the German’s move – ahead of Sauber’s transition to becoming Audi in 2026 – was widely expected, confirmation of it could trigger a flurry of movement in F1’s remarkably fluid 2025 market.

Hulkenberg is the 10th driver to be confirmed for the 2025 grid, which means half of the seats are still to be filled.

At least one of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu won’t be driving for Sauber in 2025, which will no doubt intensify their representatives attempts to find options for next year.

Hulkenberg’s departure from Haas also opens the door for British teenager Oliver Bearman to make the step up from F2 following his hugely impressive debut for Ferrari when Sainz was unable to race in Saudi Arabia.

While there could be more movement in the seats expected to be towards the rear of the grid, it is Sainz who looks set to dictate much of what may happen at the sharp end.

The Spaniard would appear to have several options after making a strong start to the final season of his stint with Ferrari.

Ferrari duo set to continue battle… in blue

Sainz’s impressive form, punctuated by a victory in Australia, has set up an intriguing battle at Ferrari with his team-mate Leclerc under pressure to prove he was the right choice to remain at the team alongside Lewis Hamilton next year.

While the pair were engaged in some thrilling battles on track last season, the fact that Sainz is leaving the team and doesn’t need to worry too much about the consequences of his actions means the gloves are off.

Leclerc was upset by the way Sainz defended against him, as he was forced off track by his team-mate during the Sprint in China.

A day later in the race, Leclerc appeared to return the favour as he forced Sainz off at the first corner in an incident which saw both Ferraris lose places.

This time it was Sainz who was unamused, as he appeared to refrain from fully expressing his frustrations in his post-race interview with Sky Sports F1.

While the affable duo, who get on well away from the track, are likely to play down the incidents when they face the media in Miami on Thursday, the contest is worth keeping a close eye once their visors go down on Friday.

Viewers will need to be extra sharp to keep track of the Ferraris, as they run a one-off blue livery to publicise the agreement of a title sponsorship deal with American technology company HP.

Verstappen’s chance to surpass Hamilton

Amid the considerable noise around Red Bull, Verstappen is maintaining an incredible level of performance.

The Dutchman’s pole in China was his sixth in a row, creating the longest streak of his career. In Miami, he can level the seven successive poles that Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost each managed, and is two short of Ayrton Senna’s all-time record.

He has won four out of five races this season and may well have also triumphed in Australia were it not for a brake issue forcing him out of the contest.

While Verstappen has largely insisted that records aren’t of huge importance to him as he attempts to stay in the moment, there is an eye-catching feat he could pull off in Miami.

If he were to claim the 59th win of his F1 career on Sunday, Verstappen would move above Hamilton into fourth on career-win percentage.

The 26-year-old has currently won 30.53 per cent of his races, but that number would increase to 30.89. Hamilton is on 30.56 per cent for his career, but seems highly likely to dip lower, with his wait for a first win since December 2021 set to continue.

Will Mercedes, McLaren upgrades have a major impact?

While victory seems an entirely unrealistic prospect for Hamilton following Mercedes’ dismal start to the season, the seven-time world champion’s hopes could at least be boosted by the arrival of upgrades for the W15.

Mercedes’ only top-five finish at the first five races was delivered by George Russell in Bahrain, while Hamilton has failed to finish higher than ninth since coming seventh at the season-opener.

It’s unlikely that these early-season upgrades will make a huge impact, but given the tight margins we’ve seen between Mercedes and Aston Martin, the Silver Arrows could at least make ground in that battle.

The other issue for Mercedes is that they won’t be the only team bringing upgrades, with McLaren, for one, having also confirmed updates are coming to the MCL38.

McLaren will also not expect enormous gains but having seen Lando Norris claim a brilliant second behind Verstappen in China, will be hopeful of at least slightly closing the gap to Red Bull.

Teams bringing upgrades will face the additional challenge of attempting to find an optimal car setup with the new parts after just 60 minutes of practice, given Miami is hosting a second successive F1 Sprint weekend.

The new Sprint format, which seemed to get the thumbs up from most after its debut in China, will at least allow for teams to alter their setups when the cars are released from parc ferme following Saturday’s Sprint, and ahead of full qualifying.

Sky Sports F1’s live Miami GP schedule

Thursday May 2
6.30pm: Drivers’ press conference

Friday May 3
3pm: F1 Academy Practice 1
5pm: Miami GP Practice One (session starts at 5.30pm)
8.20pm: F1 Academy Practice 2
9pm: Miami GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 9:30pm)

Saturday May 4
3.25pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
4pm: Miami GP Sprint (race starts at 5pm)
6.30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
7.05pm: F1 Academy Race 1
8pm: Miami GP Qualifying build-up
9pm: Miami GP Qualifying
11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday May 5
6.05pm: F1 Academy Race 2
7.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Miami GP build-up
9pm: The MIAMI GRAND PRIX
11pm: Chequered Flag: Miami GP reaction
Midnight: Ted’s Notebook

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Miami, FL

Miami Dolphins Fans Sound Off On The Signing Of QB Malik Willis

Published

8 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Miami Dolphins Fans Sound Off On The Signing Of QB Malik Willis

What I would have done is taken my lumps and rolled with Ewers during the 2026 season. From my understanding, the reality of Willis’ deal is two years x 22.5M. After that, the Dolphins can part with him, no harm, no foul. Hiwever, don’t you think that the Dolphins could have used that money, considering their salary cap situation, in other areas? Yeah, to me, this is a textbook Steve Ross engineered deal where the Dolphins are bidding against themselves and hoping against hope that they’re not as bad as they’re predicted to be.

As for Willis, he reminds me of another ex-Green Bay QB named Matt Flynn. Like Willis, Flynn was the 2nd string QB at GB and shined in a couple of relief appearances for Aaron Rodgers during the 2011 season. He is best remembered in Green Bay for his record-setting 480-yard, 6-touchdown game in 2011 versus the Lions. That set him up for a big contract with Seattle, but he never really did anything there due to the emergence of Russell Wilson.

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Miami, FL

Eliott Rodriguez, former CBS News Miami anchor, announces run for Congress

Published

20 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Eliott Rodriguez, former CBS News Miami anchor, announces run for Congress

CBS Miami Team,

Updated on: March 10, 2026 / 7:16 AM EDT
/ CBS Miami

Former CBS News Miami anchor and longtime South Florida resident Eliott Rodriguez announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress in Florida’s 27th Congressional District on Tuesday morning.

He will now embark on a campaign that’s centered on lowering the high cost of living, restoring accountability in Washington, D.C., and bringing people together to deliver results for families in Miami-Dade, his campaign said in the announcement.

“I didn’t plan to run for Congress,” Rodriguez said in his announcement. “But I cannot stay silent. For 48 years, you trusted me to tell the truth and listen to your stories. Today, like so many families, I am concerned that Washington is not delivering for South Florida. My parents taught me that citizenship is not just a right – it is a responsibility. And now, I am answering that call.”

Eliott Rodriguez

Eliott Rodriguez for Congress
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Why is Eliott Rodriguez running for Congress?

In his announcement, Rodriguez explained why he decided to run for Congress. He said the decision was deeply personal.

In recent months, he said he’s spoken with families, seniors, small business owners and young people who are struggling to afford to stay in a community they love.

“South Florida has now become one of the least affordable housing markets in the United States, with families here spending more of their income on rent and mortgages than almost anywhere in the country,” Rodriguez said in his announcement.

According to the campaign, Florida’s 27th Congressional District is widely viewed as one of the most competitive battlegrounds in the country.

In the race for Congress, Rodriguez will challenge incumbent María Elvira Salazar.

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Miami, FL

Actually, the Miami Dolphins’ Offseason Moves Make More Sense Than You Think

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Actually, the Miami Dolphins’ Offseason Moves Make More Sense Than You Think

The Dolphins appeared to be on a path to tanking early Monday, with their release of Tua Tagovailoa and moves to rid the roster of veteran players. But after the Malik Willis signing, what direction are they really heading?

The Miami Dolphins entered free agency needing a new starting quarterback, and lacking the cap space to pay one. That was the case despite the team clearing $22.8 million by releasing wide receiver Tyreek Hill last month, with an additional $7 million in savings coming from the eventual release of pass rusher Bradley Chubb. There just didn’t seem to be enough money for the team to be active in the open market. Miami’s last front office, helmed by former general manager Chris Grier, left the new regime, led by first-year GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, in deep shit from a salary cap perspective, and many assumed the new group would spend this first offseason digging their way out of it.

When a team led by a new brain trust inherits a crappy roster and then immediately starts shedding salary, the safe assumption is that they’re preparing to tank. And before noon on the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period, Miami couldn’t beat those allegations. After failing to garner any trade interest in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the team decided to release him for nothing except for a $99 million dead cap hit for the upcoming season. Moving on from Tagovailoa, who was benched last season and whose press conference missteps became a distraction, and resetting the vibes in the locker room may have been worth the cap penalty. They also traded safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Jets for a seventh-round pick—and though the 29-year-old may be past his prime, he’s still a very useful player who would fit in any defense. Sending him to a divisional rival in exchange for a ham sandwich and a conditional bag of chips is not a win-now move. But then Miami’s offseason took an interesting turn when the Dolphins gave quarterback Malik Willis a three-year, $67.5 million contract with $45 million in guarantees. Those are some round numbers for a passer who hasn’t played much in the NFL, and it’s not the kind of deal a team that’s actively trying to get worse would make.

Coming off the incoherence of Grier’s nine years at the helm, it’d be understandable if Dolphins fans were triggered by these seemingly mixed messages. During Grier’s tenure, Miami tried the tanking thing but ended up winning too many games to earn the top pick in the draft. (In Brian Flores’s discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, he claimed that when he was the Dolphins head coach in 2019, team owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him $100,000 per loss in order to incentivize him to lose games, but he refused.) Miami also tried the “all in” approach after hiring Mike McDaniel as head coach in 2021, trading for several big-name players over the next few seasons, including Hill, Chubb, and Fitzpatrick. Those bold moves resulted in two trips to the playoffs and zero postseason wins or division titles.

Those two extremes of roster construction are seemingly at odds, but there is a commonality between them: impatience. Tanking teams try to accelerate the process of getting bad enough to land a franchise-saving quarterback at the top of the draft. “All in” teams try to accelerate the process of going from good to great by trading away draft capital and giving up cap space for an injection of talent. The Dolphins failed at both, and now the new front office is taking a more patient approach. But before Sullivan can build up the team, he has to clean up the mess his predecessor left behind. These early moves aren’t signaling a tank or even a naive push for the playoffs; rather, they seem to be signs that Miami doesn’t want to repeat its recent mistakes.

Cutting Hill would have been an appropriate move even if the Dolphins were closer to competing for a playoff spot. He just turned 32, he’s coming off two down seasons and a major injury, and the move cleared $22.8 million in cap space. Hill didn’t seem too happy in Miami over the past two years and was entering the final year of his contract, so he was probably fine with the move, too. Chubb, meanwhile, had a $31.2 million cap hit for the upcoming season. And while he’s a solid player, he collected just 8.5 total sacks over the last two seasons and moving on from him frees up an additional $7.3 million in cap space. There’s no question the Dolphins would have been better off from a financial standpoint by keeping Tagovailoa on the roster for one more year instead of taking on a record $99 million dead cap hit and a loss of $42.9 million in 2026 cap space, but releasing him shouldn’t hurt their on-field product. Tagovailoa was dreadful throughout the 2025 season and was eventually benched for rookie Quinn Ewers—a seventh-round pick who went on to outplay the veteran QB. Beyond the cap implications, these moves give the locker room a fresh start while not really moving the needle on how competitive this team will be next season compared to last.

The Willis signing is the big question mark in all of this, but that might not affect things much either. Willis was very productive in limited action as a backup for the Packers, but he played just 302 snaps in Green Bay and was sheltered by conservative, run-heavy game plans from coach Matt LaFleur. And during his first two NFL seasons in Tennessee, he took just 92 dropbacks and wasn’t good enough to beat out Will Levis in training camp entering his third season. There’s a wide range of potential outcomes for Willis in Miami, where under new offensive coordinator/play caller Bobby Slowik, the Dolphins will be installing a new version of Kyle Shanahan’s offense. There should be plenty of overlap with the offense Willis ran under LaFleur, who coached under Shanahan in previous stops. If Willis picks up where he left off in Green Bay—where he averaged 9.2 yards per dropback—this deal will be viewed as a steal in a year or two. But if he’s bad, the Dolphins can move on quickly and inexpensively.

Willis got what is essentially a two-year, $45 million deal with a team option for a third year. That’s not a massive investment given that the salary cap is up over $300 million now. Willis’s deal will account for about 7.5 percent of that, which isn’t much more than the deal Indianapolis gave Daniel Jones (5 percent) last offseason before his redemption tour. Justin Fields is the only veteran starter from last season who’s making less money per year than Willis’s $22.5 million average. And when accounting for cap inflation, Fields’s $20 million annual salary is on par with what Willis got—and actually carries more long-term liability since the Jets included two void years on his deal. Fields will be on New York’s books through the 2029 season no matter what they do with his contract this offseason. If Miami moves on from Willis after 2027, he’ll be off the books completely.

So the Willis deal won’t prohibit the Dolphins from searching for a long-term option at quarterback. And Sullivan doesn’t strike me as a general manager who is going to be content after making the 26-year-old his first big signing.

“The quarterback position again is the most important position in sports in my opinion, certainly the most important position in football,” Sullivan said when he was introduced in January. “We’re going to invest in that position every year if we can. Now depending on where we are as a football team, it’ll be at different values, but we will draft quarterbacks every year, if not every other year because I think you have to.”

The Dolphins may have guaranteed Willis $45 million over the next two years, but his position as Miami’s QB1 could be tenuous if Sullivan sticks with that strategy. That’s the antithesis of the thinking that convinced the last front office to double down on Tagovailoa and give him the four-year, $212 million contract that put the Dolphins in their current predicament. Miami was paying a steep premium for mediocre quarterback play. At least if they get mediocre play from Willis, they will have paid an appropriate price.

Steven Ruiz

Steven Ruiz has been an NFL analyst and QB ranker at The Ringer since 2021. He’s a D.C. native who roots for all the local teams except for the Commanders. As a child, he knew enough ball to not pick the team owned by Dan Snyder—but not enough to avoid choosing the Panthers.

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