Is The Risk That Mercedes Took With Antonelli Paying Off?

Oscar Piastri claimed triumph successful Miami to make it 3 wins successful a row, beating team-mate Lando Norris successful a McLaren one-two.

Piastri now leads nan drivers' title by 16 points from Norris.

Meanwhile, Ferrari were embroiled successful a contention complete squad orders aft Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc some asked to switch positions.

BBC Sport F1 analogous Andrew Benson answers your latest questions aft nan Miami Grand Prix.

What connected world is incorrect astatine Ferrari? - Jonathan

After nan Miami Grand Prix, nan questions successful Ferrari squad main Frederic Vasseur's news convention focused mostly connected nan squad orders statement betwixt nan squad and drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc during nan race.

Vasseur became a small disappointment pinch this, and successful nan extremity said: "It's not nan communicative of nan day," pointing retired that nan only quality it made successful nan extremity was which driver vanished seventh and eighth.

"I would beryllium overmuch much keen to speak astir why we vanished 1 infinitesimal down McLaren," he said.

Vasseur claimed that successful nan race, nan car's gait was a lucifer for nan Red Bull of Max Verstappen and nan Mercedes, but Ferrari paid nan value for their mediocre grid positions. McLaren, he admitted, were "on different planet".

Charles Leclerc qualified eighth and Lewis Hamilton 12th, Ferrari's worst qualifying consequence of nan season, and that was mostly because they were struggling to get nan champion retired of caller tyres.

That's why Hamilton and Leclerc ran connected utilized tyres successful nan 2nd group of qualifying. As Vasseur put it: "Everybody improved 0.5-0.6secs betwixt scrubbed to caller and we mislaid 0.2-0.3secs."

Asked why Ferrari struggled pinch tyres successful Miami, he said: "That's a bully question. If I knew nan answer, I would do a measurement guardant and we would person fixed it betwixt Q2 and Q3.

"You ever person to run nan tyres successful a very constrictive window. It's different from way to track, it's different from compound to compound, from way temp to way temp. And it's ever aft nan convention that you say, 'OK, I could person done differently.'"

But that was conscionable Miami. The wider rumor is that nan car is not wherever Ferrari expected it to beryllium astatine nan commencement of this season, aft moving McLaren truthful adjacent for nan constructors' title past year.

Other teams - particularly McLaren - made much advancement complete nan winter, and Ferrari simply request to make nan car faster.

On average, it is nan slowest of nan apical 4 teams, and Ferrari person scored only 1 expansive prix podium, acknowledgment to Leclerc successful Saudi Arabia.

Hamilton won nan sprint successful China, but that seems to beryllium a lawsuit of him and nan squad uncovering a bully set-up aft conscionable 1 believe session, while others did not, and past benefiting from cleanable aerial astatine nan commencement of nan race.

As Leclerc put it: "Lewis did an outstanding job. Maybe immoderate drivers didn't put everything together successful (sprint) qualifying and he managed to do that and managed to outperform nan car a bit.

"Then tyre degradation being a large thing, erstwhile you commencement successful front, everything comes to you a spot more. Lewis made a quality connected Friday and Saturday."

There are what Vasseur calls "some mini upgrades" coming astatine nan adjacent 2 races successful Imola and Monaco. And Vasseur hopes that nan stricter rules connected beforehand helping deflection that are being introduced astatine nan consequent title successful Spain will make a difference.

"Everybody will person a caller beforehand helping successful Barcelona," he said. "By meaning and by regulation. I deliberation it will beryllium possibly a reset of nan capacity of everybody."

The accusation is that McLaren are benefiting from exploiting this phenomenon. McLaren themselves opportunity they expect it to make small quality to them.

Ferrari progressed good pinch upgrades successful some 2023 and 2024 aft difficult starts. Vasseur remains assured they tin do nan aforesaid this year.

Hamilton said connected Sunday: "I consciousness optimistic for nan future. I deliberation this car really does person performance. Something's holding america backmost astatine nan moment. We've mislaid capacity since China. And it's there, it's conscionable we can't usage it. Until we get a hole for that, past this is wherever we are."

Is nan consequence that Mercedes took bringing Kimi Antonelli into nan squad now alternatively than later paying off? – Callum

Kimi Antonelli had had a dependable commencement to his debut Formula 1 season, arsenic he said was his scheme from nan commencement - he wanted to build steadily and not make large errors.

In Miami, nan 18-year-old for nan first clip showed a glimpse of nan precocious imaginable Mercedes believed him to have, and which persuaded them to propulsion him successful astatine nan heavy extremity this year.

He was assured successful nan car from nan start, and he was ever nan faster Mercedes driver complete 1 lap.

Pole for nan sprint race was an outstanding performance, and he repeated it pinch 3rd connected nan grid for nan expansive prix. Neither title went arsenic well, but squad main Toto Wolff believes that was grounds of Antonelli's continued request to study successful nan analyzable world of F1.

Wolff described nan qualifying performances arsenic "another impervious of his talent and a bully denotation of really nan early tin be".

He added: "In nan race, challenging, because it's truthful difficult present to find nan correct reference. The mean (tyre) stint, speedy enough, you know, pinch George (Russell) holding connected successful nan backmost connected nan difficult tyre.

"And past erstwhile he went into nan hard, he conscionable lacked acquisition managing it nan correct way.

"(We're) uncovering nan correct references and trying to guideline him, but erstwhile you're successful that car, it's not easy. It's conscionable portion of nan learning curve."

Wolff ever said that it would return clip for Antonelli to accommodate to F1, and that's nan measurement it is moving out.

Antonelli has a agelong measurement to spell earlier he proves he is nan generational talent Mercedes - and others who person worked pinch him successful nan inferior categories - judge him to be, but Miami was a bully measurement successful nan correct direction.

How tin Fernando Alonso move his play around, having not scored a azygous constituent up until now? – Andrew

It's adjacent to opportunity that Fernando Alonso is not having his champion season, and it's highly different to spot that he has scored nary points while team-mate Lance Stroll has scored 14 points and is 10th successful nan championship.

The bottommost statement is that nan Aston Martin is simply a mediocre car. Alonso has made a mates of mistakes, but fundamentally he has been unlucky and Stroll has benefited from circumstances.

Alonso is still comfortably faster than nan Canadian - nan two-time champion is 7-1 up crossed each qualifying sessions astatine an mean advantage of 0.321 seconds.

He was driving good successful Australia successful nan bedewed successful an awesome sixth place, but collapsed connected gravel astatine Turn Six. The chaos successful nan title helped Stroll, driving well, to move up and declare that sixth place.

Stroll past benefited from nan disqualification of some Ferraris successful China, and was promoted to ninth place. There, Alonso retired early connected pinch his brakes connected fire.

Stroll benefited again from nan chaos successful nan Miami sprint, wherever Alonso was driving good and connected people for points erstwhile he was taken retired successful a clang pinch Liam Lawson.

His rotation successful nan expansive prix, while uncharacteristic, "didn't alteration anything," he said.

"I mislaid 5 seconds and past 10 laps later I drawback nan aforesaid group of cars and was still successful nan aforesaid spot and past benefited from nan virtual information car.

"Even pinch that, not capable (pace) to beryllium person to nan cars successful beforehand today. We request to get amended for Imola. We are not happy being astatine this gait but we are each trying nan champion we can."

Aston Martin squad leader Andy Cowell praised Alonso's qualifying capacity successful Japan arsenic "outstanding" and successful Jeddah arsenic "impressive". But pinch nary retirements, Alonso vanished conscionable retired of nan points successful some races.

The reality is that nan car is eighth fastest successful qualifying connected mean and successful Miami was nan slowest of all. So scoring points is ever going to beryllium difficult.

Cowell said successful Miami that Aston Martin were "not a happy campy and we're trying to activity retired (what has gone wrong)".

Alonso was disappointment Aston Martin had rejected his calls for an earlier alteration to slicks successful nan sprint connected Saturday successful Miami, and said connected Sunday: "I americium trying to do my champion down nan wheel.

"I nailed Japan, P11. Jeddah was astir perfect. As I said (before), we person 3 aliases 4 opportunities erstwhile chaos happens and you person nan opportunity to people points.

"There were 3 already this year. Australia, and I had nan correction and went connected nan gravel and went off. China, pinch 3 aliases 4 cars disqualified, and I had brakes connected occurrence connected thigh one.

"And yesterday nan way was for barren tyres and we kept pinch nan inters for excessively long.

"We missed 3 opportunities to people points successful my lawsuit and it is going to beryllium 1 aliases 2 much successful nan season. I conjecture let's dream for immoderate more."