This weekend's Miami Grand Prix is a golden opportunity for Sergio Perez to emerge as a serious challenger for the Formula 1 world title against his teammate at Red Bull, Max Verstappen.
What's more, the Mexican rider has just confirmed his status as king of the road circuit following his victory in the sprint race and Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan for the second time in his career last weekend.
Five of Perez's six wins have been won by the racer on road circuits such as Monaco (2022), Singapore (2022), and Jeddah (2023) and Baku (2021, 2023).
A first podium in the first five races of the season would lift Perez to first place in the standings over Verstappen and pose a serious threat to the two-time world champion from the Netherlands.
Verstappen has never finished lower than second this season and arrives in Florida with a six-point lead over his teammate.
For the record after four races last season, Verstappen had a five-point lead over Perez before winning in Miami with the fastest lap and finishing last season with a 149-point margin with 15 wins to Perez's two.
Perez has also never won more than twice in a season. Following his success in Baku, the 33-year-old is keen to keep the momentum going, but Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has given the green light for his two drivers to compete against each other.
"I'm really in contention for the title, not only because of Baku, I believe I can (perform) very well anywhere this season," Perez was quoted as saying on the team's official website.
So far, consistency has not been Perez's greatest strength. However, if he wins in Miami, it will give the driver enormous confidence.
What's more, Red Bull has had a very dominant car this season which has led them to win all four Grands Prix that have taken place, three of them by finishing 1-2.
At the circuit surrounding the Hard Rock Stadium last year, Perez finished P4 after Verstappen won the first podium ahead of the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Miami, which debuted on the F1 calendar last year, will present a hot, high-humidity race.
The circuit is one of three F1 racetracks in the United States, with Las Vegas set to debut in November this year.
Red Bull holds the constructors' standings with 180 points, far behind Aston Martin who is 93 points adrift in second place.
The 2023 season has a long way to go, leaving 19 races and five sprint races.
However, Mercedes and Ferrari will have to find their form if they are to catch Aston Martin and close their gap on Red Bull.
"We are in the middle of the busiest part of the season with five races in six weeks from Baku to Barcelona," said Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur.
"Our work continues at the track and at Maranello to develop our car package.
"Miami is yet another unusual track with all the privileges of a road circuit, which both of our drivers enjoy, so we are confident we can make progress with the SF-23." said Vasseur.
Mazepin battled against British sanctions to revive his career
Former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin from Russia is battling sanctions imposed by the British government following the invasion of Russia to restore his racing career.
In March last year Mazepin parted ways with the Haas F1 team, which also terminated its contract with title sponsor Uralkali, a chemical fertilizer company owned by Mazepin's father, Belarusian-born oligarch Dmitry Mazepin.
The two men were later sanctioned by the European Union, which labeled Dmitry a "member of Vladimir Putin's inner circle". Then the UK and Canada followed suit.
Young Mazepin, 24, is now seeking to have the British ban lifted so he can negotiate with F1 teams a return to racing in 2024, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Great Britain freezing assets and imposing a travel ban on Mazepin. Mazepin's lawyer Rachel Scott at London's high court on Wednesday said the sanctions prevented his client from negotiating with racing teams.
Scott said Mazepin wanted the appeal to be heard as a matter of urgency because of the need for him to build rapport with team staff before the 2024 racing season if he was to be offered a contract.
Mazepin is also fighting sanctions from the European Union and Canada in his bid to return to F1.
In a witness statement, he said that "even if, or temporarily, Canadian sanctions remain, there is at least the prospect of me entering the negotiation stage for a return to Formula 1 if those sanctions are lifted from both the EU and the UK."
However, lawyers representing the British Foreign Office stated that Mazepin could still negotiate with the F1 teams even though the sanctions were still in place.
A follow-up hearing will be held in June to decide whether the sanctions can be temporarily lifted pending Mazepin's full objection, which will be heard in July.
Azim Rafiq's trial: Racism charges against six cricketers in UK proved
Former Yorkshire captain and head coach Andrew Gayle coined the term 'Rafa da Kafir' for Azim Rafiq and 'Paki' for Yorkshire Academy player Mohsin Hussain.
Six former Yorkshire cricketers will be banned in the UK for using racist language. The case stemmed primarily from allegations made by former Yorkshire player Azim Rafiq and the club's response to those claims.
An independent panel of the Cricket Disciplinary Commission (CDC) issued its verdict on March 31 in the case in which five players, John Blaine, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gayle, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Parra, their former Yorkshire team-mate Azim Rafiq' and found guilty of using the derogatory term 'Paki' to refer to other people of Asian descent.
Sixth player Gary Ballance has already pleaded guilty to using racist and discriminatory language and is expected to be sentenced at the same hearing on Wednesday.
The panel will consider any written submissions or oral representations from the six before deciding on sanctions, but is understood to have received only written submissions from Gary Ballance as of Tuesday afternoon.
The other five players withdrew from the proceedings and did not appear at the hearing in early March, so the charges against them were heard in their absence.
The panel's powers include suspension, imposition of fines or orders to complete a training course.
The CDC panel cleared former England captain Michael Vaughan of using racist and discriminatory language.
Yorkshire admitted four charges in the case, which mainly related to allegations made by Azim Rafiq and the club's response to those claims.
A separate hearing will be held on June 27 regarding the sanctions imposed on the club.
According to the panel, former England international Matthew Hoggard used the term nazbia (purity) for Azim Rafiq and other Asian players and 'wafa da kafir' for Rafiq during the 2008 season.
The panel also found that he had used the term 'token blackman' or 'TBM' for former Yorkshire team-mate Ismail Dawood and rejected Hoggard's claim that Dawood had used the term for himself. The nickname was self-suggested.
Former Yorkshire captain and head coach Andrew Gayle also used the term 'Rafa da Kafir' for Azim Rafiq and 'Paki' for Rafiq and Yorkshire Academy player Mohsin Hussain.
John Blaine used the term 'paki' in Yorkshire in 2010 and 2011, while Bresnan and Richard used the term 'fit paki' or 'FP' to refer to Asian women.
Paris Saint-Germain fans attack Messi in front of the club's headquarters and demand his expulsion
Paris Saint-Germain fans launched a scathing attack against Argentine Lionel Messi, the team's striker, and demanded that he be expelled from the first football team, after he traveled to Saudi Arabia without permission.
And French and international websites published a video of the angry Saint-Germain fans outside the club’s training headquarters, and demanded that Messi be expelled from the club, after his absence from today’s training.
The crowd chanted slogans against Messi, saying: "We are tired of mercenaries, we have to expel Messi."
The fans also attacked the team's Brazilian striker, Neymar, and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti, and demanded that they be expelled as well.
Yesterday, Tuesday, French media confirmed that Paris Saint-Germain decided to suspend Messi for two weeks because he traveled to Saudi Arabia without obtaining permission from the French club.
Messi traveled to Saudi Arabia last Monday, the day after Saint-Germain's sudden defeat in his home against Lorient 1-3 in the French League competitions.
Because of this punishment, Messi will miss Saint-Germain's matches against Troyes and Ajaccio in the next two rounds of the French League.
Messi's contract with the Parisian club expires at the end of the current season in June 2023, and it is said that he refused to renew his contract with the French team, and he is in the process of returning again to the ranks of his former team, Barcelona.
Real Madrid is close to settling a big deal for 100 million euros
Real Madrid is close to signing England midfielder Judd Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund, according to Spanish media.
The 19-year-old is considered one of the most promising faces in the world of football today, which made Real Madrid ready to sign him for 100 million euros, but Dortmund is demanding more, according to reports.
Bellingham starred with the England national team during the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year, which increased the interest of major clubs in him, including his compatriot Manchester City.
The midfielder joined Dortmund when he was seventeen years old, coming from the English second-level team, Birmingham, for 29 million euros, on his way to becoming one of the indispensable pillars of the German team.
Bellingham scored 21 goals in 130 matches in Dortmund colors since joining him in 2020.
And the Spanish newspaper "Marca" reported that no deal will be announced between Real Madrid and Dortmund until the end of the German League, especially since Dortmund is only a point behind rivals Bayern Munich, the champions of the past ten seasons.
Real Madrid is looking for an alternative in the middle of the field in order to succeed Croatian veterans Luka Modric (37 years) and German Toni Kroos (33).
The royal club included the young French duo, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Choameni, during the last two summer transfer periods, while he abandoned the Brazilian Casemiro in favor of Manchester United.
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