For Russell, this cannot be an easy moment in his career. A Mercedes protege himself, he has waited eight years for this moment – the best car, with Mercedes.
Last year, he was comfortably the better driver of the two; only rarely did Antonelli get the better of him. So he earned his status as pre-season championship favourite.
The Briton, 28, lived up to that when he won the first race of the season in Australia from pole position, but since then things have gone against him.
A technical problem almost certainly robbed him of pole in China and handed it to Antonelli, who converted it into a maiden win. A safety car intervened to hand the victory in Japan to Antonelli, when without it most likely either McLaren’s Oscar Piastri or Russell would have won.
But there was no doubt about the Miami win. Antonelli put it on pole. Russell was fifth on the grid, behind upgraded cars from the Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari teams.
Antonelli made a sixth bad start in a row and lost ground. But he stayed calm, fought back, and grabbed the win from McLaren’s Lando Norris over the pit stop period.
Norris initially thought that was all about McLaren making a mistake by letting Mercedes pit first, not wanting to go too early with rain threatening.
But McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team still had the margin to stay ahead of Antonelli when they did stop three laps after him, but that a series of events conspired against them.
First, there was the time gained by what Stella called a “huge” first lap out of the pits by Antonelli after his stop. That risked overheating his tyres, which he would have to deal with later, but ensured he was still within striking range of the McLaren.
Then Norris made a couple of errors on his in-lap and had a slow stop. Combine all that, and it was enough to put Antonelli right on Norris’ tail when the McLaren came out of the pits. The Mercedes quickly swept past, and Antonelli held Norris off for the rest of the race.
Russell is keeping things in perspective, recognising there are still 18 races to go, and a lot can happen.
“Clearly he’s in a very good place at the moment and momentum is with him,” Russell said. “But, having got enough experience myself in championships I’ve won and how momentum swings throughout the year, and looking at the championship last year, to be honest, I’m not even considering it.
“It’s just that I want to get back on to the top step of the podium. The first three races, I had the performance to do that, but this weekend I absolutely did not have the performance to do that.
“So, I could be standing here now with three very different results in previous races, with this one being a bit of a one-off, but obviously things worked out differently in Japan and China, but that’s Formula 1 sometimes.”
Russell admitted that the “pace was really, really poor on my side”, and that he has never gelled with the Miami circuit and its low-grip surface and slow corners.
But Hill said: “You can’t have that, you can’t have a track that you don’t gel with. You’ve got to be good across everything. George now has to regroup, has to look at where he is at and what the new paradigm is.”
Captain Paige Cronin delivered a pinpoint cross onto Cloé Lacasse’s head for the game’s only goal in the 32nd minute, giving Utah (4-2-1) a win over Angel City at BMO Stadium. It was the Royals’ fourth straight victory.
In first half stoppage time, Maiara Niehues received a direct red card for violent conduct towards Lacasse. It was the first red card in club history for Angel City FC, who played down a player the entirety of the second half.
Royals goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn started her first match of the 2026 season and earned the clean sheet with four saves.
After starting the season with three consecutive wins, Angel City FC (3-3-0) have now lost three straight.
SAN DIEGO — Ryan Hollingshead scored his first goal this season in the 14th minute of stoppage time and Denis Bouanga added a goal for LAFC on Saturday night in a 2-2 tie with San Diego FC.
Mathieu Choiniere’s soft header off a corner kick played to the back post by David Martinez bounced in front of the goal and Hollingshead slammed home the finish to cap the scoring.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored two goals — his first career multi-goal game in MLS — for San Diego.
Anders Dreyer played a corner kick to the near post and Ingvartsen headed home the finish to open the scoring in the seventh minute.
On the counter-attack, Dreyer played a cross from the right side to Ingvartsen, who knocked down the ball with his first touch and then blasted a shot from the center of the area inside the left post and into the side-net to make it 2-0 in the 71st minute.
Ingvartsen has seven goals and two assists this season. The 30-year-old had two goals and one assist in eight appearances, five starts, in 2025, his first season in MLS.
Denis Bouanga scored in the 82nd minute, LAFC’s first shot on goal. Bouanga, who has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last three seasons, has five goals this season.
LAFC (6-2-3) beat Minnesota 1-0 last time out to snap a three-game winless streak.
San Diego (3-5-3) snapped a five-game losing streak.
CJ Dos Santos made his season debut and had three saves for San Diego but left due to injury in stoppage time and was replaced by Duran Ferree. The 24-year-old Dos Santos, who had 10 shutouts last season, suffered a fractured cheekbone and orbital floor fracture in a playoff loss at Portland on Nov. 1.
For Blake Bowen and his JSerra High baseball teammates, their final week of the high school baseball season could not have gone any better.
The 6-foot-4 senior hit three home runs during a three-game sweep of Santa Margarita. But the Lions finished their season on Friday with an 11-17 record, which means there will be no postseason.
“Too little, too late,” coach Brett Kay said.
Bowen came on strong, finishing with nine home runs and a .360 batting average. His ability to hit the ball hard and far should make him a high draft pick this summer.
“It’s the best power I’ve ever seen for a high school player,” Kay said.
Bowen is a former football player who began focusing only on baseball after transferring to JSerra from Riverside King. He plays baseball like he did in football — with an aggressiveness.
“Once he comes into his own, he’s going to be special,” Kay said.
The Lions had a young team that was hurt by injuries. One of the impressive young players was freshman Joey Koenig, who showed he can hit and will get a chance to pitch in the future.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
And perhaps a quartet of consecutive promotions was asking too much for even a club touched by Hollywood.
It is four years since the last time the final game of the season wasn’t one of jubilant scenes.
Those in red immediately fell to the turf after referee Oliver Langford blew his whistle to bring the contest with Middlesbrough to an end.
Amid the disappointment, there would still have been plenty to smile about for supporters making their way out of Stok Cae Ras.
After all, this was still the north Wales club’s highest-ever league finish in their history.
Co-chairman Ryan Reynolds’s summary was apt.
“I am completely gutted by today’s result but incredibly proud of our season,” he wrote on social media.
“We’ve come a long way in five years and this was the best result in our 150+ year history. More to do. But for now, we have so much to be proud of. Reds.”
It’s officially May, which means summer vacation season is upon us. If you’re planning a trip to the beach, just make sure it’s got cell service (don’t say we didn’t warn you).
This week, Apple TV released the first two episodes of “Widow’s Bay,” a horror comedy that takes a closer look at those cozy seaside vacation towns and what might be beneath the surface. Katie Dippold, the creator of the series, which stars Matthew Rhys, Stephen Root and Kate O’Flynn (Jeff Hiller, one of my faves, also has a nice supporting role), stopped by Guest Spot to talk more about the genesis of the show and why it bends genres — more on that below.
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Also in this week’s Screen Gab, we recommend a documentary film (and an animated short) that looks at the musical legacy of the King of Pop, and a recent docuseries about the FLDS community. — Maira Garcia
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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
Quincy Jones, left, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in Netflix’s “The Greatest Night in Pop.”
(Netflix/Courtesy of Netflix)
‘The Greatest Night in Pop,’ ‘Sing: Thriller’ (Netflix)
I don’t know whether the release of “Michael,” the Michael Jackson biopic, had anything to do with “I Want You Back,” the greatest single of all time, playing in my dentist’s office today, but MJ is definitely in the air, posthumously pelleting us with his fantastic music and permanently controversial self. Somewhat in that spirit, I offer Bao Minh Nguyen‘s 2024 documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop,” about the recording of the 1985 super-duper star charity single “We Are the World,” co-written by Jackson and Lionel Richie and featuring the oddest assortment of singers ever to be gathered into a single studio — a congregation including Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Steve Perry, Huey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Dionne Warwick, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen and Harry Belafonte, among others. (Richie, Springsteen, Lauper, Lewis and Sheila E. sit for new interviews.) Jackson fans will get a glimpse of him at work like a normal musician, albeit one dressed as the General of Neverland. Dylan watchers will see a fish far out of water. Local historians will enjoy footage of L.A. in the ‘80s. On another, quite delightful note, “Sing: Thriller,” also from 2024, is a 10-minute cartoon take on Jackson’s video of the same name, starring the cast of the “Sing” movies, zombified and, naturally, dancing. — Robert Lloyd
Christine Marie in Netflix’s “Trust Me: The False Prophet.”
(Netflix)
‘Trust Me: The False Prophet’ (Netflix)
Mormonism has been under the spotlight lately, with reality series and documentaries taking a closer look at the religious group. But one particular sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has long come under scrutiny for its practices and allegations of cult-like behavior, child marriage and child sexual abuse. This four-part series from director Rachel Dretzin is a continuation of her work documenting the FLDS community (she previously directed 2022’s “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” also for Netflix). It follows cult expert Christine Marie and her husband Tolga Katas, who moved to Short Creek, Utah, where the community previously led by Warren Jeffs, the former FLDS leader and convicted felon, is based. Marie befriends the women in the community, gaining their trust, only to find out that another man, Samuel Bateman, is claiming to be a prophet. What she uncovers is a web of abuse and crimes. The series is riveting and disturbing, culminating with Bateman’s arrest and eventual conviction. — M.G.
Guest Spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
Matthew Rhys and Stephen Root in Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming.
(Apple)
Have you ever taken a vacation to a nice place but then see or experience something that just feels off? Apple TV’s new series, “Widow’s Bay,” tries to capture some of that feeling, where a seemingly quaint town hides dark secrets.
Matthew Rhys plays Tom Loftis, the mayor of Widow’s Bay, an island 40 miles off the New England coast. He’s attempting to save the region from economic slump — there’s no WiFi, cell phone service is spotty, the streets need repaving — by trying to make it a tourist destination. He manages to get a New York Times travel writer to visit, who writes a story that seems to turn the town’s fortunes. But much to Tom’s chagrin, the locals — particularly Wyck, played by Stephen Root — say the island is cursed and it has been awakened to unleash a “haunt.”
Creator and showrunner Katie Dippold’s fascination with such places began at an early age, growing up in New Jersey, where her family would take trips to the shore. She began writing the series more than 10 years ago, and it’s evolved over the years. “Believe it or not, this was originally a ‘Parks and Recreation’ sample for me when I got that writing job,” says Dippold, whose writing credits also include “The Heat” and “Ghostbusters.” “But it was very different, it was more comedic.”
While the show incorporates some comedic elements, it very much has moments of horror and dread that might make you gasp when something unexpected happens. Some of that feeling is thanks to director Hiro Murai (“Atlanta,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), who directed the first three episodes and the final two. “Sometimes it’s like a ‘blink and you miss it’ kind of moment, which I love for this show,” Dippold says, even if it meant losing some of the humor they’d written in the scripts.
The creator spoke over a video call to dissect the characters and series, and explained whether or not we would see Willy the clown from Episode 2 again. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. — M.G.
You’ve worked on a number of comedic projects, and this show has comedy elements. But horror is definitely a part of this show. Have you always been into horror, and why mash up these genres?
I’m a comedy writer, first and foremost, but I’m also the biggest horror fan. I like watching horror more than I like watching comedy. I just wanted to try to create a world where you could play with both of those things. But I should say that I actually don’t like most horror comedies. The ones that do it well are some of my favorite movies, like “American Werewolf in London,” “Cabin in the Woods” or “Shaun of the Dead,” and even the three of those are very, very different.
Especially in a TV show, I didn’t want it to feel like constant horror and dread. I like having those moments with a surprise laugh … or just something completely absurd. But, to that point, it was also a constant tonal tightrope walk from beginning to end because … I never wanted to undercut the tension. As a horror fan, I wanted to take it very seriously, and so that was a challenge from the scripts to production to casting to the edit to the score, just every step of the way.
The show is set in a small island town that’s trying to become the new “it” destination — comparable places like Bar Harbor, Maine, and Cape Cod are mentioned — except the townsfolk say it’s cursed. What about these communities intrigues you and why set the story in that location?
I grew up in New Jersey, and I always loved going to the Jersey Shore, and I always talk about this haunted house on the boardwalk that I used to always go to, and I just love that seaside haunted house vibe. I think I always romanticized it … that atmosphere is my dream. A couple years ago, I went to a diner in Marblehead, Mass., and it’s called the Driftwood, and it was just so perfect … in the sense that it was so cozy and lived in. You could see the ocean outside. It was a gray, cloudy day and there was a cemetery that was not that far away. There’s something about it that I found so special, and I never wanted to leave that place. And so I just wanted to get that feeling and get it on the screen.
Unique places have unique people like Wyck, who is trying to warn Tom about the fog that’s rolled in. Wyck is an oddball — every town seems to have one. Was that rooted in anyone or anything?
I was just trying to think of who would be the best thorn in Loftis’ side, and Stephen Root is so great at everything he does, and he’s so funny, but then so heartbreaking the next. When I was young, my dad had his drinking buddies, and Wyck doesn’t seem that far off from that kind of person, so I kind of relate to that. He represents the voice of the people of the islands, the real islanders, the real locals that take it all very seriously, and so he’s just the constant menace to Loftis.
And poor Tom is so practical. He’s worried about keeping the town afloat and literally keeping the lights on. But he also kind of believes the stories. How does this character and his contrasts help illustrate the story?
I think Loftis, in the beginning of the story, is at a place of determination and optimism. He cannot accept that this is his life and he cannot accept that this is the life of his teenage son [Evan, played by Kingston Rumi Southwick]. So he’s really trying to bring what he can to the island through tourism and what that would do for the town. But there’s some stuff that he needs to reckon with — he will throughout the season. I think I can be very optimistic, and so when you learn the hard truths of life, I always take that very hard myself.
Is this related to his wife being dead?
I think that’s a huge part of it. There’s a lot of what happened with his wife that he hasn’t fully reconciled. There’s stuff he needs to come to terms with … if he keeps repressing it, it’s just going to destroy him.
You set some ground rules or parameters of the world we’re in: First the quake, the fog and so forth. How did you come up with it?
In the writer’s room, we spent so much time thinking of the history of this town and different eras of leadership. …Because the more that we fleshed out this world since 1681, the funnier it was to us when something would pop out that’s ridiculous, you know what I mean? Like, then the ludicrous is more fun, if everything else feels real. It’s so important that you buy everything that’s happening, because it’s very easy to go off the rails. Once you start not buying it, it’s very hard to get back to ever feeling the tension.
The other thing I would say about the mythology, the rules … Loftis could dismiss it. Like the examples the [New York Times] reporter gives at the restaurant [of islanders going to the mainland and dying], those are weird. It’s weird that those things happen to people, but it’s also not like they all went on a boat and blew up. It’s just weird enough that I know I would take it seriously but still murky enough to give a little bit of room for Loftis to dismiss it and not be a complete lunatic.
They’re plausible enough to have happened.
But deep down, I think it scares him very much and that’s why he’s putting in all the effort.
In Episode 2, we see Willy, a creepy, fast-moving clown. Will we see him again?
Oh, possibly. Because I think for some things on the island, if you’ve heard about it before, it’s existed before and it’s come back, so it’s probably not completely gone.
Hiro Murai directed the first three episodes and he has a couple more at the end of the season. I feel like we see his stamp on the show. Was he someone you wanted to work with?How did he help bring your vision to life?
He was my dream director for it because I love “Atlanta” so much. I think Hiro is so fantastic at creating a very grounded world, a grounded scene and then still surprising the hell out of you with some absurd moment.
“Atlanta” was very inspiring to me. I had written this long before, and I was rewriting throughout the 10 years or so. But TV changed in the process, from the time I wrote the pilot to now, and that was very helpful. I think he’s so good with specifics and little nuances, and we have a very similar sense of humor. … I just knew this show would never be corny if [Hiro] was directing it.
Last thing, what are you watching right now that you’d recommend to others?
I’m rewatching “Game of Thrones” [HBO Max]. Me and my boyfriend … make breakfast every Saturday morning and rewatch an episode from the series. And it’s such a fun rewatch because the first time, I had not read the books. It’s so fascinating to rewatch again, now that you understand what the hell is happening.
I’m also watching “Hacks’” [HBO Max] final season, which I always love. In terms of movies … we were in production and then I was in post, so I didn’t get to see a ton of new stuff, but I loved “Weapons” [HBO Max]. I know it’s now a year old … but that’s my honest answer.
