Rubio to visit Rome, meet Pope Leo after Trump row

Max Verstappen said Red Bull had improved a lot but still lack the pace and performance to challenge for wins, after finishing fifth in Sunday's Miami Grand Prix. 

The four-time world champion enjoyed driving a heavily upgraded car as he sought success for the first time this year, but was set back by a spin on the opening lap. 

"I lost the rear and tried to minimize the time loss," he said of his chaotic first lap, which led to him making an early pit stop. 

"Early on, the hard tire didn't work for us and it was tough," he added. "We dropped quite heavily down the pack. 

"Maybe I could've been in the place Oscar finished (third) if we did enough, but it's always easy to say that afterwards."

"Unfortunately, we are still lacking a bit, but we'll be better. I don't know how much more pace there is."

The Dutch racer, 28, said that despite the car's improvements, he did not think he could have realistically fought for the win in Miami.

"It was tough," he said. "We've improved a lot this weekend, but still lack a bit and for sure there's more pace to unlock."

Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar started from the back of the grid after being disqualified from qualifying and then crashed out of the race on lap six.

He hit the barriers in the chicane and the crash triggered a Safety Car interval that helped Verstappen by giving him a cheap pit stop. 

"It was a tough one and for me, obviously, breaking the car is pissing me off a lot," said Hadjar. "It was easy points today considering the car I had so I feel I just threw it all away.

"I can't really remember what happened because it went so very quickly. It felt like it was a big hit and I didn't see it coming. The car was broken and I couldn't stop it. 

"It just shows how much you need to be focused and I wasn't."

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Charles Leclerc admitted he threw away a podium finish for Ferrari with a wild penultimate lap as he dropped from third to finish sixth in Sunday's Miami Grand Prix.

On a day of mixed emotions for Italian motorsport -- with teenage prodigy Kimi Antonelli winning a third consecutive race from pole as the country mourned the death of racing legend Alessandro Zanardi -- Ferrari failed to live up to their hopes. 

The team arrived in Florida with an extensive upgrades package that buoyed their ambitions. But after a strong showing in Friday practice they struggled to keep pace with rivals including Antonelli's Mercedes team and McLaren. 

"I was third and I pushed very hard in the second-to-last lap. I thought it was a good idea to kind of let Oscar (Piastri) go for me to get the overtake (of him)," said Leclerc.

"I knew it was going to be very difficult to stay in front of him otherwise, and it was a very poor decision. 

"In the space of four corners, I put a very strong race in the bin -- so I am very frustrated about that."

Leclerc survived a big spin and smacked the barriers in his efforts as he dropped places and battled to the finish. 

He was reported to the stewards for leaving the track too many times and for driving his car in an unsafe condition on the final lap. 

"I don't know what will be the decision of the stewards," he said. "I did my best to try and make the corners first of all... But it was probably a lot more difficult for me than it looked to be from the outside."

His Ferrari teammate, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, was also disappointed as he came home seventh. 

"Obviously, not a good weekend -- P7 in both races," said Hamilton, referring to Saturday's sprint.

"Just stuck in no man's land."

After suffering damage from first-lap contact with Franco Colapinto's Alpine, after four-time champion Max Verstappen spun, "there was nothing I could do," said Hamilton.

"I lost a lot of performance from that."

Hamilton added: "Really unfortunate because the team worked so hard. We come away with a few points, but yeah, we move on."

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World number four Cameron Young cruised through Sunday's final round despite a penalty to win the Cadillac Championship by six strokes, taking his third career PGA Tour triumph.

The 28-year-old American called a penalty on himself in the second fairway when he saw the ball move then salvaged par on his way to firing a four-under par 68.

He finished 72 holes on 19-under 269 for the $3.6 million top prize at Trump National Doral.

Young became only the third wire-to-wire winner at Doral, the first since Andy Bean in 1977.

"When the golf course is difficult, when the playing conditions are difficult, that tends to make it easier for me mentally," Young said.

"That's a big part of keeping yourself in it out here... thankfully I was able to stay where my feet were and hit a bunch of good shots."

Young, who turns 29 on Thursday, won his first PGA title last August at Greensboro, captured the Players Championship in March and shared third last month at the Masters.

His six-stroke victory margin matched the largest ever in a PGA event at Doral, a feat last managed by Hubert Green in 1976.

"The self-belief just continues to build," Young said. "I put myself in plenty of good places over the course of the last four or five years and recently have started to come out on the better side of it so excited for the next few weeks."

More than an inch of rain fell overnight, delaying the final round of the $20 million signature event after softening the Blue Monster course.

US President Donald Trump watched Young sink his final putt from a suite at the 18th hole.

Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler birdied three of the last four holes to shoot 68 and finish second on 275, one stroke ahead of fellow American Ben Griffin.

It was the third consecutive runner-up finish for Scheffler after placing second at the Masters and Heritage tournaments last month. Not since 2014 had one player managed three PGA runner-up efforts in a row.

The result came in Scheffler's final tuneup before defending his PGA Championship title in two weeks at Aronimink.

Australian Adam Scott fired a 64 to share fourth on 277 with Austrian Sepp Straka, who shot 66, and South Korean Kim Si-woo, who closed with a 70.

- Handled it pretty well -

After calling the penalty on himself at the second Young hit his approach to 13 feet and sank the clutch par putt to regain momentum.

"Your heart sinks when you see (the ball) move, but it moved and that's part of what golf is about," Young said. "There's no one that was going to give me a penalty there but myself.

"I've had about four of those on the PGA Tour now, so I need to start setting the club down a little softer, but it's just one of those times. How was I going to look the other way and say it didn't move when it rolled over and went an inch forward?

"Just unfortunate but I handled it pretty well."

He followed with birdie putts from just inside 12 feet at the third and just beyond 12 feet at the fifth.

Young reached the green in two at the par-five eighth and sank a four-foot birdie putt, leading by seven at the turn.

After sandwiching a birdie at the par-five 12th between bogeys at 11 and 13, Young closed with a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three 15th and drove the green at the par-four 16th to set up a tap-in birdie.

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Inter Milan won their third Serie A title in six seasons on Sunday thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win over Parma at a jubilant San Siro.

Marcus Thuram's side-footed finish just before half-time set Inter on their way before Henrikh Mkhitaryan's second-half goal put the Scudetto beyond doubt.

With three matches left, Inter have a 12-point lead over reigning champions Napoli and 15 more points than third-placed AC Milan.

It was a 21st Italian title for Inter, who have successfully overcome the traumatic end to last season under the guidance of coach Cristian Chivu, who was almost a novice at this level when he took over last summer.

Less than a year after losing the 2025 title race by a point and collapsing to a 5-0 humiliation by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, Inter are back at the top.

Inter owe this success Chivu, the club's former player and a surprise appointment in June to replace Simone Inzaghi, who won six trophies and reached two Champions League finals in four seasons but left for the riches of Saudi Arabia.

With small steps, Chivu has breathed new life into the side.

Inter can still complete the third league and cup double in their history if they beat Lazio in the Coppa Italia final on May 13 at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

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Kimi Antonelli smiled, thanked his team and his family and pledged to "get back to work" as soon as he could after making a slice of Formula One history by winning Sunday's Miami Grand Prix. 

The Italian teenager -- already the youngest driver, at 19, to lead an F1 title race -- had just become the first to win his first three races from consecutive pole positions, an unprecedented feat that delighted Italy's legion of motor racing fans.

"This is just the beginning," he said, shrugging off the mounting excitement and expectation in his homeland.

"The road is still long. We are working super-hard and the team is doing an incredible job and without them, I wouldn't be here."

He added: "I'm going to enjoy this one and then get straight back to work because Canada is in two weeks' time."

Antonelli's win was aided by an undercut pit stop that enabled him to pass world champion Lando Norris midway through the race. Antonelli drove with determined aplomb to resist the McLaren driver in the closing stages.

He will travel to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix later this month with a 20-point lead over teammate George Russell, the pre-season favorite, and praised by his peers and rivals for his precocious talent. 

"I hope all of Italy doesn't go mad now," said team chief Toto Wolff.

"I know it is the World Cup and they will not be there so... We have to keep our feet on the ground and if the whole country is behind us it is important and going to be difficult to keep our feet on the ground."

Norris mischievously eavesdropped on Antonelli's post-race interviews and slapped his back in congratulations after.

"He's doing a great job and hats off to him. He's under pressure to beat his team-mate who has been here a long time," said Norris.

"He is proving everyone wrong, and he's a nice guy too -- and it is so annoying because I want to beat him."

With Norris expressing disappointment over his team's pit-stop strategy, Antonelli agreed that coming in at "just the right moment" had been "the key" to his win. 

"When I came out, I had no traffic and I pushed," he said.

"Now I am feeling stronger and stronger all the time and I have more control."

"I know I can be calmer and I got stressed today in the car with the downshifts and some issues, but overall it was a great race and I am so happy that I won."

His team-mate Russell, who finished fourth behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri, admitted it had been a difficult weekend for him. 

He also showered praise on his "fantastic" young teammate Antonelli.

"He has great talent and speed, but it is only four races down and there is a long way to go."

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RUSTON, La. -- Five-star TE Ahmad Hudson has committed to play football at LSU.

@Lane_Kiffin @jrbelton18 🐯🐯 pic.twitter.com/lAOI0r8SZb

— Ahmad Hudson (@AhmadHudson9) May 3, 2026

The No. 1 ranked tight end in the Class of 2027 had offers from several schools like Nebraska, Ole Miss and Ohio State.

The Ruston Bearcats star heads into his senior season listed at 6'6" and 245 pounds on On3/Rivals.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda cruised through Sunday's final round to win the Riviera Maya Open, capturing her 18th career LPGA triumph and second in as many weeks.

Korda matched the sensational 2001 start of Swedish legend Annika Sorenstam with her sixth top-two finish in as many events this season, taking her third victory of the year.

Coming off her third major title last week, the 27-year-old American fired a three-under par 69 to finish 72 holes on 17-under 271 for a four-stroke victory at El Camaleon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Korda shattered the old 72-hole event record of 12-under.

"I'm just enjoying myself and I love the competition," Korda said when asked if she was playing the best golf of her life. "I love traveling to places like Mexico, all over the world, and I'm just having fun.

"We always put in the same exact amount of work and you just never know. It's golf."

Thailand's Arpichaya Yubol fired a closing 70 to finish second on 275 with China's Liu Yu third on 276, American Brianna Do fourth on 278 and Colombian amateur Maria Jose Marin fifth on 280.

Korda made only two bogeys all week and one came on the final hole, when she lost her tee shot and found a bunker but scrambled to make a long bogey putt to complete the triumph.

"On the last hole I was humbled by golf," Korda said. "I had a pretty smooth day and on the last hole it just kind of humbles you a little bit."

It has still been an amazing start to the year for Korda, who captured last week's Chevron Championship and also won the season-opening LPGA Tournament of Champions.

She finished second at the LPGA Founders Cup and Ford Championship in March and last month's Aramco Championship.

"You put in the work and sometimes it works out," Korda said. "I'm just grateful I have an amazing team that no matter through the ups and downs we've all stayed the same. We all are super motivated and just happy to be out here."

Korda eagled the par-five fifth hole and followed with birdies at the sixth and par-five seventh to reach 18-under par, stretching her lead to six strokes.

At the par-five 18th, Korda suffered a lost ball off the tee, then found a bunker before closing with a bogey.

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Teenager Kimi Antonelli extended his lead in the drivers' world championship with an historic victory for Mercedes ahead of McLaren world champion Lando Norris in Sunday's dramatic Miami Grand Prix on Sunday. 

The 19-year-old Italian became the first F1 driver to claim his first three wins in a row from his first three pole positions, after triumphs in China and Japan had hoisted him to the top of the title race. 

Driving with determination and elan, Antonelli struggled for ascendancy in the first part of the race before enjoying an "undercut" pit stop to win his duel with Norris in the closing stages.

In the first race following a five-week hiatus due to the conflict in the Middle East, Antonelli came home first 3.264 seconds clear of Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who finished third 23.828 seconds adrift. 

Antonelli's Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who began the season as championship favorite and won the opening race in Melbourne, finished fourth ahead of Red Bull's fiery and rejuvenated four-time champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who spun on the penultimate lap. 

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton came home seventh in the second Ferrari ahead of Franco Colapinto of Alpine and the two Williams drivers, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Mercedes had dominated the opening three Grands Prix and arrived in Miami as the only top team without an upgrades package. But despite losing to Norris in Saturday's sprint race showed they remain on top. 

"What a race, man, woo!" exclaimed Antonelli on team radio after winning, "Oh my god!"

He later said: "The team did a great strategy and we had a massive undercut -- and I was able to bring it home. It was a tough race.

"I was a bit lucky when I locked up at the start behind Charles and then I did a mistake with energy management."

Norris described the result as "a mixed bag."

"We just got undercut. We should have boxed first, but Kimi did a good job and hats off to him and Mercedes," he said.

"A good race. He didn't make any mistakes and I'm gutted not to win, but I didn't have the pace."

The weather was significantly cooler than for Saturday's sprint, but without the forecast rain that had brought forward the start by three hours. 

Antonelli made a clean start from his third consecutive pole, but was passed on the inside by Leclerc as Verstappen hit a curb and spun, creating chaos.

Leclerc resisted Antonelli with Norris third until lap five when the teenager passed him, only for Leclerc to regain the lead. 

"Be patient, Lando, stay with them and let them yo-yo," said Will Jospeh, Norris's race engineer, before the luckless Isack Hadjar -- who had started from the pit lane -- crashed on lap six. 

Almost immediately, Pierre Gasly also lost control, half-rolled and hit the wall after a collision with Liam Lawson, and a safety car was deployed. 

Verstappen, who had fallen back, clashed with Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz, before pitting on lap nine for hards, returning in 16th. Lawson retired his damaged car, joining Nico Hulkenberg, Gasly and Hadjar in the pits. 

Racing resumed on lap 12 with Leclerc resisting Norris until the champion powered by to become the third different leader as light rain arrived. 

Driving with fury, Verstappen, who had crossed a pit lane exit line and faced a post-race investigation, climbed back to sixth by lap 21 when Russell pitted for hards. 

Norris then led Antonelli by 3.2 seconds in the duel to define the race. 

Leclerc pitted for hards and retuned 10th, behind Russell.

"Why did we stop then?" asked a frustrated Leclerc. "When is the rain? Next time you make a decision, please speak to me..."

Antonelli then pitted, together with Norris and Hamilton, the champion losing the initiative to the young Italian as Piastri enjoyed a brief spell as leader before pitting. 

This left the precocious Silver Arrows boy in front, with his team calming his nerves as McLaren's defending champion stalked him.

The pair were separated by less than a second after 40 laps.

After the frantic yo-yo passing of the early stages, the field stretched out when Leclerc passed Verstappen, on his long-worn tires, before his late spin gifted Piastri third place.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday he would not give up on working with US President Donald Trump, despite a spat between the leaders over the war in Iran.

"I am not giving up on working on the transatlantic relationship," Merz told public broadcaster ARD in an interview set to air Sunday night. "Nor am I giving up on working with Donald Trump."

Merz sought to downplay any tensions with Trump, arguing for instance that an abrupt public announcement that the US would pull 5,000 troops from bases in Germany was not surprising and should not be seen as retaliation.

"It may be being exaggerated a bit, but it's not new," Merz told talk show host Caren Miosga.

Criticism of the US-Israeli war against Iran from Merz and other European leaders has clearly aggravated Trump. The latest rift came after Merz on April 27 said that Iran was "humiliating" Washington at the negotiating table.

That provoked a series of angry responses from Washington, including Trump's comments that Merz was doing a "terrible" job as chancellor.

Merz on Sunday said the US decision on troops had "no connection" with the recent disagreements.

- 'Important partners' -

The chancellor also appeared to confirm that a planned deployment of US long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany -- announced by former US president Joe Biden -- was being called off, at least for the time being.

He cited depleted arsenals because of the wars in Iran and Ukraine as the reason.

"The Americans themselves don't have enough at the moment," he said.

"Objectively speaking, there is hardly any possibility from the US of relinquishing weapons systems of this kind."

But he insisted the "train has not departed" for possible cooperation in the future, and that European NATO powers could continue deterring Russia without those particular missiles or US forces.

Trump's criticism of European leaders has not been confined to Merz. 

He previously ridiculed British Prime Minister Kier Starmer, and on Thursday told reporters that "Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible".

But Merz insisted that he still shared Trump's goal of ensuring Iran never obtains an atomic weapon, even if he has criticised the US handling of the conflict.

"We have a different view of this war. That's no secret," Merz said in the interview. "I'm not the only one who feels that way."

Merz insisted that Trump respects his right to hold differing views -- though perhaps "a little less for the moment".

"But that does not alter the fact that I remain convinced that the Americans are important partners for us -– our most important partners in the North Atlantic alliance," Merz said.

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Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli won the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, fending off a dogged challenge by reigning world champion Lando Norris, whose McLaren finished second.

The 19-year-old Italian's third straight win extends his lead at the top of this year's Formula One world championship, while Norris' McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri rounded off the podium in Florida.

Mercedes' George Russell came fourth, followed by Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli began the race in pole position, but was immediately overtaken by Leclerc.

A chaotic start also saw Verstappen's car spin 360 degrees in the middle of the track, and Pierre Gasly's Alpine flipped upside-down while overtaking Liam Lawson.

But after several laps with a safety car, the leaders pitted and Antonelli regained the lead, which he successfully defended for the remainder of the race.

The race's start time was brought forward by three hours due to the threat of heavy rainstorms, but it took place in largely hot and humid, overcast conditions.

It was the first Formula One race after an enforced five-week hiatus, due to the conflict in the Middle East, which several teams exploited with upgrade packages on their cars.

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