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Which of the two sentences are grammatically correct?

Ferrari has been struggling this season.

Or

Ferrari have been struggling this season.

According to my understanding, 'has' is what I should use because 'Ferrari' is a name of a team. But, I've been listening to a lot of YouTubers using 'Have'. One of such examples is Charles Leclerc Escapes Penalty And MORE | Jolyon Palmer On The 2019 Italian Grand Prix. At 16:04, he says

Ferrari, since the summer break, have hit hard.

I'm not a native English speaker. Am I missing something?

P.S: Is it something to do with collective-nouns? It's one topic I have a difficult time with. If so, I don't want you to spoon-feed me the entire concept. You can post a link where I can read it and understand it myself.

7_R3X
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1 Answers1

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I'm not a Grand Prix fan, but I trust you and take that Ferrari is a team. Now, based on that, here is the answer.

Certain words take a plural verb. For example -data and media.

The media have been pretty partial to the current government.

Now, some collective nouns such as team, audience, and government could be singular or plural depending on the context. If you consider them as a single group, you use a singular verb and if as a collection of individuals, a plural form.

The team has done a fantastic job this financial year ~ considering the team as one

But,

The team have some dispute within ~ considering a collection of individuals

Maulik V
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  • But, how do we decide which one to consider? Is there a rule or is it entirely up to the speaker? – 7_R3X Sep 17 '19 at 05:39
  • As I said, it depends on both the author and context. Nobody will hold you for having *England have won the World Cup." – Maulik V Sep 17 '19 at 06:14