Miami Grand Prix: McLaren dominate as Oscar Piastri makes it three in a row

Norris ensured a fresh McLaren one-two after a papaya masterclass as Mercedes’ Russell completed the podium, while Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari clashed on multiple occasions over team radio.

Heavy rain had hit the track ahead of the Grand Prix, but minus a few damp patches, it was a circuit fit for dry tyres at lights out. Though with showers passing north and south, further rain was a possibility.

Russell, Hamilton, Lawson, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Bearman and Gasly went for the hard tyre at the start, with the rest on mediums.

Verstappen launched his Red Bull from pole with Norris in the McLaren for company on row one, and as a Verstappen lock-up at Turn 1 got Norris interested, he went from challenging for the lead to the run-off and P6, Norris convinced that Verstappen had forced him off. The stewards did not agree.

That meant Verstappen, Antonelli and Piastri was the top three, while Jack Doohan had a front-left puncture after whacking Lawson’s VCARB. Doohan soon came to a stop, triggering the Virtual Safety Car. The track returned to green on Lap 3.

Verstappen swiftly escaped DRS range from Antonelli, but Piastri was on the move, taking Antonelli on the approach to Turn 11, while Norris cleared Albon with Russell the next target.

Hamilton and Hadjar went to battle through the final corners, until Hadjar overshot Turn 1 in a major way, allowing Hamilton to sweep through into P11.

Six laps into a 57-lap race and Aston Martin were threatening rain in 20 laps, which would be “heavy” if it hit.

On the following tour, Norris cleared Russell in a rarely-seen overtake through the Turn 4/5 sweeps, as he quickly latched onto the gearbox of Antonelli in the other Mercedes. Russell immediately came under pressure from Sainz in the Williams, the hard tyres not delivering at this early stage in the race.

But, McLaren were expecting “heavy” rain much sooner than Aston Martin. Lap 14 was their estimated time of arrival, as Norris wasted little time in dispatching Antonelli and improving to the podium places.

The rain had not even hit when Alonso spun at Turn 11, thankfully avoiding the wall, while Piastri was now all over the back of Verstappen for the lead.

“It’s super slippery to drive,” was Verstappen’s feedback as he continued to hold off the rapid Piastri.

Lap 14 and Piastri was the closest yet. Around the outside he went into Turn 1, Verstappen braked late, but ran wide with his “useless” brakes, as Piastri evaded and snatched the lead. At this point, the dark clouds were looking increasingly ominous.

Norris looked to make it a case of deja vu for Verstappen into Turn 1 next time around, but Verstappen had grown wise to that one, with Piastri already three seconds clear out front. Verstappen had Turn 1 covered again on Lap 16, as Piastri’s lead grew to nearly five seconds.

Lap 17 and both Verstappen and Norris were off at T11, Norris returning ahead and letting Verstappen back through at Turn 17, as the battle raged on. At this point, Antonelli was closing in.

But, Norris got the move done at Turn 11 and kept it on the following lap. The problem for Norris, though, was that Piastri’s lead was nine seconds at this stage.

“It’s raining” came the call from Russell though. Was that predicted heavy downpour here? McLaren now felt it was “unlikely to hit”.

And that would suit them just fine, with Verstappen falling seven seconds back from Norris by Lap 24. Piastri was keeping his lead stable at just under nine seconds.

Antonelli was the first of the frontrunners to pit on Lap 26, but forced to hold while Sainz came through, it was a 4.4 second stop. Verstappen boxed on the following lap to cover off any threat of an Antonelli undercut, with both drivers now on medium tyres.

A puff of smoke saw Bearman slow his Haas before stopping at Turn 8 as the VSC returned, triggering McLaren to double-stack their drivers on Lap 30, as the hard tyres went on for Piastri and Norris. Russell was also in for mediums, and thanks to the cheaper pit stop, he was up to third ahead of Verstappen.

Antonelli had his wing mirrors full of Albon in the Williams. He soon disappeared though. That’s because he got the move done at Turn 1, promoting Albon up to fifth.

Tsunoda, meanwhile, was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Bortoleto was next to stop, his engine giving up as he pulled in behind the wall on the back straight, as the VSC made its third appearance. Verstappen wanted Russell checked for whether he slowed under the yellow flags.

It proved a brief VSC, and Sainz quickly had the cars of his former team Ferrari all over him. Through came Leclerc and Hamilton at the first turn.

Hamilton was growing increasingly frustrated behind Leclerc, and being told by Ferrari to hold station and benefit from Leclerc’s DRS, did little to improve Hamilton’s mood.

“Man, you guys,” said Hamilton on the radio, who stressed that this was “not good teamwork”. Ferrari got the message, and told Leclerc to swap positions, which he did. Hamilton was up to P7, but Antonelli was five seconds up the road.

Lewis Hamilton continued the attack: “In China I got out of the way when you were on a different strategy!”

Told that the cars would swap, Hamilton suggested to race engineer Riccardo Adami: “Ah! Have a tea break while you’re at it! Come on!”

Leclerc was now urging Hamilton to pick up the pace.

Speaking of picking up the pace, Norris was whittling down Piastri’s lead. With 12 laps to go, it was under five seconds.

The Ferrari team orders saga rumbled on meanwhile. Told to yield to Leclerc at Turn 11, Hamilton did not follow the order.

“We’ll try it again next time,” Leclerc was informed, with Ferrari having not told Hamilton of the plan soon enough. Once they had actually let him know, he let Leclerc through at that turn on the next lap, as Hamilton sarcastically asked if they wanted him to wave Sainz through too.

Norris continued to shave time off Piastri’s lead, but it was not enough to deny his team-mate and the Drivers’ Championship leader Piastri a third win in a row.

Norris ensured the McLaren one-two, as Russell completed the podium. Hamilton, meanwhile, survived a lunge and hit from Sainz on the last lap into Turn 17, an incident which saw Sainz called to the stewards post-race to explain.

F1 Results – 2025 Miami Grand Prix

1. Oscar Piastri McLaren
2. Lando Norris McLaren
3. George Russell Mercedes
4. Max Verstappen Red Bull
5. Alex Albon Williams
6. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
7. Charles Leclerc Ferrari
8. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari
9. Carlos Sainz Williams
10. Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull
11. Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls
12. Esteban Ocon Haas
13. Pierre Gasly Alpine
14. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber
15. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
16. Lance Stroll Aston Martin
DNF Liam Lawson Racing Bulls
DNF Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber
DNF Oliver Bearman Haas
DNF Jack Doohan Alpine