Grand Prix de Miami – Race: McLaren untouchable in Miami
Oscar Piastri had to overtake Max Verstappen on the track, but was then completely dominant. Lando Norris was forced to pull up after another tussle with the Red Bull driver, but helped McLaren to another one-two finish. George Russell finished third, 33 seconds off the lead!
Unlike yesterday’s Sprint race, the start of the Miami Grand Prix was given on a dry track and the rain never made an appearance, despite the threatening clouds.
Max Verstappen was able to maintain his first place despite a tire lock-up at the first corner and once again, the Dutchman widened his line to prevent Lando Norris from passing in the next sequence. The McLaren driver then found himself in sixth while Kimi Antonelli managed to hold off Oscar Piastri. The stewards quickly ruled that the Red Bull driver was not guilty of any wrongdoing in this maneuver.
A frenetic first few corners in Miami 😱
The Red Bull of Max Verstappen just keeps hold of his lead on the opening lap ⬇️#F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/e2GKtq9KM5
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2025
The other event at the start was the collision between Liam Lawson and Jack Doohan, which caused a puncture on his front left tire. Although he tried to return to the pits, he was forced to park his Alpine on the side. This led to the deployment of the virtual safety car. At the restart, the McLaren drivers went on the attack, overtaking Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz. By the ninth lap, Lando Norris had climbed to the last spot on the podium, notably after a very daring overtake on George Russell in turn 4.
After a fierce but clean battle, Oscar Piastri was able to get the better of Max Verstappen on the 14th lap. Subsequently, the fight resumed with the second McLaren. On the 18th lap, Lando Norris dove inside turn 11 to overtake the Red Bull but went off track as well, allowing his rival to pass again. The following lap, the four-time world champion had to concede definitively, but the damage was done: the gap with Oscar Piastri had increased to nine seconds!
On the 29th lap, a new virtual safety car was triggered due to Oliver Bearman’s retirement from a technical engine problem. This reshuffled the deck again, among the drivers who had already stopped, those who were able to dive directly into the pit lane, and those who had to wait. In this game, George Russell was the big winner, emerging from the pits in third place, while Alex Albon got the better of Kimi Antonelli for fifth place.
A third virtual safety car was deployed on the 33rd when Gabriel Bortoleto stopped his Sauber at the side of the track on the back straight after his Ferrari engine gave out, but it had no impact on the course of the race.
After getting past Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton spent several laps one behind the other while Lewis Hamilton complained about not being able to overtake on his mediums while the Monegasque driver was on hards. After several insistent radio messages, the swap of positions was finally ordered, but the Briton was never able to pull away. The swap of positions was therefore ordered again with five laps to go.
Yuki Tsunoda was able to save the point for tenth place by 168 milliseconds, despite a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
In the end, Oscar Piastri was able to secure his third consecutive victory, something that hadn’t happened for a McLaren driver since Mika Hakkinen in 1998! The gap with the competition was colossal. We are increasingly heading towards a battle between the two McLaren drivers for the Drivers’ title, and it’s hard to see who could stop them from winning the Constructors’ title.
From our special correspondent in Miami
