@OscarPiastri leads @LandoNorris in dominant @McLaren 1-2 victory at #MiamiGP.

Piastri Miami GP Victory – Oscar Piastri lead from team-mate Lando Norris to bring home a dominant McLaren 1-2 victory at the Miami GP as Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top three.

 

 

This was Piastri’s fourth victory of the season and a hattrick of wins. Piastri’s lead over team-mate Norris in the World Driver’s Championship sits at 16 points (131-115).

 

When the 57-lap Miami GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen got an excellent start into the corner as he then suffers a lock-up into the turn one right hander, as Norris went wheel-to-wheel making slight contact, but the Briton lost three places after running off into the run-off area.

 

Further back, Alpine’s Jack Doohan suffered a puncture bringing out the yellow flag.

 

Verstappen held a 1.2 second lead over Antonelli with Piastri third, Russell fourth, Albon fifth as Norris rounded out the top six.

 

The virtual safety car was deployed after Doohan’s A525 entry was parked at turn 14. Replays showed that Doohan was on the inside into Turn 1 and made contact with Lawson, spinning the Kiwi RB driver around. Lawson managed to continue, but he was last.

 

When the VSC ended and the race resumed, Verstappen blasted away from Antonelli’s Silver Arrow as they reached the opening corner as the gap was sitting at 1.5 seconds.

 

In the fight for second place, with DRS assistance on the rundown towards turn 11, Piastri made his way past Antonelli to jump into second as a touch back, Piastri’s McLaren team-mate Norris also overtook Albon to jump into fifth place.

 

On the fifth tour, Sainz put himself back in sixth place overtaking Williams’ team-mate Albon.

 

On the beginning of the sixth lap, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was told over the radio that heavy rain could strike in 20 laps.

 

Out-front, Piastri could not quite get into DRS range of race leader Verstappen. They both started on the C4 mediums – and might need to pit before the rain arrived. Suddenly the hard tyre starters are looking handy, assuming the rain does arrive at the Miami International Autodrome.

 

On the seventh tour, Norris breezed his way ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell through the twisty sequence.

 

Fourth-placed Russell was starting to struggle on his harder rubber and was quickly falling into the clutches of Sainz.

 

On the ninth lap. The fight for the lead saw Piastri right within DRS range of race leader Verstappen as further back, Norris fought his way ahead of Antonelli at the turn 11 left hander to snatch third place.

 

On lap 10, Verstappen’s lead over Piastri was down to 0.500 seconds with Norris a further four seconds off in third, Antonelli fourth, Russell fifth as Sainz completed the top six.

 

Down the back straight Piastri had a look on the Dutchman into the left hander, but the Red Bull driver kept the Australian behind.

 

On lap 11, Piastri came close around the outside into turn one, but once again Verstappen closed the door. A bit later down in the tour, the former had a look around the outside, but the latter once again made it hard for the McLaren driver and kept him behind.

 

Verstappen was told by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to make Piastri: “work for it.”

 

“It’s super slippery to drive,” responded Verstappen. That’s a reference to the tyres rather than any rain, no more spots have appeared, but we are only one lap away from when some teams were predicting some rain to fall.

 

The darker clouds were continuing to gather around the Miami International Autodrome.

 

On the beginning of the 14^th tour with DRS on the main-straight, Piastri made a move around the outside of Verstappen into turn one and forced the Dutchman to brake later and lock-up into the corner at turn one into the dirty part of the track, as Piastri made his way into the lead as they exited the corner.

 

Norris was next to chase down Verstappen as the former tried to make the move into the turn 11 left hander, then on lap 15, Norris attempted to do the same on Verstappen, but the latter forced the former into the turn one run-off area and Norris could not get the move done.

 

Whilst Norris battled with Verstappen, Piastri in clear air was running away. He was already 3.5 seconds ahead of Verstappen at this stage of proceedings, who was defending for his life out there.

 

On the 17^th tour, in the fight for second place, Norris made the move stick on Verstappen into the turn 11 left hander, but both drivers ran off the track when the move took place and a bit later in the tour, Verstappen was let back into second place.

 

A lap later Norris made the move on the inside of Verstappen at turn 11 and this time, took the position off the Dutchman. Verstappen did have a look on the McLaren later on down the back-straight but was unable to attempt anything on Norris.

 

Russell reported to his team that: “it is raining” on lap 19.

 

Lap 20, saw Piastri’s lead over team-mate Norris sitting at 9.263 seconds with Verstappen down in third, the two Mercedes of Antonelli and Russell following in fourth and fifth respectively as the two Wiliams’ of Sainz and Albon rounded out the top seven runners.

 

The stewards had a look at the Verstappen – Norris incident where the McLaren man conceded the place and opted for no further action.

 

The rain has not yet hit either, this could be sliding past the track by the looks of the radar at this stage – which was why Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had pitted for some hard tyres.

 

“[Rain] looking unlikely, if it hits any part of the circuit, it will be very little,” said McLaren Team Principal Zak Brown. “Let’s see if we can have a pretty epic McLaren battle, it will be fun to see!”

 

A bit further back on the 23^rd lap, Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton moved his way up into the points overtaking Haas’s Esteban Ocon for tenth at the turn 17 left hand hairpin.

 

Norris was starting to reel in Piastri, not by much, but the gap had dropped to 8.7s. This gap means McLaren could double stack their drivers if they opted to.

 

But with the threat of rain around, the front runners would want to stay out longer and ride out any potential threat from the skies.

 

Meanwhile, Ocon pitted from 11^th and emerged down in 16^th place behind RB’s Isack Hadjar.

 

“Possible light drops of rain for the next two laps, Turn 17 mostly,” Norris was told. Shades of Melbourne all over again for the front two runners.

 

Antonelli had pitted, so did Sainz. But that wasn’t good for the rookie – who had to wait for Sainz to go past and so the Italian lost a couple of seconds in that pit stop.

 

Antonelli came out in ninth place behind Hamilton as Sainz emerged behind tenth-placed Hulkenberg.

 

Meanwhile on lap 27, Verstappen boxed for his fresh set of hards and came out just in-front of Antonelli’s Silver Arrow to be in seventh place as Albon emerged behind the Mercedes driver in ninth place.

 

On lap 28, Verstappen on his fresher rubber breezed ahead of Hamilton before reaching the turn 17 left-hander as Sainz likewise does the same on Hulkenberg t move up into ninth.

 

Just past race distance, replays showed Haas’s Oliver Bearman suffered a hydraulics failure and was seen travelling slowly and pulled off the track deploying the virtual safety car.

 

Hamilton took advantage of a free stop to pit and emerged in tenth place on a new set of hards.

 

On lap 30, both Piastri and Norris came in under the VSC as Russell and Leclerc both pitted.

 

Russell also found his way ahead of Verstappen to take third place off the latter during the VSC pit-stop.

 

Piastri leads by seven seconds now over second-placed Norris, having lost a little bit of time under the VSC. Russell in third and Verstappen was fourth.

 

A touch back Albon passes Antonelli for fifth, and Sainz picked off Leclerc into the opening corner as well.

 

Tsunoda was down in 11^th place, behind Hulkenberg who was yet to stop. But The Japanese driver picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

 

Bortoleto was on the radio complaining about his engine a few tours back, and then the Brazilian was told to pit to retire the car.

 

The VSC once more was deployed after Bortoleto stopped out on track and was unable to make his way back to the pits.

 

When the VSC ended, Leclerc ran wheel-to-wheel with his former team-mate Sainz around the outside into turn 17, but the duo ran together down the start-finish straight and made the move into turn one – Hamilton also made the move on the inside of the Williams into the opening corner and both Ferrari’s were up into seventh and eighth respectively.

 

With 20 laps remaining, Piastri’s lead over team-mate Norris was down to 6.931 seconds as Russell was a further 20.908 seconds adrift in third, Verstappen fourth, Albon fifth, Antonelli sixth, the two Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Sainz in seventh and eighth respectively as Sainz and Tsunoda rounded out the top ten.

 

Hamilton was not impressed after being held up behind Leclerc whilst running the quicker medium tyre. Leclerc was told to let Hamilton past. But after three laps of being stuck in the dirty air, Antonelli had built up a bit of a gap compared to the two Ferrari’s

 

Lawson had just pitted to retire his car and was the fourth retiree of the Grand Prix.

 

Out-front on the 41^st tour, the lead stabilised with Piastri running at 6.562 seconds over team-mate Norris as the Australian was on the charge for his fourth victory of the campaign and to extend his championship lead.

 

“Have a tea break while you are at it,” Hamilton fumed as a delayed radio message was played. The seven-time world champion was not impressed by how long it took for Ferrari to make that decision.

 

But this one is going to rumble on, Leclerc now reported that he needed team-mate Hamilton to go faster – as he is 1.3s behind so was getting hit by the dirty turbulent air.

 

With ten laps to go, Piastri’s lead was cut as predicted with those back markers in the way. Just under five seconds between him and team-mate Norris. Russell was holding onto the final podium spot, but Verstappen was just 1.5 seconds back.

 

Albon was a solid fifth, in-front of Antonelli, Hamilton and Leclerc.

 

With seven tours remaining, after steadily losing time to Norris, Piastri was quicker last time around. The gap was sitting at 4.2 seconds. Behind them, Verstappen was unable to get close into DRS range of Russell. The gap between the pairing was still hovering around 1.5 seconds.

 

Norris took three tenths out of Piastri on the last tour, and the gap was down to 3.7 seconds. The questions were. Is the Australian managing his tyres, and biding his time? Or does Norris have more pace left in the tank? Their tyres are the same age, but the laps are counting down rapidly.

 

Hamilton was then told to swap positions with Leclerc. On lap 53, Hamilton let his team-mate by.

 

Piastri crossed the line to take victory over Norris by 4.630 seconds as Russell rounded out the top three and a further 337.664 seconds adrift.

 

Verstappen took fourth and in-front of Williams’ Albon who finished a solid fifth as Mercedes’ Antonelli reached the chequered flag sixth.

 

Both Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Hamilton followed in seventh and eighth respectively as Williams’ Carlos Sainz took ninth whilst Red Bull’s Tsunoda despite being hit with a five-second-timed-penalty for speeding in the pit-lane, just held onto the final points place from RB’s Hadjar.

 

Hamilton is currently under investigation by the race stewards for moving under braking at the turn 11 hairpin on Sainz.

 

Haas’s Ocon placed 12^th and in-front of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who was 13^th and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg who took 14^th.

 

Both Aston Martin’s of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll brought up the rear.

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2025 Miami GP – The Top Three

 

 

2025 Miami GP Winner – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – (25 Points)

“I won the race that I really wanted to – yesterday was tricky, Qualifying was one of my trickiest sessions of the year so to come away with the win is an amazing result. I was aware enough to avoid Max in Turn 1, and from then I knew I had a good pace advantage. The car was incredible today. The hard stint I was struggling a little bit, so there are some things to work on. Got to keep learning, but very happy to be leaving Miami on top. Two years ago here we were the slowest team, I think we got lapped twice. Here, we just won the race by 35 seconds.”

 

2^nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39, +4.630s – (18 Points)

“It’s never the best feeling [to be P2] but the team has done an amazing job, so I can’t fault them at all. We were up the road, so it is a good feeling. Oscar drove well; Max put up a good fight as always, so it is what it is. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today, but still happy to be second.”

 

3^rd Place – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W16, +37.644s – (15 Points)

“Really happy to come away with P3 as I have been struggling this weekend personally. Well done to the McLaren, they were just too far down the road. Lando is upset with me as we had a crash in the Lego race, and I hurt his leg!”

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Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2025 Race Results Classification (57 Laps)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	57	1:28:51.587	25
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	57	+4.630s	18
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	57	+37.644s	15
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	57	+39.956s	12
5	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	57	+48.067s	10
6	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	57	+55.502s	8
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	57	+57.036s	6
8	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	57	+60.186s	4
9	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams Mercedes	57	+60.577s	2
10	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	57	+74.434s	1
11	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	57	+74.602s
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas Ferrari	57	+82.006s
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	57	+90.445s
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber Ferrari	56	+1 lap
15	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	56	+1 lap
16	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	56	+1 lap
NC	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	36	DNF
NC	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber Ferrari	30	DNF
NC	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	27	DNF
NC	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine Renault	0	DNF
* Provisional results.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1259/miami/race-result

 

Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round seven of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the famous Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy for the Formula 1 AWS Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell’Emilia Romagna 2025 from Friday May 16-Sunday May 18 2025.

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#F1 #SprintQualifying: #Antonelli blasts to maiden #MiamiGP Sprint pole.