Piastri Wins From Norris and Russell as McLaren Seal Commanding 1-2 in Miami Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri has strengthened his lead in the World Championship by clinching his fourth victory of the season at the Miami Grand Prix, the Australian leading home team mate Lando Norris to seal a dominant 1-2 for McLaren.

While Max Verstappen initially led away from pole, a battle with Norris saw the Briton run wide and drop down the order – letting Kimi Antonelli and Piastri through in the process. But as the laps ticked down – and Piastri overtook the Mercedes – Verstappen soon found himself under increasing pressure from the championship leader.

After Piastri eventually found a way past into the lead, a recovering Norris subsequently followed through into second, allowing the papaya cars to build up a sizeable gap at the front.

And while plenty of action unfolded behind them across the 57-lap event, the papaya cars looked to be in a league of their own right to the chequered flag, where Piastri crossed the line by 4.63s from Norris.

Mercedes’ George Russell claimed the final spot on the podium in third – despite being a whopping 37 seconds back from Piastri, highlighting McLaren’s commanding performance – while Verstappen had to settle for fourth in the Red Bull, continuing the statistic of the Miami polesitter never having won the race.

Alex Albon was an impressive fifth for Williams, ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in sixth. The Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, were seventh and eighth respectively, the pair having been involved in a lengthy team orders debate in the latter stages that saw Hamilton moved in front before the positions were reversed later on.

Hamilton held onto eighth despite a late-race scrap with the Williams’ of Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard remaining in ninth following the incident that will be investigated after the race. Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, grabbed the final point on offer in P10 for Red Bull.

There was plenty of action as the Miami Grand Prix got underway

Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg claimed P14 for Kick Sauber, while Aston Martin had a challenging day at the Miami International Autodrome, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll the last classified runners in P15 and P16.

Four drivers retired from the event, with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson being forced to return to the pits while Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Ollie Bearman both sparked Virtual Safety Car periods after stopping out on track with mechanical issues.

Jack Doohan, meanwhile, saw his race end on Lap 1 following contact with Lawson, the Alpine driver pulling off the circuit after picking up too much damage to continue.

Championship leader Piastri was in commanding form at the Miami International Autodrome

AS IT HAPPENED

After an eventful two days of action at the Miami International Autodrome – featuring a chaotic wet-dry Sprint followed by a hard-fought Qualifying session – the attentions of the paddock turned to the Miami Grand Prix.

In a repeat of the heavy rain that had hit the circuit prior to Saturday’s Sprint, the heavens had opened again in the hours before Sunday’s race. While the showers had ceased as the start time approached – and the track was quickly drying – the teams would certainly be keeping an eye on the forecast for the 57-lap encounter.

One change to the grid – which would be headed by polesitter Verstappen and second-placed Norris – saw Gasly move from P18 to the pit lane, due to the Alpine squad having changed the set-up of the car’s suspension whilst under parc ferme conditions.

After a unique drivers’ parade earlier in the day in which all 20 drivers got behind the wheel of fully driveable LEGO big build cars, the field switched their focus to their usual challengers as the time for lights out neared.

Once the cars had assembled on the grid and the tyre blankets were removed ahead of the expected one-stop event, it was revealed that most of the pack had opted for the medium compound. Russell, however, had opted for the hard, along with Lawson, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Bearman and Gasly.

Verstappen led away from pole position as the Miami Grand Prix got underway

With the formation lap completed, the five lights went out to get the Miami Grand Prix underway – and Verstappen initially got away smoothly, only to experience a slight lock-up into Turn 1 which encouraged Norris to get alongside the Red Bull.

However, a moment of contact between the pair saw the Briton run across the apex into Turn 2 and drop a number of positions to end up in sixth, allowing Antonelli and Piastri through into second and third. The McLaren driver went on to report: “He forced me off”

Meanwhile there was trouble further back for Doohan, who made contact with the Racing Bulls of Lawson and picked up a puncture. The damage ultimately proved too much for Doohan to return to the pits, the Alpine stopping out on track which led to the deployment of a Virtual Safety Car. Lawson had remained in the running, albeit at the back of the order.

Shortly after the VSC period ended on Lap 4, Piastri was quick to make a move on Antonelli to snatch P2 while Norris grabbed P5 from Albon – both welcome sights for the McLaren pit wall, with Piastri subsequently starting to cut into Verstappen’s 1.5s lead. Other moves were unfolding elsewhere, as Hamilton overtook Hadjar for 11th and Sainz took sixth from team mate Albon.

“Possible rain in 20 laps. It will be heavy if it hits,” Alonso was being told by his race engineer. Race control, meanwhile, had noted the Lap 1 incident between Verstappen and Norris before deciding that no further action was needed, with the same verdict being given to the Doohan and Lawson contact. As Lap 8 ticked down, Verstappen continued to lead from Piastri, Antonelli, Norris, Russell – who looked to be struggling with his hard tyres – Sainz, Albon, Leclerc, Tsunoda and Ocon. It did not take long for that to change again, as Norris soon gained another position by getting past Antonelli.

There was heart-in-mouth moment for Alonso, who suffered a spin at the same corner where he crashed in Saturday’s Sprint – but fortunately managed to avoid the walls on this occasion. Back up front, further tense scenes were playing out as Piastri set about trying to overtake Verstappen, having closed right in on the Red Bull.

Two attempts on Lap 11 fell short, with Verstappen told by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to “stay on the inside” and “make him work for it”. All of this was allowing Norris, meanwhile, to chase down the leading two cars. “It’s super slippery to drive,” Verstappen reported, seemingly in reference to the tyres.

Piastri could wait no longer on Lap 14. After the papaya car was initially forced wide, backing out of a move, Verstappen then out-braked himself and went wide in the process, which allowed Piastri to cut back through to become the new race leader.

And just one lap later there was a sense of déjà vu for Verstappen as Norris closed in on the World Champion – but this time a move around the outside of Turn 1 did not work for the Briton, leading the McLaren team to coach him over the radio on how Piastri found a way past. The battle got increasingly feisty by Lap 18, with Norris pushing Verstappen wide into Turn 11 to squeeze down the inside and take the position. The Briton subsequently handed the place back – having seemingly gone off the track when making the overtake – but then retook P2 later in the lap.

Amidst this scrap, Piastri had checked out up ahead, having built up a nine-second lead. Bortoleto, meanwhile, became the first driver to pit on Lap 20 to switch from the medium to hard tyres – just as light drops of rain looked to be falling at the Miami International Autodrome. Would the intensity of this increase as the race progressed?

Elsewhere, a thrilling fight was playing out for 10th place between Ocon and Hamilton, with the Ferrari man eventually finding a way past the Haas to claim the final points-paying position. By Lap 24 the order ahead of Hamilton stood as Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Albon, Sainz, Leclerc and Tsunoda.

McLaren looked to be in a class of their own, though, with Piastri leading by eight seconds from Norris while the latter had built the same gap back to Verstappen in third – with the Mercedes pair getting closer to the Red Bull in fourth and fifth.

Antonelli subsequently dived into the pits on Lap 26 – but experienced a slightly slow stop after having to wait for Sainz to go past in the pit lane, seemingly ruining the Italian’s chances of undercutting Verstappen. Norris, meanwhile, was warned that “possible light drops of rain” could fall in the next two laps, mostly concentrated at Turn 17.

Verstappen could not keep the McLarens at bay, despite battling hard against both Piastri and Norris

The pit stops were soon coming in thick and fast, with Verstappen the first of the top three to stop for the hard tyres. But back on track Bearman was having mechanical problems, the Haas driver pulling off the track at Lap 29, resulting in a Virtual Safety Car being called.

McLaren then called both drivers to pit in a double stack, allowing Piastri and Norris to reemerge in P1 and P2 respectively, while Russell benefitted from pitting under the VSC to take P3 from Verstappen.

Others having a good phase of the race included the Williams team, with Albon picking off Antonelli for fifth while Sainz had grabbed seventh from former team mate Leclerc. But things were not going so well for Tsunoda, who had collected a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Also in trouble was Bortoleto, with the Kick Sauber driver told to retire the car after earlier complaining of engine issues. The Brazilian was ultimately unable to make it back to the pits and stopped on track, meaning that another Virtual Safety Car was deployed.

After the VSC period ended, an exciting battle played out between the two Ferrari cars and Sainz, with Leclerc trying to overtake for seventh – a move that he subsequently pulled off, with Hamilton then following through to move up into eighth.

Sainz was involved in a scrap with former team mate Leclerc

A debate ensued over the radio at the Scuderia as Hamilton – running on the medium tyres in contrast to the hards on Leclerc’s car – suggested that he should be let by, leading the seven-time World Champion to comment that the situation was “not good teamwork” as he was kept behind.

After further frustrated messages from Hamilton – who sarcastically told the team to “have a tea break while you are at it” amid a delay in making the call – the decision was eventually made to swap the cars. Elsewhere, Lawson became the fourth retiree from the race, the New Zealander returning to the pits.

As Lap 45 ticked down, Piastri remained five seconds ahead of Norris in the lead – while Russell was a whole 27 seconds adrift in third, outlining the commanding performance of the McLarens. The Briton could not rest easy, however, as Verstappen was on the chase in the fight for the final position on the podium.

Albon was running in fifth ahead of Antonelli, with Hamilton and Leclerc still in seventh and eighth – and that situation was not settled yet, with Leclerc having significantly closed the gap to his team mate.

Intriguingly, Norris looked to be edging closer to Piastri as the Australian’s advantage came down to just over four seconds after lapping some backmarkers. Would a late-race showdown ensue between the two McLaren drivers?

Hamilton made gains after starting from P12 on the grid

The stewards looked to be in for a busy evening post-race, having confirmed that they would investigate Sainz and Gasly for possible yellow flag infringements after the Grand Prix. But there was still plenty of action to be had out on track as the race entered its final five laps, with Norris again cutting Piastri’s lead down.

Elsewhere, with Hamilton having been unable to close in on Antonelli, the Briton was asked to swap positions back with Leclerc. In an unusual turn of events, Leclerc had been told of this before Hamilton, meaning that the seven-time World Champion had not known he was expected to yield.

When he had been informed, Hamilton followed the instruction, while Leclerc commented: “We’ll discuss after the race.” The drama was not over for Hamilton, though, who found himself being hunted down by the Williams of Sainz.

A last-lap lunge from Sainz ultimately did not go in the Spaniard’s favour – and will also be investigated after the race. But there were no such problems up front, with Piastri crossing the line to clinch his fourth win of the season by 4.63s from Norris in a sublime day for McLaren.

Russell added to his tally of podium finishes by taking third, with Verstappen unable to close the gap in fourth. Albon followed in a strong fifth for Williams, ahead of the Mercedes of Antonelli in sixth and the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Hamilton in seventh and eighth.

Sainz and Tsunoda rounded out the top 10, ahead of Hadjar, Ocon, Gasly and Hulkenberg in 11th through to 14th respectively. Aston Martin, meanwhile, had a day to forget, with Alonso and Stroll completing the classification in 15th and 16th places.

A total of four drivers retired from the event, as Lawson, Bortoleto, Bearman and Doohan all failed to make the chequered flag.

At the close of a busy weekend in Miami, Piastri has now increased his points tally to 131 at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, 26 points clear of Norris in second, while Verstappen remains in third on 99 points.

Piastri, Norris and McLaren CEO Zak Brown were all smiles after a stunning performance from the team

"I won the race that I really wanted to," said Piastri. "Yesterday was a tricky day. Obviously the Sprint was what it was, but Qualifying was probably one of my trickiest sessions of the year. To come away with a win still on Sunday is an impressive result. Obviously there was a bit of argy-bargy at Turn 1 which helped me out a little bit, and then I was aware enough to avoid Max coming through in Turn 1. From that point onwards I knew that I had a good pace advantage and clearly the car was unbelievable today."

What’s next

After a week off, F1 will travel to Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from May 16-18. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.

Story/Photos courtesy of Formula One World Championship Limited