Oscar Piastri went from fourth on the grid at the Miami Grand prix to first at the flag to take a third win in a row and to extend his championship lead over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, who recovered from a first-corner clash with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to se3dond place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.
When the lights went out at the start, polesitter Verstappen Max got away well to take the lead, but as he went into Turn 1 the Dutchman locked up and went wide. That allowed front-row started Norris to pull alongside as they went into Turn 2. The two appeared to bang wheels as Verstappen’s car slithered around and Norris was forced to go off track. Verstappen continued at the front, but the McLaren driver dropped back to sixth behind Williams’ Alex Albon.
Further back, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was hit by the Alpine of Jack Doohan and with the New Zealander spun around and the Alpine limping to an eventual halt, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed.
When the track went green again Verstappen controlled the resumption well and held the lead. Second-placed Kimi Antonelli, though, was passed by Piastri, while Norris powered past Williams’ Alex Albon to claw his way back into the top five and then, on lap seven, the McLaren driver powered past Mercedes’ George Russell to put himself back in contention.
At the front, Verstappen was coming under heavy pressure from Piastri and on lap 10 the Australian got into DRS range. Piastri pushed hard through each DRS zone, but Verstappen was initially solid in defence.
At the start of lap 14, however, Verstappen’s armour was pierced. The Dutchman forced Piastri to go wide on the approach to Turn1, but in doing so the Red Bull driver outbraked himself and when locked up, Piastri was able to cut back underneath to take the lead.
The tussle between the leading pair allowed Norris to come back into the fight and after Piastri took the lead, Verstappen soon found himself under pressure from the second McLaren. Once again, the Red Bull driver defended hard and for three crucial laps he kept Norris at bay as Piastri, in clean air, carved out a big lead ahead. On lap 18, though, Norris at last got the move done and chased after his team-mate.
Behind the top three, Antonelli held on to fourth place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Russell, while the Williams pair of Albon and Carlos Sainz held sixth and seventh.
Mercedes brought Antonelli in at the end of lap 25, attempting to undercut Verstappen, but the youngster’s pit stop was slowed when he had to wait in his box to let Sainz pass by and when Red Bull responded by bringing Verstappen in at the end of the following lap the delay meant the Dutchman emerged well clear of the Italian.
But while Verstappen was able to keep one Mercedes behind, he couldn’t keep Russell behind. On lap 29, Ollie Bearman slowed and as he pulled over at Turn 8 with a power unit issue, the VSC was deployed. Both McLarens took the opportunity to make their pit stops while the race was neutralised and so did Russell. With Verstappen slowed by the VSC the Mercedes driver was able to save time in his stop and he emerged in third, ahead of the Dutchman.
At the front, Norris closed in on Piastri in the closing stages, but the Australian was comfortably managing his pace, and he took his third win in a row with 4.6s in hand over his team-mate. Behind Verstappen, fifth place went to Albon, with Antonelli sixth ahead of the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Sainz was ninth and Yuki Tsunoda managed to eke out a 5.1s gap to Hadjar that kept him in 10th at the flag after the Japanese driver had been given a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Piastri #81
Started 4th
Finished 1st
Fastest Lap 1m29.822s on Lap 35 (+0.076s, 2nd)
Pit stops 1, Lap 29 [Medium/Hard] (2.3s)
"It's a great feeling to have won the race today, one I really wanted to win! Clearly the car was unbelievable today and we were able to use that pace advantage. That’s down to everyone here trackside and the whole team at the factory putting in an incredible amount of hard work to get us to where we are now. As always, there’s lots of learnings to take away from the weekend but I’m very, very happy to be leaving Miami on top."
Lando Norris #4
Started 2nd
Finished 2nd
Fastest Lap 1m29.746s on Lap 36 (1st)
Pit stops 1, Lap 29 [Medium/Hard] (2.4s)
"A good result for the team today and congratulations to Oscar on the victory, he drove really well this afternoon. Max [Verstappen] put up a fight at the start and frustratingly I paid the price but that's just the way it can be in racing. The team have done an amazing job all weekend, the car has been beautiful with great pace and the double-shuffle pit stop was mega. I'll take all these positives and get my head down at the factory to focus on Imola in two weeks' time."
Andrea Stella Team Principal
"Today was an exceptional result for McLaren at the end of a remarkable weekend. First and second yesterday in the Sprint, followed by first and second again today in the Miami Grand Prix, which is a first for any team in a Sprint weekend. It’s a big haul of points, and we’re mindful that tomorrow is the anniversary of our first victory of this era, which was a fundamental milestone in the direction and development of our team.
"Not for the first time this year, I would like to thank the people at McLaren who have designed, manufactured, built and are racing this phenomenal car, as well as our technical and commercial partners, and fans who are with us on this exciting journey.
"After a very tight Qualifying session, it was great to see the car performing so well during the race, allowing Oscar and Lando to dominate. Oscar was clinical and very precise, taking the opportunities that came his way and displaying excellent pace. Lando was delayed in the mêlée at the start, recovering from sixth and then overtaking Max Verstappen later in the stint, but without this he was in strong contention for the win also.
"This is a great foundation for the rest of the year, but we also know that maybe these were exceptional circumstances. We’ll keep our feet on the ground, keep working on the MCL39 to improve it, and see where it takes us now the racing season moves back to Europe."
2025 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:28'51.587
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:28'56.217 4.630
3 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:29'29.231 37.644
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:29'31.543 39.956
5 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 57 1:29'39.654 48.067
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 57 1:29'47.089 55.502
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:29'48.623 57.036
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 57 1:29'51.773 1'00.186
9 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 57 1:29'52.164 1'00.577
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:30'06.021 1'14.434
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 57 1:30'06.189 1'14.602
12 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 57 1:30'13.593 1'22.006
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 57 1:30'22.032 1'30.445
14 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 56 1:28'52.742 1 lap /1.155
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 56 1:29'12.566 1 lap /20.979
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 56 1:29'16.749 1 lap /25.162
Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 36 59'06.511 Retirement
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 30 49'03.459 Retirement
Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 27 43'10.773 Power Unit
Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 0 - Accident
