Oscar Piastri achieved his three consecutive victory of the season after leading home his McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix.
The championship leader took the lead with a pass on Max Verstappen on lap 14 of 57 and underline his title credentials by winning, with Norris also passing the struggling Red Bull to salvage second after losing out at the start of the race.
Starting alongside Verstappen in second, Norris took the inside into Turn 1, but Verstappen held firm and nudged Norris into the inside Turn 3 runoff, which dropped the McLaren driver back to sixth. “He forced me off, what am I going to do, drive into the wall? I was completely alongside,” Norris complained, but the race stewards decided no action was necessary.
Contact between Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson at Turn 1 brought out the virtual safety car to remove debris, and after the lap 4 restart McLaren’s true pace advantage became true, with fourth-starting Piastri easily clearing Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Norris moving past Russell into fifth.
Piastri started attacking Verstappen for the lead soon enough and got the job done into Turn 1 on lap 14, having been patient around the outside and thereby forcing Verstappen into a mistake locking the front tyres.
Their battle allowed Norris to close and he also got past the defending champion, although he made harder work of it than his teammate. On lap 18 Norris initially passed Verstappen in Turn 7 but forced both cars off, handing the position back.
One lap later Norris sealed the move much earlier on the straight, and swiftly dropped Verstappen as the Red Bull struggled with tyre wear, embarking on a chase on Piastri, who had gained nine seconds thanks to Lando’s battle with Verstappen.
Antonelli and Russell ran third, while being put under pressure by Alex Albon.
The next virtual safety car came out for Oliver Bearman’s stricken Haas after the Ferrari power unit seized, which handed an advantage to those who hadn’t yet made their one and only pitstop.
A quicker pitstop cycled hard-tyre starter Russell out ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli in third, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton also benefitted to make a cheap switch from hards to mediums.
From the lap 30 restart onwards, Piastri comfortably protected his lead against Norris, who shaved off a few seconds but never looked like closing the gap to his teammate. Piastri crossed the finishing line with a 4.630 seconds lead on Norris to take his third consecutive win, with Russell snatching a podium in third.
Verstappen had to settle for fourth in the wake of the Mercedes driver, with Albon securing an excellent fifth for Williams ahead of Antonelli after having looked impressively quick all race.
Hamilton intended to use his quicker medium tyres to chase Antonelli, but was stuck behind hard-tyred team-mate Charles Leclerc for several laps, much to the seven-time world champion’s dismay, before finally being released. But Hamilton ran out of time to catch his Mercedes replacement, which led to Ferrari swapping the positions once more to let Leclerc retake seventh ahead of his annoyed teammate.
Carlos Sainz grabbed ninth for Williams after attempting a late but unsuccessful lunge on Hamilton into the final corner, followed by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty, added to his race time, for speeding in the pits. However, as he crossed the line 5.1 seconds ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, he just about managed to save his point.
Esteban Ocon was a distant P12 after a disappointing race for Haas, with Alpine, Sauber and a woeful Aston Martin outfit also leaving without points.
Gabriel Bortoleto followed Bearman into retirement after the Sauber driver reported crippling power unit issues, while Doohan’s and Lawson’s Turn 1 clash also led to terminal damage for both, bringing the number of retirements to four.
In the drivers’ championship, Piastri’s fourth season win extends his lead on Norris to 16 points. Verstappen now trails Piastri by 32 points in third, with Russell another six points in arrears.
The Formula 1 paddock resumes in two weeks’ time in Imola for what looks set to be the final edition of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix for the foreseeable future.
So a dominant race by McLaren by finishing first and second. Congratulations to Oscar Piastri in achieving his third consecutive win. He looks the favourite for the championship by this consistent race results.
Miami Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28:51.587
2 Lando Norris McLaren +4.630s
3 George Russell Mercedes +37.644s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +39.956s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +48.067s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +55.502s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +57.036s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +60.186s
9 Carlos Sainz Williams +60.577s
10 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull +74.434s
11 Isack Tsunoda +74.602s
12 Esteban Ocon Haas +82.006s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +90.445s
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1 lap
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
Liam Lawson Red Bull DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas DNF
Jack Doohan Alpine DNF
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.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-wins-from-norris-and-russell-as-mclaren-seal-commanding-1-2-in-miami.6Vfaf5zEMOKmPHzHdkGdof
Lewis Hamilton called Ferrari out for what he considered poor teamwork as he got stuck behind Charles Leclerc during the Miami Grand Prix.
Having started 12th, Hamilton moved through the field and was able to get on the tail of team-mate Leclerc, having stopped for the medium tyres.
The first hint over team radio that Hamilton was angling to be let through came when he said: “I’m just burning up my tyres behind him.”
However the Ferrari pitwall wanted him to stay put behind Leclerc. “We want to keep the DRS to Charles,” reported Hamilton’s race engineer Riccardo Adami, who had previously had terse exchanges earlier in the season.
Hamilton was undeterred, though, as he retorted: “You want me to sit here for the whole race? “This is not good teamwork, that’s all I’m gonna say.”
Eventually, Leclerc did let Hamilton through for seventh, but not before the seven-time world champion hit out once again. “In China I got out the way,” and once he had been informed the cars would swap positions, he added: “Have a tea break while you’re at it.”
It left Leclerc then complaining of being in dirty air, all the while the team squabbling over the lower points positions as its rivals proved quicker once again.
However, with Hamilton unable to chase down the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in sixth, Ferrari made the call to swap the positions back later in the race. The Briton clearly remained unhappy as, when told Carlos Sainz was now 1.7 seconds behind in the Williams, he chirped back: “Do you want me to let him past as well?”
Hamilton finished third in Saturday’s sprint race but the Ferrari pair ended up battling with Williams for much of the grand prix itself.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/not-good-teamwork-hamilton-fumes-at-ferrari-during-f1-miami-gp/10719904/
Lando Norris believes people will complain no matter how he races, following all-out battles with Max Verstappen that may have cost him a shot at victory in the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
Having started second, Norris dropped to sixth after being squeezed wide by polesitter Verstappen on the opening lap.
With the McLaren clearly the fastest car, Norris was able to pick his way back through the field as team-mate Oscar Piastri got past Verstappen for the lead.
Norris, however, made much more of a meal of passing the Red Bull and had to give the position back to dodge a potential penalty the first time he made it through.
He eventually took second place and closed in on Piastri but could only close to within 4.6 seconds at the end.
“What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain, so you can’t win,” Norris said to 2009 world champion Jenson Button in the post-race interviews, before aiming a barb at world champion Verstappen.
“But it’s the way it is with Max. You know, it’s crash or don’t pass, and unless you get it really right and you put him in the perfect position, then you can just about get there. But I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today, but I’m so happy we’re second.
“I mean, it’s never the best feeling, but the team have done an amazing job, so I can’t fault them at all. Good pitstops, great pace. Yeah, we were up the road, so it was a good feeling, but Oscar drove well. Max put up a good fight, as always, and I paid the price, but it’s the way it is.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-laments-verstappens-crash-or-dont-pass-tactics-after-losing-out-in-f1-miami-gp/10719945/
Oscar Piastri did not have a straightforward journey from P4 to the race win around the Miami International Autodrome, but he believes the victory proved how far both he and McLaren have come in recent years.
The Australian came agonisingly close to crossing the line in first place in Saturday’s Sprint, but he lost out to his team mate Lando Norris who benefitted from the late Safety Car conditions to take the lead.
Piastri was then focused on replicating his earlier Sprint Qualifying performance of P2 to put himself in a strong position for the 57-lap Grand Prix, but the session fell away from him and he was forced to settle for fourth position.
At lights out, an off-track moment from Norris in a scrappy fight with polesitter Max Verstappen saw him drop from P2 to P6, promoting Piastri and giving him the opportunity to quickly clear the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli.
With the lone Red Bull separating him from controlling the race, the lead McLaren then entered an incredibly tense and masterful battle that lasted for four laps around the track and eventually saw him come out on top.
“I won the race that I really wanted to,” Piastri summarised. “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.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-full-of-praise-for-mclaren-after-unbelievable-and-impressive-victory.6KyQVhHPhkDOI1xECXNCgp