Piastri leads Norris in McLaren 1-2 win, Verstappen fourth

Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two finish to win Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix, with polesitter Max Verstappen beaten to the podium by George Russell.

Piastri took the lead with a pass on Verstappen on lap 14 of 57 to snare his third consecutive win and underline his title credentials, 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 Briton back to sixth. “He forced me off, what am I going to do, drive into the wall? I was completely alongside,” Norris fumed, 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 apparent, with fourth-starting Piastri easily clearing Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Norris moving past Russell into fifth.

Piastri started hounding 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 Dutchman, although he made harder work of it than his team-mate. 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 Norris’ squabble with Verstappen.

Antonelli and Russell ran third, while being put under pressure by Williams’ Alex Albon.

The next virtual safety car came out for Oliver Bearman’s stricken Haas after the Briton’s 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 team-mate. Piastri crossed the line with a 4.630s 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 man, 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 irate team-mate.

In the second Williams Carlos Sainz grabbed ninth after attempting a late but unsuccessful lunge on Hamilton into the final corner, followed by Red Bull man Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty, added to his race time, for speeding in the pits. However, as he crossed the line 5.1s ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, he just about managed to save his point.

Esteban Ocon was a distant 12th after a disappointing afternoon for Haas, with Alpine, Sauber and a woeful Aston Martin squad also leaving without points.

Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto followed Bearman into retirement after the Brazilian 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 F1 paddock reconvenes 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.

2025 Miami Grand Prix results