Oscar Piastri Dominates Miami GP as McLaren Seals One-Two Finish

Oscar Piastri achieved a convincing victory at the Miami Grand Prix, leading a superb one-two finish for McLaren. Teammate Lando Norris recovered from an opening-lap incident to secure second place.

Piastri delivered a flawless performance from fourth on the grid. After an exciting early duel, he overtook pole-sitter Max Verstappen and subsequently built a significant lead.

Norris, on the other hand, faced challenges immediately, dropping from second to sixth after contact with Verstappen on the first lap. He then masterfully climbed back through the field to finish exactly where he started.

In the closing stages, Norris managed to halve Piastri`s lead to four seconds but couldn`t challenge for the win. The McLaren pair finished over 30 seconds clear of the chasing pack, showcasing their strong performance.

This result marks Piastri`s fourth win in six races this season, extending his championship lead over Norris to 16 points.

Piastri commented on the start, saying, “A bit of argy-bargy at Turn 1 which helped me a bit. I was aware enough to avoid Max coming through in Turn 1.” He added about the car`s performance: “From that point onwards I knew I had a good pace advantage and clearly the car was unbelievable.”

George Russell claimed an opportunistic third place for Mercedes. He benefited from a timely Virtual Safety Car period during the pit stop cycle, which allowed him to leapfrog Verstappen.

Verstappen struggled for pace throughout the race and expressed frustration over Red Bull team radio. Finishing fourth puts him 32 points behind Piastri, potentially jeopardizing his bid for a fifth straight title.

Alex Albon secured Williams` best finish of the season in fifth place, overtaking the other Mercedes driver, Kimi Antonelli. Albon gained from the first Virtual Safety Car, getting his tires up to temperature faster.

Charles Leclerc finished seventh for Ferrari, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton was noticeably frustrated with his team over radio during a team orders situation.

Hamilton survived a last-lap lunge from Carlos Sainz in the other Williams, an incident for which Sainz received no penalty after the race investigation.

Yuki Tsunoda secured the final point for Racing Bulls in tenth place, overcoming a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane to narrowly hold off teammate Isack Hadjar.

Piastri Capitalises After Norris-Verstappen Clash

Norris`s recent form had been less convincing compared to Piastri`s wins, but he had bounced back by winning Saturday`s Sprint and qualifying two places ahead of Piastri. The key challenge remained Verstappen on pole.

An opportunity arose early when Verstappen went deep into Turn 1. Norris attempted to capitalize by going around the outside at Turn 2, but Verstappen`s car had a snap that pushed him towards Norris, forcing the McLaren off track and down to sixth.

Stewards reviewed the incident but decided no investigation was needed, implying they felt Verstappen controlled the corner and was not obligated to leave space for Norris.

“Max put up a good fight as always and I paid the price, but it`s the way it is,” Norris commented later. “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.” He added about Verstappen, “it is the way it is… it`s crash or don`t pass.” Despite the setback, he was “still happy with second.”

Meanwhile, Piastri quickly moved past Antonelli into second and began closing on Verstappen. Piastri used Verstappen`s defensive maneuver at Turn 1 to his advantage, cutting back inside to take the lead on lap 14.

By the time Norris eventually cleared Verstappen five laps later, Piastri had pulled nine seconds ahead.

Teams delayed their pit stops expecting potential rain, but the first round began once it was clear significant showers wouldn`t arrive.

A Virtual Safety Car period occurred on lap 29 when Oliver Bearman`s Haas stopped. This benefited McLaren with cheaper stops and critically allowed George Russell to jump Verstappen for third place by pitting under the VSC.

The top four positions remained unchanged thereafter, with the McLarens dominating the front. Norris likely reflected on the lost time in the early laps, knowing his pace was strong enough to potentially challenge for the win.

Hamilton`s Frustration with Ferrari Strategy

After a difficult start where he took time to pass Esteban Ocon for points, Hamilton was aided by the VSC, which allowed him to get ahead of Tsunoda.

Running on faster medium tires after his stop, he closed onto his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc after they had both passed Sainz. Hamilton, clearly faster, requested over radio that the cars be swapped so he could attack Antonelli for sixth.

Ferrari initially told him to wait, then instructed him to stay within DRS range of Leclerc. This led to Hamilton`s angry response, calling it “not good team work” and mentioning a previous instance where he had let Leclerc pass.

Ferrari eventually reversed the decision and swapped the cars. A radio message from Hamilton around this time included the sarcastic comment: “Have a tea break while you`re at it, come on!”

Hamilton felt he had lost crucial tire life waiting behind Leclerc. He couldn`t make significant progress on Antonelli. Later, he was told to let Leclerc back past. After complying, he sarcastically asked if they wanted him to let Sainz through as well when informed of Sainz`s proximity.

Despite his clear frustration during the race, Hamilton played down the radio exchanges afterwards. He explained, “I lost a lot of time behind Charles and in that moment, for sure, I was like `come on, let`s make a decision quick, let`s not waste time.`”

He added, “I`m sure people didn`t like certain comments, but you`ve got to understand, it`s frustrating. People say way worse things than I said, so it was more sarcastic than anything.” He concluded, “I`m not frustrated now. We`ll work internally, we`ll have discussions, and we`ll keep pushing.”