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Formula OneOscar Piastri became the first McLaren driver to take three consecutive Grand Prix victories this century after winning the 2025 Miami GP. Another 1-2 finish for the papaya team underlined their pace advantage, but it wasn't as simple a race as the final classification suggested.
New father Max Verstappen was the polesitter, not a McLaren. The Dutchman provided a Saturday upset by pipping Lando Norris to P1 by 0.065s. Yet neither of the pair who started on the front row were near victory by the chequered flag. Verstappen locked his front-right Pirelli tyre on the low-grip track at Turn 1 to open the door for a Norris attack. The Briton went side-by-side into Turn 2, but Verstappen left little room for two cars, and Norris tumbled back.
Friday's Sprint Qualifying superstar, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, was the primary beneficiary; The young Italian advanced to P2 with Piastri in hot pursuit behind and teammate George Russell in P4. Norris had dropped to P6 but swept past Alex Albon to resume his challenge. With both Ferraris and Yuki Tsunoda struggling for speed in Florida, the battle for the podium was between these top five runners.
Verstappen tried to enjoy the Mercedes buffer between his rear wing and his championship rivals by breaking Antonelli out of DRS range. A fired-up Piastri used McLaren's superior pace to fight the teenage Italian and sped past into Turn 11 to claim P2. Norris, too, was firing forwards as Russell, then Antonelli fell to his faster speed. He passed Russell into Turn 4, while Antonelli lost out into the usual Turn 11 overtaking zone. The title-fighting trio were back together.
Norris' move to P3 came just in time for him to watch the sister McLaren probe for a way by Verstappen. Even with DRS to help, Piastri had to bide his time as the Red Bull driver's stern defence retained the lead. Ever the quick learner, Piastri didn't repeatedly try the same move. Instead, the Melbourne man got close into the final hairpin and stayed tight to Verstappen's rear wing on the run to Turn 1. Verstappen moved to defend the inside line, but his late-braking reactions saw him slide wide, and Piastri punched through to take P1.
Norris was the next McLaren to try and pass the reigning champion. A Turn 1 move didn't work out, with Verstappen pushing his friend and rival wide. Norris' Turn 11 attempt had the shoe on the other foot, with the McLaren taking to the inside line. Although Norris left the corner ahead, he completed the pass off the track and swiftly let the Red Bull back through. He finally would grab P2 without argument after four laps of fighting with a DRS pass into Turn 11. However, the wheel-to-wheel scrapping let Piastri open an insurmountable nine-second gap out front.
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With the top two spots settled, the question of who'd take the podium remained as Verstappen maintained his pace over the chasing Mercedes. Antonelli was the closest Silver Arrow behind, but it wouldn't be the rookie who'd trump Verstappen. An engine failure for Haas' Ollie Bearman triggered the Virtual Safety Car just after Red Bull called in their driver to swap to Pirelli's Hard compound tyre. Russell, who started on Hards, switched to Mediums in the slowdown. The cheap pit stop had his Mercedes return to the track just ahead of Verstappen and with quicker tyres. The top four remained in order until the flag, letting Russell bring home his fourth podium of 2025.
Behind, Carlos Sainz and Ferrari converged into a fight of politics and team radio. The Spaniard ran P7 ahead of his old teammate Charles Leclerc after the pit stops following Bearman's retirement. Another VSC for Gabriel Bortoleto's engine issues changed that. Leclerc got alongside the Williams at the hairpin after a poor restart down the final straight from Sainz. The pair went side-by-side to close out the lap. Leclerc had the inside line into Turn 1, forcing Sainz to go wide.
Their battle allowed Lewis Hamilton to sneak by Sainz, too, and the Prancing Horses took P7 and P8. Radio messages between Hamilton and the Ferrari pit wall eventually had team orders instructing Leclerc to let the seven-time champion through. Hamilton, however, did not have more speed than the Monegasque and sheepishly had to concede the position again before the final lap after his new team told him to return to P8.
Although Norris clawed some time back by the end, Piastri crossed the line 4.6s ahead for his sixth career win. He extends his championship lead to 16 points as F1 leaves the flyaway races behind. Russell held off Verstappen for P3, and Albon grabbed a second brilliant P5 of 2025 for Williams. The teams and drivers now have a weekend off before Imola kicks off a European tripleheader starting on May 18th.
