Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix - Miami International Autodrome 2025
STARTING GRID:
1) VERSTAPPEN 2) NORRIS 3) ANTONELLI 4) PIASTRI 5) RUSSELL 6) SIANZ 7) ALBON 8) LECLERC 9) OCON 10) TSUNODA 11) HADJAR 12) HAMILTON 13) BORTOLETO 14) DOOHAN 15) LAWSON 16) HULKENBERG 17) ALONSO 18) STROLL 19) BEARMAN 20) GASLY
LAP 1: Into the first corner, Lando Norris seemed to get a better start than Verstappen who locked up going the first corner. This gave Norris an opening to try and take the lead, however he was squeezed by Verstappen causing Norris to go off the track. Going off the track caused Norris to lose 3 places in a matter of seconds.
Kimi Antonelli moved into 2nd and seemed to challenge Verstappen but was unable to pass in the tight corners around Miami. Yellow flags still remained on track as Jack Doohan reported “I’ve got a puncture” to his Alpine team.
LAP 2: Unfortunately for Jack Doohan he pulled over at the side of the track and had to retire the car, which caused a virtual safety car as his car was removed from the track. Replays showed that there was contact between Liam Lawson and Doohan at the first corner. Not what Doohan or Alpine would have wanted in the early stages of the Grand Prix.
LAP 4: Oscar Piastri swooped up the inside of Kimi Antonelli inbetween turn 10 and 11 to move up into 2nd place. A great move from a driver oozing confidence at the moment with complete faith in the McLaren car he is driving. Lando Norris also makes his way past Alex Albon before the end of the lap to move up to 5th. Lewis Hamilton battled with Issac Hadjar at the end of the lap and into the first corner. With good defending from Hadjar into the first corner where he went deep and Hamilton was able to pass him with ease and move into 11th place.
LAP 11: The fight back from Lando continued. This time he managed to get past George Russell with a great move up the inside going into turn 4. A perfectly executed move from another McLaren driver who seemed supremely confident in the car and grip levels he would receive.
At the end of the lap, Oscar Piastri was right on the back of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. He went to the outside of the Red Bull but was unable to make the pass as Vertsappen defended hard going round corners 12 and 13.
LAP 13: Piastri was once again close to Verstappen, this time going down the back straight as Verstappen was late to defend on the inside. As they went down the pit straight the gap was just a couple of tenths. The Aussie driver then bided his time into the first corner as the tough defending style of Verstappen cost him with an error into the first corner. Verstappen went too deep and Piastri spotted as he used his brakes perfectly to switch back and move into 1st for the race lead.
LAP 15: This time Lando Norris is the one to challenge Verstappen going into turn 1. Almost identical as it was with Piastri as the Dutchman defended aggressively and Lando was just about able to get some of his wheels on the track and squeezed again.
LAP 17: As replays are shown, the coverage went back to Lando then squeezing Max off the track as he tried to get past again round turn 12. A couple of corners later a seemingly desperate Verstappen locked up and almost went into the back of Norris. However, Verstappen was able to get the place back as he went up the inside of the McLaren into turn 17.
LAP 18: Just a lap later the McLaren decisively got past Verstappen into turn 11. Norris was extremely confident on the brakes on the inside of Verstappen as he took P2. He could then look to try and go after his team mate who was over 8 seconds ahead of him. Meanwhile, replays showed that the lap 17 overtake by Norris was not in regulation so he seemed to give the place back in order to not get a penalty.
LAP 22: The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton was still behind the Haas of Esteban Ocon as he chased down the final points positions. Great close racing between the 2 drivers as they went from turn 11-16. Hamilton was finally able to get the move done going into turn 17 as Ocon may have felt that it was not his race to get involved in.
Lap 28-30: A slow Ollie Bearman seemed to have a problem with his Haas car, which caused a virtual safety car. Under the safety car, George Russell pitted and was able to leapfrog Max Verstappen into P3. Great work from the Mercedes strategists and mechanics to get Russell out ahead of Verstappen and made the most of the opportunity.
LAP 31: The battle for 5th heated up at the start of the lap as Alex Albon applied pressure to the young rookie. Antonelli appeared to feel the pressure as he made a mistake into turn 1 and went wide with Albon taking the position with relative ease.
At the same time the other Williams of Carlos Sainz was able to pass his former teammate in Charles Leclerc which must have been a good feeling. The Williams cars now ran in P5 and P7.
Lap 34: The P7 is short lived for Carlos Sainz as not only Charles Leclerc but also Lewis Hamilton bared down on him into the first corner. Great defending from Sainz at the end of the previous lap but he was unable to keep the Ferrari’s at bay losing not only 1 but 2 places in the same corner as he moved down to P9.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton watched the battle ahead of him and almost did the same move as Silverstone 2022, as he almost got past both cars ahead of him in a battle of their own. However, Charles Leclerc was able to stay ahead of Hamilton in 7th place.
LAP 37: A seemingly frustrated Hamilton was heard on the radio to his team asking “you want me to just sit here the whole race?” implying he was in no man's land behind his teammate. A reply of “I’ll come back to you” was probably not what Hamilton would have wanted to hear as he would have wanted a yes or no answer rather than possibly wasting more time.
LAP 39: The Ferrari pit wall seemed to say to stay behind Leclerc but stay in the DRS to avoid letting Sainz back into DRS range. To which Hamilton seemed frustrated and said “This is not good team work. That’s all I’m gonna say.”
Then at the end of the lap Leclerc is told to swap the positions in order to give Hamilton a chance to chase down Kimi Antonelli. This appeared to be a waste of 3 laps as the question was asked on lap 37 with the decision not being made until close to lap 40. The Ferrari strategy was once again questionable to say the least.
LAP 53: The Ferrari team are again the topic of conversation as Leclerc is let through back into 7th. The decision to let Hamilton through so late did not appear to work and therefore the position was given back and Leclerc was given the opportunity. However, the gap was 3 seconds with just 4 laps remaining which was not ideal.
Although, there was more confusion again as Leclerc was told to swap the positions again but Hamilton wasn’t. Therefore, they had to then tell Hamilton as he didn’t know this was what the team wanted. Once again more time wasted from the team.
On the same lap, Hamilton is told “Sainz is 1.4 behind” to which he responded by saying “You want me to let him past as well” in a sarcastic manner. A frustrated and fiery Lewis Hamilton to his team after a turbulent afternoon for the Scuderia.
LAP 57: Another dominant victory for McLaren and Oscar Piastri! A 1-2 finish with Lando Norris just over 4.5 seconds behind his teammate. Over half a minute to the next car in George Russell in the 3rd and final podium positions.
Max Verstappen finished in 4th with another points finish for Yuki Tsunoda in the other Red Bull in 10th. A great drive from Alex Albon who finished in 5th to pick up 10 points with Carlos Sainz 9th for another double points finish for Williams. Kimi Antonelli with another good performance to pick up more points for Mercedes in 6th. The top 10 was complete with both Ferrari’s, who finished next to each other in 7th and 8th. Another weekend which must surely fall below the expectations of the team for Ferrari.
RACE RESULT:
1) PIASTRI 2) NORRIS 3) RUSSELL 4) VERSTAPPEN 5) ALBON 6) ANTONELLI 7) LECLERC 8) HAMILTON 9) SAINZ 10) TSUNODA 11) HADJAR 12) OCON 13) GASLY 14) HULKENBERG 15) ALONSO 16) STROLL 17) LAWSON (DNF) 18) BORTOLETO (DNF) 19) BEARMAN (DNF) 20) DOOHAN (DNF)
