Oscar Piastri did it again. On Sunday, he won his third consecutive Formula 1 race in the Miami Grand Prix, extending his lead in the drivers’ standings with 131 points. Meanwhile, teammate Lando Norris finished second behind Piastri in South Beach to give McLaren its second one-two finish this season to boost their Formula 1 2025 odds of repeating as constructors’ champions. The British driver trails Piastri by 16 points in the drivers’ standings (115 points).
George Russell took the third podium spot, while Max Verstappen narrowly missed out at P4. Alex Albon raised eyebrows with his P5 finish – his second such outing in the 2025 season. On the other hand, it was another frustrating weekend for the Tifosi because the Ferrari drivers were off pace again. Charles Leclerc finished seventh, and Lewis Hamilton was behind him at P8.
If you missed the action in Miami, SBOTOP has you covered with the latest Formula 1 2025 updates.
McLaren flex their might in South Beach
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella left Miami a happy man after seeing his two drivers do well last Sunday. Lando Norris led a one-two finish at the Sprint last Saturday, and he and Piastri exchanged places in the actual race.
After coming agonisingly close to winning the Sprint, Piastri settled for fourth position after the qualifying session fell away from him. The Australian driver took advantage of Norris and Max Verstappen’s scrap in Lap 1, and Piastri eventually cleared Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and took the lead.
Piastri comfortably led the race through multiple Safety Cars and consistently kept Norris behind him. Norris believed he “paid the price” in the first lap to cede the lead to Piastri, who crossed the finish line 4.630s ahead of the British driver.
“What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people complain,” Norris said post-race about the opening lap incident with Verstappen. “If I go for it, people complain so you can’t win.”
“It’s the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass unless you get it really right and you put him in the perfect position, then you can just about get there. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today,” he added.
McLaren were so dominant that George Russell, who finished third to take the final podium spot, was 37.644s behind them. The Papayas looked a class ahead of everyone in terms of race pace.
Tensions arise for Ferrari
On the other hand, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur endured another frustrating weekend, as the team couldn’t get their act together, which pissed off Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton had been running behind seventh-place Charles Leclerc in eighth in the final few laps of the race, with the seven-time World Champion on medium tyres while the Monegasque was running the hard compound. Hamilton felt he had the pace to catch Kimi Antonelli, but the team took too long to decide whether to make the swap, which irked the British driver.
Ferrari decided to make the switch, but when Hamilton couldn’t reach Antonelli, Leclerc was told to switch positions with Hamilton. The 40-year-old followed the team’s orders and finished one minute behind the Papayas.
After the race, Vasseur was asked why the first decision had seemingly taken too long, and the Ferrari boss admitted he had a lot of things to consider before giving the go-ahead.
“If you ask them to swap, it’s because we think that the second car is faster than the first one at the stage of the race. We try to catch up the guy who is in front, and if we don’t do it, we swap back to respect the initial position at the stage of the race when it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to fight Antonelli with Lewis,” Vasseur explained.
Another commendable outing for Williams
Alex Albon was happy with his P5 finish in Miami, while teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. was unsatisfied despite his P9 result.
With the Williams pair starting sixth and seventh on the grid, the Grove-based outfit was certain to leave Miami with valuable points. Albon overcame mechanical issues with his car and looked faster than teammate Sainz.
Sainz was frustrated since he felt he should’ve finished higher on the grid, especially when the Spaniard was behind the two Ferraris and even made contact with Lewis Hamilton on the final lap.
Williams were the only midfield team to score in Miami, though they could’ve had more if Albon hadn’t received a time penalty for driving too slowly under the Safety Car during the Sprint.
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