McLaren have scored maximum points this race weekend in Miami, as Oscar Piastri won the race ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell. The Grand Prix was just as exciting as the Sprint Race yesterday, so let’s look at some of the highlights.
- Four Retirements Overall
- Four of the six 2025 rookies did not have a race to remember, as they all suffered from retirements for various reasons. Jack Doohan was the first, after a spat with Liam Lawson saw the Alpine driver earn a puncture and coast to a stop alongside the track, as well as bring out the virtual safety car. Ollie Bearman was next to suffer a problem, this time with a PU issue on his Haas. Gabriel Bortoleto, whose Sauber also failed due to the Ferrari power unit, was next to retire. The onslaught of DNFs had not ended just yet, however, as Liam Lawson was also forced to retire the car after having sustained too much damage from the run-in with Doohan’s Alpine earlier on. Out of the two rookies left, only Kimi Antonelli was able to finish in the points, while Hadjar fell just short of securing one.
- Norris Loses Out as Piastri Takes Advantage
- The first corner was nothing short of excitement, as well as a little controversy, as the battle between first and second saw Lando run wide and drop down multiple places. There was talk on the radio from Norris, claiming Verstappen pushed him off, however the stewards saw no reason to further investigate. Meanwhile, after Piastri made quick work of rookie Antonelli, he shot off to pass Verstappen and drive farther up the road. After Norris climbed his way up to third, he took perhaps slightly more time than he would’ve liked battling the Red Bull of Max, and by that time his teammate Oscar had already gained a substantial time gap. The rest of the race is history, as Piastri was able to convert his early lead into his third consecutive Grand Prix win.
- Ferrari’s Lack of Pace and Confusing Team Orders
- Ferrari’s race was far from perfect, and it was clear that they didn’t have the pace to challenge the likes the Russell and Antonelli. Hamilton started the race from 12th of the grid, and did manage to climb up to P8, however from there things got a little confusing. At this point in time Antonelli was in sixth, Leclerc in seventh, and Hamilton behind. Lewis was on the faster tires, the mediums, having ran an opposite strategy to his teammate. Hamilton proposed a swap in drivers with the hope of catching Antonelli. After a handful of laps, the Ferrari pit wall reluctantly agreed. However, this was a temporary solution, and didn’t seem to make Leclerc happy, especially since Hamilton was doing nothing to gain time on Antonelli. So, the team ordered a second position swap with only a couple laps left to go, which didn’t seem to do much either. All in all, this will be a disappointing race for the Scuderia Ferrari team as the pace just doesn’t seem to be there.
- Russell Sneaks Onto the Podium Again
- Mercedes haven’t always appeared to be the quickest car, and certainly are no match for the McLaren, but time and time again has George Russell proven himself to be a worthy driver by putting himself on that final step of the podium. The Brit has done it again in Miami after a different strategy and early pitstop proved essential in earning P3. Russell started the race on hard tires before switching to mediums early, with the threat of potential rain still hanging over the drivers. However, with no rain coming and the mediums looking quite quick, Russell was the one that came out on top after Verstappen pitted for new tires, proving that the undercut had worked its magic. His teammate had a lesser race after starting from third on the grid, with Antonelli struggling to redeem himself after a disappointing Sprint and only finishing sixth in the Grand Prix. The Italian will be hoping that he’ll come back after the short break and be more on his teammate’s level.
- Williams Proving they have Pace
- The race may have not ended perfectly for Carlos Sainz, for he ended up ninth after starting from sixth on the grid and ahead of his teammate, while he’ll also be investigated after the race for yellow flag infringements. Alex Albon, on the other hand, will be incredibly pleased with his result, P5 ahead of both Ferrari drivers and his teammate, and only behind the McLarens, Russell, and Verstappen. If no penalties are issued to Sainz by the stewards, then Williams will have quite the satisfactory weekend with double points.
