The paddock headed across the Atlantic Ocean for the fifth round of the 2025 F1 season – the 2025 Miami GP.
Last time out in Saudi Arabia, Oscar Piastri secured his third win of the season, overtaking his teammate Lando Norris in the driver standings. Heading into a track where the Papaya were on top last season, McLaren secured a dominant weekend with a double 1-2 finish.
The Chronicles Headlines
- Oscar Piastri increases championship gap – the McLaren driver took his fifth career victory and his fourth this season, grabbing a 16-point advantage over Lando Norris.
- McLaren out of reach – Continuing their form, McLaren showcased what potential the MCL39 has around the teams’ favoured track, finishing over 30 seconds ahead of Mercedes in third.
- Weekend to forget for Aston Martin – It was a challenging weekend for the Silverstone-based team, who finished 15th and 16th, respectively.
- Continued communication issues for Lewis Hamilton – The seven-time world champion is still struggling with communication at his new team, Ferrari.
- Jack Doohan under pressure – Doohan entered the weekend as one of four drivers yet to score a point, and he exited the same after his second DNF of the season.
Miami stays until 2041
Ahead of the weekend, it was announced that the Miami track would be staying on the calendar until 2041. The deal means the track takes the crown for longest contract agreement on the schedule.
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicalli praised the work the circuit has done in increasing the audience of viewers around the USA, generating over $1 billion dollars in just three years:
“In just three years, the Miami Grand Prix has established itself as one of the most important and spectacular events on our calendar, an extraordinary example of quality and vision that truly represents the spirit and ambition of Formula 1 in the United States.”
“Extending this agreement until 2041 is a strategic milestone of enormous importance, which strengthens our presence in America and consolidates the ever-deepening bond with our fan base there, which is constantly growing and passionate like never before.”
“Miami is not only an extraordinary city, but also a truly global sporting hub, energetic, dynamic and culturally vibrant. All this would not have been possible without the far-sighted vision and tireless commitment of Stephen Ross and Tom Garfinkel, to whom I extend my sincere gratitude for the leadership, support and dedication with which they have helped transform the Miami Grand Prix into a world-class event.”
Piastri tops sole practice after session-ending red flag
With the Sprint format taking place, a singular 60-minute practice session for the Miami Grand Prix took place. When the track went green, a majority of the grid headed out to familiarise themselves with the track.
The first incident for Norris occurred when he reported that a mechanic had forgotten to remove their “tools” from the car. The Briton pitted, pulling out a wrench and torchlight from his McLaren.
The team were investigated after the session with the stewards issuing the Papaya with a warning. That wasn’t the only reason Norris got pulled into the steward’s office.
A separate incident was investigated post-session, involving him and Esteban Ocon. On the entry into Turn 17, Norris nearly hit the back of the Haas after Ocon slowed on the racing line. After the investigation, Ocon was also issued a warning.
On the other side of the track, George Russell had clocked in the fastest time, topping the timing sheets on the medium tyres. In the closing stages of the session, drivers began their qualifying simulation runs.
The world championship leader Piastri put a 1:27.128 on the board, securing the fastest time of the session. Charles Leclerc slotted in three-tenths behind the Australian before the red flag was thrown.
At Turn 12, Oliver Bearman had spun into the barriers in the final ten minutes to bring out a session-ending red flag. This hindered a significant number of drivers on the grid who were unable to attempt a flying lap. Amongst those drivers were Norris and Hamilton, who were mid-way through their flying laps when the session was ended, finishing 12th and 13th, respectively.
Max Verstappen completed the session in third, rounding out the top three for the session.
Antonelli becomes youngest ever pole-sitter for Sprint
Following a shortened practice session, Qualifying for the Sprint went underway. Kimi Antonelli secured his maiden pole position, replacing Sebastian Vettel’s previous record of youngest pole-sitter by two years. The 18-year-old secured the position by 0.045s ahead of Piastri.
Norris slotted in behind his teammate with Verstappen looming behind in fourth.
Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull was unable to advance into the second round of qualifying after leaving the garage too late. Tsunoda rounded out the session in 18th. A tough morning for Bearman saw an even tougher afternoon with the Briton also leaving the garage too late for a final attempt, qualifying in last.
Looking for a more positive weekend, Ferrari entered the weekend with optimism. The pair qualified in sixth and seventh.
Norris grabs Sprint victory after chaotic session
Stormy weather threatened the track with heavy rain hitting on Saturday afternoon. As the cars took round the circuit to make their way to the track, Leclerc hit the barriers and was unable to start the Sprint. Once the Ferrari was cleared up the cars began their formation lap, but with a lack of visibility drivers were sliding. Both Piastri and Verstappen complained about the conditions, with the latter running wide and spinning out of position. The race was subsequently red flagged until conditions cleared up.
After 30 minutes, the track was starting to dry up, and the cars once again rolled out on the circuit.
As the race began, Antonelli was overtaken by Piastri after the youngster ran wide and dropped down to fourth. Piastri kept the lead of the race with Norris keeping within close distance to his teammate.
Chaos ensues
As conditions started clearing up, the teams opted to gamble to switch their intermediate tyres for slicks. Verstappen in fourth headed into the pits, as the light was shown as clear for him to release, Antonelli rolled down the pit lane. The four-time world champion hit the Mercedes’ right-rear causing debris to fly out in the pit lane. Subsequently, Verstappen is handed a ten-second penalty for the incident.
At the same time, a yellow flag was thrown after Carlos Sainz hit the Turn 14 corner and suffered from a puncture.
Piastri is called into the pits on lap 13 for a pair of slicks, coming out 20 seconds behind Norris in first. A second safety car is brought out after Fernando Alonso slams into the barriers due to an incident involving himself and Liam Lawson.
Norris pitted at the perfect time, meaning he didn’t lose much time in the pits. The Briton came out of the pits ahead of his teammate and won the race behind the safety car to secure a 1-2 finish for McLaren.
Verstappen’s brillance on show in Qualifying
After a chaotic Sprint race, Qualifying was shaped up to be an exciting battle.
McLaren cruised to a dominating 1-2, 30 seconds ahead
Unlike the rest of the weekend, the race remained dry despite forecasts displaying threats of rain. Verstappen shot off the line well but locked up in the first corner, giving the McLarens a chance to pounce. The Red Bull driver, in an attempt to defend, pushed Norris’ McLaren off track – no further action for the incident. Despite the challenging start, Verstappen maintained the lead with Piastri looming behind.
Another incident at the start involving Alpine’s Doohan saw the Australian skid across Lawson’s sidepod, causing damage to both cars. Doohan retired from the race, while Lawson continued to limp around the track.
Up at the front Verstappen was holding onto his position with Piastri remaining in DRS of the Red Bull. Another moment for Alonso occurred on lap 10 when the Aston Martin spun, a difficult weekend for the veteran.
It wasn’t until lap 14 when Piastri came wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen to overtake the reigning world champion. The position loss meant he was under pressure from Norris in third, the title rivals scraped around the track with the pair forcing each other off. Norris made the pass on Verstappen with all four-wheels off the track, with the latter protesting for the positon to be handed back The McLaren obliged and the positions were reversed but it was only a couple of more corners before Norris made the move, this time on track.
Lap 28 saw the second retirement of the race when Bearman’s engine failed, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car, a difficult weekend for the rookie. While under VSC conditions, Russell undercut Verstappen and came out ahead of the Red Bull.
A couple of laps later, Gabriel Bortoleto pulled over on the track after issues with his Sauber, marking the third retirement of the race.
Hamilton unhappy with team decisions
Issues for Ferrari continued with Hamilton dishing out sarcastic digs to his engineer. The Briton had the faster set of tyres on and was stuck behind his teammate who was unable to catch up to Antonelli in seventh. Hamilton called for the positions to be swapped, the call was ignored for three laps before he was let ahead.
“Argh, you guys are… This is not good teamwork. That’s all I’m gonna say! In China I got out of the way when you were on a different strategy.
“We swap the cars… We swap.” Adami replied.
“Ah, have a tea break while you’re at it! Come on! This is not good team work, that’s all I’m gonna say.” Hamilton quipped back.
A couple of laps later the call was made for the positons to be swapped again after Hamilton couldn’t overtake Antonelli, this resulted in another sarcastic response from the seven-time world champion.
“Sainz 1.4 behind”
“You want me to let him pass as well?” Hamilton replied.
At the front of the pack, Piatri crossed the line, 4.6 secons ahead of Norris. The pair of McLaren’s were over 30 seconds ahead of Russell in third, highlighting an excellent result for the team. Despite the earlier issues for Verstappen he finished the race in fourth with Alex Albon and Antonelli behind the Dutchman.
Next up: Imola, 16-18th of May with both Formula 2 and 3 returning for the next round of their respective seasons.
Featured image: McLaren Racing
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