and in so doing determinedly maintaining his place out front in a tight title fight Piastri laid down a marker in Florida that he will be exceptionally hard to beat this season Read moreLewis Hamilton however had another somewhat trying afternoon in the Ferrari after another testy run-in with his team over the radio Piastri has shown dominance from pole repeatedly this season, with this his fourth win, but at the Hard Rock Stadium he had to work for it and ensured he remains front and centre in the championship fight He now leads Norris by 16 points with Verstappen in third The Australian was driving at his very best his confidence high but matched with the calm assurance he has behind the wheel and with which he was able to deliver despite being chased to the flag by Norris The scale of their advantage over the rest of the field was breathtaking Once both drivers had clean air out front having passed Verstappen with Piastri finishing 37 seconds up on Russell Verstappen just held his lead through turn one but locked up and squeezed Norris off with the British driver losing places to sixth in the process in what was judged a racing incident after he had passed Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli They duelled for several laps to thrilling effect but on lap 14 Piastri finally made it stick at turn one by which point Norris had come back and almost caught them However the time it then took him to pass Verstappen during which he put nine seconds on his teammate a gap that was all but impossible for Norris to overcome with the two cars so closely matched and I just had to get him in the right position.” Lewis Hamilton whose relationship with his Ferrari team remains fractious Photograph: Shawn Thew/ReutersQualifying had been disappointing for Piastri but when it mattered he and Norris put the McLaren’s superior race pace to use with clinical effect Once he had passed Verstappen after a stout defence from the Dutchman Piastri was all but untouchable and he knew it showed how far he and the team have come “I remember two years ago in Miami we were genuinely the slowest team,” Piastri said recalling a race where Norris came 17th and he ended up lapped and second from last “To now have won the grand prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result.” This was indeed a masterful performance from driver and team for his first victory in Miami and a remarkable fourth in six races this season only the 24-year-old’s third campaign in F1 Free weekly newsletterThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action Hamilton and Ferrari however endured a more fractious afternoon Once more neither he nor Charles Leclerc were within a sniff of a podium and reduced to fighting the Williams of Carlos Sainz When Hamilton was clearly quicker Ferrari had Leclerc move over for him into seventh place but only after the British driver expressed intense frustration at the time the team took to make the decision “Have a tea break while you’re at it,” was his exasperated response They then had him give the place back later in the race and Hamilton’s response of: “You want to let him past as well?” was weighted with sarcasm and discontent Another indication the relationship with the Scuderia still has no little development in it For all that Verstappen and Red Bull had managed to find a better window for their car this weekend the McLaren was very much the class of the field in race pace and once more notably easier on its tyres than its competitors It is also notable this season that the two areas Piastri was considered unable to match Norris last year he has very much mastered and that is giving him a distinct advantage in the title fight for which he might now be considered favourite Red Bull launched a protest after the race stating they believed Russell had not slowed under yellow flags during the virtual safety car period but it was rejected by the stewards and the classification remained unchanged Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri parade in a Lego replica of their McLaren before the Miami Grand Prix Photograph: Debby Wong/ZUMA Press Wire/ShutterstockTypically for the grand sense of fun and spectacle Miami presents before the race the drivers had taken to the track in specially built full-size Lego replicas of their car consisting of 400,000 blocks and weighing over a ton and a half They drove the track at 20km/h and proved enormously popular with the drivers but when the serious business was finished in Florida it must be considered that it is Piastri who now has all the building blocks in place for a serious tilt at the title I agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies to serve relevant advertising and improve my service Pay to read The Race without adverts or cookies used for personalised ads By logging in, you agree to our use of third-party and analytics cookies to enhance your experience and improve our services. For more details, please review our Privacy Policy While Ferrari's particular team order situation hogged the limelight at the Miami Grand Prix Williams navigated an arguably bigger controversy - as one of its drivers felt short-changed by the execution of team strategy Carlos Sainz indicated after the race that he was made to "feel stupid" after having been led to believe that he and team-mate Alex Albon have been instructed not to fight - only to be overtaken by Albon when Albon overtook Sainz - after the pair of them had already exchanged positions a couple of times earlier in the race Sainz told Williams: "Let's go forward guys He then said "I could do with a bit of help from Alex" and was told by race engineer Gaetan Jego that Albon "got the call" - which was then immediately followed by Albon making the move for sixth place "You told me he's been told [to stay behind]," Sainz objected on team radio before being told to "stay within DRS" and "let's be the bigger one" "The team told us that we were going to freeze positions I don't know if he got the message or not but basically he overtook me back," Sainz relayed after the race Sainz insisted initially that he wasn't frustrated - but did make a reference to his own effort to keep Albon within DRS range in the preceding Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which helped protect Sainz and Albon's positions versus Isack Hadjar's Racing Bulls car "If I'm told on the radio that I'm not going to be attacked and we're going to push together to be overtaken as a driver you feel stupid you're playing the good guy - the same way that I played the good guy in Jeddah - and you get overtaken I'm sure we'll come out of it better as a team and we will move on." The available broadcast feeds do not make it possible to establish the exact timing of messages but Albon's radio feed reconstructs the situation well "It was most probably in the exact moment of that message was when I overtook him," Albon explained afterwards "I think if we stayed together a little bit longer then I would've been told that [to stay back] - but for that time we were still free to race I think it was just a delay between the two cars." but the instruction was immediately reversed just as Sainz was being told that Albon had received his instruction Albon was told by race engineer James Urwin: "Right we're managing a water pressure issue with you we need to maintain a gap of at least a second to the car ahead." But Albon quickly pointed out that he was "about to overtake" Sainz with DRS on that run to Turn 11 and wound up picking off the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli to secure a fifth-place finish - while Sainz lost out in a close battle to the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to end up ninth before the team order drama there had already been a collsion that very nearly put one or both drivers out of the race The Turns 1-2 squabble between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the start led to Sainz being slowed significantly by Norris rejoining the track which then triggered a Turn 3 contact between the two Williams cars Sainz's front left impacting against Albon's rear right Sainz felt the car was damaged from there on - and was also hamstrung by "some operational mistakes" that meant he ran a used tyre in the first stint But he had overtaken Albon back after that impact as Albon struggled to get into a rhythm early fearing damage of his own after the contact which was "upsetting my focus a little bit" and the aforementioned water pressure issue while behind Sainz "resolved itself in clean air" And Albon hinted that he felt his race result was vindication of how the team order situation played out "We had really strong pace on my side of the garage Please accept marketing cookies to enable YouTube videos Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time Oscar Piastri’s championship lead grew at Miami on Sunday with a flawless drive to claim his sixth grand prix win while title rival and teammate Lando Norris had to settle for second place with Mercedes’ George Russell in third With his trademark calm and cool demeanour the Melburnian outmaneuvered Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to snatch the lead early in the race and set a dominant pace the rest of the grid couldn’t touch Miami Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri Credit: Getty Images but very happy to be leaving Miami on top,” Piastri said in a post-race interview Against the backdrop of uncharacteristically gloomy Miami skies and looming rain Pole-sitter Max Verstappen and Lando Norris went wheel-to-wheel in turn 2 but Norris was squeezed off track and fell into sixth place Piastri moved from fourth on the grid into second and stuck to Verstappen like glue piling on the pressure and waiting for the typically flawless four-time world champion to make a mistake Despite Verstappen’s fierce racecraft and defensive driving Piastri went around the outside on the first corner on lap 14 Verstappen defended but went deep and slid off track allowing the Australian to soar past and claim the trophy topping off his post-race celebrations with an inevitably viral griddy dance Norris was quizzed by journalists about the early incident with Verstappen and shrugged off suggestions the gap was too narrow Unless you get it really right and 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 Williams driver Alex Albon secured a brilliant fifith place while teammate Carls Sainz also finished in the points Ferrrai driver Lewis Hamilton – who finished P8 – was uncharacteristically chatty over his team radio expressing his frustrations after the team delayed the decision to swap positions with teammate Charles Leclerc His sarcastic one-liners included telling his engineer to have a tea break and pondering if he should let Williams driver Carlos Sainz through It was a woeful day for fellow Aussie Jack Doohan who crashed out in the opening lap after making contact with Liam Lawson With Alpine reserve drive Franco Colapinto ready in waiting the rumours around the Australian’s seat security grow louder F1 commentator Martin Brundle may have said it best but there is now a healthy 16-point gap between Piastri and Norris The F1 community can no doubt expect many McLaren one-two finishes for the rest of the season A title showdown between the two teammates may be inevitable That wraps up our coverage of this year’s Miami Grand Prix Australia’s Oscar Piastri celebrates aftr winning the Miami Grand Prix Keep an eye on our websites over the next two weeks with the Emilia-Romagna GP (May 16) and the famous Monaco GP (May 23) to come Nicole Piastri is off to Pilates as a winner Or as she puts it… more like a winner’s mum Oscar Piastri’s mum celebrated his win on social media joking “More of those please Osc Even got my wordle done while I was waiting for the end.” Let’s hit pause on Piastri celebrations and head back to some Ferrari radio shenanigans Lewis Hamilton was unusually vocal on the team radio during the Miami GP expressing his frustration with the team’s strategy in swapping positions In a post-race interview Hamilton – who finished in P8 – said he really enjoyed the race “Let’s make a concise decision,” he said when asked about his radio comments “People say way worse things than I say,” he added with a smile If you could only describe Oscar Piastri with one word The McLaren driver stuck to Max Verstappen like glue at the start of the race piling on the pressure and waiting for the four-time world champion to make a mistake Despite the Red Bull’s champion’s fierce racecraft and defensive driving Piastri went around the outside on the first corner of the 14th lap Drivers all have unique ways of celebrating a podium finish Some play it cool and go for a simple fist pump in the air while others opt for crowd-surfing in their team’s ecstatic arms A shout-out to NFL player Justin Jefferson who taught Piastri the move a few days earlier and asked him to perform the dance if he won the race The typically chill Piastri stood atop of the podium and the Miami sunshine has finally decided to make an appearance Oscar Piastri wins Miami Credit: Getty Images But the Australian said in a post-race interview he still has plenty to learn “I won the race that I really wanted to — yesterday was tricky,” he said “Qualifying was one of my trickiest sessions of the year so to come away with the win is an amazing result “The hard stint I was struggling a little bit so there are some things to work on,” he added but very happy to be leaving Miami on top.” Here’s an update of the driver standings after Miami Both Norris and Piastri were flying around the circuit today and not even the valiant efforts of Max Verstappen could stop them Lando Norris commended his teammate for his drive and also offered commentary on the earlier incident with Verstappen Norris felt as if he had been pushed off by Verstappen during an incident at turn two That wraps up our coverage of this year\\u2019s Miami Grand Prix Or as she puts it\\u2026 more like a winner\\u2019s mum Oscar Piastri\\u2019s mum celebrated his win on social media joking \\u201CMore of those please Osc Even got my wordle done while I was waiting for the end.\\u201D Oscar Piastri\\u2019s championship lead grew at Miami on Sunday with a flawless drive to claim his sixth grand prix win while title rival and teammate Lando Norris had to settle for second place with Mercedes\\u2019 George Russell in third the Melburnian outmaneuvered Red Bull\\u2019s Max Verstappen to snatch the lead early in the race and set a dominant pace the rest of the grid couldn\\u2019t touch but very happy to be leaving Miami on top,\\u201D Piastri said in a post-race interview Despite Verstappen\\u2019s fierce racecraft and defensive driving if I don\\u2019t go for it then people complain \\u201CI paid the price for not doing a good enough job today but [I\\u2019m] still happy to be second.\\u201D Ferrrai driver Lewis Hamilton \\u2013 who finished P8 \\u2013 was uncharacteristically chatty over his team radio the rumours around the Australian\\u2019s seat security grow louder Let\\u2019s hit pause on Piastri celebrations and head back to some Ferrari radio shenanigans expressing his frustration with the team\\u2019s strategy in swapping positions In a post-race interview Hamilton \\u2013 who finished in P8 \\u2013 said he really enjoyed the race \\u201CLet\\u2019s make a concise decision,\\u201D he said when asked about his radio comments \\u201CPeople say way worse things than I say,\\u201D he added with a smile Despite the Red Bull\\u2019s champion\\u2019s fierce racecraft and defensive driving Some play it cool and go for a simple fist pump in the air while others opt for crowd-surfing in their team\\u2019s ecstatic arms \\u201CI won the race that I really wanted to \\u2014 yesterday was tricky,\\u201D he said \\u201CQualifying was one of my trickiest sessions of the year \\u201CThe hard stint I was struggling a little bit so there are some things to work on,\\u201D he added but very happy to be leaving Miami on top.\\u201D Here\\u2019s an update of the driver standings after Miami Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox SUPERCARS F1 NASCAR INDYCAR GT MOTOGP PHOTOS TV PODS ACDELCO Subscribe to our daily and breaking newsletter for all the latest news delivered direct to your box 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This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Our Team    /  Advertise with us  /  Privacy Policy Please enter your username or email address to reset your password Oscar Piastri extended his winning streak and lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship at the Miami Grand Prix Piastri had the major task of overtaking Max Verstappen on the agenda if he was to make it three wins in a row but it was a challenge which he rose to as the Aussie further strengthened his title credentials Piastri now has a buffer of 16 points over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris at the top of the Drivers’ Championship Norris having ensured a McLaren one-two in Miami while reigning champion Max Verstappen is now increasingly looking over his shoulder at Mercedes’ George Russell 👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates 👉 How LEGO brought 10 life-size, fully-drivable F1 cars to life Let’s take a look through the full Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings after the Miami Grand Prix F1 2025 Drivers’ Championship standings F1 2025 Constructors’ Championship standings Read next: Tempers flare between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari in Miami GP radio transcript © Planet Sport Limited 2025 • All Rights Reserved Play Duration: 4 minutes 24 seconds4m 24sPresented by Australia's Oscar Piastri has won three races in a row after taking out the Miami Grand Prix.  His McLaren teammate Lando Norris came in second, and Mercedes driver George Russell came in third.  Despite 18 weeks of racing still to go, the hype is around Piastri to win this year's circuit. Featured:Oscar Piastri, McLaren driverF1 CommentatorsStewart Bell, F1 journalist Formula 1 F1 — Miami Grand Prix — Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, United States — May 4, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrates with the trophy on the podium after winning the Miami Grand Prix.(Reuters: Brian Snyder) TranscriptAndy Park: For the fourth time this Formula One season, Oscar Piastri has taken out a top podium finish. The Australian has now won three consecutive Formula One Grand Prix after taking the crown this morning in Miami. The 24-year-old now leads the season by 16 points with his McLaren teammate Lando Norris in second place. Kimberley Price. F1 Commentators: And Piastri on top as Oscar Piastri wins the Miami Grand Prix. Kimberley Price: Australian driver Oscar Piastri has now won three Formula One races in a row, claiming the podium in Miami. Starting fourth place on the grid, the McLaren driver claimed the lead on lap 14 after passing Max Verstappen at turn one and managed to hold on. Oscar Piastri praised his team for his fourth win of the season. Oscar Piastri: Yeah, obviously there was a bit of argy-bargy at turn one, which helped me out a little bit and then I was aware enough to avoid Max coming through in turn one. So yeah, from that point onwards, I knew that I had a good pace advantage and clearly the car was unbelievable today. Kimberley Price: There's a tight competition between the McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. While Piastri leads the competition by 16 points, Lando Norris is in second place with 18 weekends of racing still to come. Commentators in Miami were quick to praise the Aussie driver. F1 Commentators: He's definitely got the edge over Norris on racecraft. Piastri's getting the job done, getting moves made, not making mistakes and he's getting victories. Kimberley Price: Stewart Bell is a Melbourne-based Formula One journalist. He says the Miami Grand Prix showed Piastri's skills. Stewart Bell: Oscar's race was fantastic. It was a masterful drive. He started fourth on the grid, took advantage of the first corner melee with his teammate Lando Norris and Max Verstappen and then basically just went after Verstappen and passed him. With a fantastic pass, he is just the most consistently relaxed performer in a Formula One car that we've seen for many a year. Kimberley Price: F1 journalist Stewart Bell believes Piastri's composure is a huge driver of his success. Stewart Bell: It really is amazing. In his third season in the sport, he's got his head right and that is the toughest thing to do in Formula One is to have your head right because there's all these different factors that can swing against you. Kimberley Price: While Stewart Bell says Piastri's 16-point lead is fantastic, heading into the European leg of the season could shake things up. Stewart Bell: There's a big change happening in Spain at round nine, which is sort of three rounds from now where the BFIA, the governing body, will be cracking down on front wings and the regulations there. So whether that will change things for McLaren, we don't know. Kimberley Price: However, Stewart Bell believes an early lead in the season could prove decisive. Stewart Bell: This is the way you win titles in Formula One is at the start of the year by building that momentum. And that's actually how Max Verstappen won last year. Everyone in the sport, not just in Australia, but in Europe and all throughout the world believes that Oscar can make it happen. Kimberley Price: While Oscar Piastri is normally a quiet achiever, his win in Miami saw him perform a gritty dance after losing a bet to American football wide receiver Justin Jefferson. The footage has since gone viral. Justin Jefferson: Hill to hill, hill to hill. Yeah! E3B! The next race you win, you get out the car. I gotta hit the gritty. Oscar Piastri: I lost a bet for that one. So I met Justin Jefferson the other day. He's well renowned for doing the gritty when he scores a touchdown. And we made a bet that if I won, then I would do the gritty. After qualifying fourth, I can't say I practiced very much. So I had the realisation on the in lap and yeah. There's been a lot of highlights this year. That was certainly not one of them. Kimberley Price: The Formula One drivers next take to the track on May 16 in Italy. Andy Park: Kimberly Price reporting there. Download the ABC listen app to hear more of your favourite podcasts Become part of the largest racing community in the United Kingdom The stewards were forced to look into a duo of incidents after the chequered flag at the Miami Grand Prix Two F1 drivers have been have escaped punishment after they were investigated after the Miami Grand Prix Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly were called to see the F1 stewards after they allegedly failed to slow for a yellow flag during the race Sainz ended the race in ninth place to cap off a double-points finish for Williams as team-mate Alex Albon matched his season best in fifth endured a more challenging race as he took the chequered flag in 13th The stewards found the drivers did not slow for the yellow but deemed no yellow flag was visible to them at the time of the alleged infringement it is evident that the yellow flag was only shown from one marshal post and was shown against a yellow background in a very quick part of the track,” read a statement there was no light panel in place at that point and therefore neither the team nor the driver got any visual or audible warning.  “The car causing the yellow flag also was not visible from the driver’s perspective as it was hidden behind an exit The Stewards consider all this as a unique scenario and taking all these mitigating circumstances into account Sainz was also investigated for an incident with Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the race - however the stewards opted to take no further action for the minor coming together Sign up for the daily digest and/or weekly newsletter and we'll make sure that you are fully up to date with the latest news from the Formula 1 world Find the latest F1 news and news from other motorsport series at RacingNews365.com the world's leading independent F1 website providing daily F1 coverage Check out the 2025 F1 calendar for an overview of all the races with extensive background and real-time information.  Follow RacingNews365 on your favorite social media channels Get quick access to your favorite articles Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers Make your voice heard with article commenting Earlier in the season, on the eve of the Japanese Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri somewhat torturously booted a question about the championship into the long grass At that point he was fourth in the standings, 10 points behind team-mate and championship leader Lando Norris having lost ground thanks to a costly spin in the season opener then clawed it back by finishing second in the Chinese sprint and winning the grand prix “Of course I want to try and reverse that gap that we have,” he said “but with 22 races to go it would be a pretty stressful year if you were worrying about that gap already they can be won and lost at the start of the year but they can also be won and lost at the end of the year The first six races are just as important as the last six “I've had plenty of championships myself where you look at the gaps and where you've lost points and stuff like that – and you generally don't really look at where in the year they came you just look at the fact that you did have points that you lost through the season at some point “So I think those kinds of weekends where you maximise the performance executing more weekends clinically while Norris has stumbled over every obstacle he has had to traverse In Japan both McLaren drivers were caught out by Max Verstappen pulling a sizzling pole lap seemingly out of nowhere in the truculent RB21 then weren’t able to overtake in a race where track configuration and lack of tyre degradation rendered passing virtually impossible and that was the last time Oscar trailed his team-mate across the line through a fault of his own weekend execution In Bahrain Norris qualified seventh with a scruffy lap which moved him to remark “I feel like I’ve never driven an F1 car before” then compromised what might otherwise have been an impressive recovery drive by incurring a penalty at the start Piastri imperiously converted pole position into the race win on a day when Verstappen struggled with a troublesome car and malfunctioning pit equipment After the race Norris was asked what positives he took away from it and his reply was to the point: “That it’s finished Norris again laboured in vain while trying to essay a clean Q3 lap it was Oscar who made a slightly better getaway than the polesitter and reached the first corner in a strong enough position for Max to try to brazen it out skittering over the run-off and incurring a penalty In Miami, again both McLarens were edged out in qualifying – for both the sprint and the Grand Prix. At the start of the sprint Piastri pounced on the polesitting Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Turn 1 and would have won but for a quirk of Safety Car timing which enabled Norris to pit and emerge ahead Qualifying for the main event went less well and Piastri was left ruing a mistake on his Q3 lap which left him fourth behind Antonelli again – as well as polesitter Verstappen and Norris But as the field filtered through Turns 1 and 2 on race day Max contrived to edge Lando off the track then hunted down Verstappen and eventually cracked his resolute defence The Dutchman could have spent all afternoon ‘parking the bus’ on the inside line but Piastri forced him into an error and grabbed the lead The recovering Norris had closed in on this battle but then made heavier weather of passing Verstappen It was another four laps before he could make a clean overtake at Turn 11 having first gone off-track there while getting by the Red Bull and having to hand the position back By this point Piastri was almost 10 seconds up the road and consolidating what would become victory "Winning the races is what is exciting at the moment,” Piastri said ahead of this weekend’s contests.  I'm much more proud and satisfied of the work and the reasons behind why I'm leading the championship than actually the fact that I am leading the championship.  “Especially given that Melbourne didn't go very well from a points point of view I think it went well as far as execution goes but considering I started with a bit of a deficit and I've pulled it back I think that's kind of the part that I'm enjoying the most is the reasons why we're leading the championship.” It’s clear that the MCL39 is a difficult car to escort to the limit at every corner on a performance-based lap But it’s also more benign than any others on its tyres over a race stint – and the advantage it has over other cars is more pronounced in hot conditions Piastri is now 16 points ahead of Norris in the drivers’ championship but he is palpably the happier of the two McLaren drivers at the moment as the margins in championships ebb and flow it’s all about maximising what’s on the table at each round From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport In order to keep delivering our expert journalism we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker has left all in his wake and claimed an emphatic win in the Miami Grand Prix on Monday After starting in fourth position on the grid the McLaren driver quickly charged into third position on lap one and soon after gobbled up the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli teammate Lando Norris and pole-sitter and four-time world champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull Once the young charger had clear air in front he surged away and continued to put space on the field with every lap Get the first look at the digital newspaper curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox Get the NewsletterBy continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I’m very happy after all the hard work we have done to get here,” Piastri said after exiting his McLaren’s cockpit to jubilant scenes “It’s incredible but there is still more hard work to go “Two years ago we were genuinely the slowest team on the track and now we are the fastest Melbourne-born Piastri now sits atop the 2025 Formula One championship standings with four race wins after previously going back-to-back in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and has become a clear favourite to claim the world title Team McLaren are also in the box seat to take the coveted constructor’s title this season after Lando Norris speared Zak Brown’s team into a one-two finish and a sea of orange in the Miami winners pit lane area Red Bull’s Verstappen gave up his lead on lap 13 after braking too late at the first corner losing more ground to Norris five laps later Verstappen could only lament his luck on the team radio: “F*** brakes jumped Verstappen on lap 30 after a strategic pit stop under the virtual safety car An engine issue suffered by Haas rookie Oliver Bearman had brought out the safety car McLaren ace Norris also pulled off an impressive drive to recover from sixth for a podium finish Australian Oscar Piastri crosses the finish line to take out the Miami Grand Prix had plummeted down the order on the first lap after Verstappen forced him wide at the second turn Red Bull heavyweight Verstappen had only just recovered from locking up his wheels at the previous turn Australian rookie Jack Doohan’s race ended just seconds into the opening lap after a wheel puncture The under-pressure Alpine driver had collided with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson at turn one had started in 14th after out-qualifying teammate Pierre Gasly for the first time along with Kick Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto Latest EditionEdition Edition 5 May 20255 May 2025All-powerful Anthony Albanese says give me some R.E.S.P.E.C.T The Miami GP powers a billion-dollar engine of entertainment But some are still weighing whether the trade-offs are worth it On a humid Sunday afternoon in 2022, a who’s who of Hollywood’s rolling credits, Silicon Valley tech tycoons and the internet’s favorite micro-celebrities sat comfortably in shaded trackside VIP suites as 20 cars jolted past. Formula One, America’s latest sporting obsession had finally carved out a home in South Florida and it fit Miami’s over-the-top image Four years into F1’s 20-year stay in the 305 the event has solidified itself as a place to see and be seen: everyone from Kardashians to A-list actors to sports stars has lined up for a joy ride around the turquoise circuit’s 19 corners This Sunday’s race will be no different. But a few hundred feet outside Hard Rock Stadium’s walls sits a different side of Miami, one that isn’t even within city limits. And Hard Rock’s history is an example of how much stadiums can have an effect on the people who live near them in the US. is a thriving African-American city – an economic haven for Black Miamians forced out of other neighborhoods as Miami built up and out bring in $60,000 a year and more than 13% of the city’s 110,000 people live in poverty While residents may not position themselves outside the stadium this Sunday F1’s move to Miami Gardens followed a pattern: events that whiter and wealthier neighborhoods opposed – like the world’s largest hip-hop festival – ended up at Hard Rock Stadium The Miami Grand Prix is just the latest example F1 proposed a race in downtown Miami in 2018 just as the sport began to swell stateside Residents in a majority-white neighborhood filed a cease-and-desist order citing traffic and noise concerns The potential for an F1 grand prix down Biscayne Boulevard was quickly squashed by the city council Organizers pivoted their sights to Miami Gardens the largest predominantly Black neighborhood in Florida historically redlined communities as a dumping ground for undesirable spectacles is routine across the US and is “the path of least resistance” an associate professor at Florida State University who centers his research on how stadiums exacerbate environmental inequalities “The decision doesn’t escape me that [the Miami GP] was proposed downtown and they said Residents with addresses lining the stadium sued then-Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos Giménez, F1, Hard Rock Stadium and the Miami Dolphins for racial discrimination led by former county commissioners Betty Ferguson and Barbara Jordan raised similar arguments as downtown Miami homeowners including traffic and public health concerns “We really believe it’s environmental racism,” Ferguson said at the time He recommended locals who had concerns stay inside their homes and wear earplugs has measured air quality and noise across the circuit’s campus each year The results show that noise and air pollution from 2022 to 2024 passed EPA and OSHA industry standards “The air pollution figures are actually lower following the Miami GP than other events because we provide so many alternate transportation and ride-share options to reduce cars on the local roads,” a race spokesperson said “That doesn’t mean that therefore there is no effect because they were unable to show noise pollution,” Kellison says Despite locals saying they would continue to work within the political system for justice haven’t posted since the inaugural grand prix The Guardian spoke to a number of people who said they oppose the race “The political system is probably not in [people who oppose the GP’s] favor right now,” Madeleine Orr a sport ecologist who founded the Sport Ecology Group with Kellison Over the past two years, Miami mayor Francis Suarez garnered backlash for attending the Miami GP once with Florida’s wealthiest man and a second time with his private equity firm Some of the same county commissioners who voted against F1’s presence in the community officially declared 4 May “Formula One Day” last year One of those elected officials included Oliver Gilbert who said: “It’s not a place to dump events that are toxic to people.” Supporters make the economic impact argument: stadiums funnel money into the local community through job creation and tax revenue boosts along with transforming cities into more livable and desirable spaces by bringing more efficient buildings and natural disaster prevention to neighborhoods Hard Rock Stadium is a top employer in the city and the 2025 F1 race will credential 18,000 people Fifteen locally owned restaurants will partner with the track The first three years brought more than $1bn in economic impact and boosted bottom lines for the sport – the 2024 Miami race shattered F1’s viewership record The F1 ruling body’s current environmental standards do not require circuits to think about a race’s impact on host communities she believes the sport is working in good faith to consider how its presence could affect locals Orr will join the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) University as a visiting sustainability professor this year There have been efforts to make sure the race benefits the local community Before Hard Rock started hosting the grand prix the stadium and the event promoter outlined a set of conditions with the Miami-Dade County Commission The Community Benefits Agreement requires F1 to host the race “in a manner that provides substantial economic and community benefits that directly support city residents and locally-owned businesses to participate in the event and promote the city as the first majority African-American city to host a Formula 1 race.” That means providing $5m in community funding and committing to noise mitigation air quality monitoring and racing outside of school hours “F1 in Schools” included opening the sport’s paddock to local students and interns for STEM programming the partnership has settled into a rhythm of community engagement: hosting a “Business of F1 Community Workshop,” creating scholarships for students at Miami Gardens’ two local universities handing out 1,500 free tickets per year for residents and diverting food waste to local food banks The stadium lessened traffic concerns with a $17m investment in tunnels and pedestrian bridges it has allocated a portion of parking revenues to a local neighborhood association a Miami Gardens resident who moved to the area before the stadium was built and focuses instead on the benefits the stadium has brought to the community “It’s not like the [engines] that used to be loud,” Reyno said Orr says bringing a grand prix to a city raises questions we are going to necessarily have a carbon footprint,” she says “But what are the exchanges we can have with the community What kinds of tech transfer can we bring and then leave here What kinds of solutions can be implemented at this place?” But not everyone was convinced by the Community Benefits Agreement Kellison says some questioned whether the agreement was “enough to compensate for the disruption that [the race] is going to cause just quality of life for a weekend.” Two county commissioners voted against the agreement Even before the starting lights go out on Sunday afternoon and engines screech to life the stadium’s community efforts have righted its reputation “Even given what I know and who I work with I will probably side with residents on this,” she says “I don’t know that I would want it in my backyard.” “I think it’s important to recognize the fact that this is not just an isolated group of naysayers who are ‘not my backyard’ people and would oppose everything,” Kellison says. “If they’ve been talking about events at the stadium or around the stadium site for a number of years, a number of decades, perhaps they’re on to something.” Calling in from his office on Florida State University’s campus, Kellison pauses and recalls a line he read once that stuck with him: “Race tracks aren’t meant to be in neighborhoods.” the world’s premier manufacturer of barefoot hazards has constructed 10 fully operational F1 cars for the Miami Grand Prix Obviously they’re not for racing (although you have to wonder if Sauber might be keen) instead bringing a bit of novelty factor to the drivers’ parade ahead of this weekend’s race ‘If there are 10 cars and 20 drivers… do half of them have to walk?’ Fair question For these almost 1:1 scale Lego F1 cars are made for two “We actually started developing the cockpit first because we had to fit two people inside,” Jonathan Jurion “Obviously the Lego set fits a mini-figure.. which doesn't have the anatomy of a real person “So fitting two people inside was a bit of a challenge We had people of different heights sitting inside The designs are actually based on the (much) smaller Speed Champions versions and while the teams didn’t have to hand over reams of complicated 3D data to make the whole enterprise possible they did all sign off on their individual liveries Each car features almost 400,000 bricks and weighs 1,500kg with 26 specialists involved in the design A team of dedicated builders worked in shifts to get each car finished if one person worked around the clock without loo breaks or sleep they would’ve needed… two and a half years there isn’t a single brick used that you can’t buy in a shop so if you really wanted to you could do this yourself Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter Look out for your regular round-up of news No 1.6-litre V6 hybrid here obviously; instead Lego’s done the sensible thing and stuck with an electric motor that generates 11bhp or about the same as an Alonso-McLaren era Honda single-speed transmission and differential are all housed in one unit we could go really close to the real thing The top speed is barely more than 12mph and the battery is only big enough to do the parade lap (plus a little extra But F1-rivalling G force was never the goal we could go really close to the real thing if we wanted to,” Jurion insists adding that the team had to deliver all 10 cars in just eight months when before one car had taken up to a year “So we try to keep it as simple as possible and focus more on reliability and drivability.” Probably wise They’re as simple as it gets to operate: there’s one switch (up for forward and two buttons to wake up the motor and power steering All thoroughly tested back in the factory parking lot in Kladno That didn’t stop Lego from sending the drivers a user manual in advance. Although we suspect that was more about making sure they stuck to the Renault Twizy-style seating arrangement, rather than half of them riding shotgun a la Senna and Mansell… After this weekend the cars will go on tour, rather than following the more traditional route of being consigned to the attic, never to be seen again. “They’ll spread around the globe and hopefully inspire kids – and adults – to join Lego and Formula One as well,” says Jurion. You never know, if next year’s regs turn out as bad as the doom mongers are claiming, F1 might yet put in an order for another 10… No money from the licence fee was used to create this website The profits we make from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes BBC is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation You have reached ESPN's Australian edition. Stay on current site or go to US version Catch up lap-by-lap on the Miami Grand Prix as Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead to 16 points with victory ahead of teammate Lando Norris Read the report by Laurence Edmondson in Miami How Lego built life-size F1 cars for Miami GP driver parade Look back at all the key updates and watch the best video from a dramatic Miami Grand Prix Sprint weekend Albon delighted with fifth in Miami as Sainz admits frustrations over inability to score 'bigger' points for Williams ‘We made it count when it mattered’ – Russell satisfied with recovery to podium after troublesome Miami weekend Stella ‘surprised’ by McLaren advantage after 1-2 in Miami as he hails particular area of engineering 'excellence' MONDAY MORNING DEBRIEF: How Leclerc and Hamilton’s opposing Miami strategies culminated in fractious Ferrari radio exchanges MIAMI LOWDOWN: All the key moments as McLaren and Antonelli shine Piastri wins from Norris and Russell as McLaren seal commanding 1-2 in Miami Grand Prix FACTS AND STATS: Piastri secures McLaren’s first victory hat trick in over 25 years Norris concedes he 'paid the price' as he reflects on Lap 1 battle with Verstappen in Miami ‘I didn’t deliver’ – Norris laments struggle to maximise McLaren’s performance in Miami © 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited the drivers could be faced with a wet track surface when the lights go out for the Miami Grand Prix This time it’s Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on pole with the man who started from P1 on Saturday – Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli – in third who has McLaren team mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri immediately behind in P4 Mercedes’ George Russell lines up aft of Antonelli in fifth READ MORE: Verstappen vs Norris into Turn 1 and Antonelli after redemption – What To Watch For in the Miami Grand Prix Qualifying saw another strong Williams showing, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon sixth and seventh respectively. They’re followed by the lead Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, out to make amends for his Sprint snafu when he crashed en route to the grid Esteban Ocon starts a superb ninth for his Haas team’s home race while completing the top 10 is Yuki Tsunoda in the sister Red Bull And in case you’re wondering about a certain seven-time World Champion the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton sits 12th in the starting order Just one car will be starting from the pit lane and that’s Pierre Gasly whose Alpine has been modified under Parc Ferme conditions after the Frenchman originally qualified 18th The 2025 Miami Grand Prix starts at 1600 local time. Be sure to join our live coverage from 1500 here Piastri wins from Norris and Russell as McLaren seal commanding 1-2 in Miami Grand Prix Verstappen labels Miami Grand Prix ‘a struggle’ after slipping back to P4 as he reflects on gap to McLaren Driveable LEGO big builds welcomed to Miami drivers’ parade Cadillac unveil their team logo and brand during dazzling Miami launch event ahead of 2026 entry TREMAYNE: The tragic story of Mark Donohue – The American racer with a streak of steel behind his ‘Captain Nice’ nickname Williams duo keen to 'play with strategies' as they target strong result in Miami after impressive Qualifying What the teams said – Sprint day and Qualifying in Miami Oranje rather than papaya took top honours in the Sunshine State on Saturday afternoon when we got our second pole position driver of the weekend Max Verstappen put a dismal Sprint result behind him to deliver a mighty lap when it mattered edging out Lando Norris by a matter of hundredths of a second having bested drivers’ championship leader and team mate Oscar Piastri There was only a tenth between the two McLarens but that was sufficient space for Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli to crowbar his way in delivering his second impressive qualifying performance of the weekend FIA post-Qualifying press conference – Miami Oscar Piastri extended his lead at the top of the Formula 1 standings after leading home a dominant McLaren 1-2 in the Miami Grand Prix which came after a titanic battle for the lead with Max Verstappen The Dutchman led from pole having gone wheel-to-wheel with fellow front row starter Lando Norris through the opening turns with the McLaren driver running off track and losing several spots READ MORE: Piastri wins from Norris and Russell as McLaren seal commanding 1-2 in Miami Grand Prix It fell to Piastri to launch a challenge and over the opening 14 laps he made several attempts to pass the reigning World Champion eventually prevailing as Verstappen ran deep at Turn 1 after a robust defence Norris also made his way through after several of his own attempts and with the forecasted rain not materialising Piastri managed the gap to claim a hat-trick of wins on the bounce extending his points lead over Norris to 16 beat Verstappen to the final step of the podium after benefitting from a mid-race Virtual Safety Car Watch the highlights from the 2025 Miami Grand Prix by hitting go on the video player above VideoWATCH: Ride onboard with Verstappen for his mighty pole lap in Miami The Miami Grand Prix was an action-packed weekend from start to finish – and in case you missed any of it we’ve rounded up all of the key moments from F1’s visit to the Miami International Autodrome From a new parent and a first-time polesitter through to a chaotic Sprint and a McLaren team in a class of their own – not to mention plenty of celebrities and some life-size LEGO cars – check out the highlights from Miami in our ultimate lowdown… Despite arriving into the weekend as the favourites – given that Oscar Piastri became the new championship leader with his win last time out in Saudi Arabia – McLaren did not have things all their own way as the action began in Miami Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli (more on whom later) beat both papaya cars to pole in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying while Max Verstappen also triumphed ahead of the team when it was time to qualify again on Saturday those blips did not hinder McLaren’s performance in race trim Piastri quickly snatched the lead from Antonelli at Turn 1 and looked on course for victory until a frenetic sequence later on saw Lando Norris take the lead when Piastri pitted for slick tyres – just as a Safety Car was deployed meaning that the Briton could make his stop and maintain P1 While the order was perhaps not the one that Piastri had expected to finish in it was a strong day for McLaren nonetheless despite Norris having to start second behind Verstappen while Piasti lined up down in fourth HIGHLIGHTS: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 after thrilling race in Miami With Verstappen initially holding the lead – while Norris slipped down the order after going wide during an early battle with the Dutchman allowing Antonelli and Piastri to move ahead of him – Verstappen soon found himself under pressure from Piastri leading to the Australian eventually overtaking before Norris then followed suit From then on the McLarens looked to be on another planet with Piastri leading home Norris in a 1-2 formation that saw the championship leader cross the line a staggering 37 seconds clear of third-placed George Russell There was no doubt that this was a commanding performance from the reigning Teams’ Champions Before the track action had even started in Miami Verstappen was already having an eventful start to race week It was confirmed ahead of Thursday’s media day that the Dutchman would be absent due to expecting a baby with partner Kelly Piquet Verstappen arrived in Miami ahead of Friday's track action after welcoming a daughter After much talk in the paddock over whether becoming a father may slow him down – with the verdict generally being that it would not – it was subsequently confirmed that Verstappen and Piquet had welcomed a baby girl named Lily The new dad then arrived at the Miami International Autodrome on Friday where he went straight into action for a busy Sprint weekend ahead Saturday proved to be especially dramatic for the World Champion having firstly picked up a 10-second time penalty in the Sprint for an unsafe release in the pits a punishment that dropped him out of the points READ MORE: ‘You’ve got to get involved in the nappies’ – Horner offers advice to new dad Verstappen as he predicts how fatherhood will affect him But just hours later he made up for this disappointment by putting in a stunning performance in Qualifying After taking provisional pole during the first runs of Q3 Verstappen’s chances of maintaining it looked to be in jeopardy thanks to a wobble on his final effort – but impressively he still turned this into the fastest lap of all Verstappen faced further turmoil in the Grand Prix having initially held the lead after that aforementioned scrap with Norris before eventually losing out to both Piastri and Norris later on After missing out on third to George Russell thanks to the Mercedes man pitting during a Virtual Safety Car period Verstappen had to settle for fourth as his incredibly busy week on and off track drew to a close ‘I had nothing to lose so I tried to have a bit of fun’ – Verstappen on his thrilling battles with the McLarens Having taken P8 and P12 respectively in a disappointing Qualifying on Saturday Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both looked keen to make gains during Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix While Leclerc generally found himself running close to the position he had started in Hamilton had climbed his way up the order as the race progressed meaning that the pair eventually ended up running together in seventh and eighth READ MORE: 'It was frustrating' – Hamilton opens up on tense Miami radio messages during Ferrari strategy debate Hamilton went on to suggest that he should be allowed to move ahead of Leclerc with the seven-time World Champion running the medium tyres – in contrast to the hards on his team mate’s SF-25 – which could potentially help him to close the gap to Antonelli ahead With Ferrari taking some time to make a decision on the matter Hamilton appeared increasingly frustrated as he commented that keeping him behind was “not good teamwork” He also sarcastically told the team to “have a tea break while you are at it” as they mulled over the issue Eventually Hamilton was allowed through – but who awaited the move – but Hamilton had not been told meaning that there was a delay in it being enacted The Briton moved aside after being informed but the messy handling of the situation led to Leclerc stating: “We’ll discuss after the race.” 2025 Miami Grand Prix: Tense radio exchanges as Hamilton and Leclerc argue over Ferrari strategy The paddock may not have been in Las Vegas this weekend but Norris rolled the dice and came out on top denying his team mate Piastri victory of a Sprint he had led from the very first lap after a masterful pass on polesitter Antonelli Dramatic changes in the weather are known to be the great disruptor in F1 the formation lap behind the Safety Car saw drivers hindered by the vast amounts of spray being thrown up by standing water on the circuit READ MORE: Norris wins chaotic Miami Sprint from Piastri and Hamilton after late Safety Car and multiple incidents The chaos didn’t stop at lights out either when the conditions were still suboptimal but safe enough to race in With Antonelli starting from pole for the first time Piastri sailed past him at the first corner and sent the Mercedes wide resulting in the rookie dropping back to P4 But while the damp track aided Piastri to start with allowing Norris to close the gap down drastically before the Australian peeled off into the pits for slick tyres with five laps remaining and it was whilst he was switching tyres that the Safety Car was called due to a collision between Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson that had left the former stationary on the track The slowed-down cars therefore meant that the Briton could calmly adopt the lead there wasn’t nearly enough time to clear the Aston Martin so the Sprint ended behind the Safety Car and Norris claimed the win echoing his maiden victory at this circuit in 2024 A smart early move to get rid of the intermediate tyres saw Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton claim the final podium spot but it took some time for the full order to be set in stone as a trio of penalties relegated Alex Albon Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman from the top eight The spotlight had been on Antonelli firmly throughout his junior career ever since Mercedes recruited him to join their ranks back in 2018 when he was just 12 years old – and that attention increased once again as he made his mark on the streets of Miami With Russell labelling Mercedes as the season’s third-fastest team not many people would have expected them to start from pole position for the Sprint especially not at the hands of their teenage driver But that’s exactly what happened as Antonelli beat both McLarens READ MORE: Antonelli gives verdict on first corner move from Piastri as he reflects on Verstappen pit lane incident during tough Miami Sprint A combination of inexperience on the front row in F1 and simple misfortune saw him drop out of the points in the Sprint itself – whilst heading to his pit box who had been released unsafely and forced him into taking evasive action But the post-Sprint penalties promoted him back into the points and the later Qualifying hour demonstrated that his bad luck had not dissuaded him With the battle for pole wide open once again Antonelli found himself just 0.067s adrift of Verstappen’s session-topping time and 0.002s behind Norris setting him up for P3 on the Grand Prix grid He was ultimately unable to retain the position as Piastri Verstappen and the unexpectedly quick Alex Albon got the better of him on track but he finished the weekend with a satisfying P6 Antonelli put in an eye-catching performance in Miami There was a race with a difference ahead of the Miami Grand Prix as all 20 Formula 1 drivers took part in a drivers' parade at the wheel of lifesize LEGO cars bespoke with each team's car colours and liveries Based on the LEGO F1 Speed Champions range and designed to celebrate Formula 1 and the LEGO Group’s ongoing the unique one-off spectacle allowed fans to catch a glimpse of their favourite drivers in a quirky setting READ MORE: Driveable LEGO big builds welcomed to Miami drivers’ parade were constructed using nearly 400,000 LEGO bricks weighing 1,000kg and hit speeds of 20kph while using authentic Pirelli tyres the 'race' was won by the Alpine pairing of Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan ahead of the 57-lap main event on Sunday said: “As a sport synonymous with innovation and pushing boundaries it was amazing to see another first for our sport as the big builds made their way around the track in the hands of the best drivers in the world Our partnership with the LEGO Group enables us to inject a lot of fun into the Grand Prix experience and engage new audiences and we can’t wait to see what else we can dream up together.” Miami always attracts plenty of celebrities Terry Crews was posing for plenty of photos on the grid while Evander Holyfield was wondering around and taking in all the sights and sounds of F1 Boxer Conor Benn was enjoying life on the F1 grid for the first time while actor Timothée Chalamet was seen sporting a Racing Bulls shirt as he made his allegiance known READ MORE: Cadillac unveil their team logo and brand during dazzling Miami launch event ahead of 2026 entry Speed merchants Michael Johnson and Lindsey Vonn were both in attendance earlier in the weekend while Sunday saw the grid fill up with stars from all walks of life But there was one celebrity who captured everyone’s hearts and who was a big enough fan to come to every day of action – little Leo Leclerc Charles Leclerc’s dog was impeccably well behaved throughout the weekend and hopefully could console his Dad after a tricky race for the Ferrari man there was a reason so many were in Miami for the sixth Grand Prix of the season The soundtrack for the upcoming Apple Original Films’ F1 movie has been revealed The film itself is released on June 27 and the soundtrack features an exciting mix of established and new talent READ MORE: Soundtrack artists including Doja Cat, Ed Sheeran and Don Toliver announced for upcoming ‘F1’ movie That wasn’t the only big music news from Miami with Tiësto making history as the first artist to deliver performances both before the Formation Lap and after the race Tiësto got the crowd on their feet with both sets and is another artist to feature on the F1 movie album too He described the Miami weekend vibes as “epic” and it was hard to disagree Don't miss your chance to experience the picturesque Imola circuit.. Former F1 and Le Mans racer Jochen Mass passes away aged 78 STRATEGY GUIDE: What are the tactical options for the Miami Grand Prix ‘Just to get into Q3 is tough’ – Hamilton admits Ferrari ‘struggling big time’ after exiting Miami Qualifying in P12 Red Bull have had their protest of George Russell rejected by the Stewards following the Miami Grand Prix resulting in the Mercedes driver keeping his podium finish ahead of fourth-placed Max Verstappen The Milton Keynes outfit submitted a protest earlier alleging that Russell had failed to slow under yellow flags which if successful could have led to a penalty that would have promoted the Dutchman to P3 as he crossed the line 2.3s behind the Mercedes When Ollie Bearman's Haas suffered a likely engine failure and became stranded on track Russell elected to pit for fresh tyres under the beneficial conditions brought about by the Virtual Safety Car and he ultimately returned to the track ahead of Verstappen in third when Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto pulled off the road with power unit problems another Virtual Safety Car was deployed with Verstappen – still behind Russell – asking his team to "check if George lifted Russell narrowly finished ahead of Verstappen in Miami Red Bull subsequently launched a protest into the Briton claiming he failed to slow under yellow flags after the Stewards met with representatives from both teams they concluded that the matter should be rejected told media prior to the outcome confirmation: "We felt that Russell has done something that is in breach of the regs as they are written so that's why we put a protest in today The regulations say there should be a reduction in speed and that is why Max flagged it immediately from what he saw within the cockpit." 2025 Miami Grand Prix: Russell emerges from the pits ahead of Verstappen to take P3 The document explaining the Stewards’ decision outlined that Red Bull accepted Russell did lift the throttle but believed this did not slow him down enough and therefore went against the regulations It added that there is no specific wording around whether reducing speed in a yellow flag zone means the "absolute speed" or "the speed relative to the regular racing speed" in that specific part of the track They concluded that Car 63 was "considerably slower than the regular racing speed" when the yellow flag was shown rejecting the protest and labelling it as "not founded" The outcome means that Verstappen stays in P4 for the Miami Grand Prix and is just six points ahead of Russell in the Drivers' Standings. Verstappen labels Miami Grand Prix ‘a struggle’ after slipping back to P4 as he reflects on gap to McLaren AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from the Miami GP as Piastri wins in dominant McLaren 1-2 Norris got a great start and was challenging Verstappen into the first couple of corners. But he got squeezed, ran wide and that allowed Piastri through. From there, the Australian picked off Antonelli and then Verstappen for the lead, built a huge gap and was imperious as he grabbed his third straight Grand Prix win Norris dropped to sixth after that first lap moment but quickly made his way back up through the field He had to work hard to get past Verstappen and by then his team mate had too big an advantage for Norris to overhaul as they built the field by over half a minute READ MORE: Norris concedes he 'paid the price' as he reflects on Lap 1 battle with Verstappen in Miami "It's a great feeling to have won the race today Clearly the car was unbelievable today and we were able to use that pace advantage That’s down to everyone here trackside and the whole team at the factory putting in an incredible amount of hard work to get us to where we are now there’s lots of learnings to take away from the weekend but I’m very “A good result for the team today and congratulations to Oscar on the victory Max [Verstappen] put up a fight at the start and frustratingly I paid the price but that's just the way it can be in racing The team have done an amazing job all weekend the car has been beautiful with great pace and the double-shuffle pit stop was mega I'll take all these positives and get my head down at the factory to focus on Imola in two weeks' time.” “Today was an exceptional result for McLaren at the end of a remarkable weekend followed by first and second again today in the Miami Grand Prix which is a first for any team in a Sprint weekend and we’re mindful that tomorrow is the anniversary of our first victory of this era which was a fundamental milestone in the direction and development of our team I would like to thank the people at McLaren who have designed as well as our technical and commercial partners and fans who are with us on this exciting journey it was great to see the car performing so well during the race taking the opportunities that came his way and displaying excellent pace Lando was delayed in the mêlée at the start recovering from sixth and then overtaking Max Verstappen later in the stint but without this he was in strong contention for the win also “This is a great foundation for the rest of the year but we also know that maybe these were exceptional circumstances and see where it takes us now the racing season moves back to Europe.” but was powerless to hold the faster McLarens at bay All of that contrived to drop him behind his team mate Russell benefitting from a cheap stop after starting on the hard tyre and managed to stay in front of the Dutchman to pick up yet another podium "Ultimately the McLarens had a decent advantage over the rest of the field so congratulations to them and we’re looking forward to the upcoming triple header in Europe and it was nice to take my first Sprint pole position I’m still gaining experience in terms of my race management and I am sure that will continue to get better as the season progresses I am now excited for the next race at Imola and my first ever home Grand Prix I am sure the atmosphere and support will be incredible so I am very much looking forward to the weekend there." "Kimi meanwhile showed his talent this weekend but had a race where he will take away some good learnings That is completely normal for a rookie driver The race management will come as he continues to build his experience and we’re now looking forward to the upcoming triple-header in Europe The next race will mark Kimi’s first ever home Grand Prix at Imola and I am sure he will be looking forward to that." "Whilst George benefited from the Virtual Safety Car Kimi lost out having stopped just before it came out We had to box him to protect from Albon in the Williams who had the chance to deploy the undercut Some traffic in the pit lane cost him and ultimately his pace on the Hard tyre consigned him to P6 It has still been another good weekend for Kimi though as he continues his development "McLaren were the class of the field once again today and we are working hard to close that gap we leave Miami pleased we have added more points to our tally compared to Red Bull and Ferrari but knowing we have got work to do if we are to challenge at the very front each weekend Hopefully we can make some gains in this area starting in Imola in two weeks’ time." but found himself under pressure from Piastri He kept pushing the Australian wide into Turn 1 but in the end out-braked himself and let the McLaren past those two swapping places multiple times before again the McLaren got through but got jumped by Russell in the pits courtesy of a VSC he picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane and managed to put his foot down on the last few laps to pull a five-second gap to Hadjar behind to make sure he held on to the last point “Yesterday I said that I would try my very best and I gave it everything that I could but it ended up being a struggle out there but in the end it was impossible to keep them behind but of course that is part of racing and overall the pace wasn’t really there We had nothing to lose so I was just trying to have a bit of fun on the track and it was cool to be out there racing The race was unfortunately quite difficult for us in general and we ultimately lacked pace and struggled with the breaks Every time that I tried to get close or push a bit more It was really down to tyre management today and the track had quite high degradation which is not our strong suit at the moment We need a bit more performance to make sure we are more competitive “It was unnecessary for me to be in that position with the time penalty and it made things a lot more difficult in the race for me and my old teammate certainly did nothing to make my life easier in those last few laps I was pushing a lot and he kept coming back It was tough to keep the five second gap but I had to do what I had to do and I maximised the pace I am happy I was able to score points but again it wasn’t just me and it is something we have to look at it is tough to get the car in the place we want but we will work towards it and make up for it in the future I am feeling more confident in the car as the weeks go by and we will unlock it." "We gave it everything today but well done to McLaren they were in a different league so P4 and a double points finish is as good as we could get from an often chaotic Miami GP Max put up a staunch defence of his lead and position in the opening stint but the VSC gave others the opportunity to capitalise on Max’s earlier stop and ultimately cost him a podium finish P10 for Yuki who did well to hold onto his point in the end The race showed that we still have a lot of work to do on the car to find that ultimate race pace We’ll take our learnings back to Milton Keynes and come back with everything we have for our 400th race in Imola in a couple of weeks time." with their drivers swapping positions multiple times throughout the Grand Prix and managed to pull off a good overtake on Antonelli to climb to fifth That matched his best result of the season and made up for the P4 he lost in yesterday’s Sprint Sainz also scored after surviving some last-lap contact with Hamilton "I’m glad I could reset and go again after yesterday The car was quick and today was all about pure pace I had a good rhythm all race and I’m very happy with the result when you look at where we were 12 months ago This shows all the progress we’ve made at Grove and now we’ve shown the world that we can race at the top This won’t happen every race and we’ll definitely have to keep fighting The operational misunderstanding of yesterday put us on the back-foot from the beginning as I had to start the race on a used compound Avoiding Lando in Lap 1 when he rejoined the track unfortunately resulted in contact with Alex which damaged my floor quite badly for the rest of the race There was some miscommunication between our two sides of the garage that we will analyse internally with the damage I had it was inevitable that I would end up losing positions I did everything I could to hold on and stick with the cars ahead today we had very good pace and the balance of the car is the best it’s felt since the start of the season so we’ll try to take the positives and review everything as a team." but I’m really pleased for the team with the result today Given the setbacks we had yesterday morning to come back fighting with both cars in the top ten in Qualifying and to finish with both cars in the points is incredibly rewarding It’s a long season and teams will bring updates so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out over the next few races but to score from five of the first six races is a different world to where we’ve been previously I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the world class drivers we have Alex and Carlos are really giving their all to this team and we are on a good pathway moving forwards." Ferrari appeared to get themselves into a pickle in Miami Hamilton climbed up through the field and had a cheap pit stop under the VSC then found himself right on his team mate’s tail on different strategies given he was on the faster mediums at the point - but the team only allowed it after three laps leading to Leclerc asking to be let through The team again allowed it but again after apparent delay we’ve made some solid steps forward this weekend and there are definitely learnings to take moving forward but considering where we started it was a decent recovery I’m starting to feel more at one with the car and I’m as motivated as ever to be fighting at the front but everyone is working incredibly hard behind the scenes and we’re hopeful of making progress in the coming races We’ll just keep pushing and stay focused on the work ahead." Lawson was tagged into a spin in the first corner by Doohan which dropped the Kiwi racer to last and also damaged his floor but ultimately retired thanks to that car damage knowing Tsunoda ahead had a time penalty coming He pushed and pushed late on to get within five seconds of the Red Bull winding up losing out by just over a tenth of a second "I’m not really happy with my driving today as I feel like I made some mistakes here and there We did several laps on hard tyres after the pit stop and overall it was an enjoyable race as it was a Qualifying battle with Yuki I knew I was still within the five second gap during the last lap as I had the gap difference live We missed a point by just one-tenth and a half I’m feeling confident heading to Imola next; I know the track well and I also won there in F2.” A big gap opened up into turn one so I went in and was following whoever was in front of me and then felt a hit from the side We took some big damage there and was holding out for some rain It's a shame because the team have done a great job this weekend and the car has been fast We'll reset ahead of the triple header keep looking forwards and keep improving things." It started with the fantastic reaction from the fans to our special livery and it continued on track with a fast paced rollercoaster for Isack and Liam then an incredible fight from P14 to P7 for Liam in the Sprint race before a penalty stripped him of his points Isack just missed the cut to Q3 by two hundredths of a second before missing the final point today by just 0.1s to Yuki after a very strong race Liam’s race however was ruined following a collision on lap 1 The good news is that our car and our drivers showed strong pace again this weekend even if the points didn’t come We will keep learning and pushing as hard as we can and we can’t wait to back on track in Imola in a couple of weeks Ocon could not convert his P9 grid slot into points in Miami as he lost out to a recovering Hamilton midway through the race parking up early on with what sounded like a PU problem That was his first retirement of the season to cap a difficult weekend for the rookie which saw him qualify in P20 twice “It was a solid race on our side but unfortunately we lacked a bit of pace to be fighting with the quicker guys in front We didn’t get very lucky as we didn’t pit under VSC had a couple of fights but they always ended the same way I think overall it’s been a strong weekend from the team and we need to keep that going once we find a bit more performance in the car there are some good learnings from this weekend and some good expectations for the upcoming races “It was going okay but I spent a good chunk of time in a DRS train which obviously wasn’t ideal for the tyres I think we had some pace but not enough to be in the points and it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to finish the race I take away the positive that our pace and performance in the Sprint was competitive we tried to go forwards as much as possible but we had a PU failure Esteban’s first stint was okay – he was fighting against Hamilton pretty well and held him back for as long as he did so he drove well – but we didn’t get our pit stop timing correct so we got undercut by Hadjar That ruined it as in the second stint we couldn’t overtake him we could’ve had P10 and that’s the really disappointing thing sometimes we really nailed it; like in Q2 with Esteban There’s plenty of things that we need to understand today’s race pace and decision making because the pit stop didn’t work so we need to learn as a team and then put it right in Imola.” as he made contact with Lawson in Turn 1 on the opening lap and he could not limp back to the pits – parking up near an escape road and bringing out a VSC Gasly started from the pit lane after making some set-up changes overnight but he could only recover to P13 at the flag At least we are leaving Miami with one point following the Sprint Race yesterday We knew that today’s race was going to be tricky after having had a couple of issues on the car which we tried to fix for today I suppose we would have liked the rain to come during the race to give us a chance to fight but it did not come in the end We need to do some analysis on the performance we had here as we have been faster in previous races We have work to do between now and the next race in Imola.” “It was a tough end to the weekend for my side of the garage We were starting from the middle of the pack which always creates a challenge coming into the first few corners We were squeezed going into Turn 1 and with nowhere to go we had contact with [Liam] Lawson The damage was too much to make it back to the pitlane safely and we ultimately had to retire the car especially in managing the difficult weather conditions and I have felt comfortable in the car across the weekend Our focus now shifts toward the next few races We have the week ahead to reset and work to prepare for the upcoming triple-header as we head into the start of the European season.” “We leave Miami disappointed where ultimately we lacked performance to be competitive enough to fight for points Although we did not come away from Miami empty-handed Pierre was not happy with how the car felt in Qualifying and given his starting position we opted to make changes to his car and start from the pitlane so in a conventional dry race we tried to make progress and pitted Pierre under the second VSC Although we made up several positions ultimately it was only good enough for 13th Jack’s race unfortunately ended on the first lap after contact with Lawson at Turn 1 We have some time now between races to understand where we can improve and come back with some more performance for the European triple-header starting in Imola.” Hulkenberg started on the hard tyre and was the last man to pit but going long did not lead to the hoped for Safety Car He dropped down the order when he swapped to the mediums Bortoleto did not – he was radioing to say his power unit was suffering issues when he was called to the pits to retire having to park up off the track instead for his second DNF of the season “It’s been a pretty clean race today and felt like one of the better ones this year I managed to stay out of trouble at Turn One In contrast to most of the other cars I was on a reverse strategy starting with hard tyres to deliver a long first stint We didn't take the opportunity of the first Virtual Safety Car to make a pit stop which is something we need to review with the team it feels like we’ve taken another step forward this weekend With a bit more performance and improved car balance we believe we can get closer to fighting for points we’re now looking forward to starting the European part of the season.” "It was a decent race up to the point we had to retire and I felt we could’ve held that position to the end The pace was what we expected—we were a bit behind Haas and RB but still in the mix I started losing power on the straights in and eventually the car just shut down completely it looks like a fuel system issue that affected us but I haven’t had time to analyse it with the team yet especially as DNFs have been rare in my career We can still take quite a few positive from the weekend—our single-lap performance and the pace we had before the issue are points on which we can build We’ll look into everything we experienced this weekend and come back stronger for the next one." "Today’s race saw both our drivers get off the line well and deliver strong first stints we had to retire Gabriel due to a technical issue—potentially related to the fuel system—though we’ll know more once we’ve had a proper look at the car we may have benefited from boxing under the Virtual Safety Car and that’s something we’ll need to analyse carefully the team delivered two very clean pit stops—2.2 and 2.5 seconds—which is a real credit to the crew and we’ll take the lessons forward as we prepare for the European leg of the season." It was not to be for Aston Martin after a strong start to the weekend Alonso’s day made worse by a spin in the early stages of the race as he lost the rear by himself starting Alonso on the hard and Stroll the medium but to no avail We didn't have the pace the whole weekend We faced similar challenges today that we've had all season and couldn't capitalise on any chaos ahead of us We need to get better and hopefully in Imola take a step forward." "Difficult race for us today and very tricky conditions We just simply lack pace - we've been slow all season so far and today wasn't any exception With an uneventful race and no opportunities it just shows how we're not competitive and need to look at improving the car in all areas." "Today's results in the Miami Grand Prix are a reminder that we are simply lacking car performance There were very few opportunities to progress from our starting positions and the race turned out to be a comfortable one-stop race for the entire field It was important that we scored four points with Lance yesterday in the Sprint but under normal dry conditions we don't have a car capable of competing for points right now We need to continue to analyse where we can improve and work hard to be more competitive in Imola." “It was a very straightforward race as far as the tyres were concerned From the little data gathered over the weekend it had become clear that despite bringing a trio of compounds one step softer than last year’s in order to create more strategy choices it would probably still be a one-stop race and so it proved to be There was very limited degradation on the C3 and the C4 in fact on the latter it was even less than expected That explains why drivers who started on the Medium were able to extend their first stint to the halfway point of the race or even further especially as the Virtual Safety Car made it easier for the leaders to switch to the Hard compound "The low tyre degradation also contributed to the many battles especially early on when drivers were able to push as hard as they wanted It was a different scenario to the one we witnessed in Suzuka for example The track characteristics here are very different and it also demonstrates how difficult it is to have everything in place to produce the great show that the fans deserve to see.” Driveable LEGO big builds welcomed to Miami drivers’ parade Cadillac unveil their team logo and brand during dazzling Miami launch event ahead of 2026 entry DRIVER OF THE DAY: Piastri's imperious Miami showing gets your vote Red Bull's protest into Russell over yellow flags rejected by Miami stewards Lionel Messi struck the emphatic final goal as Inter Miami snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 home win over the New York Red Bulls at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale Messi found the net for the first tome in nearly a month with an unstoppable left-footed strike from the center of the box following a one-two with Telasco Segovia midway through the second half to make sure of a much-needed victory for Miami It was Miami's first game since losing both legs of its Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal with the Vancouver Whitecaps to see its hopes dashed of a first continental title In between, Javier Mascherano's side had also lost in MLS for the first time this season, 4-3 at FC Dallas "I think that there is already a lot of frustration," Mascherano told reporters afterward I think we learn if in the future the results are different And the reality is that there are high expectations and I have no problem that the demands are high And then we know what comes with the Club World Cup and Leagues Cup." New York had allowed just nine goals in 10 matches before Miami put on an offensive show on Saturday, starting with Fafà Picault's opening goal in the ninth minute Defender Marcelo Weigandt added a second on the half-hour mark before Luis Suárez found the net to end his nine-goal scoreless streak "The return of Luis Suárez scoring makes us happy because we know that strikers live off the goal," Mascherano said Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting pulled a goal back for the Red Bulls shortly before halftime but Messi's team-leading ninth goal of the season in all competitions ensured it would prove no more than a consolation The result left Miami fourth in the Eastern Conference ahead of a trip to face Minnesota United in a week's time 15 points) remain winless (0-3-2) on the road this season Information from ESPN's Lizzy Becherano and Field Level Media contributed to this report Lionel Messi struck the emphatic final goal as Inter Miami snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 home win over the New York Red Bulls at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale Messi found the net for the first tome in nearly a month with an unstoppable left-footed strike from the center of the box following a one-two with Telasco Segovia midway through the second half to make sure of a much-needed victory for Miami It was Miami's first game since losing both legs of its Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal with the Vancouver Whitecaps to see its hopes dashed of a first continental title In between, Javier Mascherano's side had also lost in MLS for the first time this season, 4-3 at FC Dallas \"I think that there is already a lot of frustration,\" Mascherano told reporters afterward And then we know what comes with the Club World Cup and Leagues Cup.\" New York had allowed just nine goals in 10 matches before Miami put on an offensive show on Saturday, starting with Fafà Picault's opening goal in the ninth minute Defender Marcelo Weigandt added a second on the half-hour mark before Luis Suárez found the net to end his nine-goal scoreless streak \"The return of Luis Suárez scoring makes us happy because we know that strikers live off the goal,\" Mascherano said \"It's fundamental for their confidence.\" Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting pulled a goal back for the Red Bulls shortly before halftime but Messi's team-leading ninth goal of the season in all competitions ensured it would prove no more than a consolation not a bad result considering most of the weekend you felt you haven't really got to grips with the car around Miami really happy to come away with P3 because I've been struggling this weekend But well done to the McLarens – they're just down the road you lucked in a little bit on the Safety Car but at the end of the race you had to keep Max behind you But I was pretty calm and I felt really good with the car to keep him behind me I think Lando's a bit upset with me because we had a bit of a crash on the Lego race this morning so I don't know if he's going to complain at me for something what was your favourite race of the day here in Miami without a doubt the race this morning – the Lego race It’s a P2 – a formidable job by the whole team to get both cars 30 seconds in front of the rest of the field I mean it's never the best feeling but Q: So was it too inviting to go around the outside of Max in Turn 2 But 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 But I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today Q: The important thing is that you did what was right for you but qualifying was probably one of my trickiest sessions of the year And to come away with a win still on Sunday is an impressive result obviously there was a bit of argy-bargy at Turn 1 [inaudible]… but we had a pace advantage and clearly the car was unbelievable today the big difference I see from you from last year to now is the race pace – how you control a race It seems that when we put Oscar in the lead of the Grand Prix You can control the pace from the time you get into the lead until the chequered flag So it was a good thing that I built that gap in the first stint I think towards the end I started to get things a bit more back under control But there’s still definitely some things to work on from this afternoon very happy with the points – but constantly got to keep learning Have you got any comments about the team – they’ve given you this absolute weapon it’s just incredible the hard work that’s gone in remember two years ago here in Miami we were genuinely the slowest team – I think we got lapped twice – and to now have won the Grand Prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result And the hard work of every single person – firstly the people here at the track what’s with the little dance in parc fermé OP: I knew that was going to be the question who has essentially made the Griddy world famous and stupidly made a bet with him that if I won the race I didn’t practice because I thought that was definitely not going to be needed that was my first attempt at a Griddy live on world TV but that’s the one and only time you’ll be seeing me do that You had to fight hard in those early laps and then demonstrated phenomenal pace in clean air Just how much did you enjoy yourself out there today It was tough at the beginning trying to get past Max It was not easy but I picked my moments when I needed to I could tell that we had a lot of pace from the get-go today and it was going to be a matter of when I got past But I wanted to do it as efficiently as I could because I knew once Lando got back behind me I wanted to get through quickly but cleanly I felt like I did a pretty good job of that Maybe not the strongest second half of the race of my life but I think building that gap and being quick at the right times was what I needed Q: You were clinical dispatching Kimi Antonelli Just how tough was it to get past Max Verstappen Kimi was very nice to me and didn’t make life very tough which is nice when you race against people who identify when someone’s quicker and don’t make the race more difficult for both of us I knew I had to try and build a gap while Lando was behind him you were 37 seconds ahead of the first non-McLaren car When you reflect on the weekend as a whole OP: Celebrations – that’s definitely top of the list at the moment but yesterday I was pretty frustrated with my performance but I think the likelihood of winning many races [after] qualifying fourth is pretty low but there was definitely some good fortune there as well I don’t want to rely on that every single Sunday this is the exception to the pace we’ve had this year but the pace we had today from lap one it felt like was unexpected I’ll definitely take the performance and we’ll try and work out how to do that every weekend but there’s still definitely things to work on from a personal side and from a team point of view Q: What part of the racetrack was the car particularly strong on here In qualifying we were not the quickest in the high-speed corners I think generally in the low-speed corners is where we seemed quite good this weekend and looking after the tyres becomes more important That’s probably been a strength of ours so far this year This has been the first very hot race we’ve had in terms of track temperature but the track temperature today was the highest we’ve had all year How difficult was it to work your way through from P6 I never wanted to let Oscar get too far out of my sights but I had to put up a good challenge in the first quarter or third of the race trying to get past the Mercedes but I made my way through reasonably quickly I think Q: And can we get your thoughts on the battle with Verstappen today Q: (Ticiano Figueiredo – Diário do Rio Claro) Oscar thinking about this race and the whole season what do you think is going to be harder: to overtake Max or to keep Lando behind you our two cars were clearly the best in the field by some margin being his teammate now for a couple of years it’s clearly going to be a strong fight between Lando and I Q: (Holly Cain – Palm Beach Post) Two years ago How does it feel palpably different to a year ago The determination and the hard work has always been there we knew that things were in the pipeline to help us come back to the front So while we got lapped twice that day in Miami two years ago that was nice for the whole team in terms of finally having a car capable of winning a race again There was obviously the 1-2 in Monza a few years ago but Miami last season was the turning point in winning races because we could be the quickest on track The determination and hard work are still identical just the joy and the celebrations are a bit more frequent Being first now means we have less tunnel time That’s something we’ve enjoyed over our competitors for the last few years So there are going to be challenges with being at the front Q: (Graham Harris (Motorsport Monday) Question for both of you: winning a race with a 35-second lead when should the team stop focusing on this year’s car and shift to next year it will take the others quite some time to catch up There are a lot of other smarter people than me who calculate when it’s time to switch to next year we do have a strong advantage at the moment but not every weekend has looked like this but I don’t expect every weekend to look like this I think we have the advantage everywhere we go We want to make sure we win both championships this year and put ourselves in a good spot for next year Q: (David Neal – Miami Herald) For Lando: After you got into second place I gave it a good shot from when I got into second I probably only stopped pushing the last 4-5 laps The gap went from almost 10 to four or three I tried the whole race basically until the very end To catch from 10 seconds was always pretty much going to be impossible Q: (Ticiano Figueiredo – Diário do Rio Claro) For both drivers: it’s always tempting to imagine an internal battle between teammates Could we witness something like Lewis vs Nico this year We clearly know that we have our strengths There will be weekends where Lando is stronger We’re very aware of the fact that we want this success for as long as we’re at McLaren But we don’t just want one opportunity at this success We want it for the next however many years and that’s an important and an easy thing to keep in mind for us and the whole team Q: (Holly Cain – Palm Beach Post) A follow-up to that Is it tougher racing for a championship against your teammate We know pretty much exactly how one another drives So from that side you have more information But there are other complications with having the same car You can have the same strengths and weaknesses on track whoever’s in front at the start is probably going to be in front at the end Then there’s the pit strategies and whatever that become a factor when you’re in the same team A Miami Grand Prix that promised a chaotic battle - both through the spectacular action of the opening stint and the threat of game-changing rain - ultimately turned into a monumental McLaren beatdown Here are our picks of the winners and losers from Sunday's contest the first of F1's three grands prix in the USA this season He got a bit of fortune from Max Verstappen outbraking himself at Turn 1 but he was also patient and didn’t force a) a move that wasn’t on or b) a move that Verstappen would use to force Piastri off the track It was a slightly more conservative approach than and one that required help from Verstappen who rarely makes errors it looked to me at least that Piastri was comfortable and had pace in hand to manage the rest of the race But the team still needs to find a way to make the car easier to drive in qualifying because the over half-minute gap to the opposition in the race shows it has enough pace that it should be ahead and controlling these races from the start not getting involved in squabbles with slower cars Norris’s second fight with Verstappen was similar to his team-mate's He was basically trying to pressure Verstappen into an error as Piastri had done That first fight is the real markdown instead It ultimately proved ill-judged given the pace McLaren had in hand and cost him the chance to be the first to pass Verstappen Making a low-yield move on the first lap shows Norris has not learned all he needs to in a battle with Verstappen - and Piastri’s more conservative approach showed a superior way to do it Norris said after the race that people will complain if he goes for the move and people will complain if he doesn’t but it’s up to him to make the right decision and not worry about what others think It would be maybe overly kind to say Russell made his own luck in the Miami GP - as his decision to start on hards over mediums which was crucial to him catching VSC period in his pit window seemed a consequence of a below-par qualifying Rookie team-mate Kimi Antonelli clearly gave him a lot of trouble this weekend but come chequered flag there was Russell on the grand prix podium again now at four out of six to start the campaign Verstappen's within touching distance in the standings but Russell will anyway know he will need a major change in the cars' performance rankings to factor in the drivers' championship That turnaround may not come - it probably won't come - but all he can do now is keep buying more time Another dramatic race for Verstappen where his conduct will be questioned by some - but in this instance his robust defence did not pay off he lost out to Piastri by outbraking himself at Turn 1 and Norris after a longer fight that ended at Turn 11 Those were always going to be losing battles - and he was then jumped by Russell through no fault of his own The fact Verstappen held up the McLarens for so long and ended the race over a half a minute behind them showed how tough his task actually was but both in the Mattia Binotto era and now in the Fred Vasseur era there's a real je ne sais quoi to its bad races but it does feel like only one of the 10 suffers them in this kind of fashion The Ferrari SF-25 was capital-s Slow all weekend beaten by a Williams on merit and now facing a frankly incredible 152-point hole in the constructors' standings That's the thing that should horrify the people at Maranello what will be remembered from this weekend instead was Lewis Hamilton firing off hilarious one-liners as he was first denied a swap with Charles Leclerc all the while nothing of value was accomplished except for painting a colourful picture of mild team disharmony might actually be much easier to reckon with than the cold facts of the car's abject performance in Florida Alex Albon's fifth-place finish makes it tempting to suggest Williams may yet come to regret being the first team (or at least the first team that's publicly communicated this) to end the development on its 2025 car in favour of the new rules in 2026 But Albon was also 48 seconds back from the win so while the FW47 is clearly a good car it's not the car that can take Williams back to its past glories What it needs to be instead is a car that's good enough to put into that no man's land (previously occupied by Aston Martin more on them later) between the top four and the rest of the grid a Mercedes and a Red Bull this weekend but realistically those teams are out of reach But is Williams now out of reach for the teams behind But James Vowles can feel pretty good about the decision to take this FW47 out of the windtunnel A nightmare weekend for Liam Lawson concluded with a shunt at Turn 1 that also involved Jack Doohan’s Alpine.It was a typical Turn 1 incident at basically any grand prix Doohan was on the inside and Lawson got squeezed in the middle Lawson positioned himself in a dangerous area but could Doohan have left more room?Ultimately Aston scored a very healthy - for its current situation - four points yesterday so must count the weekend overall as a positive one But it's hard to feel very good about the team after a day on which only Piastri's last-lap clearing of Nico Hulkenberg spared them the blushes of being the only cars off the lead lap on which lead driver Fernando Alonso spun out of battle and still finished ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll There's been a lot of talk about whether new recruit Adrian Newey can cure the '25 car - but every passing weekend suggests this Aston Martin season isn't worth rescuing Max Verstappen delivered an incredible performance to clinch pole position in Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix the reigning World Champion going fastest from Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli despite a slight error on his final run After Verstappen claimed provisional pole during the early runs of Q3 by just 0.003s from Norris the Dutchman’s prospects during his closing effort looked to be at risk after a wobble in the first corner – but the Red Bull man still went fastest on a 1m 26.204s six-hundredths clear of Norris who apologised to his McLaren team for taking too much kerb on his flying lap Antonelli followed up his pole success in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying to take third marking the Mercedes rookie’s best result yet in a Grand Prix Qualifying while Oscar Piastri had to settle for fourth in the McLaren ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in fifth Carlos Sainz led Williams’ charge in P6 from team mate Alex Albon in P7 while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc bounced back from his pre-Sprint crash to take P8 Haas’ Esteban Ocon claimed P9 in his first Q3 appearance for the American squad with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10 The big shock from Q2 was the exit of Lewis Hamilton with the Ferrari driver ending the session in P12 after being unable to improve on his lap This put the seven-time World Champion behind Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in P11 Also eliminated in the second segment were Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in 13th – despite this marking his strongest F1 Qualifying performance yet – along with Alpine’s Jack Doohan in 14th and the Racing Bulls car of Liam Lawson in 15th Nico Hulkenberg just missed the cut for Q2 while Fernando Alonso’s difficult day following his crash earlier on in the Sprint continued as the Aston Martin driver ended Qualifying in P17 Pierre Gasly was outqualified by Alpine team mate Doohan for the first time after ending Q1 in 18th place ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Ollie Bearman on the back row in 19th and 20th Qualifying Highlights: 2025 Miami Grand Prix As the dust settled on an eventful wet-dry Sprint at the Miami International Autodrome the attentions of the paddock switched to Qualifying which would decide the starting order for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix While the session started slightly later than planned at 1615 local time – due to the Sprint having also ended later than scheduled after the weather triggered a delayed start – there were questions over whether cars that picked up damage in the Sprint would be ready in time for Q1 Aston Martin allayed any concerns about Alonso’s participation by confirming that the AMR25 had been repaired for Qualifying following his crash out of the 100km dash and Leclerc was also back in action for Ferrari after sliding into the barriers before the Sprint formation lap meaning that all 20 cars hit the track for Q1 After receiving a post-Sprint penalty that dropped him out of the points Albon again looked to be in trouble early in Qualifying with the Williams driver noted for a pit lane infringement after seemingly pushing into the fast lane ahead of Hadjar This will be investigated after the session Meanwhile it was advantage Piastri as the first timed laps went on the board the Australian setting the pace with his effort of 1m 27.307s to go nearly three-tenths faster than Verstappen Antonelli and Lawson all opted not to post a lap time initially leaving them all in the drop zone along with Stroll Albon was noted for a pit lane infringement early in Q1 As the minutes ticked down and the lap times started to tumble Antonelli outpaced team mate Russell to go fastest – only for Verstappen to then become the first man to break into the 1m 26s at the top of the timesheets Verstappen’s fellow World Champion Hamilton suffered a lock-up during his effort heightening the pressure for the Ferrari driver after finding himself on the bubble in P15 The other drivers at risk ahead of the final minutes were Ocon the rest of the pack were out on track trying to improve Hamilton was dropped into the danger zone – but the Scuderia racer managed to haul himself up to P8 while Tsunoda also bettered his previous time to go P9 Bortoleto put himself into an impressive 11th but his Kick Sauber team mate was pushed into elimination in 16th Alonso also found himself dropping down the order to 17th with Gasly a disappointing 18th for Alpine ahead of Stroll and Bearman in 19th and 20th respectively Bearman faced another Q1 exit after ending the session down in P20 Q1 pace-setter Verstappen was the first to hit the track as Q2 got underway the Red Bull driver heading out on a set of fresh soft tyres – before promptly going on to set an early benchmark of 1m 26.643s it was Piastri who had made his way to the top of the timesheets with an eye-catching 1m 26.269s leading by two-tenths from team mate Norris with Antonelli slotting into third ahead of Verstappen Russell was a surprise name in the danger zone with several minutes remaining – the Briton reporting struggles with grip having not been as comfortable as Antonelli during the weekend so far – while the others at risk were Ocon the cars started to reemerge for their final efforts into the final minutes of Q2 While Piastri seemed content to remain in the pits Ocon was fighting to progress to Q3 – and despite a big slide pushing Hamilton into the elimination zone was that Hamilton found himself at risk – and then could not better his effort meaning that he exited in P12 just hours after a promising P3 result in the Sprint with the Ferrari driver set to start from P12 on the grid in Miami An interesting mixture of names prepared to battle it out in the top 10 shootout Mercedes and Williams pairings joined by the remaining Ferrari of Leclerc and the Haas of Ocon the Frenchman making his first Q3 appearance for his new team As all of the drivers completed an initial run – with the exception of Leclerc who abandoned his effort after going wide – it was Verstappen who held provisional pole on a 1m 26.492s a mere three-thousandths ahead of Norris in second while Piastri was only 0.017s away in third the scene was set for a thrilling showdown in the final minutes of Q3 It initially appeared that Verstappen’s chances of holding onto pole may be in jeopardy after a wobble into the first corner – yet the Dutchman still managed to set purple sectors en route to going fastest on a 1m 26.204s All eyes were on whether Norris could beat that but a moment over the kerbs seemed to put paid to the McLaren’s man challenge while Antonelli split the two papaya cars to take third just one day after the Italian grabbed an impressive pole in Sprint Qualifying The other Mercedes of Russell slotted into fifth ahead of the Williams duo of Sainz and Albon in sixth and seventh respectively Verstappen will line up ahead of Norris and Antonelli on the grid for the Miami Grand Prix "It's been a great Qualifying," said Verstappen "I think we improved the car a tiny amount which helped me to rotate it a bit better and honestly I had a tiny moment on my final lap into Turn 1 so I lost a bit of time there but around here it's very complicated with the tyres over a lap but in the end it worked out well so I'm very happy of course to be on pole." The 2025 Miami Grand Prix is set to begin at 1600 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from the Miami International Autodrome He may have narrowly missed out on victory in the Miami Sprint but Oscar Piastri made no mistake in the main event After capitalising on his team mate's early adventures cleverly biding his time to find a clean way past the Red Bull before going on to head a dominant McLaren one-two and extend his championship lead RACE REPORT: Piastri wins from Norris and Russell as McLaren seal commanding 1-2 in Miami Grand Prix Verstappen vs Norris into Turn 1 and Antonelli after redemption – What To Watch For in the Miami Grand Prix Lando Norris emerged as the winner in a dramatic Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix with the Briton making a perfectly timed pit stop during a late Safety Car period to hold the lead to the end ahead of McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri Heavy rain had fallen at the Miami International Autodrome prior to the event getting underway with the conditions catching out Charles Leclerc who crashed en route to the grid putting him out of the running before the Sprint had started And with visibility proving challenging when the formation lap began When the Sprint eventually got underway in improved conditions polesitter Kimi Antonelli lost out at the start to Piastri the McLaren man holding the inside line at Turn 1 to move ahead while Antonelli suffered a wide moment and slipped down to fourth And while Piastri held a steady lead for several laps – amid various drivers pitting for slick tyres in the changing conditions – a chaotic sequence of events later in proceedings saw Norris become the new leader after Piastri pitted a position the Briton held onto as he made his own stop just as the Safety Car was called following a crash for Fernando Alonso With Norris leading home Piastri for a McLaren 1-2 Lewis Hamilton took third place after pitting early in a solid strategy call from Ferrari while Williams’ Alex Albon was initially fourth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Haas’ Ollie Bearman in the rest of the points-paying positions following the Sprint it was confirmed that Albon Lawson and Bearman had all dropped out of the points with the Thai racer handed a five-second time penalty for not staying above the minimum time behind the Safety Car while Lawson received the same punishment for causing a collision with Alonso Bearman was also hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release from the pits with these changes promoting Russell to fourth and Stroll to fifth while Yuki Tsunoda Antonelli and Pierre Gasly moved up into sixth Following just one practice session on Friday Sprint Qualifying took place later in the day to decide the grid for the 100km dash in which points would be awarded to the top eight finishers from a maximum of eight for P1 down to one for P8 The closing moments of SQ3 provided a thrilling sequence of events as Antonelli put together a stunning lap to claim his maiden pole position the 18-year-old becoming F1’s youngest-ever polesitter in the process as he held off the McLarens of Piastri and Norris one change was confirmed to the grid as Yuki Tsunoda – who ended a challenging Sprint Qualifying in P18 – would start from the pit lane due to the set-up of the suspension on his Red Bull being changed under parc ferme conditions But there was further drama to come as torrential rain hit the Miami International Autodrome with the start time approaching – leading to Leclerc suffering a premature exit from the Sprint when he slid into the walls en route to the grid putting him out of the event before it had even begun Given the unpredictable nature of the conditions – with the rain having stopped prior to the 19-lap encounter starting – question marks remained over which tyre the pack would be starting on at the damp track And when the tyre blankets were removed ahead of the formation lap – which would take place behind the Safety Car – it was revealed that everybody had bolted on the intermediate tyres with the exception of Carlos Sainz on the full wets 2025 Miami GP Sprint: Leclerc crashes out on wet track on his way to the grid With plenty of spray being kicked up as the formation lap ensued Antonelli and Piastri reported struggles with visibility in the conditions while replays showed Max Verstappen going wide The Safety Car remained out on track to lead the field around – before a red flag was thrown resulting in all 19 cars returning to the pit lane and parking in the fast lane After that pause in the action – during which the conditions looked to have improved while Sainz made the switch from the wets to the intermediate tyres – it was announced that the Sprint would now get underway at 1228 local time The Safety Car again led the drivers out for another formation lap in preparation for a standing start on the much more raceable track As the lights went out for the remaining 15 laps of racing – with the formation laps having added towards the count – Antonelli struggled to launch as well as Piastri with the pair going into Turn 1 side-by-side before Piastri held the inside line to take the lead while Antonelli went wide dropping down behind Norris and Verstappen in the process The Mercedes driver took to the team radio to suggest that he had been pushed off the track just as Piastri began to build an early advantage from team mate Norris Elsewhere Alonso – still looking for his first points of the season – had enjoyed a strong start to move from P10 to P8 with Lawson also making gains in P9 after starting from P14 “It is drying very quickly,” Piastri reported having now extended his lead to 1.7s – and while his first corner incident with Antonelli was noted by Race Control it was then deemed that no investigation was necessary having been noted for a false start for being out of position – before this also was dismissed as requiring no further action It looked like an intra-team battle could be on the cards at Mercedes with Russell rapidly closing in on Antonelli in the fight for fourth place There was also plenty of action a little further back as Albon chased down Hamilton in a scrap for sixth the Williams driver being followed by Alonso in the process questions were arising over whether anybody would gamble on a switch to the slick tyres – and Tsunoda became the first to make a move diving into the pits for a set of used mediums to reemerge at the rear of the field Hamilton – who had been struggling for grip out on track – became the next to switch to slicks by bolting on the softs with Stroll and Sainz soon following suit for mediums A flurry of action then ensued as Verstappen and Antonelli pitted – only for contact to occur between them as Red Bull released their driver just as the Mercedes man tried to pull into his box resulting in debris scattering across the pit lane while the Italian was forced to continue on to the pit exit There was plenty of action throughout the field during the Sprint forcing him to return to the pits to retire It was not all smooth sailing for the Briton who reported debris out on track following Sainz’s issues with replays showing that the Williams driver spun and clipped the wall Norris subsequently pitted on Lap 15 – just as the Safety Car was called following a heavy crash for Alonso meaning that last year’s Miami Grand Prix winner was able to reemerge as race leader ahead of Piastri Verstappen – under investigation for that potential unsafe release in the pit lane – Albon It was soon confirmed that Verstappen had received a 10-second time penalty while replays showed that Alonso had been tagged by Lawson another incident that had been noted by Race Control and would be investigated after the Sprint As the Safety Car remained out on track for the final laps Norris ultimately crossed the line in P1 to take the Sprint victory ahead of Piastri marking the Briton’s first win since his triumph at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix With that penalty for Verstappen dropping the Dutchman down to the bottom of the order Hamilton followed the McLaren pair in third a solid result for the sole Ferrari in the event though the Thai driver was noted for a Safety Car infringement that will be looked at later with Lawson – another driver who was set to be investigated post-Sprint for that Alonso collision – and Bearman making up the top eight before those aforementioned penalties dropped Albon Norris took his first victory since the Australian Grand Prix by winning the Sprint "My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute so I’m happy," said Norris You box early – it paid off for Lewis and he had a good strategy – or do you stay out later and maybe get the Safety Car I would probably prefer if this happened tomorrow rather than today but I’ll take it A good job by the team so it was good fun." Following the Sprint, the drivers will next hit the track during Qualifying for the Grand Prix later on Saturday, with the session set to begin at 1600 local time. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action Piastri full of praise for McLaren after ‘unbelievable’ and ‘impressive’ victory in Miami The FIA have announced the result of Red Bull’s protest against George Russell for allegedly failing to slow under yellow flags during the Miami Grand Prix Russell had beaten Max Verstappen to the final position on the podium behind the McLaren team-mates pipping the reigning World Champion by two seconds was in jeopardy when Red Bull alleged that he had not slowed sufficiently when Oliver Bearman’s Haas ground to a halt triggering the second of three Virtual Safety Car periods in Miami Russell was able to claim a cheap pit stop in the process as the Mercedes driver dived into the pits for medium tyres and returned to the track ahead of Verstappen in P3 Verstappen was quick to come over the radio and query whether Russell had sufficiently slowed under the double waved yellows Russell held on to that final podium spot to the chequered flag Article 2.5.5 b) of the International Sporting Code This particular section reads: “Double Waved Yellow Flag: Any driver passing through a double waved yellow flag marshalling sector must reduce speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop.” 👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship 👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings The FIA heard evidence from Red Bull and Mercedes the former claiming that while Russell lifted the throttle when the yellow flag was displayed Red Bull argued that ‘discernibly reduced speed’ meant ‘passing the yellow flag zone at an absolute speed which is lower than the speed before entering the yellow flag zone’ as Verstappen countered that it was ‘common practice accepted by all teams and the FIA’ that ‘significantly lifting the throttle’ through a yellow flag zone is considered an ‘appropriate reaction’ Russell had therefore complied with the relevant regulations he said that he saw the single yellow and had ‘significantly lifted the throttle to react to the yellow flag’ Mercedes also stated that the Briton’s lift was ‘more significant’ than what could be observed by other cars ruling that the ‘protest is rejected as it is not founded’ Their statement read: “It was evident from the onboard footage as well as from telemetry that Car 63 lifted the throttle when passing the yellow flag zone 25 percent and this resulted in a reduction of torque of approx a) requires the driver to have “discernibly reduced speed” in a yellow flag zone but does not specify if that means reducing the absolute speed or reducing the speed relative to the regular racing speed in the relevant part of the track ‘The speed of Car 63 in the yellow flag zone was considerably slower than the regular racing speed but the absolute speed while passing through the yellow flag zone increased slightly ‘The Stewards determine that the requirement of Article 26.1 a) concerning the reduction of speed in a yellow flag zone can only relate to a reduction relative to the regular racing speed as the reduction of the absolute speed can depending on the part of the track in which the yellow flag is displayed represent a compliance or a non-compliance with the regulations whereas a reduction of the relative speed always signals that the driver has acknowledged and respected the yellow flag in a braking zone the absolute speed can be reduced without necessarily complying with the regulations.’ Read next – Miami GP: Piastri continues winning streak after more Verstappen v Norris fireworks play400,000 bricks at 20 km/h - Meet Miami's amazing LEGO cars (1:40)Laurence Edmondson travelled to Prague Czechia to see the Miami Grand Prix's amazing LEGO cars being built MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- It sounds like a 10-year-old's wildest dream: Take nearly 400,000 Lego bricks and build a life-size Formula 1 car capable of completing a lap of the Miami Grand Prix circuit The ambitious idea came about last year as the Danish company's senior management was visiting its model production factory in Kladno Tasked with dreaming up ideas to promote Lego's recently signed partnership with F1 the leadership team had its "what if?" moment "We were talking and we were brainstorming together and saying 'What could we do with F1 that would be completely epic and beyond anything we've done before?'" Julia Goldin chief product and marketing officer of the Lego Group what about full-size cars and what about drivable cars?' So it took a while because Senior designer Jonathan Jurion and engineering manager specialist Martin Šmida were given the task of making the vision a reality The goal: accurately reproduce life-size versions of the latest range of Speed Champions Lego F1 cars that not only look faithful to the product on sale in shops but are also capable of completing a full 3.3-mile lap of the Miami International Autodrome during F1's traditional prerace drivers' parade Lego has a long history of building accurate life-size models of various products for its parks only one of its full-size cars had been drivable even when held together with special construction glue but also because a drivable car would require a steel-frame chassis hydraulic brakes and a power steering system And then there was another challenge presented by the Miami project: Only one car would be built per team meaning each model would have to be big enough to accommodate two F1 drivers Speaking to ESPN in Kladno earlier this year Jurion held one of the Speed Champions models in the palm of his hand as he explained the process of scaling the 1/30th toy car up to a life-size construction trying to remodel it so it fits two minifigures," he said "Obviously a minifigure is not the same proportions as a human "We then take that design and try to upscale it so [the fully built life-size car] is a 30-times upscale of the original model you can buy in shops design each part and try to make it look as faithful to that as possible." Each life-size F1 car that Lego built for all 10 teams for the Miami drivers' parade is made up of 400,000 bricks. Hector Vivas/Getty ImageIn order to keep the build to the correct proportions while accommodating two drivers the cockpit area was elongated so that one driver could sit between the legs of his teammate (Who gets to sit up front in each car will be an interesting insight into the dynamics between teammates up and down the grid.) "So we actually got inspired by an airplane design for two people so they are sitting in tandem one behind the other," Jurion said but we think that we tried to do the biggest space possible for them to be inside." who was in charge of the construction of the car's mechanical underpinnings is proud of an additional feature to make the ride slightly more comfortable for the driver at the controls and because we don't know if the driver is smaller or taller "These pedals have the possibility to move 10 centimeters back and 10 centimeters forward." Nate Saunders and Laurence Edmondson geek out about Formula One and the personalities behind it on "Unlapped," ESPN's weekly F1 podcast. Listen to 'Unlapped' there was no instruction manual when the project first started Jurion used special software to map out the assembly of the bricks in layers to create the right shapes to mimic F1 body parts while incorporating specific team sponsor names in Lego form "We build bricks in the software as you would build bricks at home gluing the bricks until we have these wonderful cars on loan from the teams and F1 tire supplier Pirelli are the only visible parts of the construction not made from genuine Lego bricks Even the steering wheel has an outer casing assembled from Lego complete with switches and dials to look like the real thing The 400,000 bricks alone weigh 1,000 kilograms including the chassis supporting the structure that adds up to 1,500kg -- or just under two times the weight of a real F1 car Šmida's primary responsibility was to make sure the finished cars were up to the task of completing the lap under their own power The chassis not only had to be strong enough to support a ton of bricks (quite literally) but also house an electric motor and drivetrain capable of powering the whole construction to a maximum speed of just under 13 mph -- a number roughly in line with the speed of the flatbed truck used for standard driver parades at other circuits the project required 3,000 hours of development time and a further 19,000 hours of assembly time to build all 10 cars the models will go on a worldwide tour so both Lego and F1 fans can marvel at them Perhaps the hardest task of all for Goldin and her leadership team is to think of a way to up the game for Lego's next F1 project "That's the question that everybody is asking," Goldin said one of the things that we pride ourselves on is to never let our imagination be in any way constrained by what is considered possible It's always: Let's make the impossible possible And I'm confident that the creativity of our teams will bring another From Max Verstappen versus Lando Norris on the front row to Kimi Antonelli looking for redemption and from Lewis Hamilton trying to fight through the field to an even higher chance of rain than had been forecast for Saturday here are five things to keep an eye out for when we go racing for the second time this weekend in Miami… We became quite accustomed to fights between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris towards the end of last season but this year has only seen a true battle between the pair in Australia and Japan Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur defended the handling of team orders between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton during the Miami Grand Prix arguing that “we did a good job” from the pitwall despite both drivers being unhappy about the situation While both Leclerc and Hamilton were diplomatic after the race both made it clear that they still had concerns Leclerc said “I’m not going to comment too much” but that “it’s obvious today was not the way we want to manage the race” Hamilton also questioned the time he lost behind Leclerc in the second stint saying “I don’t think the decision came quick enough” but also saying “I have no problems with the team or with Charles” with Hamilton in particular criticising what he called “not good teamwork” over the radio having initially been told to stay in DRS range of Leclerc Even after he was told the two cars would be swapped he quipped “have a tea break while you’re at it This was during the second stint of the race with Leclerc and Hamilton running seventh and eighth after both passing Carlos Sainz’s Williams just after the restart coming out of a virtual safety car restart on lap 34/57 Hamilton was on medium tyres and Leclerc was on hards It wasn’t until lap 38 that the swap was made at Turn 17 Leclerc promptly reported that “I need Lewis to go faster” and as Hamilton was unable to catch Antonelli with the deficit of just under three seconds Although Leclerc was told the swap would be made on lap 51 Hamilton wasn’t told in time for the first of these opportunities and questioned the decision for the second he did relinquish seventh place on the run to Turn 11 on lap 52 - albeit subsequently sarcastically asking engineer Riccardo Adami when given an update about the time gap to Carlos Sainz Vasseur was adamant that Ferrari was not flat-footed in imposing team orders originally despite this seemingly preventing Hamilton making the most of his medium tyres He argued that what delay there was resulted from the need to understand whether or not Hamilton really was faster or something like this,” said Vasseur when asked by The Race why it took so long to swap Hamilton and Leclerc the first thing to understand if it's faster when you are behind due to the DRS or not it means that it's one minute 30 to understand perhaps you can argue at the end that we would have been better to do it directly but we didn't know if it was the DRS effect or not And I think we take the tough decision because it's never easy to ask Charles or Lewis to swap I didn't see a lot of [other] teams doing it.” When Hamilton was ordered to drop behind his team-mate suggested the risk of losing more time to Antonelli meant that “it’s OK” to stay in position Vasseur explained after the race that it was important to stick with the team’s existing policy when it comes to managing such situations hence Hamilton was instructed again to let Leclerc past “Because it's the policy of the team that if you ask them to swap,” said Vasseur when asked about why this happened. it's because we think that the second car is faster than the first one at that stage of the race “We try to catch up the guy who is in front 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 said that “I can perfectly understand the frustrations of the drivers” but reiterated that he felt “as a team He also highlighted the fact that the way the radio messages are dropped into the TV broadcast can distort the timings first you have to understand that it's FOM who is managing the delay,” said Vasseur “It means that sometimes we're asking them something and you have it live or one half later but it was still under control “And then we have tonnes of information that we are discussing with them about the car the set-up of the car and so it's not always easy to ask them to do it before Turn 11 or Turn 18 You can always argue that he would have been better to do it half a lap before or half a lap later." Max Verstappen claimed a magnificent pole position in Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix as he narrowly got the better of McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli in a remarkably competitive hour The Dutchman was provisionally on the top spot after those in Q3 completed their first runs he improved upon his lap time once again to take pole by a nail-bitingly close 0.065s and 0.067s over Norris and Antonelli respectively READ MORE: Verstappen surges to pole position ahead of Norris and Antonelli in Miami GP Qualifying Oscar Piastri was forced to settle for P4 ahead of George Russell with the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon putting on a fantastic performance to start the Grand Prix from P6 and P7 Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10 but the biggest surprise of the session came from Lewis Hamilton who was knocked out in Q2 for the first time this season Catch up on the highlights from Qualifying in Miami by hitting go on the video player above playHow Oscar Piastri made history at the Miami Grand Prix (0:55)Recap the numbers behind Oscar Piastri's Miami Grand Prix victory -- Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead to 16 points with a victory ahead of teammate Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday including reigning champion Max Verstappen who started from pole position with Piastri securing his fourth victory of the season by 4.6 seconds ahead of Norris attempted to pass Verstappen for the lead in the opening corner of the race but found himself hung out to dry on the outside of Turn 2 and dropped to fifth as Piastri moved up to third from fourth on the grid Piastri passed Andrea Kimi Antonelli for second place on Lap 4 and Norris recovered to third place by Lap 9 Verstappen provided a defensive masterclass holding off Piastri until Lap 14 and Norris until Lap 18 The superior pace of the McLarens was clear to see but Verstappen positioned his Red Bull in all the right places to delay the inevitable Once the two McLarens were in clear air at the front of the pack with Piastri managing the closing gap to his teammate Norris attempted to close in and chipped away at his teammate's lead over the second half of the race but ultimately was unable to muster a genuine challenge Oscar Piastri claimed his sixth career victory in Miami He becomes the third Australian driver with three consecutive wins after Alan Jones and Jack Brabham. Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty ImagesThe result means Piastri has extended his championship lead for the second race since taking the lead of the standings at the Bahrain Grand Prix Piastri said in a postrace interview he knew to avoid Verstappen at Turn 1 "I won the race that I really wanted to after a tricky day on Saturday," Piastri said "To come away with a win is an impressive result I was aware enough to avoid Max in Turn 1 and I knew I had a pace advantage I was struggling on the hard tyres but I had built a gap "Two years ago at Miami we were the slowest team Now to have won the Grand Prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result." Norris said Verstappen put up a good fight as always: "I paid the price I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today Oscar Piastri is the first McLaren driver to win four of the first six races in a season since Mika Häkkinen in 1998 George Russell secured third place for Mercedes after benefitting from a pit stop under a virtual safety car which was deployed to remove the broken-down Haas of Oliver Bearman from the side of the race track Russell said he was pleased with a podium result "Really happy to come away with P3," he said afterward "I've been struggling this weekend personally and always on the backfoot." Hours after the race, Red Bull lodged a protest over Russell's result for allegedly failing to slow under yellow flags who had pitted under normal racing conditions had to settle for fourth place despite his heroics in the opening laps meaning he is now 32 points behind Piastri after losing 20 points to the McLaren driver over the course of the entire Miami Grand Prix sprint race weekend Alex Albon matched his best result of the season with a fifth-place finish ahead of Antonelli who also lost out on track position in the pit stops A disappointing weekend for Ferrari concluded with a tense battle between its drivers over seventh and eighth Lewis Hamilton cruised up behind Charles Leclerc on Lap 36 as his medium tires offered better performance than Leclerc's hards Ferrari initially told Hamilton to remain one-second behind Leclerc to benefit from DRS while maintaining position but the driver of car 44 replied saying: "This is not good teamwork Hamilton added in a separate message: "In China I got out the way [for Leclerc] Ferrari agreed to tell Leclerc to let Hamilton past Hamilton's tyres had started to go off and Leclerc was now on the radio asking to repass Hamilton so that he could chase Antonelli for sixth with Leclerc finishing 3.1 seconds off the Mercedes at the finish Carlos Sainz secured ninth for Williams after attempting to pass Hamilton on the final lap with Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda in 10th place - How Lego built life-size F1 cars for Miami GP driver parade MIAMI GARDENS, Fla -- George Russell kept his podium finish at the Miami Grand Prix after a post-race Red Bull protest was thrown out by the stewards Red Bull had claimed Russell broke yellow flag rules midway through the contest On Lap 33, shortly after Gabriele Bortoleto's Sauber had stopped on track due to engine trouble a radio message from Max Verstappen was played saying: "Check if George lifted Drivers are required to slow their speed in cautionary periods Verstappen ended up finishing behind Russell - in the closing stages a message from race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase encouraged the four-time world champion to stay within five seconds of the Mercedes driver In a visit to the stewards after the finish Red Bull attempted to argue that while Russell might have lifted off the throttle he had not done so enough to alter his speed sufficiently and within the requirements of the rules The stewards disagreed with their assessment Their verdict read: "It was evident from the onboard footage as well as from telemetry that Car 63 lifted the throttle when passing the yellow flag zone 30 percent." The verdict meant the order was unchanged Max Verstappen bounced back in sensational fashion from an unremarkable Sprint to claim pole position for the Miami Grand Prix narrowly edging out Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli to the honour The Red Bull driver seized pole with a lap time of 1m 26.204s to clear his nearest rivals by 0.065s – only hours after receiving a 10-second time penalty for an unsafe release that forced him down the order in the Sprint This marks Verstappen's third pole position in six races as he continues to push his RB21 to its very limit putting him in the best place to hunt down another victory Click go on the video player above to ride onboard for Verstappen's blisteringly fast lap in Miami 'It was frustrating' – Hamilton opens up on tense Miami radio messages during Ferrari strategy debate Oscar Piastri made it a hat-trick of wins in some style as he came from P4 to secure victory in the Miami Grand Prix they secured maximum points with Lando Norris bringing it home in second to cap a dominant display had a can of Victoria Bitter and still finished ahead of the chasing pack he more than made up for it in the race by picking off rival drivers as quickly as possible Norris took care of himself but Kimi Antonelli could have caused Piastri some problems had he not got by him so soon Up next was Verstappen which led to the best racing sequence of the season so far and Piastri was able to out-smart the Dutchman on his way to the lead he disappeared into a papaya-coloured dot with only his team-mate able to stay in the same postcode Considering he qualified ahead of his team-mate and given how the McLaren pace advantage played out the race was there to be won for Lando Norris today As has often been the case with the McLaren driver his grand prix was decided in a clash with Verstappen that the Red Bull driver again won Undoubtedly got lucky with the timing of the VSC but it was still a commendable performance by Russell who kept in it on hards while everyone else was on mediums This meant he had pace to use as the race went on but all he could do was keep Verstappen well behind given how clear the McLarens were There was no car-defying drive for Verstappen today who tried his very best to keep Piastri behind but ultimately succumbed to the quicker car His best work came in quali and he ensured he kept the lead after lap one but once both McLarens were past The timing of a VSC then cost him a podium spot An excellent result for Albon who continues to be the best driver away from the top teams his pace got him past Antonelli and his own team-mate Carlos Sainz for a very healthy points score Peaked with a sprint quali pole but found it difficult both in the sprint and the race itself While there was no tangle with Verstappen in the grand prix Antonelli always had one eye over his should as the likes of Piastri One half of a very frustrated Ferrari driver pair as the team did not make the wrong decision but something far worse – no decision at all The indecisiveness cost Hamilton a shot at Antonelli and then cost Leclerc the same thing this was probably the best the car had to offer which says a lot about where Ferrari are right now If radio messages between Hamilton and race engineer Riccardo Adami were fraught in the past Accusing them of having a tea break while they ummed and ahhed before asking if they wanted him to let Sainz past as well showed the frustration of Hamilton His frustration began a day before when they did not use a new set of tyres in quali but he did well to move up the order in the race and at times Still not quite at the level of team-mate Albon but another points score for Sainz The team set him up to fail by stating him on used tyres after a quali error but the Spanaird did well to hang in there as the race went on He was lucky though to avoid penalties for a yellow flag incident and contact with Hamilton A five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane ultimately did not cost Yuki Tsunoda but could well have done had a non-Red Bull driver been behind It was a silly mistake which threatened his race but Tsunoda is still way off the pace of Verstappen The Frenchman continues to impress for Racing Bulls and could maybe have broken into the top 10 on merit had it not been another Red Bull car up ahead a driver many expected would become the senior figure in the team after his Red Bull demotion Produced some excellent wheel-to-wheel racing with Hamilton but lost the overall war Finished in 12th having qualified ninth as the Haas struggled in race trim Recovered well from a pit lane start that saw him fitted with a new suspension but that only came after a bad quali having ended the last race in the first lap it is a step in the right direction Quickly becoming the most anonymous driver on the grid Nico Hulkenberg started 16th and only moved up following the retirement of others A rare spin from Alonso who had a poor weekend He struggled in the sprint and could make no headway in the race itself Qualified 18th and only moved up due to the retirements of others The Canadian has not finished higher than 16th since China Tempers flare between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari in Miami GP radio transcript Miami GP: Piastri continues winning streak after more Verstappen v Norris fireworks Involved in a racing indecent in lap one that saw a big hole cut into his right sidepod he kept racing but once any chance of points had disappeared Was occupying his lower-order spot when his engine went handing him the second DNF of this F1 career Another engine casualty came in the form of Oliver Bearman whose car produced a fatal puff of grey smoke before giving up he was trying to work his way back up the order having qualified 20th initially Caught in a tangle with Liam Lawson that both drivers could have done without The Australian continues his point-less run in F1 Read next: F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates Share via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe Miami Gardens | The first time Oscar Piastri arrived at the Miami Grand Prix as a Formula 1 driver he was in the slowest car in the field and only narrowly avoided finishing last Fast forward two years and Piastri and McLaren Racing have come full circle SaveLog in or Subscribe to save articleShareCopy link Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. 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