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F1 2025: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 at Miami GP

Russell completed the podium, albeit over 30 seconds behind the McLaren duo.
3 min read5 May '25
Unnatee GidithuriUnnatee Gidithuri
McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris at 2025 F1 Miami GP
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Oscar Piastri secured his fourth win of the 2025 F1 season at the Miami GP to further extend his championship lead. This makes him the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive F1 races in over 25 years (following Mika Hakkinen’s hat-trick in Spain 1997, Australia 1998 and Brazil 1998).

Norris finished second, handing McLaren a 1-2 finish, over 30 seconds clear of the rest of the field. Mercedes’ George Russell completed the podium in third place.

  1. Piastri wins, 4.630 secs ahead of Norris
  2. Albon P5 for Williams
  3. Ferrari’s Leclerc P7, Hamilton P8

McLaren dominates Miami GP

Polesitter Max Verstappen initially held the lead, closing the door on Norris, who ran wide and dropped from P2 to P6. But Piastri was swiftly gaining ground. He passed Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli to move up to second place shortly after the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) ended on Lap 4.

By this time, Norris had already caught up to Verstappen, and the two battled it out over the next handful of laps. At one point, Norris did find a way past, but did so off track and had to give the place back to Verstappen. The McLaren driver finally made a move stick on Lap 18, but by this point, he was already nearly 9 seconds behind his teammate Piastri.

With the threat of rain never quite materialising, McLaren took full advantage of running in clean air to build a sizeable lead. “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,” said Piastri, who won 4.630 seconds ahead of Norris.

“As always, there’s lots of learning to take away from the weekend, but I’m very, very happy to be leaving Miami on top.”

Verstappen slips to P4

 

Verstappen Piastri at 2025 F1 Miami GP

Unlike the other frontrunners who started on mediums, Russell started the race on hards, and as a result, he was able to extend his first stint. The gamble worked in his favour when Oliver Bearman pulled off the track on Lap 29, bringing out the VSC once again.

Russell benefited from pitting under the VSC and re-joined the track ahead of Verstappen, who had to settle for P4. “It ended up being a struggle out there,” Verstappen reflected on his race. “I tried to put up a fight, but in the end, it was impossible to keep them [McLaren] behind. We got a bit unlucky with the VSC, but of course that is part of racing, and overall the pace wasn’t really there.”

Alex Albon scored an impressive fifth-place result for Williams. Antonelli’s slow pitstop, meanwhile, dropped him to sixth place.

Ferrari struggles continue

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished P7 and P8, respectively, after being involved in a tense team orders debate. Hamilton, who was running on mediums compared to Leclerc on hards, suggested he should be let by since he was faster. It took several laps for Ferrari to make the call, prompting Hamilton to reply, “Have a tea break while you’re at it!”

Ferrari finally ordered the two to swap places, but Hamilton couldn’t quite close in on Antonelli and had to give the position back to Leclerc. He survived a late-race scrap with Williams’ Carlos Sainz to finish P8, while Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.

2025 F1 championship standings

Piastri’s championship lead has now grown to 16 points over his teammate Norris. Verstappen holds on to third place, another 16 points behind Norris. As for the constructors’ standings, McLaren now holds an advantage of 105 points over second-placed Mercedes.

F1 will now head to Imola for the Emilia Romagna GP on May 16-18.

2025 Miami GP results

2025 Miami GP results
DriverTeam
1
Oscar PiastriMcLaren
2
Lando NorrisMcLaren
3
George RussellMercedes
4
Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing
5
Alex AlbonWilliams
6
Kimi AntonelliMercedes
7
Charles LeclercFerrari
8
Lewis HamiltonFerrari
9
Carlos SainzWilliams
10
Yuki TsunodaRed Bull Racing
11
Isack HadjarRacing Bulls
12
Esteban OconHaas
13
Pierre GaslyAlpine
14
Nico HulkenbergStake Sauber
15
Fernando AlonsoAston Martin
16
Lance StrollAston Martin
NC
Liam LawsonRacing Bulls
NC
Gabriel BortoletoStake Sauber
NC
Oliver BearmanHaas
NC
Jack DoohanAlpine
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