After a wet sprint race on Saturday, the drivers were back in action Sunday afternoon for the FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX 2025. The “Sunshine State” hadn’t quite lived up to its name, with gloomy clouds looming over the circuit surrounding Hard Rock Stadium. The threat of rain was present, but never materialized.
The leading two drivers got away evenly from the front row, with Lando Norris holding the inside line into the first corner. The McLaren was nearly fully alongside the Red Bull of Max Verstappen into the second corner, but Verstappen forced Norris wide off the circuit, dropping the Brit down to P6. The stewards looked at the move, but determined no investigation was necessary since Verstappen was leading at the apex.
Kimi Antonelli was eager to apply pressure to Verstappen on the opening lap after a disappointing sprint race on Saturday. However, a lockup in turn one at the start of the second lap put the Mercedes rookie on the defensive from Oscar Piastri.
The race was briefly neutralized by the virtual safety car when Jack Doohan parked his car on the side of the circuit. He had tangled with Liam Lawson in the first corner, suffering a puncture as a result.
When the VSC was removed, Piastri made quick work of overtaking Antonelli around the outside of the flat-out turn ten. He was left to chase down Verstappen. By lap nine, Piastri was all over the back of the Red Bull, but Verstappen did an excellent job of making his car a mile wide. A lockup in the first corner dropped Piastri back for a couple of laps.
With the seemingly superior pace of the McLaren, Piastri was right on the tail of Verstappen quickly. Piastri found himself alongside Verstappen on the outside of the first corner but correctly predicted the antics of the Dutchman. Verstappen braked very late in the braking zone, locking out and running wide. Piastri, who had taken a wider line, was able to safely take the lead of the race.
While the leading pair were battling, this allowed Norris to catch up after his rough opening lap. He had fought past George Russell in turn four on lap seven and then by Antonelli in turn 11 a couple of laps later. When Piastri got by Verstappen on lap 14, Norris was already within striking distance of Verstappen.
Norris initiated the multi-lap battle in the first corner on lap 15. The two rivals were wheel-to-wheel, with Verstappen only just leaving enough space on the exit of the corner. Norris had to back out of the move. He had another chance with a dive into turn 11 a couple of laps later, but forced both wide. Norris gave the position back to Verstappen to avoid a penalty. He repeated a move into turn 11 the following lap, taking P2 from the Dutchman, who hadn’t put up much of a fight on that particular attempt. But all of the wheel-to-wheel battling behind had allowed Piastri to stretch his legs out front to build up a nine-second lead.
A little less than halfway through the race, the pit window opened. Antonelli was the first of the leading cars to pit, suffering a slightly slow stop with Carlos Sainz also coming in at the same time and delaying the Mercedes driver’s exit. Verstappen covered off the undercut threat from Antonelli the following lap, and Alex Albon also pitted, coming out nearly alongside Antonelli.
Williams appeared to have a fantastic race pace, likely exceeding everyone’s expectations. The duo had managed to stick with the top runners in the opening stint. There was some mild drama within the team, with Albon overtaking his teammate against the team’s orders. He would also overtake Antonelli a few laps after pitting to put the Williams into the top five.
There was further drama when Oliver Bearman stopped on track with a power unit failure. This prompted the virtual safety car to recover the stranded Haas, benefiting the cars who had yet to pit. McLaren and Ferrari were able to pit both of their drivers. Crucially, Russell pitted and was able to rejoin narrowly ahead of Verstappen, promoting himself to P3. This was despite a slow stop by the Silver Arrows team. The race resumed as he emerged from the pits.
There was another virtual safety car deployed a few laps later for another mechanical failure. This time, it was Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber that called it quits. Fortunately, the Brazilian parked in a good place, which limited the time the virtual safety car was required.
When racing resumed, all eyes were on the Ferraris. Charles Leclerc was challenging Sainz into the first corner. Leclerc forced Sainz to take a wide line as he overtook the Spaniard. This opened the door for Lewis Hamilton to make a late lunge on the inside, which very nearly saw him overtake both drivers. In the end, he had to settle for only overtaking Sainz.
Having started the race on the hard tyres, Hamilton was on an alternate strategy to his teammate. He was now on the faster medium tyres, so he asked the team to let him through to hopefully chase down Antonelli ahead. The team eventually swapped the positions of their two drivers, although Hamilton criticized the speed of the decision in a heated exchange over team radio.
After a few laps, it was clear Hamilton wouldn’t have the pace to challenge Antonelli, with the Mercedes still sitting a few seconds up the road. Ferrari decided to swap their two cars back around in the closing laps. The Ferrari teammates provided some more entertainment for fans watching the broadcast with more arguments over the team radio, likely making for a tense debrief after the race.
Hamilton fell back in the closing laps, putting Sainz within striking distance. Sainz made a final attempt into turn 17 on the last lap, rubbing wheels with the man who took his seat at the Prancing Horse. He was unable to take the position, having to settle for P9.
At the front, Oscar Piastri cruised across the finish line in first position to collect his fourth win of the season, strengthening his lead in the World Drivers’ Championship. Lando Norris finished in P2 to secure a dominant 1-2 finish for McLaren. George Russell, who finished a distant 33 seconds behind the leading pair, showed that McLaren appears to be in a league of their own at the moment.
Everyone will have two weeks to recover from this thrilling weekend of racing in Miami. Formula One will return to Europe for what will likely be the final Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on May 18.
| 1 | O. Piastri | 131 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 115 | -16 | |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 99 | -32 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 93 | -38 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 53 | -78 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 246 | | |
| 2 | Mercedes | 141 | -105 | |
| 3 | Red Bull | 105 | -141 | |
| 4 | Ferrari | 94 | -152 | |
| 5 | Williams | 37 | -209 | |
