Updated: 5 May 2025 12:11 pm
The Miami Grand Prix sees the 2nd sprint race of this season and a flurry of exciting events.
The first announcement of this weekend was the extension to 2041. The Miami Grand Prix is an obvious money maker with the flurry of celebrities and sponsors in attendance. Brightly coloured liveries and a disco helmet are something Formula 1 would only have for Miami.
We begin with the only practice session available, which is quickly stopped by a red flag caused by Ollie Bearman, the Haas driver, finding the barrier after a couple of laps. An unusual mistake in FP1 from the McLaren engineers was that they left a couple of torches in Norris’ car, which had to be retrieved, and lost valuable time on track. But it’s all to play for at the Miami Grand Prix.
Mistakes are Made
As this is a sprint race weekend, there’s no more time for practice, and the drivers are thrown into the deep end with sprint qualifying. Unfortunately, the repercussions of Bearman’s earlier crash mean he is in last position and unable to get higher up. Along with his fellow rookie drivers, Bortoletto and Doohan are out in the first round. Sainz locked up on his final lap, sending him deep and out of contention for SQ3 along with Lawson and Gasly.
Now, Verstappen looked strong alongside McLaren and Mercedes for the final chance to qualify for pole position in the Sprint race. It looked like it was Verstappen for the taking; he crossed over the line the fastest, with only a few cars able to stop him as the time ran out. Then, there is a shocking twist as Kimi Antonelli, the rookie Mercedes driver, smashes his time and takes provisional pole position. Both McLaren drivers were desperate to sniff out the top place, but they couldn’t beat Antonelli’s time.
A well-earned pole position for Antonelli.
Worrying Weather
The Sprint race was set off in torrential rain. It was a tragic beginning for Ferrari, as Leclerc’s day ended before the race began, as he crashed into the barrier, unable to control his car in the rain. The sprint start was slightly delayed, and then the race start was ready to go, with 19 cars ready to launch headfirst into the wet race.
A good reaction time from the 18-year-old in the Mercedes, but Piastri was just a bit better as he launched ahead in the first corner, and Antonelli drove wide, losing valuable places. The McLaren duo took charge as Verstappen trailed slightly behind, Hamilton pitted earlier than the rest, popping on soft tires.
Sainz (Williams) goes for a spin, desperately trying to cling on to the track whilst an unsafe release for Redbull causes chaos as Max pulls out the same time Kimi tried to enter his pit box but could not and had to react and pull away quickly. Still, the cars clanged together, shredding debris but avoiding any major injuries to the cars and the engineers around them. But this ultimately ended the race for both drivers.
This all fell perfectly into Hamilton’s hands, as he managed to stay out of the drama at the pitstop and pass several drivers, achieving third place. The drama didn’t stop there, though, as Alonso (Aston Martin) collided with Lawson (Racing Bulls) and went into the barrier, taking a big shunt that ended both of their races and brought out a safety car. This gave Norris the perfect opportunity to get a quick pitstop and then come out ahead of his teammate Piastri and take first.
It was an unfortunate end for Red Bull as Verstappen received a 10-second penalty, pushing him to the bottom, and Tsunoda in 9th just missed out on points, as a sprint race only the top 8th received vital points. A good showing for Albon in 4th and Stroll in 6th, finally taking some points for Aston Martin.
Groundhog Day for Qualifying?
The race qualifying left for some surprising early exits: a double Q1 exit for Aston Martin and a relinquished rookie line-up, as four out of five rookies are out in Q2. Hamilton’s ending was horrific, as he was unable to make it into the top 10, which was the opposite of his third-place finish in the Sprint race.
Another strong performance from Antonelli as he qualified third, splitting the McLaren drivers in 2nd and 4th. A strong effort from the Williams team with both cars in Q3 and a shoutout to Haas for getting Ocon into 9th was a reasonable effort.
The top spot belongs to four-time World Champion Max Verstappen, who’s had a busy week as he and his partner Kelly Pique welcome the arrival of his baby girl. One of Verstappen’s strengths is not letting outside noise or ongoings affect him; he clearly showed how he can keep his focus fully on the race at hand.
Now, can he retain this position in the race?
Ready to Go
The Miami Grand Prix begins as Verstappen dives ahead, Norris and him fighting before they even turn the first corner. Norris aborted and went off track, which cost him a few places, leaving Verstappen to fly off ahead away from the McLaren pair.
A virtual safety car was deployed on the second lap due to Jack Doohan’s car colliding with Liam Lawson, both receiving considerable damage, which Doohan could not surpass. A possible rain sighting in the distance keeps the strategists busy planning pit stops and inevitable safety cars. But nothing could stop Norris’ charge as he passed both Mercedes within a few laps and is back up to the top 3. Alonso took a spin, sending him down the order, but was able to continue.
There were vicious battles everywhere, with Sainz versus Russel and Piastri versus Verstappen. The battle between McLaren and Red Bull meant Norris could start gaining on them both, trying to overtake and gain the lead position.
Piastri swiftly overtakes Verstappen as he goes deep, and Piastri takes advantage of his mistakes. Now it’s time for the other McLaren to overtake the Red Bull. Verstappen desperately clings on and defends Norris this time, but Norris is not done yet. Verstappen and Norris are swapping positions throughout, whilst Piastri soars away in first position on the open space.
Ocon and Hamilton have a close call within a breath of each other, trying to overtake. Then in the next corner Hamilton passed Ocon down the straight, no match for him. 27 laps in Verstappen’s pit,s hoping for it to be a safe and successful stop, changing to Hard tires will that be the right choice?
Ollie Bearman causes a virtual safety car. The hydrologic unit failing for Haas ends his day. This causes several cars to dive into the pits. Russell had a long stop and came out just ahead of Verstappen. Double trouble for Williams: Both Sainz and Albon overtake the cars ahead in unison. It’s looking good for both Williams to score points at the Miami Grand Prix.
Tsunoda receives a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, a fatal mistake. And another virtual safety car is here for the third time as Bortoleto’s car fails. Max Verstappen, the ‘pitball’ driver, was desperate to catch up to Russell on the radio. The virtual safety car ended at lap 35, and instantly the Ferrari duo double-teamed Sainz in the Williams and overtook him, an ex-teammate rivalry.
It’s a round of eliminations for the rookies as Lawson, also DNF, could not overcome the earlier damage caused by the clash with Doohan. The only rookies left in the race are Antonelli and Hadjar. Hamilton’s sassy radio messages caused quite a stir, but the outcome was Hamilton and Leclerc swapping positions, with Hamilton being set free to chase down Antonelli in 6th. In the last 10 laps, the rain was only a small amount. The McLaren drivers are soaring ahead with Russell in 3rd, but with the 4-time world champion hot on his heels.
Two laps to go, Ferrari swapped again. Some confusing communication is an ongoing issue at Ferrari. They’re desperate to catch Antonelli, who is storming away, and Hamilton is not happy with the strategies displayed. A 40-second gap between the 1st and 3rd highlights the dominance of McLaren, and Piastri’s perfect performance shows a masterclass in how to drive a Formula 1 car. The other 19 should take notes.
A magical McLaren finishes with a 1-2 and Russell joins them in 3rd. A fantastic race filled with victorious overtakes, dramatic DNF, and a clear display of McLaren’s masterful performance.
See you at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
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