Round 6 of the 2025 F1 season saw the grid head to the Miami Grand Prix.
McLaren 1-2 Headlines Miami as Ferrari Strategy Leads to Drama
The 2025 Miami Grand Prix delivered a weekend of pace, unpredictability, and rising tensions. Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead with a victory on Sunday, while Kimi Antonelli stole headlines with a record-breaking pole in Sprint Qualifying.
Friday FP1: Piastri Sets the Pace in Miami
Oscar Piastri led the field in a disrupted first practice session at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. The Australian set the fastest time of 1:27.128 as drivers headed out for their only hour of preparation.
The session began with increased activity when the pit lane light turned green at 12:30 local time. Most drivers headed out on medium or hard tyres, easing into the circuit as they sought to fine-tune their setups ahead of Sprint Qualifying later in the day.
George Russell briefly topped the timesheets with a 1:28.058, despite a momentary scare through Turns 14 and 15.
Not everything went smoothly. Lando Norris reported tools had been left in his cockpit, while Yuki Tsunoda complained that his seat felt unusually high.
More drama followed as Norris narrowly avoided a collision with Esteban Ocon at Turn 17, an incident noted by the stewards.
As drivers switched to soft tyres, Piastri set a commanding time just before the session abruptly ended. Ollie Bearman lost control of his Haas exiting Turn 11, spinning into the wall at Turn 12 with five minutes remaining.
This accident triggered red flags and curtailed several late flying laps. Bearman was fine.
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen slotted in behind Piastri, both within half a second of the McLaren driver, while the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon impressed by rounding out the top five. Isack Hadjar maintained a strong effort to take sixth ahead of Russell, who could not improve on his earlier medium-tyre lap due to Bearman’s crash.
Tsunoda, Kimi Antonelli, and Fernando Alonso completed the top ten. Norris, one of the drivers most affected by the red flag, had to settle for 12th.
Friday Sprint Qualifying: Antonelli Claims a Record-Breaking Debut Pole
Kimi Antonelli delivered an incredible performance on Friday at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, securing his maiden F1 pole position during Sprint Qualifying.
The 17-year-old became the youngest polesitter in F1 history across any format, besting late challenges from both McLarens with a lap that highlights his future on the grid.
SQ1 saw all 20 drivers take to the track on medium tyres. Russell set the early pace ahead of team-mate Antonelli. Verstappen briefly held P1, though the Mercedes duo quickly reasserted themselves at the top.
Drama unfolded at the back, where Tsunoda failed to reach the line in time to start a final flying lap, eliminating the Red Bull driver in 18th. Bearman and Alpine’s Jack Doohan suffered the same fate, both caught out by timing. Gabriel Bortoleto of Kick Sauber and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin also exited the session, with frustrations audible over team radios.
The second phase continued on medium tyres, and this time Norris took command. The McLaren driver produced a 1:27.354 to top the times, blocking Piastri and Antonelli.
Sainz, however, experienced a nightmare run. The Spaniard locked up at Turn 11, sending him into the run-off area. His hopes of a top-ten grid slot came to a close. Despite some last-minute improvements from Pierre Gasly and Ocon, alongside Nico Hülkenberg and Liam Lawson, all were knocked out.
With soft tyres bolted on for the final eight-minute dash in SQ3, the battle for pole began.
Russell laid down the initial marker, only for Verstappen to find a fraction more on his second run. However, the top spot belonged to Antonelli. The Italian was behind a near-perfect lap to set a 1:26.482 and claim a sensational pole.
KIMI ANTONELLI TAKES #F1SPRINT POLE!! 🥇
The Mercedes driver lines up alongside Oscar Piastri on tomorrow’s front row in Miami 👊#F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/fd6V0X9orK
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 2, 2025
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Saturday Sprint: Luck for Norris Once Again in Miami
Norris won a dramatic Sprint at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. The McLaren driver benefited from a fortunate pit stop during a late Safety Car period, holding onto the lead until the finish.
Heavy rain hit the Miami International Autodrome before the event, creating challenging conditions. The unpredictable weather caused visibility issues on the formation lap, leading to a red flag. Leclerc’s weekend took an early turn for the worse when he crashed en route to the grid, effectively ending his participation before the Sprint began.
As the Sprint finally got underway in improved conditions, pole sitter Antonelli faced a difficult start. Piastri seized the opportunity at Turn 1, taking the lead while Antonelli suffered a wide moment and dropped to fourth. Despite his early misfortune, Antonelli quickly recovered and fought to regain his position.
Norris’s key moment came during a late Safety Car period, triggered by a crash involving Alonso. The Briton pitted just before the Safety Car was deployed, securing his lead as the field re-formed.
He took the victory, crossing the line 0.672 seconds ahead of Piastri, who finished in second. Hamilton completed the podium in third place after a strategic masterclass from the seven-time world champion to climb up the grid.
In the final laps and post-race, several penalties impacted the standings. Albon, Lawson, and Bearman all dropped out of the points due to time penalties, promoting Russell to fourth, Stroll to fifth, and Tsunoda, Antonelli, and Gasly into the top eight.
The calm after the chaos 👊#F1 #F1Sprint #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/WwGvra8vhl
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 3, 2025
Saturday Qualifying: Verstappen on Pole
Q1
Q1 kicked off under sunny skies after the delayed Sprint Qualifying. Piastri initially topped the timesheets with a 1:27.307s, leading Verstappen by nearly three-tenths.
However, with the minutes ticking away, Verstappen came out on top.
Having suffered a lock-up during his lap, Hamilton was under pressure and hovered near the elimination zone. The Ferrari driver ultimately finished in 15th place, improving just in time.
OUT: Hulkenberg (P16), Alonso (P17), Gasly (P18), Stroll (P19), and Bearman (P20).
Q2
Verstappen set an early benchmark with a lap of 1:26.643s in Q2.
However, Piastri took the top spot with 1:26.269s, leading Norris by two-tenths. Antonelli slotted into third, ahead of Verstappen.
As the session progressed, Russell found himself in a surprising position in the elimination zone, struggling with grip, while Ocon, Doohan, and Lawson were also at risk.
Ocon managed to fight his way into the top 10, pushing Hamilton down to 12th. Despite his best efforts, Hamilton could not improve his time. The Ferrari driver was eliminated, shocking many after a promising P3 finish in the Sprint.
OUT: Hadjar (P11), Hamilton (P12), Bortoleto (P13), Doohan (P14), and Lawson (P15).
Q3
Verstappen took pole position at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. The Dutchman had already set a provisional pole time of 1:26.492s, just 0.003s ahead of Norris in second.
A small mistake in the first corner caused some initial concerns, but Verstappen remained focused and delivered the fastest lap of the session, a 1m 26.204s, securing pole by 0.065s.
Norris failed to improve on his final lap after running wide over the kerbs, leaving him to settle for second.
Fresh off his pole performance in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, Antonelli produced another standout performance to claim third. Piastri ended up in fourth, while Russell completed the top five in his Mercedes.
Sainz and Albon secured sixth and seventh for Williams, while Leclerc recovered in eighth after his pre-Sprint crash. Ocon, making his first Q3 appearance for Haas, finished ninth, while Tsunoda completed the top 10 for Red Bull.
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Sunday Grand Prix: Piastri Takes His Fourth
Piastri delivered another masterclass, securing his fourth season victory at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, extending his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. The Australian crossed the line 4.63 seconds ahead of teammate Norris, handing McLaren a dominant 1–2 finish that underlined their dominance.
Verstappen led away from pole in the early laps. The first-lap drama with Norris saw the Briton run wide at Turn 2, falling to sixth, allowing Antonelli and Piastri to pass. The McLaren pair set about hunting down the frontrunner, with Piastri overtaking Antonelli for second before closing the gap to Verstappen.
By Lap 14, Piastri struck. A small mistake from Verstappen allowed the McLaren to head into the lead. Not long after, Norris followed suit into second place.
It soon became clear no one could match the pace of the McLarens. Behind them, Russell took third for Mercedes, 37 seconds behind the leader, while Verstappen could only manage fourth.
Albon delivered one of the standout drives of the day, finishing fifth for Williams, while Antonelli salvaged sixth for Mercedes despite a compromised pit stop.
Ferrari’s race was marred by intra-team tension, as Leclerc and Hamilton swapped positions twice in the closing laps, eventually finishing seventh and eighth. Hamilton, who had cut through the field after starting P12, voiced his frustration over the radio in a series of pointed messages aimed at the pit wall.
Sainz and Tsunoda rounded out the points in ninth and tenth, although both drivers, with Gasly, faced post-race investigations for potential yellow flag infringements and late-race incidents.
Hadjar narrowly missed out on the top ten in 11th, while Ocon and Gasly finished 12th and 13th. Hülkenberg claimed 14th for Kick Sauber, as Aston Martin endured a poor afternoon, with Alonso and Stroll in 15th and 16th.
The race was not without retirements either. Doohan was the first DNF after Lap 1 contact with Lawson, while both Bearman and Bortoleto were forced out with mechanical issues that prompted Virtual Safety Car periods. Lawson himself would later retire.
IT’S A PAPAYA DOUBLE PODIUM IN MIAMI! 🧡 #McLaren | #MiamiGP 🏝️ pic.twitter.com/pzvwJUiVQr
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 4, 2025
Piastri’s win extends his tally to 131 points, placing him 16 clear of Norris and 32 ahead of Verstappen.
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Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
Recording Date: 04.05.2025
