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Tag: Miami Grand Prix
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Oscar Piastri wins Miami Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris; extends championship lead
Miami, 4 May 2025: Oscar Piastri went from fourth on the grid at the Miami Grand prix to first at the flag to take a third win in a row and to extend his championship lead over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, who recovered from a first-corner clash with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to second place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.
When the lights went out at the start, polesitter Verstappen Max got away well to take the lead, but as he went into Turn 1 the Dutchman locked up and went wide. That allowed front-row started Norris to pull alongside as they went into Turn 2. The two appeared to bang wheels as Verstappen’s car slithered around and Norris was forced to go off track. Verstappen continued at the front, but the McLaren driver dropped back to sixth behind Williams’ Alex Albon.
Further back, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was hit by the Alpine of Jack Doohan and with the New Zealander spun around and the Alpine limping to an eventual halt, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed.
When the track went green again Verstappen controlled the resumption well and held the lead. Second-placed Kimi Antonelli, though, was passed by Piastri, while Norris powered past Williams’ Alex Albon to claw his way back into the top five and then, on lap seven, the McLaren driver powered past Mercedes’ George Russell to put himself back in contention.
At the front, Verstappen was coming under heavy pressure from Piastri and on lap 10 the Australian got into DRS range. Piastri pushed hard through each DRS zone, but Verstappen was initially solid in defence.
At the start of lap 14, however, Verstappen’s armour was pierced. The Dutchman forced Piastri to go wide on the approach to Turn1, but in doing so the Red Bull driver outbraked himself and when locked up, Piastri was able to cut back underneath to take the lead.
The tussle between the leading pair allowed Norris to come back into the fight and after Piastri took the lead, Verstappen soon found himself under pressure from the second McLaren. Once again, the Red Bull driver defended hard and for three crucial laps he kept Norris at bay as Piastri, in clean air, carved out a big lead ahead. On lap 18, though, Norris at last got the move done and chased after his team-mate.
Behind the top three, Antonelli held on to fourth place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Russell, while the Williams pair of Albon and Carlos Sainz held sixth and seventh.
Mercedes brought Antonelli in at the end of lap 25, attempting to undercut Verstappen, but the youngster’s pit stop was slowed when he had to wait in his box to let Sainz pass by and when Red Bull responded by bringing Verstappen in at the end of the following lap the delay meant the Dutchman emerged well clear of the Italian.
But while Verstappen was able to keep one Mercedes behind, he couldn’t keep Russell behind. On lap 29, Ollie Bearman slowed and as he pulled over at Turn 8 with a power unit issue, the VSC was deployed. Both McLarens took the opportunity to make their pit stops while the race was neutralised and so did Russell. With Verstappen slowed by the VSC the Mercedes driver was able to save time in his stop and he emerged in third, ahead of the Dutchman.
At the front, Norris closed in on Piastri in the closing stages, but the Australian was comfortably managing his pace, and he took his third win in a row with 4.6s in hand over his team-mate. Behind Verstappen, fifth place went to Albon, with Antonelli sixth ahead of the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Sainz was ninth and Yuki Tsunoda managed to eke out a 5.1s gap to Hadjar that kept him in 10th at the flag after the Japanese driver had been given a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:28’51.587
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:28’56.217 4.630
3 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:29’29.231 37.644
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:29’31.543 39.956
5 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 57 1:29’39.654 48.067
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 57 1:29’47.089 55.502
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:29’48.623 57.036
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 57 1:29’51.773 1’00.186
9 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 57 1:29’52.164 1’00.577
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:30’06.021 1’14.434
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 57 1:30’06.189 1’14.602
12 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 57 1:30’13.593 1’22.006
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 57 1:30’22.032 1’30.445
14 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 56 1:28’52.742 1 lap /1.155
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 56 1:29’12.566 1 lap /20.979
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 56 1:29’16.749 1 lap /25.162
Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 36 59’06.511 Retirement
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 30 49’03.459 Retirement
Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 27 43’10.773 Power Unit
Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 0 – Accident -
Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris to Miami pole: F1
Miami (US), 3 May 2025: Max Verstappen took his third pole of 2025 with a superb final lap of Q3 that saw him beat pre-session favourites McLaren, with Lando Norris second and championship leader Oscar Piastri only fourth behind Mercedes’ teen sensation Kimi Antonelli.
At the start of Q1 Verstappen was one of the first on track and he posted an opening flyer of 1:27.573 to take P1. That time was soon beaten by Piastri who went 0.266s quicker, with Norris’s slotting into P3.
Antonelli then lowered the benchmark to 1:27.077. Verstappen, though, was powering through a purple first sector and after setting personal best times across the rest of the lap, the champion once again jumped to the top of the order with a time of 1:26.870, 0.136 clear of Piastri with Mercedes’ George Russell in third, 0.008s off the Australian. Verstappen headed back to the pits leaving Norris to edge ahead of team-mate Piastri to take P2.
Ruled out of the second session were Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg in P16 followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second Aston of Lance Stroll and Haas’ Ollie Bearman exited in 20th place.
Verstappen was first out on track at the start of the second session and the Dutchman posted an opener of 1:26.643 to take an early P1. Once again, his time was eclipsed by the McLarens, however, as Piastri took P1 with a time of 1:26.269 and Norris made his way to second place. Antonelli also managed to find a little over three hundredths over the Red Bull driver to steal third place.
Piastri elected to stay in the pit lane for the final runs and when none of his close rivals delivered a significant improvement, including Verstappen, who was marginally slower on his second run than this first, the Australian held on to top spot. Russell, languishing in 11th after the first run, did make a leap forward, however, and he climbed to P3 ahead of Antonelli, leaving Verstappen in fifth.
There was no place in Q3, however, for Isack Hadjar who went out in P11 ahead of Hamilton, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and the second Racing Bull of Lawson.
After two sessions in which he’d set the pace only to be bounced out of P1, Verstappen upped the ante at the start of Q3 it. The Dutchman took provisional pole with a time of 1:26.492, just 0.003s ahead of Norris and 0.017s clear of Piastri.
However, with Piastri having already gone two tenths quicker than Max’s time in Q2 the final runs began with the expectation that the McLarens would find more time. And when Max suffered a snap on entry to Turn 1 that suspicion appeared to be confirmed.
The champion was in no mood to let a “tiny moment” derail his quest for pole, however and over the remainder of the lap he dragged back the deficit and eventually crossed the liner in
1:26.204. And when Norris locked up in Turn 17 Verstappen’s 43rd career pole was as good as sealed. The Briton took P2 0.065s off the Dutchman with Antonelli taking third ahead of Piastri and Russell. Carlos Sainz took sixth for Williams ahead of team-mate Alex Albon, with Charles Leclerc in P8 for Ferrari. Esteban Ocon finished ninth for Ferrari and the final top 10 spot went to Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.204 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.269 0.065 0.075
3 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.271 0.067 0.078
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.375 0.171 0.198
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.385 0.181 0.210
6 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:26.569 0.365 0.423
7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:26.682 0.478 0.554
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.754 0.550 0.638
9 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:26.824 0.620 0.719
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.943 0.739 0.857
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:26.987 0.783 0.908
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.006 0.802 0.930
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:27.151 0.947 1.099
14 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:27.186 0.982 1.139
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.363 1.159 1.344
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:27.473 1.269 1.472
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.604 1.400 1.624
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:27.710 1.506 1.747
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.830 1.626 1.886
20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:27.999 1.795 2.08 -
Lando Norris wins incident-packed Miami Sprint: F1
Miami (USA), 3 May 2025: Lando Norris benefited from a late Safety Car to jump ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and his first Sprint win of 2025 ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the end of an incident packed wet-dry Sprint in Miami that saw Lewis Hamilton take third place for Ferrari after an early switch to slick tyres.
Steady rain in the hours before the race, led to a delayed start but when the lights at last went out on a drying track, Piastri reacted quickest, and he was able to attack pole sitter Kimi Antonelli on the inside into Turn 1. The teenage Mercedes driver tried to fight for position, but with Piastri holding a robust line, Antonelli was forced to go off track and he was passed by both Norris and Verstappen. The Mercedes driver dropped to fourth.
With a clear road ahead, Piastri began to pull away and after five laps the Australian had eked out a two-second gap back to Norris who was 1.8s ahead of Verstappen, whose start had briefly been examined for possibly being out of position but was soon deemed legal.
As the race headed towards the halfway mark, the track began to dry out more quickly and a number of teams began to consider a switch to slicks.
It was Red Bull Racing who made the first move, with Tsunoda pitting for Medium tyres at the end of lap 11. He rejoined in P19. Hamilton then pitted at the end of the following lap, for Softs.
At the front, Norris began to close on Piastri as DRS was enabled, but with Tsunoda going two seconds quicker than the field through the first sector it became clear that it was time for slick tyres and the field began to make the switch.
Verstappen was one of the first in at the end of lap 13, but after fitting a set of Softs the Dutchman was released into the pit lane too quickly and he collided with the incoming Antonelli. The Italian was forced to back out of his own stop and continue, while Verstappen lost his left front wing endplate. The Dutchman was quickly hit with a 10-second penalty for the unsafe release, dropping him all the way to P17 at the flag.
At the front, as the leading McLaren, Piastri had the opportunity to pit ahead of his team-mate and he switched to Softs at the end of lap 14. Norris, on worn inters should have been disadvantaged ahead of his lap 15 stop, but when Williams’ Carlos Sainz hit the wall and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was spun into the barriers by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson the Safety Car was deployed and Norris lucked in. He was already in the pit lane, and with the on-track pace slowed massively he was able to get back on track in first place.
With debris strewn across the track in several places, the SC stayed on track until the final lap and Norris took his first Sprint victory of the season ahead of his team-mate. Hamilton’s early stop for slicks also paid off and the Ferrari passed Verstappen ahead of the SC to take third place at the flag.
Fourth place went to Alex Albon, but after the flag the Williams driver was place under investigation for a possible infringement of Safety Car procedure. Russell took fifth for Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Liam Lawson seventh, though the New Zealander was also under investigation for the collision with Alonso.
At the flag, the final point went to Haas’ Oliver Bearman, with Tsunoda just missing out in P9, but with plenty for the Race Stewards to unpick after the race, the final classification was likely to change.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Sprint
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 18 36’37.647
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 18 36’38.319 0.672
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 18 36’38.720 1.073
4 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 18 36’40.169 2.522
5 George Russell Mercedes 18 36’40.774 3.127
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 18 36’41.059 3.412
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 18 36’41.671 4.024
8 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 18 36’41.865 4.218
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 18 36’42.800 5.153
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 18 36’43.282 5.635
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 18 36’43.620 5.973
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 18 36’43.800 6.153
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 18 36’45.149 7.502
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 18 36’46.645 8.998
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 18 36’47.322 9.675
16 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 18 36’47.556 9.909
17 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 18 36’49.706 12.059
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 13 25’21.904 Acciden
Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 12 24’55.152 Accident damage
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 0 – Not started -
Antonelli tops Sprint qualifying to become youngest pole sitter: F1
Miami (USA), 3 May 2025: Kimi Antonelli took a sensational top spot in Sprint Qualifying for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, to become the youngest driver to take pole position in any race format in the history of F1. The 18-year-old Mercedes driver posted a time of 1:26.482 to beat McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045s. Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, will start the Sprint from P3 ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
In the first runs of SQ1, it was Kimi Antonelli who led the way, with the Mercedes driver posting a lap of 1:27.858 to sit 0.008s ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third on 1:27.953. Championship leader Oscar Piastri lay in fourth place almost three tenths off Antonelli with team-mate George Russell in P5. Elsewhere, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar has his opening flying lap deleted however and without a time ahead of the final runs, the Frenchman needed a strong final lap.
The Racing Bulls driver made no mistakes, and his final flyer lifted him to 12th at the end of the session and into SQ2. There was no place in the middle segment for Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda, however.
The Japanese driver failed to make it across the line to start his final flyer before the chequered flag was shown and he dropped out of Sprint Qualifying in P18. Also ruled out at the end of SQ1 were 15th-placed Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Jack Doohan in P16, while Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto exited in P19 ahead of Haas’ Oliver Bearman who also failed to get across the line before the chequered flag.
At the top of the order, Russell took top spot with his final flyer of 1:27.688 ahead of Antonelli with Williams’ Alex Albon third ahead of Norris, Carlos Sainz and Piastri.
Verstappen set the initial pace in SQ2, with the Dutchman posting a time of 1:27.729. Antonelli then went two thousandths of second quicker to steal P1 before Norris moved almost two tenths clear and then Piastri went even quicker with a lap of 1:27.354.
It was Norris who made the most of the final runs of SQ2, however, and the Briton took top spot with a lap of 1:27.109, 0.136s ahead of Verstappen with Piastri in third 0.245s off his McLaren team-mate. Antonelli continued his good work with fourth place ahead of the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Russell went through in seventh ahead of Albon, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Hadjar.
Ruled out at the end of SQ2 were Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg in P11, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who slapped the wall midway through his lap, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Sainz, who had a massive lock up into Turn 11 and was forced to abandon his final flyer.
At the start of SQ3, Verstappen was first out on track and the Red Bull driver stopped the clock at 1:27.070. Russell was right behind the Dutchman on track, however, and he breezed past the Red Bull man’s time to reset the bar at 1:26.791 first flyer.
But while Russell headed back to the pit lane, Verstappen who had made a mistake on his lap, stayed out for a surprise second attempt. The 2024 Miami winner managed to improve, and he took provisional pole six hundredths of a second ahead of the Mercedes driver.
It was the other Mercedes driver who was going quickest, however. Norris first demoted Verstappen but behind him Antonelli was finding small margins of time and when he crossed the line, he took pole with a superb lap of 1:26.482. Piastri got close but in the end the Italian teenager’s time was good enough to hold on to a historic first pole position.
Behind the top four, Russell took fifth ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton, Albon, Hadjar and Alonso.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1’26.482 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’26.527 0.045 0.052
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’26.582 0.100 0.116
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’26.737 0.255 0.295
5 George Russell Mercedes 1’26.791 0.309 0.357
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’26.808 0.326 0.377
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1’27.030 0.548 0.634
8 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’27.193 0.711 0.822
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’27.543 1.061 1.227
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’27.790 1.308 1.512
11 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1’27.850 1.368 1.582
12 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1’28.070 1.588 1.836
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’28.167 1.685 1.948
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’28.375 1.893 2.189
15 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes – – –
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’29.028 2.546 2.944
17 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1’29.171 2.689 3.109
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’29.246 2.764 3.196
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1’29.312 2.830 3.272
20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1’29.825 3.343 3.866 -
Landi Norris lands his first F1 victory beating Verstappen: Miami F1 GP
Miami, 5 May 2024: McLaren’s Lando Norris scored his first Formula 1 race win in the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, benefiting from a mid-race Safety Car to jump ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and then power to a convincing victory seven seconds clear of the championship leader. Charles Leclerc took third place for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz and the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez.
“About time,” said Norris after winning at the 110th attempt. “What a race. It’s been a long time coming, but finally I’ve managed to do it, so I’m so happy for my whole team. I finally delivered for them. And, yeah, long day, tough race, but finally on top, so I’m over the moon.”
When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen got away well to take the lead on the short run towards Turn 1. However, just behind him, Leclerc got away badly and under pressure from Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, the Monegasque driver moved right to try to fend off the attack. Pérez, tried an ambitious move down the inside but he outbraked himself and slide across the track in front of Sainz. That allowed Leclerc to recover and retake second but as the Sainz and Pérez rejoined, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took advantage to edge past both and take P3.
At the front, Verstappen began to pull away from the pack, but Piastri, showing the first signs of McLaren’s strong pace, began to close in on Leclerc. And on lap four the Australian used DRS to power past the Ferrari driver on the long run to Turn 17.
The leaders then began to settle into their first stint and by lap 10 Verstappen had carved out a three-second lead over Piastri, while the McLaren driver had a similar advantage over the Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Sainz. Pérez, meanwhile, was holding onto fifth place, 1.7s behind Sainz and just ahead of Norris.
At the end of lap 18, Pérez became the first of the front-runners to make a pit stop, switching to Hard compound Pirellis in a 1.9s stop. Leclerc was next in, two laps later, but Verstappen, Paistri, Sainz and Norris stayed out. Verstappen then had a moment when he took too much kerb in Turn 14 and after bouncing across the chicane he hit an off-track bollard.
The collision appeared to do minimal damage, but the bollard was on the racing line and a VSC was briefly deployed. As the caution ended, Verstappen pitted for checks on his front wing and for a set of Hard tyres, a move that put Piastri into the lead ahead of Sainz and when they made stops on lap 27, Norris inherited the lead ahead of Verstappen.
With Norris requiring a fresh set of tyres, the expectation was that Verstappen would soon return to top spot, but on lap 29, Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant collided at Turn 2. Sargeant went off backwards and the Safety Car was released.
The race restarted on lap 33, with Norris having to defend hard as Verstappen attacked but the McLaren driver
Held on to the lead and in the following laps he carved out a 1.5s gap to Verstappen.
Behind them, Sainz began to put heavy pressure on Piastri and on lap 39 the Ferrari driver muscled his way through. There was contact and the front wing damage sustained by Paistri allowed Pérez to pounce and he roared past the struggling McLaren to get back fifth place. Hamilton, too, got past Piastri who was forced to pit for a new wing.
At the front, with Verstappen again complaining about a lack of front-end grip, Norris began to tighten his grip on the lead. But lap 45 he was four seconds ahead of Verstappen and with the champion eventually settling into management mode ahead of Leclerc, Norris was able to stretch his lead to seven seconds at the flag.
Behind Verstappen, Leclerc took third place ahead of Sainz, while Pérez took a battling fifth place ahead of Hamilton and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda. George Russell finished eighth in the second Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the final point went to Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Race
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:30’49.876
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:30’57.488 7.612
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:30’59.796 9.920
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 1:31’01.283 11.407
5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:31’04.526 14.650
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:31’06.461 16.585
7 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 57 1:31’16.061 26.185
8 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:31’24.665 34.789
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 57 1:31’26.983 37.107
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 57 1:31’29.622 39.746
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 57 1:31’30.665 40.789
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 57 1:31’34.834 44.958
13 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:31’39.632 49.756
14 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 57 1:31’39.855 49.979
15 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 57 1:31’40.832 50.956
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 57 1:31’42.232 52.356
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 57 1:31’45.049 55.173
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 57 1:31’54.559 1’04.683
19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 57 1:32’05.967 1’16.091
Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 27 43’03.540 Accident -
Verstappen takes his first Sprint pole of 2024: Miami F1
Miami, 3 May 2024: Max Verstappen took his first Sprint pole of 2024, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just over a tenth of a second in a tight qualifying session for the Sprint at the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. Sergio Pérez took third place, but Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated at the end of SQ2.
At the start of SQ1 it was Pérez who took the early lead but the Red Bull driver was immediately bounced out of top spot by team-mate Verstappen who posted a time of 1:28.601 to eclipse the Mexican by eight hundredths of a second.
Pérez was then shuffled back to fourth as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took second, just 0.038s behind Verstappen, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, then bumped all four down a place by taking top spot with a lap of 1:27.939.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen then made a big jump, posting a lap of 1:28.377 to climb to third behind Verstappen, and the Danish driver’s time was followed by a slew of late improvements, with Piastri slotting into P2 behind Norris and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso moving ahead of Verstappen thanks to a final lap of 1:28.192.
At the bottom of the order there was no place in SQ2 for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who went out in P16, ahead of the Alfa Romeos of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas. The bottom two places were filled by Williams pair Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon. Thai driver Albon might have made it through but his final lap was deleted for a track limits infringement in Turn 15 and he exited in P20.
At the start of the second segment, Pérez again set the early pace. The Mexican posted a lap of 1:27.865 to take top spot a tenth of a second ahead of Leclerc and two clear of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. However, Norris then appeared to once again bounce the Red Bull driver out of P1, with the McLaren going quickest of all with a lap of 1:27.597.
Verstappen opted for a single SQ2 run but after emerging with just over three minutes remaining, the Dutchman could only make his way to fourth place on the timesheet behind Leclerc and 0.121 ahead of Ricciardo. Piastri went through in P6 ahead of Alonso, the second Ferrari or Carlos Sainz, the second Aston of Lance Stroll and the 10th-placed Haas of Nico Hülkenberg.
However, the major shock was the exit of both Mercedes drivers, with George Russell dropping out in P11 a little under three hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton who took 12th place. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon exited in P13 ahead of Magnussen, while Yuki Tsunoda in the other RB was ruled out in P15.
In SQ3, Pérez led the way for the third time in the session, with the Mexican stopping the clock at 1:27.876. Behind him Verstappen had a nervous moment in Turn 14, but despite the snap he moved to the top of the order, two tenths ahead of his team-mate.
After topping the first two session and with Verstappen making a mistake, the way looked clear for Norris to take a second Sprint pole of the season but a lurid slide on his lap lost the Briton a chunk of time as Leclerc took second, Norris had to settle for ninth.
Behind the top three, Ricciardo took an impressive fourth for RB ahead of Sainz, Piastri and Stroll. Alonso was eighth ahead of Norris and the final top 10 place was filled by Hülkenberg.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:27.641 – –
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.749 0.108 0.123
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:27.876 0.235
4 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:28.044 0.403
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:28.103 0.462
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.161 0.520
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.375 0.734
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.419 0.778
9 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.472 0.831
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:28.476 0.835
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.343 0.702
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.371 0.730
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:28.379 0.738
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:28.614 0.973
15 Yuki Tsunoda RB – – –
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:29.185 1.544
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:29.267 1.626
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:29.360 1.719
19 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:29.551 1.910
20 Alexander Albon Williams 1:29.858 2.217 -
Max Verstappen wins from P9; Red Bull 1-2: Miami GP
Miami (USA), 7 May 2023: Max Verstappen powered his way through from ninth on the grid to win the Miami Grand Prix, passing team-mate Sergio Pérez in the closing stages of the 57-lap race as Red Bull Racing sealed its fourth one-two finish of the season. Fernando Alonso scored his fourth podium finish of the season so far with third place for Aston Martin.
When the lights went out, Pérez got away well and took the lead ahead of Alonso and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Behind them, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen made a poor start and dropped back to seventh as Pierre Gasly moved to fourth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Verstappen, on Hard tyres, lost out at the start when Alfa Romeo’s Valterri Bottas made a good start and rose to eighth. However, the Dutchman quickly moved past Alpine’s Esteban to take back P9.
That became P8 on the next lap and then at the end of lap 3 the Dutchman closed up behind the duelling pair of Leclerc and Magnussen and when the Haas driver tried to fight back after Leclerc had overtaken him, Verstappen moved to inside and powered past both under DRS as they crossed the line.
The Red Bull driver closed up to Russell on lap nine and passed the Mercedes driver under braking into Turn 17. He chose the same place to muscle past Gasly on the next lap and then on lap 14 he passed the Spaniard under DRS into Turn 11. His next target was Alonso, and with pace to spare he eased past the Aston Martin driver, who offered little resistance, on the following lap.
The medium-tyre starters now began to pit and Pérez made his stop at the end of lap 20. The Mexican switched to Hard tyres in 2.2 seconds and rejoined in fourth place behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who had started on Hard tyres. Verstappen, still on his starting Hards, now led the race.
After Pérez reclaimed P2 from Ocon shortly before half distance the race became a tactical battle between Pérez, on fresh Hard tyres, and Verstappen on ageing Hards and with a stop for Mediums to come.
Pérez, 16 seconds behind his team-mate pushed to close the gap while also trying to protect his tyres for the inevitable fight at the end of the race, but as Verstappen continued to put in strong lap times despite the age of his tyres it soon became clear that the Mexican was fighting a losing battle.
After an exceptional final phase of his long opening, during which he set a cluster of fastest lap times, Verstappen made his sole stop of the race on lap 45 and took on Medium tyres. He emerged just 1.6 seconds behind his team-mate and on lap 47 he closed up to his team-mate and attacked into Turn 17.
Pérez defended well but on the run to Turn 1 at the start of the next lap he drew alongside and after a brief tussle got past to take the lead and ultimately the win.
And 10 laps later Max crossed the line five seconds ahead of Pérez to take a second consecutive Miami Grand Prix and his third win of the season. Alonso, capped a lonely race with a fourth podium finish of the year ahead of Russell and Sainz, who had five seconds added to his time at the flag for an earlier pit lane speeding offence.
Sixth place went to Hamilton, with Charles Leclerc seventh for Ferrari. Gasly was eighth for Alpine ahead of team-mate Ocon and the final point went to Magnussen.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 57 1:27’38.241
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 57 1:27’43.625 5.384
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 57 1:28’04.546 26.305
4 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:28’11.470 33.229
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 1:28’20.752 42.511
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:28’29.490 51.249
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:28’31.229 52.988
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 57 1:28’33.911 55.670
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 57 1:28’36.364 58.123
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 57 1:28’41.186 1’02.945
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 57 1:28’42.550 1’04.309
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 57 1:28’42.995 1’04.754
13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 57 1:28’49.878 1’11.637
14 Alexander Albon Williams 57 1:28’51.102 1’12.861
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 57 1:28’53.191 1’14.950
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 57 1:28’56.681 1’18.440
17 Lando Norris McLaren 57 1:29’05.958 1’27.717
18 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri RBPT 57 1:29’07.190 1’28.949
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 56 – 1 lap
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 56 – 1 lap -
Sergio Perez takes pole; Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashes
Miami (USA), 6 May 2023: Sergio Pérez will start the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix from the front of the grid after the Red Bull driver’s first flying lap of Q3 proved good enough for pole position due to a crash for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on his final run of the top-10 shootout. The incident brought out the red flags and the session wasn’t resumed meaning no driver managed to get in a final lap. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualified in P2 ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while championship leader Max Verstappen will start from ninth place on the grid.
In Q1, Vertstappen took P1 with his first lap of the session, thanks to a lap of 1:28.424. The champion was soon beaten by Pérez who set a time of 1:28.306. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc then split the Red Bull pair with a lap of 1:28.422, just 0.002 ahead of Verstappen and a little over a tenth off Pérez .
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was heading back to the pit lane. The Mercedes driver came across the slow Haas of Kevin Magnussen and to avoid a collision, Hamilton had to swerve and clip the wall. He was soon back on track, however, with no serious damage detected.
Verstappen was on another hot lap, though, and he took over at the top with a lap of 1:27.363. Pérez also improved and moved back to second place, 0.350s behind his team-mate and more than a tenth ahead of Leclerc. In the final moments, Sainz moved 0.003s ahead of Pérez with Leclerc fourth ahead of Magnussen, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who had needed a good final lap, jumped from last to fifth with his last effort.
Ruled out at the end of the first segment were McLaren’s Lando Norris in P16, followed by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tusnoda, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and local hero Logan Sargeant of Williams.
Verstappen and Pérez were first on track at the start of Q2 with both on new soft tyres. Verstappen was first across the line with a lap of 1:27.100. Pérez was right behind his team-mate on track and he followed Max on the timesheet too, slotting into P2, just over two tenths off the champion.
Once again, Sainz split the Red Bull drivers on the first runs, 0.038s behind Max and just under two tenths ahead of Pérez. Alonso was fourth, with Leclerc in fifth.
With a minute left on the clock Leclerc jumped up to P1 with a final lap of 1:26.964. Verstappen was, however, setting personal bests across his final lap and the Red Bull driver returned to P1 with a lap of 1:26.814. Alonso took third behind Leclerc, with Sainz in fourth. Pérez eased through to the top-10 shootout in fifth place.
There was no place in the final segment of Qualifying for Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver was ruled out in P13. Also out were Williams’ Alex Albon in P11 followed by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg , with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu behind Hamilton and AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries in P15.
At the start of the top-10 shootout Verstappen was forced to abandon his first flying lap after making a mistake in Turn 5. That left the door open for Pérez and the Mexican took provisional pole with a lap of 1:26.841.
In the final runs, Verstappen led his team-mate out of the garage but neither would get a chance at a final flyer. Ahead of the Red Bulls, Leclerc began his final flyer, but the Monegasque driver lost control in Turn 6 and spun backwards across the run-off and into the barriers. With just 1m36s left on the clock and no time for drivers to complete a warm-up lap if the clock was restarted, Race Control ended the session and Pérez took the third pole position of his career and his second of 2023.
Behind the Mexican, Alonso claimed his second front row start of the year with second place and Sainz took third. Magnussen profited from the misfortunes around him to take a surprise fourth place ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Mercedes’ George Russell and Leclerc. Max, meanwhile, will launch a fight back towards the front from ninth place on the grid behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:26.841
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.202 0.361
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:27.349 0.508
4 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:27.767 0.926
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:27.786 0.945
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.804 0.963
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.861 1.020
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:27.935 1.094
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:27.795 0.954
12 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:27.903 1.062
13 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.975 1.134
14 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:28.091 1.250
15 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:28.395 1.554
16 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.394 1.553
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:28.429 1.588
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.476 1.635
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.484 1.643
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:28.577 1.736
