Kimi Antonelli won the Miami Grand Prix, marking his third consecutive victory. He overcame a poor start to reclaim the lead from Charles Leclerc and extend his championship lead over teammate George Russell.
Kimi Antonelli Wins the Miami Grand PrixPeter Fox - Getty Images
The reigning World Drivers Championship Leader, Kimi Antonelli, rebounded from a botched start to win his third straight Grand Prix from the pole on Sunday. His win in Japan gave him the championship lead over his teammate George Russell, and his win in Miami extends it.
In a developing pattern, Antonelli had trouble at the start, losing the lead to Charles Leclerc, who started on the second row.Max Verstappen was also slow off the line, giving Leclerc the chance to take the lead on the opening lap. Verstappen messed up further, spinning in the opening corners and falling down the order.
Antonelli made it to Leclerc’s rear by lap four and attempted to pass at the start of the esses. Antonelli kept Leclerc in his sights and made the pass for the lead in turn 18. Leclerc hangs back and waves Antonelli by, storing energy to attempt a pass back.
On the next lap, in the same corner that Antonelli started his attack, Leclerc makes it back by.
Norris took second position into turn one on lap six. Right before the safety car was called, for two seperate incidents in the midfield.
Isack Hadjar crashed into the wall, ending his race. Hadjar had made it up to battle Arvid Linbald and claimed 15th after starting on the pit lane. Then, Hadjar clipped the apex, sending him into the wall solo.
On the same lap, Gasly and Liam Lawson had a collision as Gasly went to pass, going into the turn 17 hairpin. Lawson seemed unable to slow down into the hairpin and moved into Gasly’s outside lane.
The hit caused Gasly’s Alpine to complete a full rotation, with it briefly sitting on the halo. The two were battling for 10th position.
Verstappen was called to the pits from eighth on the second lap of the safety lap, with the plan to run hards for a marathon second stint of 45 laps.
The race restarted on lap 12 with Leclerc ahead of Norris. The McLaren took the lead for the first time on lap 13 on the front straight before the start of the esses. Norris looks to back up his sprint win this weekend at the spot of his first Grand Prix win.
The rain and the risk of lightning that had never materialized, aside from the occasional droplets, leaving most teams to decide on a one-stop strategy. Minus Verstappen, who pitted under the safety car, the elders all pitted between laps 22 and 28, when the rain was scheduled to start.
Kimi Antonelli won by recovering from a poor start, passing Charles Leclerc for the lead in turn 18 after initially losing it.
Kimi Antonelli is the reigning World Drivers Championship Leader following his victory in Miami, extending his lead over teammate George Russell.
The main competitors included Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen, with Leclerc initially taking the lead.
Max Verstappen had a slow start and spun in the opening corners, causing him to fall down the order.
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Leclerc was first in. Leclerc pitted on lap 22 for hard tires with a time of 3.7. Leclerc rejoined in 12th with George Russell making it by the pit exit a second before. Russell had a horrible restart to put him out of the points.
“Why did we stop? When is the rain?”
Leclerc fell 20 seconds behind in the pit with rain on the radar.
The Ferrari driver battled back to a podium spot, but on the final lap, Leclerc slowed, allowing Piastri to make the pass at the end of the penultimate lap.
Piastri gets his second podium of the year, and McLaren gets their first double podium with Norris in second behind Antonelli.
While leading, Antonelli was warned of track limit violations as Toto Wolff told him to calm down. This came after Antonelli lost two positions in Saturday's sprint race for exceeding track limits in turn 11 four times.
Charles Leclerc spun and kept it out of the barriers, but held on in fourth for half a lap before the damage caused by hitting the wall as he exited his spin was enough to slow him down, and Russell and Verstappen to pass.
Norris and Piastri make up the most ground in the championship battle, finishing ahead of everyone but the championship leader.
Lewis Hamilton also had a bad pit stop, at the end of the pit cycle versus. Leclerc at the start of the cycle and never had a chance to battle up at the podium, ultimately finishing one spot behind his teammate in seventh, ahead of Franco Colapinto, who shortens the gap to his teammate as he adds four points to his earlier point earned by finishing tenth in China.
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