Kimi Antonelli claimed his third consecutive Grand Prix victory in Miami, extending his championship lead to 20 points, whilst McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull demonstrated they have the pace to challenge Mercedes’ early season dominance.

The Italian teenager followed up wins in China and Japan with another commanding performance at the Miami International Autodrome, though his path to victory was far from straightforward.

Antonelli overcomes poor starts to extend championship lead

After a compromised practice session and a difficult Sprint that included a poor getaway and a time penalty for exceeding track limits, Antonelli responded with a sensational pole lap for the Grand Prix. He was one of only two drivers to lap in the 1m27s bracket, alongside Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and finished four-tenths clear of teammate George Russell.

The race itself brought more drama. Antonelli suffered another slow start, allowing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seize the lead. However, the Mercedes driver fought back, overtaking both Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris in wheel-to-wheel battles to secure victory.

Russell finished fourth, which became third after Leclerc’s late troubles, meaning Antonelli now holds a near race-win advantage in the championship standings.

“This is just the beginning; the road is still long,” said Antonelli. “But we’re working super hard, the team is doing an incredible job, and without them I wouldn’t be here.”

McLaren claim double podium and Sprint victory

McLaren’s weekend began strongly when Norris took pole position for Sprint Qualifying, becoming the first driver outside Mercedes to claim pole this season. The Briton converted that into a Sprint victory, with Oscar Piastri finishing second to give McLaren a 1-2 finish.

Their wide-ranging upgrade package appeared to deliver results, though Piastri’s seventh place in Grand Prix Qualifying tempered expectations.

In the main race, both McLaren drivers avoided the opening lap chaos and led at various points as strategies unfolded. Norris ultimately finished second after losing out to Antonelli’s undercut, whilst Piastri took third when Leclerc spun on the final lap.

Drama from lights to flag

The race delivered incident after incident. Leclerc made a lightning start to take the lead from Antonelli, whilst Verstappen locked up at Turn 1 before spinning at Turn 2, dropping to 10th.

Isack Hadjar retired after hitting the wall at Turn 14 and breaking his suspension. At the same time, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson suffered sudden gearbox failure and collided with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, causing the French driver’s car to flip upside down before hitting the wall.

The most dramatic moment came on the final lap when Leclerc, running fourth, spun and hit the wall. He limped to the finish line but was overtaken by Russell and Verstappen. The stewards later handed Leclerc a 20-second penalty for leaving the track “on several occasions without a justifiable reason”, dropping him from sixth to eighth.

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Verstappen and Red Bull show improvement

Red Bull brought significant upgrades to Miami, including their version of Ferrari’s “flip-flop” rear wing. Verstappen qualified on the front row but his opening lap spin forced an early strategy change.

The team fitted hard tyres under the Safety Car, and whilst Verstappen briefly cycled into the lead, he admitted the stint was “probably a bit too long” and the tyres became difficult to manage.

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Nevertheless, fifth place marked Verstappen’s best Grand Prix result of the season, which he retained despite receiving a penalty for a pit exit breach.

F2 makes North American debut

Formula 2 raced in North America for the first time, with Gabriele Minì winning the Feature Race in wet-but-drying conditions after a three-way battle with Dino Beganovic and Rafael Câmara.

Nikola Tsolov claimed his second win of the campaign in the Sprint Race. He leads the championship by one point from Minì ahead of the next round in Canada.

Star-studded grid

Tennis great Rafael Nadal waved the chequered flag, whilst fellow tennis stars Serena Williams also attended. Football icon Lionel Messi visited the Alpine garage, where he caught up with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto. Actor Patrick Dempsey, Terry Crews and Colin Farrell were among the other celebrities present throughout the weekend.

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