McLaren
Norris and Piastri both made good starts, with Norris running third at the end of the opening lap. He cleverly bided his time, letting Leclerc and Antonelli duel before picking off both for the lead. He held that lead until the first and only pit stop, coming in a lap later than Antonelli. The undercut proved too powerful though, and he came out behind his rival. Norris did everything he could to harry Antonelli into a mistake to no avail, as he finished second for his first rostrum of the season.
Piastri was left out a lap longer than his team mate, and as such had been undercut by most of his rivals. But his car came alive in race trim, and he was able to climb back up past Russell, Verstappen and Leclerc to finish third.
Lando Norris, 2nd
“We leave Miami with mixed feelings. As a team, we should be proud: two cars on the podium, a big points haul, and a clear step forward that put us in a genuine fight for the win. I felt I drove very well all weekend and extracted everything from the car. Credit to Kimi, he managed a strong race and Mercedes clearly still have an edge.
“At the same time, it hurts because a win was possible. We’ll review what we could have done differently and keep pushing to bring more performance, especially in the high-speed corners where Mercedes are very strong. Miami suits us, but Canada has traditionally favoured them, so we’ll stay patient, keep our heads down, and judge our progress over the next few races. We’re proud of the step, but we want to be the best. This is a long season, and we’re here to fight.”
Oscar Piastri, 3rd
“To come away with a double podium is really positive for the team. Overall, I am very happy with how we performed today. Going long was the right call, and we had some good battles out on track. We probably had a little more in us, and there were some tough moments out there, but the pace is really encouraging, and it’s always nice to be on the podium.
“We’re not quite back in the position we were last year, and there is still a gap to Mercedes, but we are definitely getting closer. Thank you to the whole team for all of their work in delivering this package, we’ve made a good step forward, so let’s see what we can do in Canada.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
“This was a very positive weekend for the entire team, and while you always want to convert a race lead into a victory, we are delighted with a double podium. It’s a strong result that gives us a great sense of encouragement and satisfaction. We shouldn’t forget where we started from this season: to have a weekend with a Sprint Quali Pole position, a Sprint Race 1-2 and a double podium today fighting for the victory until the last few laps shows the incredible progress we are making together as a team. This outcome doesn’t change our positive momentum; it reinforces it.
“Our upgrades performed exactly as we had hoped, and I want to thank every single person back at McLaren for their talent and hard work that made this step forward possible. We know Mercedes still has a slight advantage; a couple of tenths, and we really need to rely on a perfect execution to be in condition to beat them at this stage. We lost some small margins in execution today, that we will review and improve back in Woking ahead of our next race in Canada.
“The development battle will be crucial this season with four teams in condition to fight for Pole position and victories. Our development pathway has lots in the pipeline, with parts planned for Canada and a few more in Monaco, and Spain. We are in the fight, and we believe this sets the stage for a very interesting championship battle for the fans and Formula 1.”
