Oscar Piastri secured victory on track at the F1 2025 Miami GP by fending off Max Verstappen and Lando Norris to win from fourth on the grid, as he was voted Driver of the Day at the Miami International Autodrome too.
The Australian bagged his third victory in a row and extends his drivers’ championship lead to 16 points ahead of his McLaren colleague, who finished a handful of seconds behind.
Showing off his signature composure behind the wheel, the 23-year-old wasn’t flustered in the face of an aggressive defence from the defending world champion’s pole-sitting Red Bull.
Taking his time to size up Verstappen, the ex-Alpine driver picked his moment to get by on Lap 14 when the 27-year-old locked-up into Turn 1 and swiftly kicked on by opening up a nine-second gap to Norris that he could manage to the end.
Proving he’s got on top of tyre management concerns, Piastri did enough to fend off his rival for the title and in doing so, took another step towards his maiden championship as well as being voted Driver of the Day at the F1 2025 Miami GP.
“Yesterday was a tricky day,” Piastri told F1 TV. “Qualifying was one of my trickiest sessions of the year so to come away and win is an impressive result.
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“A bit of argy-bargy at Turn 1 which helped me a bit. I was aware enough to avoid Max coming through in Turn 1. From that point onwards I knew I had a good pace advantage and clearly the car was unbelievable.
“The first stint was really strong. The hard stint, I was struggling a bit, so it was a good thing I built that gap in the first stint. Towards the end I started to get things a bit more under control, so there’s still definitely some things to work on. Very happy with the win, very happy with the points.
“Constantly got to keep learning. Very happy to leave Miami on top.”
Norris rues Lap 1 tangle with Verstappen
Norris had started from second on the grid, only behind Verstappen, at the F1 2025 Miami GP but found himself down in sixth by the third corner after being ran wide by the Red Bull.
After trying to set-up a switchback into Turn 1 for a better exit as the lights went out, the Brit hoped to go around the outside of his rival at the Miami International Autodrome by found the door sternly closed.
Verstappen had swerved across the track dealing with oversteer and run the 25-year-old off, before later being cleared by the stewards for the incident. It ultimately gave Piastri the buffer he needed.
“It’s never the best feeling,” Norris said to F1 TV of finishing second. “But the team have done an amazing job, so I can’t fault them at all. Good pit stops, great pace, we were up the road. It was a good feeling but Oscar drove well.
“Max put up a good fight as always and I paid the price, but it’s the way it is. What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain, so you can’t win. But it is the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass.
“Unless you get it really right and you put him in the perfect position, then you can just about get there. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today, but I’m still happy with second.”
