Key events
Lap 52/57: The Ferraris will swap places. Eventually.
Meanwhile, up front, Norris is within four seconds of Piastri. Probably a bit too late.
Lap 51/57: Sainz is ninth but may still get a penalty. Behind him, Tsunoda will get a penalty and is only 5.192 seconds ahead of Hadjar.
The Ferrari plot thickens. Leclerc asks how much the Ferraris are closing on Antonelli. The answer: “Could you go faster in clean air?” Leclerc: “I don’t know. I’m overheating.”
Lap 50/57: Alonso is stubbornly not moving over upon being shown the blue flag to move over to allow the leaders to lap him. He won two F1 championships … during the George W. Bush administration.
If Verstappen passes Russell, the top four in the season standings will finish in that order. Russell would not pass Verstappen for third if he hangs on.
Lap 49/57: Tire experts, please weigh in – would Russell (over Verstappen) and Hamilton (over Leclerc) now have a disadvantage from being on the mediums? Are they degrading now?
Lap 48/57: “This has been a disappointing race for Aston Martin,” notes a race commentator upon seeing Alonso and Stroll occupying the last two places. Hey, they’re still going! Ask Oliver Bearman from Haas about what it’s like to have a car suddenly stop working at top speed on an F1 track.
Lap 47/57: Another factor the rest of the way will be lapped traffic. Piastri has passed Stroll.
Piastri and Norris, though, could pit and perhaps have a bite to eat and still finish ahead of Russell or Verstappen.
Lap 46/57: Hamilton, frustratingly, is not pulling away from Leclerc.
Meanwhile, while we’ve focused on the Ferrari drama, Norris is within five seconds of Piastri.
Lap 44/57: Albon only has one top-five finish this season. This could be a great result for him.
Hamilton would love to pass Antonelli to pull with one point of the rookie in the season standings.
Lap 42/57: Possible duels for places the rest of the way here …
1. Piastri is pretty well in front.
2. Norris is 24 seconds ahead of …
3/4. Russell should be faster than Verstappen on medium tires, but Verstappen is close
5/6. For now, Albon is holding off Antonelli, but he may soon be holding back …
7. Hamilton, though he’s not really that far ahead of …
8. Leclerc, who complains on his radio that Hamilton gets to get farther ahead because he’s now getting dirty air as he tries to hold off …
9. Sainz.
10. Tsunoda must eventually serve a penalty and is desperately trying to build a five-second gap over …
11/12. Hadjar and Ocon.
Gasly, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Stroll are still running but likely won’t collect points today.
Lap 39/57: At last, Leclerc is told to let Hamilton through. That’s for seventh place. He still has five seconds and change to catch up to Antonelli.
Lap 38/57: “Keep the DRS to Charles,” says the team to Hamilton. Hamilton: “Man, you guys …”
Liam Lawson drops out. Not a great race for the next generation of F1 drivers.
“This is not good teamwork,” Hamilton says. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Lap 37/57: Hamilton is making the case that teammate Leclerc should let him past because, in the medium tires, he has a faster car.
Norris posts the fastest lap and is now withing seven seconds of Piastri. Russell is another time zone behind in third, with Verstappen not too far behind him.
“You want me to just sit here the whole race?” Hamilton says on the radio. The team resists the urge to say, “You think you’re that much faster? Then pass him!”
Lap 35/57: So Russell and Hamilton are currently on mediums. So are three drivers well farther back. Everyone else is on hard tires.
We get one of those overhead views showing how this track snakes its way under everyday interstates in Miami with drivers who must be a bit stunned by the people going 2-3 times as fast underneath them.
Lap 34/57: Verstappen wants to know if Russell drove sufficiently slowly during the last virtual safety car. Please don’t ever let me referee a soccer game involving one of Verstappen’s kids.
Hamilton passes Leclerc! Or not! At this point, I expect race data to tell me Mario Andretti has taken the lead on tires made of rocks as on The Flintstones.
Lap 33/57: Bortoleto doesn’t make it back to pit road. He’s stopped, and we’ll have a virtual safety car.
Lap 32/57: I add some question marks on tires here because what we’re hearing on the broadcast is not what the F1 site says. The commentators hail Hamilton’s mastery on medium tires. The site says he’s on hard tires.
Yuki Tsunoda gets a five-second penalty for speeding on pit lane.
Bortoleto is retiring from the race, joining Doohan and Bearman.
Lap 31/57: Virtual safety car is gone in the midst of all that.
Top nine have all pitted:
1. Piastri
2. Norris
3. Russell (on hard tires; others on mediums)
4. Verstappen
5. Albon (who just passed …)
6. Antonelli
7. Sainz
8. Leclerc
9. Hamilton (hard?)
Lap 30/57: Let’s all change tires! Russell is moving up a bit … maybe.
Or not, as something goes awry … but yes, he does! He comes out ahead of Verstappen!
Lap 29/57: We’ll get a virtual safety car here as Oliver Bearman’s car slows to 0.
Drivers pitting now will have a distinct advantage, and that’s what they’ll do.
Lap 27/57: Verstappen and Albon pit.
Quick top 10 and whether they’ve pitted ..
1. Piastri, no
2. Norris, no
3. Russell, no
4. Leclerc, no
5. Verstappen, yes
6. Tsunoda, yes (wait – really?)
7. Hamilton, no
8. Antonelli, yes
9. Albon, yes
10. Sainz, yes
Ahh … Tsunoda is pitting now. That makes sense.
Lap 26/57: Antonelli comes into the pits and has to hold up a couple of seconds due to traffic.
Lap 25/57: And now Norris posts the fastest lap. Surely at this point, though, he’s not going to gain too much ground until both cars have pitted, and then we’ll see how they do on new tires.
Lap 24/57: The front three are well spread out now. Piastri, who just posted the fastest lap, is nearly eight seconds ahead of McLaren teammate Norris. Verstappen is another seven seconds back. The Mercedes duo of Antonelli and Russell are closing.
Lap 23/57: Ocon pits after the battle with Hamilton.
Lap 21/57: It’s raining hard.
In Virginia, where I live. In Miami, we have conflicting reports. Two early pit stops for Gabriel Bartoleto (Sauber) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and conflicting reports on what tires they received.
Lewis Hamilton wins a difficult battle with Esteban Ocon. Hamilton has about as much space at one point as drivers have on some roads near me that are roughly 1.5 lanes.
A couple of views of Verstappen from the inbox:
Hugh Molloy: “Norris bottled it again. Verstappen will do that to him every time because Norris blinks, every time. Piastri would have held his line and that’s the difference at this point. Lines in the sand need to be drawn or he will do it to Norris again and again.”
This was clearly sent before the first or second pass.
Tom Stratford: “Fatherhood hasn’t really mellowed Max has it.”
Lap 19/57: It does indeed appear that Norris gave the position back because he went all the way off the track and knew he’d be penalized. He’s not giving it back this time.
Sainz has been penalized for going off the track.
George Russell says it’s raining.
Lap 18/57 (still): Well, that looked a lot easier. Norris gets it right this time and just zips past the 428-time world champion.
(I exaggerate. A little.)
Lap 18/57: Is this right? The F1 site now has Piastri an incredible eight seconds ahead.
Norris has finally passed Verstappen! Seemed like it was out of nowhere. Both cars were barely on the track, if at all.
And Verstappen comes back and reclaims second! Was Norris told to give it back because he went off the track?
Now Antonelli is looming. Maybe.
Radar shows a thunderstorm that may go over part of the track.
Lap 17/57: Verstappen’s radio transmissions would make a great emo album. But he’s still ahead of Norris somehow, while Piastri is more than five seconds ahead.
The rest at the moment:
4. Antonelli (more than 9 seconds back)
5. Russell (more than 11 seconds back)
6. Albon
7. Sainz
8. Leclerc
9. Tsunoda
10. Ocon
11. Hamilton
Lap 15/57: Norris veers off the track, trying to find a way past Verstappen. Piastri is enjoying a few laps with no one near him, as he’s already more than two seconds in front now. Make is three. No, four.
Piastri passes Verstappen
Lap 14/57: “Inside” on one curve means “outside” on the next, and Verstappen was too far outside on the next. Piastri says “thanks very much” and claims the lead.
Verstappen gripes on the radio that his brakes are useless.
Now Norris is on his tail.
Lap 13/57: Verstappen says it’s getting slippery. There was some concern before the race that the heat would wear out the tires quickly.
Race graphics project that Norris will on Piastri’s tail in three laps.
Lap 12/57: The focus is understandably on Verstappen and Piastri, but Piastri has lost a little bit, and Lando Norris is just over two seconds behind his McLaren teammate.
Lap 11/57: Norris just posted the fastest lap while his two rivals duel up front. Verstappen forces Piastri to go to the outside for the second time in less than a lap. Brilliant defense from the still-young driver who has won about 48,898 races in his career.
Verstappen’s radio says, “Stay on the inside, Max. Make him work for it.” Verstappen apparently resists the urge to respond, “Duh!”
Lap 10/57: Piastri has Verstappen in his sights. He’s within a car length.
We see a replay of Alonso swinging 180 degrees and facing the wrong way on the track. Yikes.
Down the straightaway … can Piastri make the pass here? DRS … not quite enough.
Lap 9/57: Piastri’s radio says the rain will hit a few laps sooner. Everyone’s a meteorologist.
Norris flies past Antonelli into third behind Verstappen and Piastri … and the top two have gotten closer.
Lap 7/57: Verstappen won’t be penalized. Conspiracy theorists mutter.
Norris has made a stunning move past Russell to get into fourth. He basically lost no momentum through a curve and overtook from there. Now Sainz has his eyes on Russell, who’s in deep water here, and it’s not even raining yet.
Lap 6/57: Another radio broadcast says they might get rain in 28 laps, and if so, it will be heavy. No in-betweens, apparently.
Lap 5/57: We’re on board with Lewis Hamilton, who sufficiently unnerves Isack Hadhar into a mistake and takes advantage by slipping past into … oh. He’s 11th. Don’t get too excited.
No, the Red Bulls aren’t as dominant this season as they have been in the last couple of years, but you have to think Verstappen might race into the distance if he’s not penalized.
Lap 4/57: Piastri just shot past Antonelli into second on a straightaway.
Over Ocon’s radio, we hear possible rain in 15 minutes, which is actually the default weather forecast for Florida.
Lap 4/57: “A little elbows out” says Zak Brown of McLaren, who sounds calm but certainly wants Verstappen to be penalized.
“I got completely hit, mate,” Lawson says on the radio. “I don’t know what the Alpine was doing.”
That would be Doohan, but did he have anywhere to go?
Lap 2/57: OK, it’s a Virtual Safety Car, as Doohan can’t quite get off the track. Replay shows he got squeezed by Lawson like Florida orange juice but wound up running into the Racing Bulls driver, who was dropped by the upper Red Bulls team after two races this season.
Lap 1/57: We’ve got a yellow flag … no, green … yellow … green again …
Verstappen has already opened up a 1.5-second lead over Antonelli. Then it’s Piastri, Russell, Albon and an annoyed Norris.
Lights out!
Which is by Peter Wolf, not Bon Jovi.
Norris battles Verstappen and immediately regrets it, going off the track and losing several places. Verstappen had locked up a bit but recovered quickly.
Antonelli also got in the mix.
Jack Doohan already has a puncture.
OK, first, a bunch of Bon Jovi references upon seeing the great singer hovering around the track. “Slippery When Wet” is the winner, of course.
Formation lap done. Here we go …
Tires, tires, weather, tires, very pretty trophy, cell phones up … and it’s time … here we go …
The grid and the history
The storied history of the Miami F1 race goes all the way back to 2022. The winner on the new 3.363-mile Miami International Autodrome circuit was, of course, Max Verstappen.
In 2023, the winner was … Max Verstappen. So what if he only qualified ninth?
Last year, though, history was truly made – the first win, at long last, by Lando Norris.
Norris’ win was particularly surprising because he qualified fifth behind Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. Verstappen and Leclerc rounded out the podium, followed by Perez and Sainz.
“Enough history!” you say. “Please tell us the lineup!”
OK, OK. The pole-sitter is, of course, Max Verstappen.
1. Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Norris (McLaren; sprint winner)
3. Antonelli (Mercedes)
4. Piastri (McLaren)
5. Russell (Mercedes)
6. Sainz (Williams)
7. Albon (Williams)
8. Leclerc (Ferrari)
9. Ocon (Haas)
10. Tsunoda (Red Bull)
11. Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
12. Hamilton (Ferrari)
13. Bortoledo (Sauber)
14. Doohan (Alpine)
15. Lawson (Racing Bulls)
16. Hulkenberg (Sauber)
17. Alonso (Aston Martin)
18. Stroll (Aston Martin)
19. Bearman (Haas)
Starting from pit road: Gasly (Alpine)
“Lego F1” is trending on BlueSky. Here’s why …
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King Bell is doing the national anthem. It’s very subdued. The concern over the weather is palpable. It’s a good day to be somewhere other than in a race car.
The weather forecast is …
… not good.
But the interviews continue, with Lisa from White Lotus. Apparently, just Lisa. I’m a GenXer, so I don’t know such things.
Evander Holyfield is here. He likens his interest in F1 to a lot of people’s interest in boxing – happy to watch, not as interested in participating.
A more current boxer, Conor Benn, is also here and is very excited about having won his last fight and being on the F1 grid for the first time. (UPDATE: I’ve been informed that, contrary to what interviewer Martin Brundle said, Benn did NOT win his last fight. In a remarkably good mood, considering.)
And Jackie Stewart, as always.
It’s paddock-walking time. Among the celebrities: Gordon Ramsay and Jerry Bruckheimer, the latter of whom produced a film on F1.
How much fun would it be for a team to hire Ramsay to operate the team radios?
Is Formula One inherently … British?
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That should be in reference to Kimi Antonelli, who had the pole for Saturday’s sprint race.
Lando Norris wound up winning that sprint race.
Preamble: Hey, it’s competitive now!
In case you haven’t been following F1 this season, we have some surprising news.
It’s competitive again.
Max Verstappen’s rapid overtaking of Lewis Hamilton’s records no longer seems inevitable. He’s in third place behind the two young McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who are rewarding their team’s youth movement with stellar seasons so far. Piastri debuted in 2023 and finished ninth overall, then climbed to fourth last year. Norris was second last year, building on the momentum of his first Formula One win — in Miami, site of today’s race.
Just two years ago, Verstappen and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez won all but one race through the whole season. This year, with Perez having left Formula 1 for the time being, Verstappen has one win in five races, and his teammate just changed from Liam Lawson to Yuki Tsunoda, neither of whom has ever been on the podium.
Six drivers are in their first full season, led by Italian prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli, George Russell’s teammate at Mercedes. The 18-year-old debuted with a fourth-place finish and stands sixth on the season — one ahead of the man he replaced, the aforementioned 40-year-old seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
In other words, the standings are …
1. Piastri (McLaren), 106
2. Norris (McLaren), 97
3. Verstappen (Red Bull), 87
4. Russell (Mercedes), 78
5. Leclerc (Ferrari), 47
6. Antonelli (Mercedes), 40
7. Hamilton (Ferrari), 37
No one else has more than 20. The only other drivers with top-5 finishes this year are Alexander Albon and Esteban Ocon, who are eighth and ninth in the standings.
Beau will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Giles Richards on the Miami GP’s rise:
With a sellout once more expected, this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix is building on an appeal to a younger, diverse audience that is a key part of Formula One’s burgeoning success in the US. Making its mark on the calendar with a grand, spectacular party in the Florida sunshine since the inaugural race in 2022, Miami is considered something of a showcase.
The opening blast of the three meetings now held in the US is a shop window for the sport with three teams, Racing Bulls, Sauber and Ferrari boasting special liveries for the event this weekend. The flamingo pink of the RB is very much making a splash but the clunky corporate blue addition to the Scuderia’s scarlet has fallen very flat with fans.
Naysayers may have disliked Miami’s emphasis on being a show, of presenting a weekend of entertainment where the food and beverages (or F&B as it is bafflingly, for the uninitiated, referred to here) were as fundamental as the racing. Where the atmosphere went hand in hand with the competition. It was perhaps the first of the “event” races F1 wanted to promote and like it or not, it has succeeded with numbers around this race telling their own story.
The atmosphere in the general admission – campus – area of the increasingly popular and affordable tickets away from the high-end hospitality which dominates all the media, is one of unadulterated enjoyment, shot through with the glorious absence of world-weary cynicism. There is an air of, whisper it, hedonism; not all racing must be accompanied by sombre beard-scratching from a grassy bank in the rain.
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