Antonelli wins thrilling Miami Grand Prix from Norris and Piastri
Baku, May 4, AZERTAC
Kimi Antonelli has taken victory in an action-packed Miami Grand Prix, the Italian resisting pressure from Lando Norris to seal his third consecutive win of the season, according to Formula 1 official website.
A dramatic start ensued when the race got underway, with polesitter Antonelli facing a three-way scrap alongside Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc before both the Mercedes and Red Bull cars locked up into the first corner. Verstappen then dropped down the order after spinning out shortly after.
The lead changed hands numerous times from there, with Antonelli later overtaking Leclerc while Norris, Oscar Piastri and Verstappen all enjoyed stints at the front. Separate crashes for Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, saw the Safety Car deployed in the opening laps.
But it would ultimately prove to be a two-horse battle between Antonelli and Norris as the race wore on, the McLaren remaining on the tail of the former during the latter stages. Despite that tension, Antonelli held on to score his third victory of the campaign, making history as the first driver to convert their maiden three pole positions into wins.
Norris crossed the line 3.264s back in P2, while Piastri snatched the final spot on the podium from Leclerc during a chaotic final two laps. Leclerc subsequently spun and managed to keep on going, but the Ferrari man was overtaken by Mercedes’ George Russell for fourth while Verstappen grabbed fifth from Leclerc at the line.
Leclerc was hit with a 20-second penalty post-race in lieu of a drive-through for repeatedly cutting the track on the final lap, dropping him to eighth behind Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton.
Franco Colapinto scored some valuable points for Alpine in seventh, and there was also a good return for Williams, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon completing the top 10.
Haas’ Ollie Bearman just missed out in P11, as did Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto in P12 and the other Haas of Esteban Ocon in P13.
Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad followed in 14th, while the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were 15th and 17th respectively, the Cadillac duo of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas sandwiched between in 16th and 18th.
Hadjar and Gasly were two of the four retirees following their earlier crashes, with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson bringing his car into the pits following contact with Gasly while Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg also pitted to retire his car.
"The start was not as bad as yesterday – it was a little bit better," said Antonelli. "I didn’t expect Charles to brake that early, so to avoid him I locked up. I was a bit lucky with what happened in Turn 2. I did a little mistake with the energy management, trying to overtake Charles, then I lost a place to Lando. But then the pace was strong, I was able to stay close, and then the team did a great strategy. We did a massive undercut, and we managed to bring it home, even though it was not easy."
F1 will move on to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix on the weekend of May 22-24.
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