One-two and McLaren domination. Disappointed Antonelli, Ferrari crisis

With Piastri's third consecutive grand prix, he becomes the first driver at Woking to reach that milestone since Hakkinen. Statistics say that whoever has won four of the first six races on the calendar has always won the overall title, even going back a long way in the history of the sport. A condition also verified in the Mercedes and Red Bull dominions of the last two decades, which comes at the same time as the second double win of the season for the British team McLaren.

On the lowest step of the podium is Russell: the positions already delineated from the start of the season are therefore consolidated, with the Papayas undoubtedly the strongest, followed by the three-pointed star and the 'lonely' Red Bull of Verstappen, due to the poor contribution of his teammates.

Verstappen remains outside the top three and confirms a 'cursed' Miami statistic. Also considering the track's very short history, the final results are historically unfavourable to pole sitters: in the first four editions, never has anyone who started at the front been able to win. This was the case in 2022 with Leclerc, in 2023 with Perez, in 2024 and in 2025 with Verstappen.

Following in the order of finish, Antonelli fails to come in right behind him: surprisingly, in between them is one of the Williams, that of Albon. For the Thai driver, fifth place in the USA is the highest personal best finish of his career, which improves on the previous seventh (dating back to far-off 2020). As mentioned, also noteworthy is the sixth place of Antonelli, who yesterday had qualified first for the Sprint race and third for the GP. It is not the haul dreamed of, but a glass half full.

In the next five seconds, with the gap to Piastri reaching over a minute, were the two Ferraristi, Leclerc and Hamilton, reversed in the order of arrival by team order only at the end. A fact that made Sir Lewis more than a little nervous, so much so that he was heard to mock the team over the radio, asking them if (after Leclerc, implied, which had just happened) 'he should also let Sainz through' (ninth). It's a red crisis: only one podium in six grand prix, plus luckily Hamilton's first and third in two Sprints. An extremely complicated weekend for the Maranello stable, considering that by the end of 2024 they expected to be at least on the level and fighting with Mercedes and Red Bull.

The Florida weekend, amid bizarre weather and 275,000 spectators (far fewer than promised, but still impressive) had started with an almost more exciting Saturday than the main race Sunday.

The Miami Grand Gardens sprint test was chaotic and strategic, with the drivers largely opting for intermediate tyres. The track was initially partially dried with small trucks equipped with brushes, bordering on the ridiculous, reminiscent of the previous year's Brazilian Grand Prix. The standing start was delayed by more than 30 minutes and the drivers had problems with visor and visibility as early as the formation lap, where Leclerc went to the wall and Verstappen also slipped slightly. Antonelli started on pole position: an Italian in front for the first time in 16 years. Unfortunately for him, however, he was 'pushed out' by the McLarens, immediately slipping to fourth. He would finish eleventh, also due to a blameless pit-stop contact suffered by Verstappen, who was penalised with a ten-second penalty for unsafe release. In the end, Norris won the Sprint, with Piastri second and Hamilton third.

After a partly disappointing Sprint, the reigning champion set the best qualifying time for the third consecutive time in Miami. Behind him Norris and then, in place of George Russell, again the rookie Antonelli: between the two three-pointed stars, Piastri. Lewis Hamilton after third in the Sprint didn't even make it into the top 10 in the second qualifying session, and at the same time both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz of Williams overtook Charles Leclerc.

Confusing but absolutely redemptive start for Kimi Antonelli. While Verstappen seemed to suffer an aggressive attack from Norris's McLaren, the Englishman went too far, stayed behind, and went off the track boundary. In the meantime Piastri had to fight with Antonelli, but both papayas were caught off guard by the Mercedes youngster, who put both favourites on their tail within a few corners. Unfortunately, on lap four, at the first opportunity to use the Drs, Piastri used it and immediately regained the position over Antonelli, who remained ahead of Russell and Norris. Not for long: on lap seven, again thanks to Drs, Norris overtakes Russell. In the first stint, on the start tyres, the Williams were sixth and seventh, not without friction and attempts by Albon to pass Sainz.

Destined to chase Leclerc, fresh from a very unlucky Saturday where he was unable to start in the Sprint race and in qualifying only managed an eighth (still much better than Hamilton's twelfth).

On lap 11 a great defence by Verstappen on Piastri: no damage, a courageous attack by the world's leading driver, but also the skills of the reigning champion as a true lion, albeit suffering because of an inferior car. But on lap 14 Verstappen had to give way: Piastri had attempted an important braking and managed to pass him. It was fate, regardless of Drs help.

Yet on lap 14 the water was supposed to arrive, the hope of many to change the cards. Instead, the race continued damp but not wet: Norris took the satisfaction of passing him on lap 17 but shortly afterwards Verstappen overtook him and the fight continued at close quarters, so much so that only one lap later Norris took advantage of the greater potential of his McLaren and overtook him. A real spectacle for the crowd but a big disappointment for Red Bull.

After more or less quick tyre changes, on lap 28 a fault with Bearman's Haas caused him to 'plant' the car in the corner and forced the start of the Virtual Safety Car, which prompted more pit stops, with Hamilton, Leclerc and Piastri all involved: a good deal, considering the average 11-second loss compared to 22 or 23 in a full race phase.

Lap 31 saw images that hurt the hearts of many, but would have pleased old Frank: Sainz in the Williams passed Leclerc without too much pain, demonstrating a superiority of the car that few would have predicted at the start of the season. But it doesn't end there: Albon, who at the halfway point of the race was fifth and ahead of Antonelli's Mercedes, is even better.

On lap 33 the third VSC is triggered by a rookie again: Bortoleto and the Kick Sauber at the edge of the track pose a danger to the speed of the section and with the occasion it looks as if something else could happen: Verstappen 'snitches' because Russell didn't lift his foot, hoping for an opponent's penalty.

At the restart a twist: Leclerc and Sainz immediately battle it out, and as Hamilton arrives in a few metres they both make a meal of it. In one corner, in short, he loses two positions. The highest moment of the Reds in this race, an overtaking move that was captured with images from above that will hopefully also be proposed for their beauty in the driving schools of the minor formulas.

From there to the end, however, the Ferraris could not hold a candle to the other direct rivals and had to 'settle' for containing only Sainz, albeit at a very short distance. With whom, however, Hamilton even came into contact on the last lap, just a few hundred metres from the chequered flag. Tsunoda, in his third race on the official Red Bull, was tenth and at full throttle: he brought home four points, six in total in the last three races. That's twice as many as the three in Australia, China and Japan. But it is still a minuscule performance compared to the miracles Verstappen performs with a single-seater that is far from the best, but makes the dominant McLarens worry every time.

Among the constructors, the balance of power remains unchanged: McLaren extends its lead, Mercedes remains comfortably second, Red Bull chases past the three-digit mark (but with only one driver contributing), while Ferrari remains fourth among the constructors but in fact in Sunday's Grand Prix proved to be the fifth force in the field.

At the dawn of a busy Saturday, the reigning champion became a daddy for the first time, thanks to his partner Kelly Piquet. The first-born daughter and granddaughter of Formula One world champions, Christian Horner is already joking that the baby has the perfect 'bloodline' to compete in the sport. It's been a long time coming: the last person to try and qualify was Giovanna Amati in 1992, while the last person to qualify and compete was Lella Lombardi in 1976. More recently, only Spain's María de Villota Comba had qualified as a test driver in 2012 and seemed favoured by the team to participate in trials, but in July of that year she had a serious accident, the consequences of which led to her death in the following year. In 2014 and 2015 she was joined by Susie Wolff, who took part in four Williams test sessions.
Lilly's mother had previously given birth to Penelope in 2019 with another Formula 1 driver, Daniil Kyvat. Kelly holds a unique record: she is therefore the only woman to have conceived children with two different Formula 1 drivers, both of whom were active in the top series at the time of the birth.

A few hours before the start of the official American race, a great of the 'survivor' era, the 79-year-old Bavarian Jochen Mass, has gone forever. The former driver from Dorfen in Upper Bavaria passed away at the age of 78 from the consequences of a stroke that struck him in February. He raced for Surtees, McLarens, ATS, Arrows and March in a total of 114 GPs in Formula 1, won one race (Spain 1975) and finished on the podium eight times. After winning a 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989, he raced for many years in sports cars after leaving the top category.

The traditional drivers' parade was very unusual. In Miami, each team had their own customised car with their own colours and liveries, speeding around the 5.4 km track in front of the fans. The vehicles are based on the LEGO F1 Speed Champions range and were designed to celebrate Formula 1 and the LEGO Group's ongoing partnership. The cars were created by an experienced team of 26 LEGO designers, engineers and builders, with over 22,000 hours of work in the LEGO Group's Kladno factory in the Czech Republic. Each single-seater is different from the others and was made from almost 400,000 LEGO bricks, weighs 1,000 kg and is capable of reaching a speed of 20 km/h. The LEGO Group is constantly striving to push the limits of what is possible and all 10 LEGO works will begin a global tour with appearances in future races.