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’25 Miami Grand Prix Winners & Losers: Piastri Reigns, Verstappen Wobbles
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- ’25 Miami Grand Prix Winners & Losers: Piastri Reigns, Verstappen Wobbles
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The 2025 Miami Grand Prix promised potential chaos, with threats of rain and a field eager to challenge the frontrunners. While some of that played out, particularly in the opening laps, the race became a McLaren masterclass. Here's our look at who left the Sunshine State beaming and who was left scratching their heads.
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2025 Miami Grand Prix Winner: Oscar Piastri
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Three wins in a row? Four victories on the season? Leading the World Championship by a healthy margin? Yes, Oscar Piastri fits the bill for the biggest winner at the Miami Grand Prix. The Australian ace drove what he called an "unbelievable" race, capitalising on an early scuffle and then patiently hunting down Max Verstappen . Once past, Piastri was in commanding form, pulling away to a 4.63s victory over his teammate Lando Norris . It was an impressive victory given a disappointing qualifying session the day before. His dominant Miami showing earned him the coveted Driver of the Day award , voted on by F1 fans. A quarter of the way through the 2025 campaign, Piastri looks dominant.
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Loser: Max Verstappen
Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images
Starting from pole position at the Miami Grand Prix hasn't guaranteed victory. No pole-sitter has ever won there. Max Verstappen continued that trend in 2025. After holding the lead initially, he had tense moments with both McLarens. A slight lock-up into Turn 1 on the first lap allowed Norris to go alongside, leading to contact and Norris dropping down the order. Verstappen then out-braked himself into Turn 1 on Lap 14, allowing Piastri into the lead. He later lost second place to a recovering Norris and was jumped by George Russell during a Virtual Safety Car period. Ultimately finishing fourth, Verstappen described the track as "super slippery to drive" at one point, a remark just a lap before he was passed for the lead—a tough day at the office, highlighted by ending 30 seconds behind the winner.
Winner: McLaren
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McLaren locked out the front row of the podium with a dominant 1-2 finish in Miami. Just two years after being one of the slower teams in Miami, McLaren looked to be in a league of their own during round six. Piastri's commanding performance and Norris's recovery drive secured the maximum points haul. The gap back to third-placed George Russell was staggering 37 seconds, underscoring McLaren's pace advantage. As Piastri put it, "…the car was unbelievable today." This dominant showing included a perfectly executed double-stack pit stop under a VSC . They are undeniably a team above all others after Miami.
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Loser: Ferrari
Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images
Oh, Ferrari. Their weekend had a distinct je ne sais quoi of disappointment. While Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished seventh and eighth at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, the results were far from impressive, with Alex Albon in the Williams splitting them at one point. More memorably, the Scuderia endured a drawn-out and awkward team orders debate over the radio between their drivers. Hamilton, running on medium tires compared to Leclerc's hards, suggested he should be let by, commenting it was "not good teamwork." After frustrated messages, including a sarcastic suggestion to "have a tea break while you are at it," the swap was made, only to be reversed later. Leclerc was even informed of the second swap before Hamilton. The team was described as having a "capital-S" slow car all weekend and now faces a massive points deficit in the constructors' standings.
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Winner: George Russell
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
While the McLarens ran away with the race, George Russell secured a valuable podium finish for Mercedes, taking third place. Starting on the hard compound tire was somewhat unconventional, but it paid off handsomely when a Virtual Safety Car allowed him to pit and leapfrog Max Verstappen into third. Despite being a staggering 37 seconds behind the winner, simply finishing on the podium is a strong result, especially given the car's pace relative to the McLarens. Russell has four podiums in the first six races, keeping him close to Verstappen in the championship standings. Sometimes, even luck needs help from strategic tire choices and well-timed VSCs.
Miami Grand Prix Loser: Aston Martin
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It was undeniably a challenging day for Aston Martin at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished as the last classified runners , in P15 and P16, respectively. Alonso even had a heart-in-mouth moment, spinning at the same corner where he crashed in the Sprint race, though fortunately, he avoided the wall this time. The AMR25 seemed to lack pace, described as one of the only cars off the lead lap (though this was later spared by Piastri lapping Hulkenberg). With talk about whether a new recruit can fix the 2025 car, the performance in Miami suggests this season might not be worth rescuing—a weekend to forget for the Silverstone-based squad.
