Piastri eases to Miami win as Norris fights back to seal McLaren one-two

Oscar Piastri extended his world championship lead with a dominant Miami Grand Prix victory as Lando Norris recovered from first-lap drama to seal a McLaren one-two.

Piastri drove a faultless race from fourth on the grid to claim his third successive victory, passing pole-sitter Max Verstappen after a thrilling early battle before cruising clear.

Norris was left to rue what might have been after dropping from second to sixth on the first lap following a skirmish with Verstappen, before scything his way through the field to finish in his starting position.

The Brit valiantly halved Piastri’s lead to four seconds in the closing stages, but was powerless to deny the Australian victory as the McLarens charged more than 30 seconds clear of the rest of the field by the chequered flag.

Having lost out to Norris in Saturday’s Sprint, Piastri’s fourth win in six races this season moves him 16 points clear of his team-mate at the top of the standings.

George Russell claimed an opportunistic podium for Mercedes, benefitting from the helpful timing of a Virtual Safety Car to leapfrog Verstappen for third during the only round of pit stops.

Verstappen, who cut a frustrated figure over Red Bull team radio as he struggled for speed throughout, falls 32 points back from Piastri in the standings, denting his hopes of sealing a fifth successive drivers’ title.

Alex Albon matched Williams’ best finish of the season by taking fifth after overtaking the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, having fired up his tyres quicker following the first of the race’s two Virtual Safety Car interruptions.

Charles Leclerc took seventh ahead of Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton after the latter became infuriated with his colleagues over the radio amid a team orders dispute.

Hamilton had to survive significant contact following a last-lap lunge from the other Williams of Carlos Sainz, which left the Spaniard facing multiple post-race investigations that could see him demoted to ninth.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda overcame a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane to hold off Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar by little more than a tenth of a second for the final point.

More to follow…

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