Analysis: The Oscar Piastri moves on Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli that sealed victory

Oscar Piastri pulled off one of the best drives of his career – moving from fourth to first in a matter of moves – to win the Miami GP. See the breakdown of every move that made it happen.

Oscar Piastri sealed a third-consecutive F1 victory when he saluted at the Miami Grand Prix – coming from fourth place on the grid to do so.

To get there, he produced a sparkling drive with cleverly timed overtakes. But he also, wisely, avoided the early-lap carnage.

We break down the key moments that delivered Piastri’s victory over his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

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LIGHTS OUT

Norris made a critical mistake on the first lap which killed his chances of winning the race.

The Englishman made a clean getaway from second on the grid and was almost on level terms with Max Verstappen approaching the second turn.

With little room for error he went for broke and tried to get past the Red Bull straight away but didn’t have enough grip so ran off the circuit and dropped back to sixth place.

A frenetic first few corners in Miami 😱

The Red Bull of Max Verstappen just keeps hold of his lead on the opening lap ⬇️#F1#MiamiGPpic.twitter.com/e2GKtq9KM5

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2025

Norris complained to his engineers that Verstappen had impeded him but the stewards looked at the incident and disagreed so no penalties were issued.

“What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people will complain. If I go for it, people complain,” Norris said.

“So you can’t win. It is the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass.”

Piastri, starting fourth, was a model of composure. He shot straight past his stricken teammate to move into third place, but kept his cool, knowing he would get an opportunity to advance further up the track.

PASSING ANTONELLI

Despite being pipped in qualifying by Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, Piastri knew his McLaren was much faster than the Mercedes in race trim and with Norris already behind him, the Aussie was able to wait for his chance without taking any unnecessary risks.

Sure enough, he got an opportunity when the first safety car was deployed after his fellow Aussie Jack Doohan punctured a tyre on the first lap and his Alpine had to be retrieved from the circuit.

Piastri got right in behind Antonelli’s exhaust and as soon as the green flag was waved for the race to resume at full speed, he calmly overtook the Italian and set off after Verstappen while Norris was behind him in traffic.

Oscar Piastri overtakes Antonelli

OVERTAKING MAX

Catching Verstappen is one thing but getting past him is another but Piastri was able to put the world champion under pressure by closing up on him and getting within DRS range.

His first attempt at getting past Verstappen didn’t work out but the McLaren ace made it stick the second time when he used the DRS to overtake him on the home straight.

Verstappen didn’t concede and briefly got back in front heading back into turn one by hitting the brakes late, but he was going in too quick so went wide, which allowed Piastri to accelerate past.

“I had nothing to lose anyway, so having a little fun. I couldn’t make anything more out of it anyway,” Verstappen said.

“A virtual safety car, it can happen. It doesn’t really matter if you finish third or fourth.”

Oscar Piastri's special move to overtake Max Verstappen

CLEAN AIR

The race was effectively over the moment Piastri took the lead because he rarely makes mistakes.

Norris had moved from sixth to third and closed the gap to his teammate to three seconds while the Aussie was trying to get past Verstappen.

But once he got in clear air and Norris had to fight his way past the Red Bull, Piastri just went further and further ahead up the road.

By the time Norris did get past the Dutchman to reach second spot, the gap to Piastri was already nine seconds.

Oscar Piastri’s McLaren team made a perfect pit stop under a safety car

TYRE CHANGES

With half the race still to go, Norris still had a slim chance but needed another big slice of luck.

He got it at Miami last year when he took advantage of a safety car to make a cheap pit stop and win his maiden Grand Prix and he got another dose of good fortune in Sunday morning’s sprint when a yellow flag saw him pass Piastri during another lucky tyre change.

Sure enough, another safety car was deployed during Monday’s race but this time both McLarens came into the garage on the same lap for hard compound tyres so Piastri retained his lead when they returned to the circuit.

Norris reduced the margin to 4.6 seconds by the end, with Mercedes half a minute away in third, but no-one ever threatened to challenge Piastri who has now six wins from his 52 F1 starts.

“I remember two years ago here in Miami we were genuinely the slowest team and I think we got lapped twice,” Piastri said. “To have won the Grand Prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result.”

Oscar's on a roll! 😮‍💨👊#F1#MiamiGPpic.twitter.com/pxKeCqaF2Z

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2025

BONUS

Piastri took two big bonuses with his fourth win in six races this season.

Not only did he extend his championship lead over Norris to 16 points after the first quarter of the season.

But he also surged 32 ahead of Verstappen who did cop a raw deal with the safety car, pitting just before it was deployed.

That cost him third place as George Russell got the benefits of the yellow flag to claim the last spot on the podium.

“I’m really happy to come away with P3, I’ve been struggling this weekend personally and always on the back foot,” Russell said.

“Ultimately when it mattered I got a good result today but well done to McLaren they were just down the road.”

Originally published as Analysis: The Oscar Piastri moves on Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli that sealed victory