Australia’s Oscar Piastri completes stunning 45-year first after winning wild Miami Grand Prix
Australian Oscar Piastri has blitzed the Miami Grand Prix – holding off the chasing pack and the weather to cement his status as the man to beat this year.
Oscar Piastri has delivered a brilliant performance worthy of a world champion with a sensational win in the Miami Formula One Grand Prix.
Starting from fourth place on the grid, Piastri cruised to his sixth career victory and his fourth in six races this year to extend his lead in the drivers’ championship to 16 points, with a commanding total of 131.
Piastri’s McLaren team mate Lando Norris recovered to finish second after making a mess of the start and dropping back to sixth. The Englishman remains second (115) to Piastri in the title race.
“I won the race that I really wanted to,” Piastri said after a tough qualifying campaign this weekend.
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“Yesterday was a tricky day, qualifying was probably one of my trickiest for the year and to come away with a win still on Sunday is an impressive result.
“Obviously there was a bit of argy-bargy at Turn One that helped me out a little bit. I was aware enough to avoid Max coming through and from that point onwards I knew I had a good pace advantage and the car was unbelievable.”
The four-time defending world champion Max Verstappen, the only other serious contender to the two McLaren drivers for the world title this season, finished fourth after starting on pole position.
The Red Bull remains third on the standings (99) but is now 32 points behind Piastri.
Mercedes driver George Russell finished third for his fourth podium of the season after passing Verstappen when he pitted during a virtual safety car. Russell is fourth overall.
McLaren’s lead in the constructors’ championship is a staggering 105 points. The papaya team ended a 26 year drought when they won it last year and already look like a lock to go back to back in 2025
Just 24 and in his third season in F1, Piastri has now emerged as the clear favourite for this year’s title - and earning a reputation as a stone-cold killer once he hits the front in a race.
“The first sting was really really strong and on the hard stint I was obviously struggling a little bit so it was a good thing that I built that gap in the first stint,” Piastri said when asked about controlling the race.
“Towards the end I started to get things a bit more back under control but there’s still definitely some things to work on, but I’m very happy with the win and the points and leave Miami on top.”
Norris was left ro rue what might have been after he ran wide on the second corner while trying to get past Verstappen and dropped back to sixth.
“I mean it’s never the best feeling but the team have done an amazing job, so I can’t fault them at all. Good pit stops, great pace,” Norris said.
“We were up the road, so it was a good feeling. Oscar drove well. Max put up a good fight as always and I paid the price. but it’s the way it is.”
Quizzed on whether he should have stayed patient rather that attack Verstappen at the start, Norris said:
“What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people will complain. If I go for it, people complain. So you can’t win. It is the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass,” he said.
“You actually get it really right and put him in a perfect position, then you can just about get there. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today. I’m still happy with second.”
Only two Australians - Jack Brabham (1959, 1960 and 1966) and Alan Jones (1980) have won the biggest prize in motorsport but Piastri is on track to join them.
After being caught out by Melbourne’s fickle weather in the season-opening Grand Prix in Austraila, the 24-year-old won the second round in China and has won the last three in a row - in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami.
The last Australian to win three Grands Prix in succession was Jones in 1979.
The last Aussie to win four races in a season was Mark Webber in 2010.
With a quarter of the 24 races this season now complete, the championship moves to Europe with the next race at Imola in northern Italy in a fortnight’s time.
Australian Formula One drivers to record three or more wins in a row:
5 - Jack Brabham (1960)
4 - Jack Brabham (1966)
3 - Alan Jones (1979), Oscar Piastri (2025)
Australian Formula One drivers to win four or more race wins in a season:
5 - Jack Brabham (1960), Alan Jones (1980)
4 - Jack Brabham (1966), Alan Jones (1979), Mark Webber (2010), Oscar Piastri (2025)
Oscar Piastri’s Formula One race wins
2024 - Hungary Grand Prix
2024 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix
2025 - China Grand Prix
2025 - Bahrain Grand Prix
2025 - Saudi Arabia Grand Prix
2025 - Miami Grand Prix
Originally published as Australia’s Oscar Piastri completes stunning 45-year first after winning wild Miami Grand Prix
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