Best on the grid, but not at a ‘Griddy'

New York Times

05-05-2025

McLaren's championship leader produced a brilliant victory, in Formula One's first of three visits to the United States in 2025 Getty Images
First question in the news conference to Oscar Piastri is about his little dance after the race:
💬 'I knew that was gonna be the question ... it was an attempt at a 'Griddy'. Poorly executed.'
He recently met Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who made the dance famous with his touchdown celebrations, and made a bet with him that if he won he'd try the Griddy after the race.
Piastri says to not expect him to try it again. Getty Images
Max Verstappen said he was delighted to record pole position in Miami yesterday because it's the best place to start on the grid. Generally, yes — but is it in Miami?
We've now had four pole-sitters here and none of them have won the race. That said, Verstappen's fourth place this year was is the worst of the quartet: 2022: Charles Leclerc — Pole > finished P2
Charles Leclerc — Pole > finished P2 2023: Sergio Perez — Pole > finished P2
Sergio Perez — Pole > finished P2 2024: Max Verstappen — Pole > finished P2
Max Verstappen — Pole > finished P2 2025: Max Verstappen — Pole > finished P4 Getty Images
Max Verstappen may have missed the podium by only 2.3 seconds today, but he finished nearly 40 seconds behind race winner Oscar Piastri, such was the dominance of McLaren in Miami.
Speaking to Motorsport.com after the race, Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko called the gap between the teams 'depressing' — Marko said:
💬 'The main conclusion is we are too slow. We saw when they were driving flat out, we are seven tenths of a second behind. We saw the real speed for the first time.
'We have to find some performance straight away, but it was depressing how quick the McLarens really are.'
I feel like others are better placed to critique this — but I also feel like this actually didn't go very well for Oscar?!
So it was Oscar Piastri who triumphed in the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris — both having beating Max Verstappen on track.
There was controversy, angry drivers, some team radio gold, and plenty more besides.
Our correspondents Luke Smith and Madeline Coleman are in Miami and have analyzed the key talking points from the race below.
Tuck in!
GO FURTHER
Miami Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri wins, McLaren dominates, Ferrari team orders drama Getty Images
Andrea Stella also spoke to Sky Sports about the incident at the start of the race that saw Lando Norris drop to sixth, after going wheel to wheel with Max Verstappen:
💬 'The first lap, with hindsight, it would have potentially been wiser for Lando to lift and accept he would have gained the lead later on in the race because the car was fast enough. But that's with the benefit of hindsight.
Norris got ahead of Verstappen in the end, but his first attempt saw Norris hand the place back after exceeding track limits in the move. Stella added:
💬 'In terms of giving back the position, I think that was the right thing to do because Lando, in our judgement, was outside the track limits and you have to give back the track position.
'That's a little bit of bad luck but you have to behave and behave fairly. That could have been a risk of a penalty so it was the right thing to do.' Getty Images
So how did McLaren team principal Andrea Stella view his team's eventual domination of the Miami Grand Prix? He's just been speaking to Sky Sports:
💬 'It proves the car was very competitive today. Well done to Oscar and Lando for exploiting the performance we have available in the car, especially in hot conditions. It looks like our race pace is definitely very strong.
'We keep going, we keep building, but a very positive day.'
And just as I typed that, Lewis Hamilton has made it through.
Quotes on the way...
We're still waiting to speak to Lewis Hamilton post-race. Every other driver has made it to the TV pen, and most have done the print pen too.
But Hamilton hasn't showed for either yet.
Charles Leclerc said he and Hamilton haven't yet spoken properly as Hamilton wanted to go and get changed, so that may explain part of his delay.
But he'd normally be here by now…
Asked whether losing a podium place to the safety car was frustrating, Max Verstappen responded that his concerns are larger than that:
💬 'I mean, honestly it's not frustrating at all. We are here to win, and today we were miles off that, so it doesn't really matter if you are P3 or P4.' Getty Images
As for the constructors, maybe we should given McLaren the title now?! McLaren: 203 + 43 = 246 Mercedes: 118 + 23 = 141 Red Bull: 92 + 13 = 105 Ferrari: 84 + 10 = 94 Williams: 25 + 12 = 37 Haas: 20 Aston Martin: 14 Racing Bulls: 8 Alpine: 7 Sauber: 6 Getty Images
No changes in the order of the top eight, following the Miami Grand Prix provisional result. Oscar Piastri adds seven points to his lead over Lando Norris... Oscar Piastri: 106 + 25 = 131 points Lando Norris: 97 + 18 = 115 Max Verstappen: 87 + 12 = 99 George Russell: 78 + 15 = 93 Charles Leclerc: 47 + 6 = 53 Kimi Antonelli: 40 + 8 = 48 Lewis Hamilton: 37 + 4 = 41 Alex Albon: 20 + 10 = 30 Getty Images
Neither Ferrari driver was happy after the chequered flag.
Charles Leclerc completely ignored his engineer on the radio too, as he returned to the pits. But he did make sure to wave to the Miami fans in the mini-stadium section after the back straight.
The team is not in a good place. It was expecting to fight McLaren for the world titles, not finish seventh and eighth and be beaten on pure pace by Williams.
There are car upgrades coming for Imola. For Leclerc and Hamilton, that will only add to the pressure for Ferrari's first of two home races in 2025.
As for the rest of the provisional result here, let's go through the places outside the points… 11: Isack Hadjar (RB)
12: Esteban Ocon (HAS)
13: Pierre Gasly (RB)
14: Nico Hulkenberg (SAU) 1 lap behind
15: Fernando Alonso (AST) 1 lap
16: Lance Stroll (AST) 1 lap
Did not finish: Liam Lawson (RB, 21 laps), Gabriel Bortoleto (SAU, 27 laps), Oliver Bearman (HAS, 30 laps), Jack Doohan (ALP, 57 laps) Formula One
Absolutely stoney silence from Lewis Hamilton throughout his cooldown tour back to the pits, after that Ferrari team orders shambles.
But one thing he's not seething about it seems, is the contact with Carlos Sainz on the final lap — the pair embraced in parc ferme after they'd climbed out of their cars.
They will see the stewards over that last lap incident later on this evening.
And now we're hearing from our race winner in Miami, Oscar Piastri:
💬 'I won the race I really wanted to. Yesterday was a tricky day. Qualifying was one of my trickiest sessions of the year, so to come away with the win is an impressive result.
'A bit of argy-bargy at Turn 1 which helped me a bit. I was aware enough to avoid Max (Verstappen) coming through. From that point I knew I had a good pace advantage and clearly the car was unbelievable.
'Two years ago here we were the slowest team. I think we got lapped twice. Here, we just won the race by 35 seconds.' Getty Images
Not many of us get to experience this — but I reckon we're all pretty confident that it feels good. Getty Images
Next up from the podium interviews, it's McLaren's Lando Norris on his second-place finish:
💬 'It's never the best feeling but the team has done an amazing job, so I can't fault them at all. We were up the road so it is a good feeling.
'Max put up a good fight as always and I paid the price, but it's the way it is. What can I say? If I don't go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain, so you can't win.
'But it is the way it is with Max, it's crash or don't pass. Unless you get it really right and you put him in the perfect position, then you can just about get there. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today, but I'm still happy with second.'
Here is how the race result looks right now, although this is F1 and you never know how things can change when the race stewards get involved. Let's start with the top 10… 1: Oscar PIASTRI (MCL) — 25 points
2: Lando Norris (MCL) — 18
3: George Russell (MER) — 15
4: Max Verstappen (RBR) — 12
5: Alex Albon (WIL) — 10
6: Kimi Antonelli (MER) — 8
7: Charles Leclerc (FER) — 6
8: Lewis Hamilton (FER) — 4
9: Carlos Sainz (WIL) — 2
10: Yuki Tsunoda (RBR) — 1