Piastri celebrates Miami triumph as he extends WDC lead

Reflecting on his race and the road ahead, Oscar Piastri assessed his historic performance with mixed emotions as he admitted, “This weekend wasn’t my best, but I did a lot of things right today”.

It wasn’t a standout start from Piastri who remained in fourth place as the field rounded the first sequence of corners, with the Australian forced to back out of an attack on Kimi Antonelli to avoid his toppling teammate.

Having inherited a position from Lando Norris’ misfortune on the opening lap, Piastri found himself nestled between the Mercedes teammates as a Virtual Safety Car was declared. 

At the restart, the #81 wasted no time on his charge to the top step, eyeing down a quick pass on the Mercedes rookie. 

Turn 11 proved to be his destination of choice, with Piastri disposing of the 18-year-old without much of a fight and moving into second place.

“I mean, to be honest with you, Kimi was very nice to me and didn’t make life very tough, which is nice when you race against people who identify when someone’s quicker and don’t make the race more difficult for both of us so that was nice of him,” Piastri said. 

“Obviously, for Max, leading the race, a different story, but I knew to expect that. 

“I could tell we had a lot of pace — like I said, it was a matter of just biding my time, waiting for a moment, or forcing him into a moment.” 

After disposing of Antonelli, it took the Australian nine laps to gain DRS advantage over Verstappen, and once he had it, he began formulating an attack.

The #81 took a premature look at a move into the first turn, however, he wasn’t yet close enough to make a pass, and with Verstappen strategically blocking the inside line, he had to figure out another way around.

Drawing upon his earlier overtake for inspiration, Piastri chose Turn 11 as the next location for an attempt, running side-by-side with the Dutchman and backing off to avoid a repeat of the Verstappen-Norris incident on Lap 1. 

Biding his time proved successful when Piastri completed a masterclass of a move, coaxing Verstappen to out-brake himself into Turn 1. 

The Dutchman’s error left the door open for Piastri to perform a perfectly executed switch-a-roo, seeing the Australian powering by while Verstappen scrambled his way back on track to avoid losing out to Norris in the same breath.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, and Oscar Piastri, McLaren, battle for the lead of the Miami Grand Prix. Image: Hector Vivas/Getty Images.

Claiming the race lead on Lap 14, the Australian’s dash from the unfolding battle behind allowed him to remain at the head of the order for the remainder of the race, with Piastri praising his runaway efforts as the reason for his Victory in Miami. 

When it came time to relinquish his overworked medium compound tyres, Piastri was in luck as a Virtual Safety Car neutralised the Grand Prix and provided the perfect opportunity to pit on Lap 29.

Rejoining after a successful double stack from the McLaren pit crew, Piastri held onto P1, with his teammate still at a healthy distance in his mirrors. 

The #4 attempted to close the gap to his teammate, however, he soon accepted that victory wasn’t on his cards and settled for second place.

Crossing the line to claim his third consecutive win — the first McLaren driver to do so since Mika Häkkinen in 1997/98 — Piastri celebrated in classic Miami style, dancing his way to the podium alongside Norris and George Russell. 

“I think this weekend was not my best, and a lot of that was yesterday,” Piastri admitted.

“The race today was pretty solid, but yesterday I was pretty frustrated with my performance. 

“Ultimately, yes, I won the race this weekend, but I think the likelihood of winning many races [after] qualifying fourth is pretty low. 

“I did a lot of things right today, but there was definitely some good fortune there as well, and a very quick car. 

“I don’t want to rely on that every single Sunday. 

“Clearly, this is the exception to the pace we’ve had this year. 

“Yes, we’ve always had a strong car, but the pace we had today from lap one it felt like was unexpected, even for us. 

“I’ll definitely take the performance and we’ll try and work out how to do that every weekend, but there’s still definitely things to work on from a personal side and from a team point of view.”

The top step not only rewarded the Australian with a new shiny trophy but more importantly 25 points towards his championship lead.

Piastri now sits on 131 points in the WDC, extending the margin over his teammate to 15 points despite losing out to Norris in Saturday’s Sprint. 

The 1-2 on American soil also drastically boosted McLaren’s Constructors’ Championship tally to 246 points, with the closest rival sitting over 100 points in the team’s shadow. 

“It’s always been close between [Norris and I], it’s going to be a good battle,” Piastri said.

“There will be weekends where Lando is stronger, and weekends where I am stronger. 

“We’re very aware of the fact that we want this success for as long as we’re at McLaren, which is a very long time for both of us. 

“We’re aware there’s going to be a fight. 

“We both want to become world champion, obviously, but we don’t just want one opportunity at this success. 

“We want it for the next however many years, and that’s an important and an easy thing to keep in mind for us and the whole team.”

The weekend will return to a conventional format when Formula 1 hits the ground running in Imola, with the European leg of the season kicking off with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix across May 16-18 — a historic event where Piastri will look to keep making his own mark.

Image: Formula 1

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